Ska
Encyclopedia
Ska is a music genre
that originated in Jamaica
in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady
and reggae
. Ska combined elements of Caribbean
mento
and calypso
with American
jazz
and rhythm and blues
. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat.
In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British
mods.
Later it became popular with many skinhead
s.
Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave), the English
2 Tone
ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave) and the third wave ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s.
claimed that the term was coined by musicians to refer to the "skat! skat! skat!" scratching guitar strum. Another explanation is that at a recording session in 1959 produced by Coxsone Dodd
, double bassist Cluett Johnson instructed guitarist Ranglin to "play like ska, ska, ska", although Ranglin has denied this, stating "Clue couldn't tell me what to play!" A further theory is that it derives from Johnson's word skavoovie, with which he was known to greet his friends. Jackie Mittoo
insisted that the musicians themselves called the rhythm Staya Staya, and that it was Byron Lee
who introduced the term 'ska'.
Ernest Ranglin described the difference between the R&B and the ska beat is that the former goes "chink-ka" and the latter goes "ka-chink".
, Jamaica
ns purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues
music from Southern United States
cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino
and Louis Jordan
.
The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music, and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster
, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd
, and Duke Reid
formed sound systems. As jump blues
and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres. The style was of bars made up of four triplets but was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat - known as an upstroke or skank - with horns taking the lead and often following the off beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean
forms of music, such as mento
and calypso
.
One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster
created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells. The session was financed by Duke Reid
, who was supposed to get half of the songs to release. However, he only received one, which was by trombonist
Rico Rodriguez
. Among the pieces recorded were "They Got to Go", "Oh Carolina
" and "Shake a Leg
". According to reggae
historian Steve Barrow
, during the sessions, Prince Buster told guitarist Jah Jerry to "change gear, man, change gear." The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essentially flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar. Prince Buster has explicitly cited American rhythm & blues as the origin of ska, specifically Willis Jackson's song "Later for the Gator", "Oh Carolina", and "Hey Hey Mr. Berry".
The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica
with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga
. The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by songs such as Derrick Morgan
's "Forward March" and The Skatalites
' "Freedom Sound." Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
until 1994 copyright
was not an issue, which created a large number of cover songs and reinterpretations. Jamaican musicians such as The Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles
songs, Motown and Atlantic
soul
hits, movie theme songs, or surf rock instrumentals. Bob Marley
's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' "And I Love Her
", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan
's "Like a Rolling Stone
".
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Jimmy Cliff
at the 1964 New York World's Fair
. As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1965 and 1966, when American soul music became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady
. However, rocksteady's heyday was brief, peaking in 1967. By 1968, ska evolved again into reggae.
genre, which began in the late 1970s in the areas in and around the city of Coventry
in England
, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock
's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records
, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers
of The Specials
. In many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom
.
The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship issues. Riots in British cities were a feature during the summer that The Specials song "Ghost Town" was a hit, although this work was in a slower, Reggae beat. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat
(known as English Beat in North America
and the British Beat in Australia
), The Specials, and The Selecter
. Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness
was one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream.
disbanding in 1984 and 2 Tone Records
dissolving in 1986, the UK continued to produce a thriving underground ska scene well into the remainder of the decade. By the late 1980s, ska had experienced a minor resurgence of popularity in Britain, propelled by bands such as The Hotknives
, The Trojans, Potato 5 and The Loafers and the re-emergence of ska music festivals record labels, most notably Unicorn Records.
The early 1980s saw a massive international surge in ska's popularity, particularly in Europe. Germany
proved to be one of the more notable, producing a large number of ska bands, record labels and festivals. Notable German ska bands included Skaos, Blechreiz
and The Busters
. Other prominent bands from Europe's late-1980s/early-1990s ska boom included Mr. Review
and Mark Foggo's Skasters from Amsterdam, and Skarface
from France.
The Australian ska
scene flourished in the mid-1980s, following the musical precedents set by 2 Tone and spearheaded by bands such as Strange Tenants and No Nonsense, both from Melbourne, and later The Porkers
from Newcastle. Some of these bands found success on the Australian charts, most notably Sydney's The Allniters
, who had a #10 hit with a ska cover of "Montego Bay
" in 1983.
Japan first established its own ska and reggae scenes — the former colloquially referred to as J-ska
— in the mid-1980s. The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
, formed in 1988, have been one of the most commercially successful progenitors of the country's ska scene.
