PUBLIC SERVICE! SKA PS! IS OUR NAME - SKANKIN' MUSIC IS OUR GAME! Public Service! History The band, Public Service!, was formed in 1983 at Penn State University by band leader, Christopher Manos and former lead vocalist, Timothy Wilson. Public Service! is a powerful, positive force in the third wave ska reggae music scene - with over two decades of experience recording and performing live. The band name was derived from the band's philosophy: To make socially conscious music that would impact people in a positive way, and from Joe Strummer's opening statement of the Clash song, "Know You Rights": "This is a Public Service announcement - with guitar!" The initial PS! sound grew out of performing cover versions of classic ska and reggae music like "Revolution Rock" by The Clash, "Monkey Man" by The Specials, "Big Shot" by The English Beat and "Real Situation" by Bob Marley. The original line up consisted of students who met while at college at Penn State University's main campus in the early/mid-80's: Manos on Guitar and Vocals, Tim Wilson on Lead Vocals, Paul Hilbert on Guitar, Jeff Benkovic on Bass, Mark Miske on Drums, John DiTieri on Tenor Saxophone and George Technobam on Keyboards. The band had a lot of fun partying together, playing cool all-ages shows and working together on covers and a few originals. The entire group's awesome stage presence and harmonies, combined with excellent musicianship and showmanship, were very important to PS!' early popularity. This line up lasted for four months and was the initial group that performed as Public Service! at numerous hugely successful shows attended by close to 1,000 people at Penn State's Art Festival in the summer of 1983. In 1984, the next phase of Public Service! saw Manos, Wilson, Benkovic and DiTieri continue on as the line up changed when Miske left the band and Hilbert and Technobam graduated. Wilson and Manos were in line to buy tickets to a Steel Pulse show when they met John Patriarca - who was an excellent drummer - and a fan of Steel Pulse - and also in line to get tickets for the show! During this meeting, Manos and Wilson asked Patriarca to audition for the band. The audition went so well that John Patriarca was added immediately. Patriarca wrote the original version of one of PS!' most popular songs, "Rock The House". During this period of time, PS! achieved one of its early goals of becoming involved in positive and meaningful social concerns by participating in two huge "Rock Against Hunger" Concerts sponsored by the Penn State University Student Activities Board and OxFam Relief. In addition to Public Service!, legendary State College mods, "The Seen" also played at the shows - and both bands were received very well by the audience who attended these shows. The bands all worked together and helped to raise over several thousand dollars for hunger relief in Africa. Patriarca's song, "Rock The House", has since become a PS! staple during live shows. It was during this period of time that Wilson, Manos and Patriarca began writing songs together. The lyrical and melodic skills of Wilson, combined with Manos and Patriarca's musical arrangements, became the foundation of a great song writing team. To this day, many of the songs that Wilson, Manos and Patriarca wrote together are still part of the Public Service! repertoire. Songs like, "Cool By Nature", "Rydim Drop", "Bad Thing", and "Soul Survivor" were penned during this early phase of the group's career. The line up of Manos, Wilson, Benkovic, Patriarca and DiTieri would last through the end of the group's tenure at Penn State University in 1985 - and continue on as the band members moved forward with their lives in the tri-state area surrounding Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. In 1985, the line up of Manos, Wilson, Benkovic, Patriarca and DiTieri began to perform regularly in the Philly club scene. Public Service! first performed in Philly at JC Dobbs - now The Pontiac Bar & Grill - located at 3rd & South Sts. Other local venues where PS! performed were Bacchanal, The Khyber Pass Pub and Jocelyn's in Media, PA. During this time, Wilson, Manos and Patriarca became an exceptional song writing team - and had written around 30 songs together since the inception of PS! at Penn State. In early 1986, this line up cut an oustanding three song demo as yet unreleased to the public. The demo consisted of the songs, "Bad Thing", "On The Wall", and "Soul Survivor", and were recorded at a studio in Aston, PA. The songs were written by Manos, Wilson and Patriarca, and performed live by the band in the studio. This line up lasted until Christmas of 1986 when the musical direction of the band was steered by Manos toward a stronger ska and reggae vibe. During this period of time, Wilson left the group