SKA

It all started after world war 2. Jamaica had long been playing the music of the big band and jazz scenes over their airwaves as well as live, with many people traveling to the states to collect the latest recordings. But after the war, the U.S. music scene started to favor the smaller jazz and rythim and blues groups over the older big band sound. and when that sound hit Jamaica, it exploded. Bands started forming all over the island that excelled in covering the hit sound of the time. And more so, some groups were starting to experiment with the combining of american style with the mento, or calypso beats they had grown up with. This sound was labeled Shuffle, and it was big. Regular radio shows would keep the kids hungry while the producers would fill the dances with the latest groups. And then it happened. In 1962, a man named Cecil Bustamente Campbell, a.k.a Prince Buster, along with his guitarist Jah Jerry came up with the idea of accenting the upbeat in there songs. And with that monumental change, Ska was born.

As ska grew to emense proportions, it made it's way to England, along with the Jamaican immigrants that were in search of a better life. It was a time of termoil in England, due to the race riots brought on by the closing of the unlimited immigration laws in the U.K. Ska became a pillar of cultural strength during these times, and thrived there with the help of men like Laurel Aitken. Now we come to the late seventies. With the rise of the racist National Front organization, and the sepratist outlook of many citizens, the kids needed a sound to accentuate their goal of unity and intigration. That sound came in the form of 2tone, a new style of ska named for the record label that fronted it. Founded by the Specials Jerry Dammers, 2tone records represented the new ska sound, as well as its message of peace. Made famous by groups like the Specials, Madness, the Bodysnatchers and the Beat, the 2tone era carried on soundly for years before falling victem to big business and financial ruin. But nothing this good could ever fade forever.

After years in obscurity, ska made a comeback in what became known as the third wave. Bands like the Toasters and Hepcat yearned to continue ska's ever present message of peace, and did so by fusing the ska sound with soul, funk, rock and roll and punk rock. With the rising of labels like Moon Ska N.Y.C., Bands of all ages and influences began presenting the world with their own interpritations of ska. From the ska-punk style played by the likes of the Skoidats, to the irish folk/ska medly of the Trojans. And although the third wave took a huge blow with the loss of Moon Ska, it still holds on. And who knows, with so many waves come and gone, who's to say there won't be another?