South America's ska scene started developing in the mid-1980s. South American ska bands typically play traditional ska rhythms blended with strong influences from Latin music and rock en Español
. The most prominent of these bands is Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
from Argentina
. Formed in 1985, the band has sold millions of records worldwide, scoring an international hit single with "El Matador
" in 1994 and winning the 1998 Grammy Award
for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album
.
, ska bands began forming throughout the United States
. The Uptones
from Berkeley, California
and The Toasters
from New York City
- both formed in 1981 - were among the first active ska bands in North America, both credited with laying the groundwork for American ska and establishing scenes in their respective regions. While many of the early American ska bands continued in the musical traditions set by 2 Tone and the mod revival
, bands such as Fishbone
, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
and Operation Ivy
pioneered the American ska punk
subgenre, a fusion
of ska and punk rock
which typically downplayed ska's R&B influence in favor of faster tempo
s and guitar distortion.
Two hotspots for the United States' burgeoning ska scenes were New York City and Orange County
, California. In New York, Toasters frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley formed independent label Moon Ska Records in 1983. The label quickly became the largest ska independent record label in the United States, distributing titles from east coast bands like The Slackers
, The Scofflaws
and The Pietasters
. The Orange County ska scene was a breeding ground for ska punk and more contemporary pop-influenced ska music, personified by bands such as Reel Big Fish
, No Doubt
and Sublime
. It was here that the term "third wave ska" was coined and popularized by Tazy Phyllips (host of the Ska Parade
radio show) to describe the new wave of ska-influenced bands which were steadily gaining notoriety. The San Francisco Bay Area
also contributed to ska's growing popularity, with Skankin' Pickle
, Let's Go Bowling
and the Dance Hall Crashers
becoming known on the touring circuit.
The mid-1990s saw a considerable rise in ska music's underground popularity, marked by the formation of many ska-based record labels, booking organizations and indie zine
s. While Moon Ska was still the largest of the United States' ska labels, other notable labels included Jump Up Records of Chicago
, which covered the thriving midwest
scene, and Steady Beat Recordings of Los Angeles
, which covered Southern California's traditional ska revival popularized by the band Hepcat
. Stomp Records of Montreal
was Canada's primary distributor of ska music, carrying titles from Canadian bands such as The Planet Smashers
, The Kingpins
and King Apparatus
. Additionally, many punk and indie rock labels, such as Hellcat Records
and Fueled by Ramen
, broadened their scope to include both ska and ska punk bands. Asian Man Records
(formerly Dill Records
), founded by Skankin' Pickle's Mike Park
in 1996, started out primarily releasing skapunk albums before branching out and releasing early albums by punk bands Alkaline Trio
and The Lawrence Arms
.
In 1993, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records
, becoming the first American ska band to find mainstream commercial success, with their 1994 album Question the Answers
achieving gold record
status and peaking at #138 on the Billboard 200
. In 1995, punk band Rancid
, featuring former members of Operation Ivy, released the ska single "Time Bomb" which reached #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, becoming the first major ska hit of the 1990s and launching the genre into the public eye. Over the next few years, a string of notable ska and ska-influenced singles became hits on mainstream radio, including "Spiderwebs
" by No Doubt, "Sell Out
" by Reel Big Fish and "The Impression That I Get
" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, all of whom would reach platinum status with each of their respective albums. By 1996, third wave ska was one of the most popular forms of alternative music in the United States.
By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum. Moon Ska Records folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe, a licensed affiliate based in Europe, continued operating in the 2000s, and was later relaunched as Moon Ska World
. In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records
.
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
that originated in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. Ska combined elements of Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
and calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat.
In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mods.
Later it became popular with many skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s.
Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave), the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
2 Tone
2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave) and the third wave ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s.
Etymology
There are different theories about the origins of the word ska. Ernest RanglinErnest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
claimed that the term was coined by musicians to refer to the "skat! skat! skat!" scratching guitar strum. Another explanation is that at a recording session in 1959 produced by Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, double bassist Cluett Johnson instructed guitarist Ranglin to "play like ska, ska, ska", although Ranglin has denied this, stating "Clue couldn't tell me what to play!" A further theory is that it derives from Johnson's word skavoovie, with which he was known to greet his friends. Jackie Mittoo
Jackie Mittoo
Jackie Mittoo was a Jamaican keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a founding member of The Skatalites and was a mentor to many younger performers, primarily through his work as musical director for the Studio One record label.-Biography:He was born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town,...
insisted that the musicians themselves called the rhythm Staya Staya, and that it was Byron Lee
Byron Lee
Byron Lee OD, OJ was a musician, record producer, and entrepreneur, best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.-Biography:Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father Byron Lee OD, OJ (born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee, 27...
who introduced the term 'ska'.