to join the military. Patriarca moved and is currently the drummer of the excellent reggae group, Riddim Nation. DiTieri, living in Long Island, NY, was unable to continue playing with the group. In 1987, Manos and Benkovic were the two remaining original members and asked Philly legend, Chuck Treece, to play drums for PS!. Treece added an exceptionally powerful drum sound to the already fierce ska, reggae and punkified guitar and bass attack of Manos and Benkovic. Manos and Benkovic worked together with Treece on ska and reggae music that had a rockin' feel, and continued adding funk and r&b to the PS! sound. During this time, Manos wrote the music, guitar chords and lyrics to a song about a youth's perspective on "The American Dream". Benkovic added an incredibly innovative bass line to the song and the Public Service! ska classic, "Rude Awakening" was born. Manos's upbeat guitar, combined with Benkovic's funky bass lines and Treece's powerful backbeat made PS! songs like "Rude Awakening" a style of ska that was very innovative and original. The trio recorded a very raw, slammin' five song demo at Preverbe Studios in Philly. Robert "Taj" Walton was the Dread At The Control who engineered the sessions. Taj helped PS! achieve a sound on the recording that emulated the King Tubby / Scientist style of recording - sparse, minimal - and not over-produced. These performances captured the true, raucous spirit and raw, rowdy energy that helped to further evolve the Public Service! sound. The songs "Nuthouse", "Bad Thing", "Too Much Violence", "Rude Awakening" and "Skrap Dub" were recorded in one afternoon and were mixed over the course of just over three days. At one point Taj played the demo for the legendary Michael Rose, one of the founders of the reggae supergroup, Black Uhuru. When Manos was personally introduced to Michael Rose by Taj, Manos recounts that he was greeted by Rose saying, "Wicked Public Service!". Hearing such a positive response from Michael Rose was an inspiring moment for Manos - and he decided to keep moving the group forward in the ska and reggae genre. These songs have never been released to the public, but they will be re-mastered for release in 2005. The line up of Manos, Benkovic and Treece lasted until mid-1987. Treece, truly one of the greatest musicians from the city of Brotherly Love, was in great demand as a high-caliber multi-talented musician and moved on to other projects. Treece has performed with PS! several times since this PS! era. During the summer, a young musician by the name of Root became friends with Benkovic and Manos - and became PS!' drummer for a period of a few months. Root's enthusiasm and drumming skills made this phase of the band a unique experience musically for the band, the group's fans and their friends. Root is the founding member and driving musical force of the of the groups, AM60 and The Mosquitos. In the fall of 1987, Benkovic moved to Florida and Manos stayed in his hometown of Philly and continued to move PS! forward. Manos ran into Louis Fuiano, a tenor saxophone player who had played with PS! that summer at a performance at Red's in Margate, NJ. Manos asked Fuiano to join PS! and the two decided to work together. They enlisted Bruce Neal, an outstanding bassist studying music at the Philadelphia College of Art. Manos, Fuiano and Neal continued to incorporate jazz, funk, R&B and soul to the PS! ska reggae sound. Manos was working at Tower Records on South Street when a friend, Maurice Brand, suggested that PS! give his cousin, Larry Snell, a drummer, an audition. Manos invited Snell to audition for PS! and the rest is history. Snell's combination of rock solid timing, diverse musical skills and an undeniably positive attitude was infectious. When the band asked Snell to join PS!, he accepted the group's offer. Soon after Snell joined PS!, Manos decided to incorporate a horn section into the sound and began looking for a trombone player to compliment Fuiano on sax. A music student by the name of Michael Hood responded to an ad placed by Manos. This line up of Manos, Fuiano, Neal, Snell and Hood was to become one of many excellent local groups in Philadelphia's great and rich musical history. The first performance that this formation of PS! played was at a venue called Bacchanal. The new fusion of sound produced by a ska-reggae-funk power trio combined with a tight two-piece horn section electrified the crowd - and the night ended up with many a happy patron - and even more broken beer bottles - as the audience erupted in pandemonium as the PS! performance ensued. This show was an inspiring event for the whole band - and especially for Snell and Manos . During the ride back to Snell's house in Southwest Philly after the gig, Snell and Manos were stopped by a member of