About Ska Music

In the late 1950s, ska music began in Jamaica and in the 1960s became known as the national music of Jamaica. It was a melting pot of music because its origins are based in a number of different genres that predated ska. These include Caribbean calypso and mento, which was Jamaican folk style music that was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Its roots also included jazz and rhythm and blues. Clement Dodd (nicknamed Coxsone) began recording popular Jamaican ska bands in his now famous studio, Studio One. Ska's popularity in Jamaica coincided with the departure of the English, which signaled Jamaica's independence in 1962.

Birth of Ska

Some believe that the ska name was born when Ernest Ranglin was attempting to record the new ska style and told the band members to make the guitars go "Ska, ska, ska!" Others say that Clue J always greeted his friends by saying "Love Skavoovie" and that the ska name was born as a shortened version. The ska genre was a precursor to reggae. Ska was typically set to four/four time drumbeats. This means that the drum beat is on the second and fourth beats. Also, offbeat mento guitar rhythms became more detached and shorter and were sounded on guitar and piano and became the new ska style of music.

Rude Boys

Rude boys illustration on an album cover

The rude boys term began to be used in the 1940s. Ska songs began utilizing rude boys stories for lyrical content during the first wave of ska. Rude boys were discouraged and unemployed feuding gangs that crashed street dances at the bequest of professional DJs of the time period. These rude boy lyrics were considered to be political lyrics for the time period.

Rude boys dressed in suits to mock the higher classes. This form of black and white suit dress became associated with the ska genre.

Ska Dance

Skanking was the name of the dance that was associated with ska music. Ska dances also included the Backy Skank, the Rootsman Skank and the Ska. The beats used in some of the dances directly influenced some of the musical sounds that were developed in ska.

Waves of Ska

Ska was an ever-evolving musical genre and developed into many different styles starting at its inception. In the 1970s, the second wave of ska blended the punk rock music of England with the original Jamaican ska. When ska first immigrated to England it was initially called Bluebeat. This second wave of ska included many more Caucasian musicians and fans than were previously following ska. This wave of ska moved beyond rude boy lyrics and began delivering a message of racial unity. When ska became popular in the United States was the time in which it began the third wave. First and second wave ska bands became popular again during this third wave.

Ska Band Examples

Examples of first wave ska bands include The Skatelites (1963), Prince Buster (1960), Desmond Dekker (1966), Laurel Aitken (1958) and Derrick Morgan (1960).

Second wave band examples include The Beat (1978), The Specials (1977), Madness (1976), The Fishbones (1979) and The Selecter (1979).

Some third wave examples are Hepcat (1989), Skankin Pickle (1989), Dance Hall Crashers (1989), The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (1983), which was mixed 3rd wave ska and hard-core punk, Toasters (1997), The Skeletones (1993) and Reel Big Fish (1997).

References

• BBC History of ska