Ernest Ranglin described the difference between the R&B and the ska beat is that the former goes "chink-ka" and the latter goes "ka-chink".
History
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
ns purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
music from Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
and Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
.
The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music, and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, and Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
formed sound systems. As jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres. The style was of bars made up of four triplets but was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat - known as an upstroke or skank - with horns taking the lead and often following the off beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
forms of music, such as mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
and calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
.
One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster
Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...
created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells. The session was financed by Duke Reid
Duke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
, who was supposed to get half of the songs to release. However, he only received one, which was by trombonist
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
Rico Rodriguez
Rico Rodriguez
Rico Rodriguez MBE , also known as Reco or El Reco, is a ska and reggae trombonist. He has recorded with many producers, including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd 'Matador' Daley...
. Among the pieces recorded were "They Got to Go", "Oh Carolina
Oh Carolina
"Oh Carolina" is a song made famous by Shaggy, and released as the lead single from his debut album, Pure Pleasure. Written by John Folkes, produced by Prince Buster and performed by The Folkes Brothers in 1960, "Oh Carolina" was a landmark single in the development of reggae music, especially as a...
" and "Shake a Leg
Shake a Leg
"Shake a Leg" is a song by Roll Deep. It was released on the 10th October 2005 in the UK and managed to peak to number 24 in the UK Singles Chart.-Track listing:Digital download#"Shake a Leg" – 2:47#"Heat Up" - 4:01CD Single...
". According to reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
historian Steve Barrow
Steve Barrow
Steve Barrow is a British reggae historian, writer and producer.In 1993 he co-founded Blood and Fire, a UK based record label specialized in reissuing older Jamaican music...
, during the sessions, Prince Buster told guitarist Jah Jerry to "change gear, man, change gear." The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essentially flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar. Prince Buster has explicitly cited American rhythm & blues as the origin of ska, specifically Willis Jackson's song "Later for the Gator", "Oh Carolina", and "Hey Hey Mr. Berry".
The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ON PC was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1980 to 1989 and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005. He served as leader of the opposition from 1974 to 1980 and again from 1989 until January 2005...
. The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by songs such as Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan is a musical artist popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in the rhythm and blues and ska genres, and he also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae.-Biography:In 1957 Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent...
's "Forward March" and The Skatalites
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone". They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period...
' "Freedom Sound." Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886.- Content :...
until 1994 copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
was not an issue, which created a large number of cover songs and reinterpretations. Jamaican musicians such as The Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
songs, Motown and Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
hits, movie theme songs, or surf rock instrumentals. Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' "And I Love Her
And I Love Her
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by The Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney . The fifth track on their third album, A Hard Day's Night, it was released 20 July 1964 with "If I Fell" as a single by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching #12 in Billboard.The Beatles performed "And I...
", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Like a Rolling Stone
Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
".
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires are a Jamaican ska, calypso and soca band. The band played a crucial pioneering role in bringing Caribbean music to the world...
performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
. As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1965 and 1966, when American soul music became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
. However, rocksteady's heyday was brief, peaking in 1967. By 1968, ska evolved again into reggae.
2 Tone
The 2 Tone2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
genre, which began in the late 1970s in the areas in and around the city of Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records was an English record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone.-History:...
, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...
of The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
. In many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship issues. Riots in British cities were a feature during the summer that The Specials song "Ghost Town" was a hit, although this work was in a slower, Reggae beat. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
(known as English Beat in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and the British Beat in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), The Specials, and The Selecter
The Selecter
The Selecter are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially diverse line-up. Their lyrics featured themes connected to politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat...
. Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
was one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream.
Third wave
While the British ska revival eventually fell out of the mainstream by 1983, with The SpecialsThe Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
disbanding in 1984 and 2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records was an English record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone.-History:...
dissolving in 1986, the UK continued to produce a thriving underground ska scene well into the remainder of the decade. By the late 1980s, ska had experienced a minor resurgence of popularity in Britain, propelled by bands such as The Hotknives
The Hotknives
- Band history :The Hotknives originally formed in 1982. They recorded two live albums, "Live at the Boatman" and "Live and Skanking" before recording their first studio album, "The Way Things Are" in 1989. The band regularly toured Europe and from 1994 the line-up consisted of original members...