the Philadelphia Police force. The traffic stop was quite a humorous incident, when a Philadelphia police officer by the name of Fitzpatrick found out he had friends in common with Manos! The incident inspired Snell to write a great funk song - and one of PS!' greatest funk anthems, "Salt & Pepper". As this formation of PS! began to develop a reputation for high energy performances, the group was also developing a unique character and sonic attack. The lyrics and riddims of songs were punctuated by searing horn blasts that propelled the sound to a new dimension. PS! played songs that became popular with the local Philly crowd at clubs. Tunes like "Rude Awakening", "NutHouse", "Lazy Boy", "Bad Nite In Philly", "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", and "Salt & Pepper" became staples of PS!' live shows. In 1988, PS! again headed to Preverbe Studios to work with Taj and recorded a seven song demo. One of the tracks recorded during this session was a two-tone ska version of the PS! song, "Bad Thing". The song "Bad Thing" was then selected by the Boston-based band, "Bim Skala Bim" for their "Mashin' Up The Nation!" compilation. Public Service! had established a great rapport with Bim Skala Bim - and performed several shows on the East Coast with Bim. The "Mashin' Up The Nation!" compilation was very well received in the new "third wave" ska scene - and also helped PS! gain larger exposure on the East Coast - and a small amount of notoriety in Europe. Vinny Nobile, lengendary stellar trombonist of the band Bim Skala Bim, The Pilfers and current founder of the group, Cenzo, - and Dan Vitale - both founders of the legendary American ska label, Bim Records, and the seminal third wave American ska band, Bim Skala Bim, distributed "Mashin' Up The Nation!" throughout the United States. It is in large part due to Nobile's and Vitale's and their band, Bim Skala Bim's efforts early on in the third wave ska scene, that ska music has had such a success in the US during the past two decades. During this time, the PS! hard-edged ska-punk funk brew was developing into a stronger, more cohesive sound. The band played gigs not only in Philly, but also saw the band travel to venues in New York like CBGB's and the Lone Star Cafe, the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, and The Channel and The Middle East in Boston, MA. This formation of PS! lasted until mid-1989 when PS! saw the departure of Bruce Neal from the band. During the fall of 1989, the band met several important people who would help further the musical career of Public Service!. The first was Alex Spyropoulos, a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania. Spyropoulos and Manos jammed together at Manos' home in South Philly and then auditioned with the band at RPM Studios. Those first jam sessions became the spark that ignited the most successful phase of the group's history to date. The quartet of Manos, Fuiano, Hood and Snell had been together for almost two years by now. The addition of Spyropoulos to the group brought a more fluid funk aspect to the group's sound. Combining hard-edged ska with in your face funk was something few bands attempted - and even fewer succeeded at. Public Service! achieved a level of cohesion in that fusion of sound that was vital, fresh and new - and even more exciting to watch on stage. Manos added another slammin' rap-funk original called, "Dine & Dash", which featured an innovative bass line from Spyropoulos, rock solid drumming from Snell, crunchy metal-guitar from Manos, and a dynamic horn arrangement by Hood and Fuiano. The seminal group Fishbone was an extremely powerful infuence on the group's sound and performance dynamics during this phase of the PS! evolution. PS! also was being helped by Philly music scene heroines, Karen McVicker and Carol Schutzbank. McVicker and Schutzbank formed an oustanding management company called "Earwig". Both women were instrumental in the rise of several important Philly bands like The Electric Love Muffin, Scram!, Filet of Funk - and Public Service! as well. Earwig released a cassette compilation and a video compilation called, "A Taste Of Philly" - and one of the featured tracks was Public Service!'s track, "Bad Night In Philly". This compilation helped PS! gain an even wider local following. Yet another person the band met who would be extremely helpful to PS! was a record producer by the name of Andrew Growcott. Growcott was also known to those familiar with him in the music business as the legendary, "Stoker", who was based in Philly at the time. Stoker had played drums for the seminal English bands, Dexy's Midnite Runners, The Bureau and was most widely known for his drumming and collaboration with Ranking Roger, David Wakeling, Sir Horace Panter, Mickey