What Is Ska?

Note: This explanation appears courtesy of Moonska Records and Noah Wildman.

Unlike the hundreds of genres of music that have been causing notice in the underground scene, Ska has deep roots that can be traced back to the 1950's in Jamaica and can eve be traced further back.

Ska was born in Jamaica in the late 50's, when a musician named Cluet Johnson came up with the word ska. The sound was not really all that new. It took in plenty of American R&B and Soul. Some ska bands were created. Most were heard all arounf Jamaica, New Orleans, and Florida.

Soon, a sonic boom of ska bands came along such as The Skatalities, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, The Maytals, and the Wailers. The early 60's was a great time for. ska. Jamaica was booming with a dance explosion. However, the music slowed down, and lost some of it's culture. It was this path that would later create reggae.

Many Jamaicans moved to England due to Jamaica's poor economy. At this time, Ska was introduced to England with Trojan Records. Desmond Dekker and the Harry J Allstars all had numerous big hits.

Soon rock was introduced into ska, and was becoming extremely popular everywhere (especially England). Ska musicians decided that it would be best to fuse ska with rock. And thus, the 2-tone movement was born. Artists such as The Special, Madness, amd The Beat dominated English charts. This really effected the youth of the decade.

By 1981, It was all over. The ska trend was disappearing at an alarming rate. But, unlike other music trends, ska did not die. Rather than shriveling up, it simply moved underground.

In the early 80's many ska artists moved to the U.S. looking for an audience to appreciate their music. The Toasters were formed in NYC. This also gave rise to bands like Fishbone and the Untouchables in California. Back in England, ska bands like Bad Manners still did well, but not like the ones in the U.S.

Ska has only grown since then (The Skatalities still tour to this day!). Ska has outlived many types of music. NY has The Toaster and The Scofflaws.California's got Let's Go Bowling and Hepcat. Boston has The Allstonians and Skavoovie and the Epitones. Washington DC has the Piasters and the Skunks. Even Canada has the Arsenals!

Ska has also grown world-wide in the 90's. Ska albums have received great reviews in Japan. Germany has The Busters. Latin America has Dr.Calypso and Los Malarians. Even Australia has The Porkers.

First there was the inventors of ska. This is known as the 1st wave. Then, punk was mixed with ska to create 2-tone. This is known as the 2nd wave. And now, ska is gaining respect and fans in largely increasing numbers. Ska is mixing with different kinds of music, reinventing itself, or looking upon its roots. This is known as the 3rd wave (the one we are in currently).