, The Trojans, Potato 5 and The Loafers and the re-emergence of ska music festivals record labels, most notably Unicorn Records.
The early 1980s saw a massive international surge in ska's popularity, particularly in Europe. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
proved to be one of the more notable, producing a large number of ska bands, record labels and festivals. Notable German ska bands included Skaos, Blechreiz
Blechreiz
Blechreiz is a German ska band founded in 1983 in southern Berlin.Along with Skaos from Bavarian Krumbach, No Sports, The Braces from Jülich, El Bosso & die Ping-Pongs from Munster and The Busters from Wiesloch, Blechreiz was one of the pioneers of the German ska scene at the end of the 1980s and...
and The Busters
The Busters
The Busters are a German third wave ska revival band, established as a side project in 1987. Playing 2 Tone-influenced ska, they became one of the best-known German ska bands, having a minor hit single in Germany with a ska cover of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" They signed to Sony Music...
. Other prominent bands from Europe's late-1980s/early-1990s ska boom included Mr. Review
Mr. Review
Mr. Review is a Dutch ska revival band, formed by Roel Ording and Arne Visser in 1983 in Amsterdam. They were active from 1983 to 1998, when the band officially dissolved. Three years later the band was reformed and has remained active until present....
and Mark Foggo's Skasters from Amsterdam, and Skarface
Skarface
Skarface is a third wave ska band from France that started in 1991.Their music includes influences from ska, punk rock and other genres. They have produced one CD almost every year of their existence...
from France.
The Australian ska
Australian ska
The Australian ska scene has existed since the mid 1980s, when it started enjoying the same sort of interest as it did in the United Kingdom, following the success of UK 2 Tone bands such as The Specials, The Beat and Madness.- Beginnings :...
scene flourished in the mid-1980s, following the musical precedents set by 2 Tone and spearheaded by bands such as Strange Tenants and No Nonsense, both from Melbourne, and later The Porkers
The Porkers
The Porkers are a ska punk band from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.Formed in 1987 as The Pork Hunts, the band was eventually forced to change its name to the less offensive-sounding Porkers in 1990 after their regular Newcastle venue refused to present them with their old name...
from Newcastle. Some of these bands found success on the Australian charts, most notably Sydney's The Allniters
Allniters
The Allniters were an Australian ska pop band based in Sydney during 1980–1987. Original line-up was Ted Ayers on sax, Dave Bebb on drums, Stuart Crysell on guitar, Martin Fabok on guitar, Peter Hill-Travis on vocals, Graham Hood on bass guitar, Brett Pattinson on vocals and Mark Taylor on...
, who had a #10 hit with a ska cover of "Montego Bay
Montego Bay (song)
"Montego Bay" is a song by Bobby Bloom about the city in Jamaica. The song was a Top 10 hit for Bloom in September 1970 on both sides of the Atlantic. It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart, #5 on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart, #7 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart and #8 on the US...
" in 1983.
Japan first established its own ska and reggae scenes — the former colloquially referred to as J-ska
J-ska
Japanese ska or J-ska is ska or ska punk music made in Japan by Japanese artists with lyrics in the Japanese language or in English...
— in the mid-1980s. The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
, commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band officially formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene...
, formed in 1988, have been one of the most commercially successful progenitors of the country's ska scene.
South America's ska scene started developing in the mid-1980s. South American ska bands typically play traditional ska rhythms blended with strong influences from Latin music and rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
. The most prominent of these bands is Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Formed in 1985, the band has sold millions of records worldwide, scoring an international hit single with "El Matador
El Matador
"Matador" is a song written and sung by Gabriel Julio Fernandez Capello , the lead singer of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, a rock band from Argentina...
" in 1994 and winning the 1998 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album
Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
The Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album was an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Latin rock and alternative music genres at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
.
North America
By the early 1980s, influenced by 2 Tone2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
, ska bands began forming throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Uptones
The Uptones
The Uptones were one of the first bands devoted to playing ska on the West Coast of the United States.- History :The Uptones formed in Berkeley, California while band members Eric Dinwiddie , Paul Jackson, Ben Eastwood and Charles Stella were attending Berkeley High School and Cazadero Performing...
from Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
and The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- both formed in 1981 - were among the first active ska bands in North America, both credited with laying the groundwork for American ska and establishing scenes in their respective regions. While many of the early American ska bands continued in the musical traditions set by 2 Tone and the mod revival
Mod Revival
The mod revival was a music genre and subculture that started in England in 1978 and later spread to other countries . The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence has lasted for decades...