Billingham, Saxa and Mick Jones in the band, General Public. In the late fall of 1989, PS! received a phone call from Stoker. Stoker's voice mail message said he had heard the single, "Bad Thing", from the Taste of Philly compilation - and thought that they might have something in common! An elated Manos - realizing that the drummer of one of his favorite artists had called - quickly got back to Stoker. After a short meeting, the two decided to begin pre-production for the first PS! release. Stoker has since gone on to become a top flight record producer in LA and now lives in Southern California with his family. Stoker has produced albums for major artists such as Ice Cube, two-tone ska legends The Specials, and third wave ska favorites, Hep Cat. Stoker has also remixed hits for artists such as Sting, and has produced musical tracks for movies, such as the film, "Demolition Man". In 1990, PS! recorded and released their first cassette, "Somebody Scream!", produced by Stoker and the band. The production was financed through the help of a friend, John Ware - yet another of the important people who helped PS!. Without Ware's financial support, the first PS! album might have never been recorded. With a strong run of consistent live PS! performances and Ware's asisstance, "Somebody Scream!" became very popular locally and helped PS! establish an even stronger regional following. Rob Hingley, founder of the legendary American ska label, Moon Records, and the seminal third wave American ska band, The Toasters, helped to distribute "Somebody Scream!" in the United States. It is also in large part due to Hingley's and his band, The Toasters' efforts, that ska music has made such a dramatic impact in the US during the past two decades. On the West Coast, LA's seminal godfathers of ska-punk-funk fusion, Fishbone, and on the East Coast, Boston's "Ska-Core" kings, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were also largely responsible for the dissemination of the ska influence throughout the US. Many contemporary bands incorporating ska and reggae influences have been able to achieve success to varying degrees since these bands paved the way - in part due to the very real barriers that were knocked down and smashed through by the aforementioned individuals and groups. Comparisons of PS! to The Specials, The English Beat, Madness, Cameo and even the Beastie Boys were beginning to be made - and the future was growing brighter each time PS! played live. An exciting point during PS!' career came when Public Service! was chosen out of thousands of bands from all over the world to perform at the 1990 South By South West music conference in Austin, Texas. Karen McVicker and Carol Schutzbank were largely responsible for PS! performing at the event. The band travelled to Austin, TX - in a mobile home - and created quite an impression at the SXSW event. The stories that ensued during the trip - and that were videotaped - are hilarious and may even some day be released on DVD. Through McVicker and Schutzbank's hard work and dedication to the band, PS! was able to draw a much larger than anticipated response at the convention. When Public Service! made their debut performance at Austin's famous 6th Street venue, Mercado Caribe, almost 800 people attended their showcase. PS! performed brilliantly - and their show was raved about in the Austin-American Statesman. The PS! line-up of Manos, Fuiano, Snell, Hood and Spyropoulos became an exceptional musical group. Through their hard work together, the band developed incredible live performance dynamics - and even greater song-writing skills. Hood and Fuiano penned PS! favorites like "Criminal Dance", "The Personals", and "Ska Club". The cohesiveness of the quintet of Manos, Fuiano, Snell, Hood, and Spyropoulos was becoming stronger and stronger. PS! went on to win The East Coast Rocker "Battle Of The Bands" title for Southeastern Pennsylvania. Shortly after this victory, the entire band contributed to what would become one of PS!' greatest songs, "Abandon Ship". The song was a recounting of the tale when Public Service! was playing live at a venue called, "The Moshulu" - an old sailing ship that had been converted into a floating restaurant. As the story goes, PS! was playing live when a waitress walked up to Manos as he was singing a song. The band started to notice smoke coming from the side of the ship - and thought that the ship could be on fire. The waitress then whispered into Manos's ear to tell the patrons to "Abandon Ship!". Manos informed the audience of the situation and asked the audience to "Abandon Ship!" - and immediately several patrons dove over the side of the ship and into the Delaware River! Thankfully, all escaped alive, although some were injured in the ensuing chaos. Manos was