Ska, the Sound from 1950's and 1960's Jamaica

Ska Boy

Contents

What is Ska

So, you are into Ska or you would like to learn more. That is obvious since you found your way to this site. Keep in mind that I am not an authority on Ska anymore than anyone else. My reason to put my two cents in comes only from a love for Ska and other similar music. One last note, I am going to be straight with you, I am going to shamelessly promote my friend's band -- Mento Buru. This band is made up of very fine and talented musicians.

Ranting

Has anyone born after 1990 understood that Ska is 40 years older than they are? Too many of them think that Ska is short for Skate. They base this assumption on modern Ska-core (see below).
Ska does not equal Skate

Origin of Ska

Ska, what does it mean? What about Skankin' or Rudie (Rudy, Rude Boy)? Why is the checkered pattern so previlant in Two Tone Ska?

Ska is an old form of music. It comes from the 1950s and early 1960s Jamaica. The population was very poor; but they had a rich inheritance of music and rhythms from neighboring islands and from ancestral homelands in Africa. When you listen to Ska, it is very easy to hear the accent beat (also called the back beat--beat hits on 2 and 4 in four beat time). This beat is the foundation of many kinds of music (eg; rock and roll, some jazz, reggae, rocksteady, dancehall, mod, and others).

But, Ska's influence was not strictly built upon those solid foundations. Ska came from the street kids who were influenced by popular culture. During these times of hardship and want, many were drawn to crime. These young kids-of-the-street (today we would call them punks, but this is before the punk revolution in the 1970s) had little respect for law enforcement and did not follow the same set of rules that guided their parents. It is because of this direspect from the Ska kids that the older people coined a phrase that solidified and popularized the Ska movement--Rude Boy. This phrase was taken and worn like a badge of honor by the Ska kids. Later it was shorted to Rudie (a.k.a. Rudy).

How did popular culture influence Ska? No matter how poor the people were or how hard times were, people would take time to watch the latest movies from America. The most popular movies for the Ska kids included gangster films. This theme was central to their disregard for the law. The gangster theme and other movie themes show up in the music of the time: Al Capone - Prince Buster; Guns of Navarone - Skatalites and others.

Ska, the predecessor to Reggae, is Jamaica's original indigenous music. Ska was born from a combination of many music styles that were heard over the radio or on records and then emulated by Jamaican musicians. These styles included R & B, calypso, Nyabinghi drumming, Afro-Cuban music, Jazz and good ol' American Rock & Roll. Rock Steady came from Ska, and Reggae from Rock Steady. Without diving too deep, one can surmise that the most important thing to come from Ska and its early siblings was the invention of the "Skank," when the chord is played on the upbeat (the 2 & the 4).
~Clyde Sutliff, MSN Music

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Terms of Ska

  • Check board patttern -- Coming from the Two Tone wave, this central theme of Ska represented racial unity. During Ska's second wave; bands were politacally charged to erase racism.
  • Hyper-Ska -- This term is used for many Third Wave Ska bands. When Ska's fundamentals (First or Second Wave) are not altered and only the tempo is speed up; you get Hyper-Ska (Third Wave).
  • Love Skavoovie -- At the beginning of Ska, Cluet Johnson would greet his friends with this phrase. From this greeting, the the word Ska became the name for the new sound in Jamaica.
  • Original Ska -- Over forty years ago, from the island of Jamaica came the root for reggae, rocksteady, and many other musical types.
  • Skankin' -- the jerky, jumpin', dance of Ska.
  • Ska-core -- When Ska incorporated a more aggresive sound; Ska-core was born and adopted my many in the skating comunity.
  • Second-wave -- It is also known as Two Tone.
  • Third-wave -- This was the third "revival" of Ska. It started around 1990 and gave way to hyper-Ska, Ska-core, and others.
  • Two Tone -- This was also known as second wave. In the very late 1970s and early 1980s, Ska saw a revival in the UK with bands like the Beat (a.k.a. English Beat).

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Who's Who of Ska [Based on Style]

Original Ska Second Wave Ska Third Wave Ska
Alton Ellis
Desmond Dekker
The Skatalites
Jimmy Cliff
Prince Buster
Bob Marley
Toots & the Maytals
Delroy Wilson
Peter Tosh
Horace Andy
Bunny Livingston and Rita Marley
Derrick Morgan
Doreen Shaffer & The Skatalites
Ernest Ranglin
Jack Sparrow
Jackie Opel
Jeff Dixon
Laurel Aitken
King Tubby
 Bim Skala Bim
the Untouchables
the Beat (English Beat)
the Specials
Madness (Nutty Sound)
the Toasters
Hepcat
UB40
 Mento Buru (Hyper-Ska, Jazz-Ska)
the Clash (many styles)
Let's Go Bowling
Scofflaws
Skavoovie and the Epitones
Pietasters (Hyper-Ska)
Skoidats (Hyper-Ska, Punk)
Operation Ivy (Punk, Ska)
Skankin' Pickle
Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Hyper-Ska, Ska-Punk)
Rancid (Hyper-Ska, Punk)
Dropkick Murphys (Ska, Punk)
Hippos, the (Ska-Punk)
Busters, the (Ska)

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Essential Listening

Original Ska:
Prince Buster - Al Capone (1965)
Desmond Dekker - Isrealites (1969)
Skatalites - Guns of Navarrone

Two Tone:
The Toasters - Two Tone Army
English Beat - Whine and Grind

Third Wave:
Mento Buru - 007 [Shanty Town] (Hyper-Ska) (2002)
Rancid - Hooligans (Hyper-Ska)
Dropkick Murphys - The Gangs All Here
Operation Ivy - Sound System

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Links to Other's Pages

  1. The 60's Jamaican Music Reference: Definitely a site you must visit.
  2. Ska Ville: Intelligently writen history of Jamaican music.
  3. All Ska
  4. Merc Clothing
  5. DC Ska
  6. the Swiss SKAlender (deutsch/francais)
  7. Wolverine Records (deutsch)

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Favorite Tunes