, bands such as Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
and Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. Its purpose was to help upgrade the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons in response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program...
pioneered the American ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
subgenre, a fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of ska and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
which typically downplayed ska's R&B influence in favor of faster tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
s and guitar distortion.
Two hotspots for the United States' burgeoning ska scenes were New York City and Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California. In New York, Toasters frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley formed independent label Moon Ska Records in 1983. The label quickly became the largest ska independent record label in the United States, distributing titles from east coast bands like The Slackers
The Slackers
The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Brooklyn in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz...
, The Scofflaws
The Scofflaws
The Scofflaws are a Huntington, Long Island, New York-based third wave ska band that debuted in 1988. Known for their rambunctious live shows, technically proficient horn solos and tight arrangements, The Scofflaws were one of the top third wave ska acts of the '90s and one of the most beloved...
and The Pietasters
The Pietasters
The Pietasters are a seven-piece ska/soul band hailing from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.- History :In 1990, a group of friends were attending college at Virginia Tech in the mountains of Virginia...
. The Orange County ska scene was a breeding ground for ska punk and more contemporary pop-influenced ska music, personified by bands such as Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...
, No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
and Sublime
Sublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
. It was here that the term "third wave ska" was coined and popularized by Tazy Phyllips (host of the Ska Parade
Ska Parade
Ska Parade, now known as SP Radio One, is a southern California radio show whose goal is to promote up-and-coming ska artists, as well as other types of new bands. The show was created by Tazy Phyllipz and Albino Brown. The show was a part of the Orange County third-wave ska movement of the mid-1990s...
radio show) to describe the new wave of ska-influenced bands which were steadily gaining notoriety. The San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
also contributed to ska's growing popularity, with Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1996.-Biography:Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. The band played their first show on April 28, 1989,...
, Let's Go Bowling
Let's Go Bowling
Let's Go Bowling is an American third wave ska band hailing from Fresno, California. Since the band's inception in 1986, the band's traditional ska style, barbershop harmonies, wisely crafted instrumentals, and its frantic live performances, helped set the standard for dress and culture for West...
and the Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers is an American ska punk band formed in 1989 in Berkeley, California.-Early years:The original incarnation of the Dance Hall Crashers was formed in 1989 by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong, formerly of the seminal Bay Area ska-punk band Operation Ivy, after both musicians...
becoming known on the touring circuit.
The mid-1990s saw a considerable rise in ska music's underground popularity, marked by the formation of many ska-based record labels, booking organizations and indie zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s. While Moon Ska was still the largest of the United States' ska labels, other notable labels included Jump Up Records of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which covered the thriving midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
scene, and Steady Beat Recordings of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, which covered Southern California's traditional ska revival popularized by the band Hepcat
Hepcat
Hepcat is a ska and reggae band formed in southern California in 1989.Their soulful harmonies and mellow rhythms were unlike those of contemporaries and more akin to musicians from the heyday of 1960s Jamaican ska, also referred to as the first wave....
. Stomp Records of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
was Canada's primary distributor of ska music, carrying titles from Canadian bands such as The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers are a ska punk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since their formation in 1994, they have been a staple of the Montreal music scene. During the third wave of ska, they quickly rose to national, and eventual international fame, with tours in the United States, Europe, and Japan...
, The Kingpins
The Kingpins
The Kingpins featuring Lorraine Muller - The Queen of Ska was a ska band from Montréal, Canada, signed to the Stomp Records label. The last Kingpins tour took place in 2004, after which the members of the band reformed under the name Lo and the Magnetics founded by Muller in order to reflect the...
and King Apparatus
King Apparatus
King Apparatus was a Canadian third wave ska band, active in the early 1990s. Formed in 1987 in London, Ontario and later based in Toronto, the band's lineup varied over its lifetime, including vocalist Chris Murray, guitarists Sam Tallo, Paul Ruston, J. C...
. Additionally, many punk and indie rock labels, such as Hellcat Records
Hellcat Records
Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an off-shoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz carp Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, the latter of whom is generally responsible for...
and Fueled by Ramen
Fueled by Ramen
Fueled by Ramen is an American record label which operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida, is based in New York City...
, broadened their scope to include both ska and ska punk bands. Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records is a small, DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established May 1996.-Artists:...
(formerly Dill Records
Dill Records
Dill Records was a small punk rock/ska record label based out of Monte Sereno, California, that put out CDs/records from 1989-1998. The name is an allusion to initially the label's only band, Skankin' Pickle. It was started by Mike Park, a.k.a. Bruce Lee of Skankin' Pickle. The first other band...