temporarily thrown into the back of a police van for carrying his amplifier off of the ship - against the orders of the fire department chief at the scene of the blaze - and was then released a few minutes later. When the newspaper came out the next day, the headline read,"Abandon Ship!". When Manos saw this, he saw the headline as it was written - and then saw the phrase, "A Band On Ship" - and that phrase became the memorable chorus of the song. The band wrote the song shortly after the incident and "Abandon Ship" is now an essential part of the PS! live repertoire. The lineup of Manos, Fuiano, Snell, Hood and Spyropoulos would last until 1991, when two members left the band. First, Hood decided to join the army. Shortly after Hood's departure, Spyropoulos left the group due to the intense scholastic pressure of medical shool combined with a family member's illness. At this point, Manos, Fuiano and Snell regrouped and planned how they could continue making musical progress with PS!. It was during the period of late 1990 into early 1991, that Freddy "3D" Weaver began hanging out at shows - and even had helped PS! by selling merchandise at shows. PS! asked Freddie if he would sing with the group. With his extremely soulful and powerful voice combining gospel, funk and dance hall reggae abilites, enthusiastic energy and awesome stage presence, "3D" soon became a PS! fixture. Another local Philly friend, David Scheck, of Philly ska legends, Ruder Than You, came to the rescue of PS!. Schneck helped PS! by sitting in as trombonist for several months. Outstanding trombonist Greg Johnson also contributed to PS! live performances during this period. PS! then added David Wilder on bass and played in the Manos, Fuiano, Snell, Weaver, Schneck and Wilder formation for about a year. Wilder then moved to LA to further pursue his bass playing career, and Schneck's band, Ruder Than You, continued to grow as a hugely successful Philly ska reggae outfit in their own right. In mid-1992, Jeff Benkovic moved back to Philadelphia and re-joined the band. Shortly after Benkovic re-joined PS!, David Champion, a stellar trombone player and arranger who had recently relocated from Boston, responded to a PS! ad for a trombonist. With the addition of newer member, David Champion, and the return of Jeff Benkovic on bass, PS! began to re-establish itself as an extremely powerful band that could play diverse styles of music in a unique and exciting way. During this time, Weaver's song, "Nawty" became one of PS!' most popular songs. Snell's song "Wrong Damn Dude" was added to the musical stylings. Benkovic conceived the idea to do a punk funk version of the Grandmaster Flash hit, "White Lines". This song became one of the many highlights of any PS! set. Fuiano and Champion even began PS! shows by walking through the audience playing their horns to a cheering audience! The entire band developed the three song concept, "Waste" and began tracking for their next studio album. The Manos, Fuiano, Snell, Weaver, Benkovic and Champion line up was beginning to make a powerful impact on the local Philly music scene. In late 1992, Public Service! was voted "Best Live Performers" in the Delaware Valley Music Poll and the entire band received the award at the Trocadero. In 1993, Manos was contacted by friend and former PS! producer, Stoker, from LA - and was asked to record guitar tracks on General Public's last album, "Rub It Better". Manos visited friend and former bandmate David Wilder, now based in LA, and stayed at Wilder's while he recorded on the General Public tracks, "Now That We're Friends Again" and "Hold It Tight". While in LA recording the tracks for "Rub It Better" in 1993, Manos also responded to an ad placed in the LA Times when the Red Hot Chili Peppers were looking for a new guitarist. Manos auditioned for the Red Hot Chili Peppers after John Frusciante had quit the band. Manos initially auditioned with the Red Hot Chili Pepper stage technicians - and was asked to return for a second audition with the band, but the Chilis had decided to add the LA based Mother Tongue guitarist Jesse Tobias as Frusciante's replacment. Mother Tongue contacted Manos and asked him to audition for them, but Manos declined and decided to return to Philly. Tobias was in the Chili Peppers for only a brief period of time and was then replaced by Arik Marshall. Arik Marshall and David Wilder now play guitar and bass for Macy Gray - and performed on the studio recording of the hit, "I Try". Wilder has also toured with many artists - including Liz Phair - and is currently living and recording in LA. Wilder is a highly sought after studio musician and live performer. In the fall of 1994, PS! released the CD, "Waste", and continued making a name for themselves. Without a doubt, the "Waste" CD was the strongest musical statement of the PS! ska-reggae-punk funk-jazz-soul-r&b influence and fusion to date. It also represented the best collaborative effort that the band had achieved. Songs like "Rock The House", "Nawty", "Abandon Ship", "Cool By Nature", "Rydim Drop", "Ska Klub" and "Nitemare" kept the old school meets new school two- tone ska vibe strong. Tracks like "Bad Thing", "Victim Of The System", "Keepin' Up With The Jones", "Criminal Dance" and "Pleasure Pain" funked up the proceedings. "Wrong Damn Dude" and "What The Man Said" were incredibly innovative tracks that brought the hip-hop influence to the ska and reggae sound of PS!, while the three part trilogy of "Waste I, II & III" rocked the rest of the disc harder than ever before. PS! would achieve success yet again, when in late 1994, Public Service! was voted "Best World Music Group" in the Delaware Valley Music Poll - and for the second time, the entire band received their award at the Trocadero. The song, "Rydim Drop", from the "Waste" CD, an old school two-tone ska masterpiece penned by Manos and Wilson in 1984, was released by Moon Records as part of the two CD "Spawn of Skarmageddon" compilation. This compilation was one of several that brought important international recognition to the now exploding third wave ska scene. East Coast bands like The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, The Slackers, Eastern Standard Time, Skavoovie and The Epitones and others were beginning to achieve success not only in performing to larger audiences, but also in achieving radio airplay. West Coast bands like Rancid, No Doubt, Hep Cat and The Dance Hall Crashers were also making big splashes on their own respective labels as well. By this time, ska influenced music in America had achieved phenomenal success and legitimacy not experienced before - and was giving hope to a lot of ska musicians and fans that the music could reach yet an even wider audience. In 1995 and 1996, PS! continued to play locally and regionally in support of the CD "Waste". During this time, the band's line up continued to evolve. Mike Armstrong had joined the band as tenor sax player and Mike's cousin, Kevin Emery, had joined the group as bassist. Around this time, David Champion and Chris Manos penned the song, "Two Lloyds", which was an homage to Lloyd Knibb, Lloyd Brevett and Jamaica's "Godfathers of the Ska Sound" - The Skatalites. PS! opened shows for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Skatalites, Toots & The Maytals, and other national acts. A highlight of this era for PS! was when the group had the opportunity to open a huge show at the Trocadero for the Skatalites. PS! took this opportunity to debut their Skatalites homage, "Two Lloyds" - and were joined onstage by both Lloyd Knibb and Lloyd Brevett for the song! In the summer and fall of 1996, Philly ska reggae stalwarts, Ruder Than You, did their first national tour with a line up that consisted of Doug Dubrowski on sax and vocals, Freddie "3D" Weaver on vocals and toasting, Neal Petti and John Ware on guitars, Joe MacIlheny on trumpet and trombone - and PS! members Larry Snell on drums and Chris Manos on bass. This successful national tour expanded RTY's audience and the group's efforts were a tremendously positive inspiration to other musicians in the Philly scene. Many Big Ups and Much Respect to Doug Dubrowski, Freddie "3D" Weaver and the Ruder Than You Massive for making it happen! In 1997, after Manos finished touring with Ruder Than You, he resumed performing with PS!. PS!' Larry Snell had just started to tour regularly with the Toasters (Congrats, Big Ups and Much Respect to Ace!). As this personnel change developed, the new PS! line up became Manos on guitar and vocals, David Champion on trombone, Mike Armstrong on tenor sax, Kevin Emery on bass, superstar reggae legend Junior Richards - of Sons of Ace fame - on drums, Jah Lee on toasting and Robbie Donleavy on tenor and alto sax. During this time, Armstrong penned a slammin' ska punk track called, "Gimme All Your Money" - which has also become a hugely popular PS! song. 1997 also saw PS! perform to over 5,000 people at the Philadelphia Vans Warped Tour Show at the Wachovia Center. Towards the end of 1997, Richards moved to Florida with his family. In 1998, Manos was introduced to a drummer by the name of Nick Massoth - who at the time was also a dental student. Massoth's initial audition for the band was awesome. Massoth's positive spirit, incredible energy and sharp musicianship brought a different style of punk sensibility to the PS! riddim section's sound. Manos, Emery and Massoth, grew into an incredibly powerful riddim section. The horn section consisted of Josh Morrision on trumpet, Maxfield Gast on tenor sax, and Eric Frank