In Defense of Ska Ep 192: Paul Hyman (Bad Manners)

Thanks in part to hit songs like "Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu" and "My Girl Lollipop," Bad Manners were one of the most notable groups to come from the '80s ska revival in Britain. This week on In Defense of Ska, the podcast welcomes Bad Manners founding member and trumpet player Paul Hyman to talk about the history of the group, British ska music, and more. Listen now.

An original member of Bad Members, Hyman tells stories of the band's origins and rise. He touches on finally breaking into the UK Singles Charts, meeting bandmates in school, and Bad Members' reputation as "backstreet weirdos." He then discusses the artists he took particular inspiration from, like Genesis, J. Geils Band, Van Morrison, and Monty Python.

Hyman also talks about his feelings on Bad Manners being labeled a “novelty band,” as well as how they got banned from Italian television and their connection to The Beatles. All of which leads to the story of the end of his tenure with the group.

Listen to Hyman's conversation, and make sure to like, review, and follow the series wherever you get your podcast. Don't forget to check out all the Consequence Podcast Network series here.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.