The Slackers

This article is about the ska band. For other uses, see Slackers (disambiguation).

The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Manhattan in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.

There are several side projects of The Slackers, including David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven, Crazy Baldhead Sound System, Da Whole Thing, the SKAndalous All Stars, as well as an acoustic solo project by Vic Ruggiero.

Career

The band's second album, Redlight, released on September 23, 1997, was ranked number seven in Billboard editor Carrie Bell's "The Year in Music (1997)" list. The album's track with the same name charted at number 116 on the week of November 10, 1997—the song's third week—in CMJ Radio Top 200.

Current lineup

• Vic Ruggiero - keyboards, vocals
• Jay "Agent Jay" Nugent - guitar
• Dave Hillyard - saxophone
• Glen Pine - trombone, vocals
• Marcus Geard - bass
• Ara Babajian - drums

Former members and contributors

• Marq "Q-Maxx 4:20" Lyn - vocals
• TJ Scanlon - guitar
• Luis "Zulu" Zuluaga - drums
• Jeremy "Mush One" Mushlin - trumpet, vocals
• Allen Teboul - drums
• Dunia Best- vocals, flute
• Jeff "King Django" Baker - trombone
• Tobias Fields - congas
• Eric "E-ROC" Singer - alto saxophone
• Victor Rice - bass
• Dave Hahn - lead guitar
• Ben Lewis - trumpet
• Justin Redekop - trumpet

Former Producers and Collaborators

• Tobias Fields - Conga
• Zack levine - Producer
• Eric Sierra - Song Writer
• David Lindome - Producer

Discography

Studio Albums

• Better Late Than Never (1996)
• Redlight (1997)
• The Question (1998)
• Wasted Days (2001)
• The Slackers and Friends (2002)
• Close My Eyes (2003)
• An Afternoon in Dub (2005)
• Slackness (with Chris Murray) (2005)
• Peculiar (2006)
• The Boss Harmony Sessions (2007)
• Self Medication (2008)
• The Great Rocksteady Swindle (2010)
• The Radio (2011)

EPs

• International War Criminal (2004)
• The Slackers/Pulley Split (2004)
• My Bed Is A Boat (2013)

Singles

• 2-Face (1996)
• Minha Menina (2007)
• Dreidel (2009)
• New Years Day (Urban Pirate Records, 2010)

Demo Cassettes

• Do the Ska with The Slackers (1992)
• The Slackers (1993)

Live albums

• Live at Ernesto's (2000)
• Upsettin' Ernesto's (2004)
• Slack in Japan (2005)
• NYC Boat Cruise 2009 (digital only, 2009)
• Slackfest NYC 2009 (digital only, 2009)
• Holiday Party With... (digital only, 2009)
• Live On the West Side 4/6/10 (digital only, 2010)
• Live In San Francisco 12/31/10 (digital only, 2011)

Collections

• Before There Were Slackers There Were... (1999)
• Big Tunes! Hits & Misses from 1996 to 2006 (2007)
• Lost and Found (2009)
• Stash Box (2011)
• Before Hellcat (2011) (USB flash drive release)
• Ganbare! (2011) (Japan only release)

Compilations

• Give 'Em the Boot
• Give 'Em the Boot II
• Give 'Em the Boot III
• Give 'Em the Boot IV
• Give 'Em the Boot V
• Give 'Em the Boot VI
• This Is Special Potatoe Vol. 1
• From New York to Luxembourg (Live @ the Kufa) (with P.O. Box, Kunn & the Magic Muffins and Toxkäpp)
• New York Beat: Breaking and Entering Volume 2

DVDs

• Give 'Em the Boot DVD (2005): "And I Wonder"
• The Slackers: A Documentary (2007)
• The Flamingo Cantina Series with The Slackers (2009)

External links

• The Slackers official homepage
• Interview with The Slackers on www.grundfunk.net
• Interview with the Slackers' singer Vic Ruggiero about the album Self Medication (2008)
• Interview and studio session with The Slackers on National Public Radio (2001)
• AMG entry
• The Slackers collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• The Slackers' Chords, a website dedicated to The Slackers' music
• Management (Europe) Tourbooking (GER, AUT, CZ, DK, CH)