Ska
Ska (/skɑː/; Jamaican Creole: skia, [skjæ]) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae.
It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs.
[2] In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
[12] After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from the Southern United States in cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino, Barbie Gaye, Rosco Gordon and Louis Jordan[15] whose early recordings all contain the seeds of the "behind-the-beat" feel of ska and reggae.
To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Coxsone Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems.
[2] These recordings were initially made to be played on "soft wax" (a lacquer on metal disc acetate later to become known as a "dub plate"), but as demand for them grew eventually sometime in the second half of 1959 (believed by most to be in the last quarter) producers such as Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid began to issue these recording on 45 rpm 7-inch discs.
Prince Buster has explicitly cited American rhythm and blues as the origin of ska: specifically, Willis Jackson's song "Later for the Gator" (which was Coxsone Dodd's number one selection).
One such cover was Millie Small's version of the R&B/shuffle tune, "My Boy Lollypop", first recorded in New York in 1956 by 14-year-old Barbie Gaye.
[23] The Skatalites, Lord Creator, Laurel Aitken, Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Desmond Dekker, and Don Drummond[24] also recorded ska.
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Jimmy Cliff at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
The 2 tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in the Coventry area of UK, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics.
Riots in English cities were a feature during the summer that the Specials song "Ghost Town" was a hit, although this work was in a slower, reggae beat.
The music of this era resonated with white working class youth and West Indian immigrants who experienced the struggles addressed in the lyrics.
By the late 1980s, ska had experienced a minor resurgence of popularity in the United Kingdom, due to bands such as the Burial and the Hotknives.
[citation needed] The Australian ska scene flourished in the mid-1980s, following the musical precedents set by 2 tone, and spearheaded by bands such as the Porkers.
[32] The 30 piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra has enjoyed success in recent years, touring internationally, including sets at Glastonbury and Montreux Jazz Festival.
Then bands like Spitfire, Distemper, Leningrad and Markscheider Kunst became popular and commercially successful in Russia and abroad in the late 1990s.
[25] The Uptones from Berkeley, California, and the Toasters from New York City—both formed in 1981—were among the first active ska bands in North America.
Two hotspots for the United States' burgeoning ska scenes were New York City and Orange County, California.
[45][46][47] The San Francisco Bay Area also contributed to ska's growing popularity, with Skankin' Pickle, Let's Go Bowling and the Dance Hall Crashers becoming known on the touring circuit.
The mid-1990s saw a considerable rise in ska music's underground popularity, marked by the formation of many ska-based record labels, booking organizations and indie zines.
[51] By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third-wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum.
The term New Tone originates from new ska band Bad Operation, to describe their two-tone sound and their city of New Orleans.