on trombone and were developing very tasteful horn arrangements. Around this time, PS! signed with Boston based booking agency, Squad 16, and began to perform at college venues all along the east coast. This line up would be the group that would perform on the next PS! CD. Later in 1998, the legendary Junior Richards, friend and former PS! drummer, who had relocated to Florida, was now working with the famous reggae artist Bob Andy. Richards contacted Manos and asked him to work with Bob Andy. Richards and Manos played with Bob Andy for a short period of time. In 1999, the PS! line up of Manos, Emery, Massoth, Morrison, Gast and Frank was performing regularly - and the group began pre-production for their new CD titled, "RAW 2K". "RAW 2K" was released in the fall of 1999. The PS! songs "Glad Yer Back", "Two Lloyds", "NIMBY", "Stop The War", "Back Against The Wall", "Gimme All Your Money" and even a cover version of the Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" were just a few of the tunes that made it to the CD. That same year, Public Service's song, "Glad Yer Back" was chosen to appear on a 10 CD collection of 200 international independent artists called, "Time Capsule 2000" and was distributed internationally by Blacklight Records and House Of Jordan Entertainment. Through the year 2000, PS! played a lot of college shows. During that same time, Manos formed a new business venture called, Cranium Digital, a script to screen film and video production company. Manos began directing, producing, shooting and editing a high volume of film and video productions. Cranium Digital grew very quickly - and Manos concentrated on the responsibilities of growing the fledgling business - which is currently in its eighth year of operation. While growing Cranium Digital's film and video production business, Manos had much less time to devote to making music, but he continued writing new ska and reggae material - and the spirit of PS!' music began to take another new step forward. In 2002, working with new guitarist Terry Jones, bassist Ron Telfor, keyboardist Dwight McIntosh and drummer Keith Barnes, Manos began building the foundation for the next phase of the PS! sound. In the fall of 2003, Manos was again contacted by friend and former PS! drummer Junior Richards. Richards is now the drummer for reggae artists Mikey Dread and The Dread At The Controls Band - and also Johnny Dread. Junior Richards and Mikey Dread asked Manos to tour with The Dread At The Control Band. Manos, honored at the prospect of playing with reggae legend Mikey Dread and his Dread At The Controls Band, gladly accepted the offer. In 2004, Manos took time off from performing with PS! to support Mikey Dread's touring efforts. Manos did six successful tours with the The Dread At The Controls Band from February through September of 2004. The Dread At The Controls Band is still one of the best live "roots" reggae acts performing currently. In 2004, Mikey Dread and the DATC Band released a new video out for the song, "Rasta In Control". The video was filmed in Hollywood, CA during the first tour Manos did with Mikey Dread. Mikey Dread and the band members from that tour, including Chris Manos, make appearances in the video. In 2005, PS! sponsored "Ska Against Hunger" concerts in West Chester, PA and in Philadelphia, PA. Through the support of PS! fans, the shows were able to raise food for less fortunate people in the Delaware Valley, and the group donated the food collected at the shows to The Greater Philadelphia Food Bank. The group also performed at The RAINN Benefit at The Grape Street Pub, and The Best Buddies Ball at Haverford High School. Chris and his wife, Keri, were blessed with the good fortune of a pregnancy with their first child in the summer of 2006.  In the fall of 2006, PS! performed at the Knitting Factory's Three Floors of Ska show in New York City on October 28, 2006. On February 23rd, 2007, Keri and Chris had their first child - a daughter, Kacey Taran Manos!  During 2007, Chris devoted his time to selling the family's two homes in Philadelphia, moving to the burbs, writing new material with Dwight MacIntosh for the next PS! recording, and merging Cranium Digital with Get Kinetic - another outstanding film and video production company based in Philadelphia. The current line-up of PS! features Christopher Manos on Guitar and Vocals, David Champion on Trombone and Vocals, Keith Barnes and John Patriarca on Drums, James McKeever on Bass and Korey Riker on Tenor Saxaphone. The future promises to be even better as Public Service! continues work on the new CD, "Positively!". "Positively!" will feature the latest stylings of PS! and should be yet another fine addition to the PS! musical catalogue. We'll keep you posted as new developments happen.