Three waves of ska
AGAIN..... Here is another Article that I found randomly floating around on the web. It was reprinted at another web site, but I do not remember the URL. I saved it because it's good stuff!
Subject: 1.5: What is first-wave ska? Second-wave ska? Third-wave ska? Is there a fourth wave?
These terms describe ska music coming from three different time periods separated by gaps in the popularity of the music. Roughly speaking, "first-wave ska" began in late 1960(1) in Jamaica and lasted until the late 1960s in Jamaica and England (as blue beat), by which time its popularity had declined in favor of ska offspring rock-steady and reggae. Seminal first-wave Jamaican ska artists include the Skatalites, Laurel Aitken, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan and Desmond Dekker.
Joly, joly@dti.net, reminds us that Duke Vin brought Sound System to London in the 50's, and in the Sixties the London Ska scene became so strong that, as can be seen in the movie `Scandal' (see ), it eventually toppled the government!
"Second-wave ska" flourished in the late-1970s and very early 1980s and saw the emergence of popular groups such as the Specials, the (English) Beat, Madness and the like in England. Second-wave ska is strongly associated with the 2 Tone scene [1979-1981] in the UK, as shown in the movie `Dance Craze', although American bands like Her Majesties Secret Service brought the 2-Tone sound to the States in the early Eighties. Two-tone ska is faster, tighter and uses more horns than some older Jamaican ska, although certainly not as much as the Skatalites. Certainly, through the first and second waves, ska was a music for the man-in-street, the working people.
"Third-wave ska" is a late-1980s/early- 1990s revival of ska, involving such bands as Weaker Youth Ensemble, the Allstonians, Bim Skala Bim, the Voodoo Glow Skulls and The Toasters. Many popular rock/hardcore/funk bands, such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, are strongly influenced by ska sounds. In the last few years, some bands, like Hepcat, Steady Earnest, the Allstonians, Skavoovie and the Epitones, have recovered a roots ska sound.
In Puerto Rico and Latin America, new ska fusions are emerging. Some call the emerging latin ska "salska", with bands fusing afro-caribbean and Latin pop-rock sounds with roots ska for a unique and exciting sound! Skarlos, carlos@skinhead.org, reports the development of "skakakore",(2) a ska/hoodcore or rap/ska/hardcore mix. The band with the longest name to date, La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del quinto Patio, mixes cha-cha with ska - "chachaska". Let's not forget "freestyle ska", that European ska/hip-hop fusion. It sure isn't ska-core, but it is a new direction! Is this the *fourth* wave of ska?
Additionally, there has been a recent infusion of self-identified *Christian ska* bands, particularly in the US. These bands include the O.C. Supertones, Five Iron Frenzy, the Insyderz, Squad 5-0, the Israelites (not Desmond Dekker's backup band), Aloha Fridays and Big Dog Small Fence. This is one step beyond the gospel covers the Wailers recorded in 1962! How do you know a band is a Christian ska band? Ask them. (Mephiskapheles is another sort of thing, altogether.)