Dumpster Bust Up in Your Ear: What is Ska?
Published December 23, 2004
I've had a number of formative moments as a music appreciator and slavish devotee. Among the most important was a night in the early 90s when I was taken along to something called the Skavoovie Tour at a little bar in Ithaca, New York. I didn't know what the hell that meant, but I figured it might be a good time.
God, it was. I was treated to the sounds of three great touring bands - The Scofflaws, Pietasters, and The Toasters - and a style of music that blew my doors down and shattered the windows for good measure.
It's hard to put your finger on ska. Merriam-Webster defines it as "popular music of Jamaican origin that combines elements of traditional Caribbean rhythms and jazz." AllMusic.com states: "Although structurally simple, ska has a bevy of influences, synthesizing American R&B, jump blues, Jamaican mento, calypso and other Caribbean styles, big-band swing, Afro-Cuban jazz, pocomania and other local religious folk music, and European ballroom dances."
But that doesn't really cover it. Its sound has changed and evolved over the years. Ska matured into rock steady for a while, but really became "noticed" (in the US, at least) when English bands like The Specials mixed in just enough rock and roll to give us the modern ska sound.
Ska relies on a staccato off-beat guitar rhythm for its signature (modern) sound. Think of a pick strumming a guitar: usually you get a down-strum sound and an up-strum sound, right? Now, with ska, on the down-strum sound, instead of letting all of the sound ring forth from the strings, the left hand (the fingers of which create the notes or chord: and with ska you get a LOT of chords) mutes the strings so you get a THWACK sound instead of an ordinary ringing sound. Then, on the up-stroke the full sound is let out.
Therefore, ska produces a thwack-chord thwack-chord thwack-chord sound, with the chords always filling up the off-beats.
Many ska bands utilize a horn section, though not always. The lead vocals are usually clear and melodic, with harmonizing backing vocals for support and texture.
A great example of this sound is on The Specials' "A Message to You Rudy," also one of the all-time classic ska songs.
Ska also combines wonderfully with a myriad of other styles. Take, for instance:
Latin Ska - King Chango is your must-listen here
Ska Punk - Check out Operation Ivy, Rancid, and Suicide Machines for starters
Ska Core - Ska and hardcore: Mighty Mighty Boss Tones and Voodoo Glow Skulls are the best in the business
Ska Lounge - Check out Mighty Mighty Boss Tones' break-out LP "Let's Face It"
Reggae Ska - For early influence sound with such classic bands as the Skatalites, check out a compilation LP entitled "Ska Island"
Jazzy Ska - Moon Records out of New York City is your bet here, with such acts as the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble and Pietasters
DB Note: it definitely doesn't hurt to work the word "ska" into your band title if you want to start a ska band. To wit: Scofflaws, Skatalites, Mephiskapheles. I believe Alaska is still open, but I would need to check on that.
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- Dumpster Bust Up in Your Ear: What is Ska?
- Published: December 23, 2004
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- Section: Music
- Writer: Eric Berlin
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Comments on this articleComments
Both Bad Manners and one of my all-time favorite "local" acts, Perfect Thyroid, do a version of "Lorraine," a great old-time up to-the-ceiling beat ska tune.
I'll have to look out for them down here in southern Cali!
Yes, King Chango is wonderful (although they break the rule by not having "ska" in the name.) I first encountered ska (no kidding) on the CD Juke at the micro-brewery on old Main Street in Huntington Beach, Eric, so if you don't object to juke reproduction, that's a great place to expose others to it.
Ah, pizza bread and armadillo eggs, plus Huntington Beach Blonde ale...
No objection to the juke here!
The OC (Orange County, California - where Huntington Beach resides) is kind of the West Coast home-base of ska, isn't it? If I could find ska music on a juke up here in Pasadena, it would immediately be upgraded in my estimation.
So, to recap: Pizza, Blonde Ale, OC, ska = very good.... I can skip out on the armadillo eggs, though.
