THE HISTORY OF SKA!

In the early 1960's, Jamaica was in the process of gaining its independence from the British commonwealth. The nationalistic spirit was strong, and the island's musicians were looking for a new sound the was distinctly Jamaican. Considering the harsh conditions faced by workers and residents of the infamous Trenchtown ghetto, they were also looking for a style that would be uplifting and energizing so that the people could smile - and dance in the face of adversity.

Ska emerged from the elements of American R&B and jazz (artists such as Count Basie and Woody Herman were heard via short-wave radio broadcasts from the States); Caribbean calypso music and mento, a swinging Jamaican variation of calypso. From the start, it was characterized by an upbeat rhythm with the drums emphasizing two and four and the guitar playing the "and" or off-beats. It's been suggested that the name "ska" came from the sound of the rhythm off-beat guitar chop, though Tommy McCook, the tenor sax player for the Skatalites, tells interviewers the word was born when his nascent group chose its name, "Somebody said 'Satellites," McCook said. "And I said, No, Skatalites," for we were playing ska".

The Skatalites would become ska's version of the powerful Stax and Motown studio bands: a group that virtually personified the genre. Among other pioneers who honed the ska sound: Cecil Bustamente Campbell, later known as Prince Buster; Cuban-born vocalist Laurel Aitken; Don Drummond, the man who was often called "the world's greatest trombonist"; the great Desmond Dekker, who poetically described ska's role as music for "The Man In The Street," and the immortal Ethiopians (after the Skatalites' "Guns of Navarone," their "Train To Skaville" is perhaps the best-known early ska tune).

More than anyone else, two men can be thanked for popularizing the new sound: Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and former policeman Duke Reid, a.k.a. the Trojan, a nickname he acquired from his Trojan flatbed truck. dodd and Reid both ran liquor stores in Kingston, and they played music to lure customers inside. This led to them setting up mobile sound systems that could be used for massive dance parties in the streets. It was only a short leap from there to pressing up their own records. By the mid 60's, Dodd was running the Coxsone and Studio One labels, while Reid was the man behind Treasure Isle and Trojan, perhaps the most famous Jamaican music label outside Jamaica.

Thanks to the large number of Jamaican immigrants, ska began to catch on in England. Trojan was the label that provided some of its biggest hits, including the Pioneers' ode to a dead race horse, "Long Shot Kick De Bucket," Jimmy Cliff's "Miss Jamaica" and the Upsetters' "Return of Django." But ska's time at the top of the charts was short-lived.

Ska reigned supreme in Jamaica for about a four-year period, but the optimism that followed independence didn't last long. Jamaican youths discovered that there were no jobs for them, and if anything, the economic situation was even more dire. Alienated teens started turning up at dances and venting their hostilities on partiers. They became known as rude boys, and the musicians attempted to placate them by celebrating them insong. (Dandy Livingstone's "Rudie, A Message To You" is one of many examples).

Rude Boys liked their music slower and scarier, and the rocksteady sound developed to meet their demands. In time, rocksteady gave way to reggae. By 1968, the first wave of ska was over in both Jamaica and in England, and ska had been overshadowed by the two new sounds that it had spawned.

Of course, you already know that the story didn't end there, and now you know where it started, too. Ska lives on and continues to evolve, its joyful sounds providing a reason for living.