), founded by Skankin' Pickle's Mike Park
Mike Park
Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and most recently an acoustic solo project under his own name...
in 1996, started out primarily releasing skapunk albums before branching out and releasing early albums by punk bands Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
and The Lawrence Arms
The Lawrence Arms
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. They have released five full-length albums and toured extensively.-Pre-history:...
.
In 1993, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, becoming the first American ska band to find mainstream commercial success, with their 1994 album Question the Answers
Question the Answers
Question the Answers is the fourth album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, released on October 4, 1994 .-Track listing:# "Kinder Words" – 3:06# "A Sad Silence" – 3:57# "Hell of a Hat" – 3:54# "Pictures to Prove It" – 3:16...
achieving gold record
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
status and peaking at #138 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. In 1995, punk band Rancid
Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...
, featuring former members of Operation Ivy, released the ska single "Time Bomb" which reached #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, becoming the first major ska hit of the 1990s and launching the genre into the public eye. Over the next few years, a string of notable ska and ska-influenced singles became hits on mainstream radio, including "Spiderwebs
Spiderwebs
"Spiderwebs" is a ska punk song written by Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal for No Doubt's third studio album Tragic Kingdom . It was released as the album's second single in 1995 . When "Spiderwebs" reached the radio airwaves in the U.S, it began a revival of the ska genre. The song is a combination of...
" by No Doubt, "Sell Out
Sell Out (song)
"Sell Out" is a song by California ska punk band Reel Big Fish, released as the first track on their 1996 album Turn The Radio Off. The song has proven to be one of Reel Big Fish's more popular releases. It has been interpreted as chronicling the payola scandals of early FM radio. However, it can...
" by Reel Big Fish and "The Impression That I Get
The Impression That I Get
"The Impression That I Get" is a song by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the lead single from their 1997 studio album Let's Face It. It is the band's most successful and popular song. The track reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. In...
" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, all of whom would reach platinum status with each of their respective albums. By 1996, third wave ska was one of the most popular forms of alternative music in the United States.
By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum. Moon Ska Records folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe, a licensed affiliate based in Europe, continued operating in the 2000s, and was later relaunched as Moon Ska World
Moon Ska World
Moon Ska World, formerly known as Moon Ska Europe, was formed in 1998 as the European sister label of the defunct record label Moon Ska Records. It is based in the United Kingdom. The name change was revealed through the Moon Ska Europe website in 2006...
. In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records
Megalith Records
Megalith Records is a ska record label founded on August 22, 2002 and located in Norman, Oklahoma. It is owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley of The Toasters and the defunct label Moon Ska Records, and managed by Jeremy Patton, current webmaster and graphic artist for the Toasters...
.
Further reading
- Neville Staple (2009) Original Rude BoyOriginal Rude BoyOriginal Rude Boy is the autobiography of Neville Staple, vocalist in ska band The Specials. The book was launched in May, 2009 to coincide with the reunion tour of The Specials. It sets out to chart the black British influence on the second wave of ska which originated in Coventry in the late...
, Aurum PressAurum PressAurum Press is an independent English publishing house located in London. It was founded in 1976. Aurum concentrates on non-fiction titles and publishes approximately 75 new books every year. One of its titles in 2009 will be the biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in The Specials, Fun Boy...
. ISBN 978-1-84513-480-8
See also
- Australian skaAustralian skaThe Australian ska scene has existed since the mid 1980s, when it started enjoying the same sort of interest as it did in the United Kingdom, following the success of UK 2 Tone bands such as The Specials, The Beat and Madness.- Beginnings :...
- Christian skaChristian skaChristian ska is a form of alternative Christian music, and sub-genre of ska and ska-punk which is lyrically oriented toward Christian music. Though ska did not constitute a genre within the Christian music industry until after third wave ska had peaked in the general market, Christian ska...
- List of ska musicians
- Rude boyRude boyRude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi or rudy are common terms used in Jamaica. In the 1960s it was also used for juvenile delinquents and criminals in Jamaica, and has since been used in other contexts...
- Skank (dance)Skank (dance)Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, and other music scenes.The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them...
External links
- [ Allmusic] Section about third wave ska
- Ska's Third Wave Article from Furious.com
- SKAlovers.de Ska website for Germany, Austria and Switzerland
- http://www.skawales.blogspot.com Ska Website with news of Ska in Wales and UK
- Ska Information & Fan Zine