In Defense of Ska Ep 203: Budgie (The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees)

The Slits’ 1979 debut album Cut is considered to be one of the most important post-punk albums of all time thanks to its novel combination of reggae and punk. This week on In Defense of Ska, the podcast welcomes Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer Budgie, who also worked on Cut with The Slits, to talk about revolutionary record and more.

Budgie discusses the recording of Cut, detailing the design of his beats for the record. He also talks about his relationship to singer Ari Up and how she had a love for pop music, as well as the experience of working with producer Dennis Bovell.

Throughout the discussion, Budgie touches on his earliest drumming influences and his first few experiences working with ska-adjacent music, including how he learned to play reggae on the drums. He also talks about the two-tone Ska movement, which was popping up around the same time as Cut, and his feelings towards it. The gang then launches into a discussion about the best drummer of all time John Bonham, with Budgie sharing his thoughts about the legendary Led Zeppelin stickman.

Listen to the 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 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.