Jamaican R&B kings The Racketeers to headline Pompey Punk'n'Roll Christmas Party

The band formed in 2004 following a chance conversation in the early hours of the morning at a stag do. In the group was Mark Ballard, who had been part of Portsmouth’s nearly-men $kaw in the ’90s was between bands. When asked what kind of music it would take to get him back on stage

‘I said, look if I was going to go in a band, I’d just play for myself, my music that I enjoy – a traditional ska band.

‘There were four of us there – Chello from The Media and various other bands, Turkee from Ad Nauseam, Mark Penington, our original double bass player, from The Caravans – and they all said: “We'd love to do that.” Mark had a studio, so I arranged to go round there, I took some CDs round – some old Trojan stuff from ’58/59, and told him, this is what I want to do. He fell in love with it straight away. We picked out five tunes which I sent to everyone on a CD and said: “Learn these and when you've done that give me a call and we'll go for a jam”.

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‘Within a month everyone had called me and said: “We're ready to go”.’

Eighteen years later, two albums plus numerous singles and EPs, and they’re still going strong. Mark Penington has been recently replaced by Roisin Noble following renewed interest in his old band, The Caravans, and the line-up has expanded to include Guy Lawson on tenor sax, Richey Muscat on alto sax and Craig Mallid on keys.

A popular live act, they’ve been playing as much as ever since coming out of the pandemic lockdowns.

‘We cross over a bit into the scooter boys, plus the skinheads and mods and rockabillys – it's quite a mixed bag. And we've got that little crossover of rocksteady, lovers' rock and rock'n'roll – it's the sound of our band, it's not emulating anyone else. I don't like calling what we do as ska – if you say that everyone thinks of Two-tone – so I call it Jamaican R&B.

‘It's got that old ska feel to it and I've never had anyone who's not enjoyed us – it's a bit of a party band, and we do have good fun, but we do take it seriously.

‘I enjoy every minute on stage, that's my home up there – it's better up there than in the crowd!

‘We've played a few gigs in London and gone elsewhere, but I'm just all for having a giggle in bars and small venues where you've got the people right in front of you and they're enjoying every moment – and having a bit of fun for us. I want to please people, but I'm not out glory-hunting, I just want to have a good time – turn up, set up, play and have a giggle! We're still pulling it off.’

Gigs already pencilled in for 2023, include Boogaloo in London on January 23, at Staggeringly Good in Milton supporting Hip Bone Slim on February 17, and with Orange Street at The Wedgewood Rooms in Southsea on March 25.

The Racketeers are joined by Senior Class and DJ Frankenstein Jones at The Loft in Southsea on Saturday, December 17, doors 7.30pm. Tickets £15. Go to book.events.