Artist description Shrouded in mystery, The Diplomats UK met no one from the press, gave no interviews, toured very sporadically and left behind only a small recorded artifact. Listening to these tracks now, with so many years gone by, and the many Dips immitators that followed, it seems a shame that we never heard more from these skitzo outer space skalunatics.

Music Style SKA, Reggae, Science Fiction.

Musical Influences The Specials, Vincent Price, The Selecter, the red planet Mars, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Sly & Robbie, The Muppets, God & other rude boys.

Similar Artists The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, Special AKA, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, The (English) Beat, The Muppets, The Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Toots & The Maytals, The Banana Splits and of course The Beatles

Artist History Formed in Kingston or London or Andromeda (depending on which Dip you speak to), The Diplomats sneaked their way into the fertile London ska revival of the late 70s. Never revealing their identities (even to their manager!), The Diplomats cared for only one thing - communicating a message of warning. A prophecy of "forboding and imminent doom from the stars". They spoke (from behind sunglasses or masks) about UFOs landing in Europe and Central America, bringing strange diseases, and eventually forming new governments. They claimed first-hand knowledge, never elaborating. Needless to say, their peers were confused and amused, leaving The Dips off many of the major Ska bills (although they did create a minor disturbance in the parking lots of the Concert For Kampuchea - those who witnessed can only shake their heads). Nonetheless, a surprisingly loyal cult fan-base grew around these sci-fi obsessed oddities. Alas, time went on and popular taste changed to New Wave. And without a Dips recording to praise, a show to see, or an interview to read, interest waned and the Dips were back to the drawing board. To make their challenges even more insurmountable, a good-time 50s-styled cover band from Canada filed a suit claiming rights to the name, and The Diplomats had to add the "UK" to the end of their name. Original manager Bjorn Rokksten quit in frustration some time in the late 80s, following a 3-year gap between phone calls. After a somewhat uneventful co-production job (for the ill-fated Tiny Cubes sophmore effort on Big Gig Records), Bjorn and I found most of our conversations turning to his time with The Diplomats UK. Whatever happened to them? Has anyone seen them? He eventually bestowed me with what is turning out to be the only recording of The Diplomats in existence - a test pressing for Muddy Muddy Grave Records (Remember them? Released crappy singles by the likes of Peter And The Eaters and Dome Skool). Recording date is a mystery as is producer, engineer, etc. Sound quality can only be considered a hair shy of "demo". What remains, though, is a fantastic slab of upbeat, stripped-down Ska. A pleasant reminder of how great (and bizzarre!) The Diplomats UK were, and hopefully a wake-up call to Ska bands around the world. ----Skankin' in The States, Ira Muggins.

Group Members No identites were ever revealed. No stage names given. No nicknames. As far as we know, their mothers don't know who they are.

Instruments The traditional instruments of SKA. Items such as distortion pedals and synthesizers are looked upon with the fear and disgust belonging to all things possessed with voodoo.

Albums "(Don't Touch Me) I'm A Diplomat", Muddy Muddy Grave Records mmgr011346, 19?? (unreleased)

Press Reviews The Diplomats never gave an interview, and in keeping with their staunch dictatorial control over their work, never gave out a promo copy of their recordings. Thus, no one in the press were willing to touch them. So alas, this page must remain blank.

Location Roanoke, VA - USA

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