I don't particularly care about ska as a genre, but that eponymous Specials album is the BOMB. I'd particularly like to put in a plug for "Stupid Marriage." The no-nonsense judge in the courtroom just kills me.
"Naked woman, naked man, where did you get that nice suntan?"
one of the many cool-guy posts I missed over the holidays - nice job E, thanks. I love ska, especially the original Jamaican explosion in the '60s and then the British second wave in late-'70s/early-'80s with the Specials (1st album total classic as Al mentions), English Beat, Bad Manners, Madness, the Selector; and the LA scene of the same time with Fishbone, Untouchables, early Boingo, etc
Probably mostly due to my age, I'm mostly a third-wave guy: Mighty Mighty Boss Tones, Toasters, King Chango, Scofflaws, Suicide Machines, Voodoo Glow Skulls.
I find a lot of The Specials' stuff to be unremarkable, actually, but their good stuff is really great. I also like early Madness, the Boingo, and especially early Fishbone, which is really some of the best and craziest music ever to grace this Earth.
Ya can't beat Prince Buster,The Maytals,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes & the orig.
line-up of The Skatalites for the best
in 1st generation Ska in my book. There
are also about 1,763 other great Ska
acts (of the 1st generation)too, but not
enough room to mention them all here.
Of the 2nd wave of Ska(mainly UK bands),
I like Bad Manners above and beyond the
likes of Madness & The Specials, who had
their moments.Bad Manners had the best
taste in cover songs(Wooly Bully,Monster
Mash,My Boy(Girl)Lollipop,Baby Elephant
Walk,The Magnificent Seven Theme et.al)
& anyone with a front man that could be
a double for Uncle Fester is alright by
me.
The 3rd wave, feh... Too many points of
contention to start dissecting this 3rd
coming of Ska right now.
In talking about contemporary Ska influenced bands you forgot Sublime - they're scoring hits right now and they're definitely Ska or something like it.
Dave
Dave,
Sublime disbanded in 1996, just after frontman Brad Nowell died.
They were a great band with amazing potential, just starting to feel out how far they could go when the end came.
They're actually a rather hard band to categorize musically as they were influenced almost equally by rock, punk, dub, hip hop, Latino rhythms, surf music, and ska.
A great hyper-paced song that showcases Sublime at their best is "All You Need" -- highly recommended.
I didn't know Sublime was gone. They seem to be getting a lot of airplay on my daughter's preferred radio station, so I figured they were still current. But then that station also plays Nirvana, so maybe they specialize in bands with dead lead singers.
She informs me that their legacy is carried on by Long Island which has the surviving original members in it. But she 'hates me' for typing about her while I'm supposed to be monitoring her homework (or lack thereof), so I must go.
Dave
Long Island? I think your daughter may be having a little fun with you, Dave (I was going to say yanking your chain, but that would be a bit creepy).
Long Beach Dub All-Stars is the name of the band that the surviving Sublime fellas joined up with. They're okay, but nothing close to what they were.
Long Island, New York (my native homeland) is home to acts like Billy Joel and prog-rockers Dream Theater. They did produce the Scofflaws, though, one of the better modern ska acts around.
Fishbone is pretty great. I really love "Party at Ground Zero" one of the all time great songs and arrangements. I saw them in concert and they did this thing where the horn section would sing AND play their horns into the same microphones...
After hearing the effect I believe it is probably impossible for a sound engineer to keep switching between horns and vocals through the same mikes...
But they were cool anyway despite the sound. And Fishbone did do one of the all time great Christmas Songs, called I believe "It's a Wonderful Life" which includes recapping the entire plot of the movie in around 2 minutes...
Plus, plenty of Ska influence has passed over into popland. Let's not forget The GoGos some of whom got their start as backup singers for The Special and more recently No Doubt.
BTW, I saw a remarkable concert many years ago at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The line-up, in order, was Oingo Boingo, The Coasters, The GoGos, The Special/Fun Boy Three and The Police. The concert was great until The Police came on, cranked the volume and proceeded to suck.
Dave
I love Party at Ground Zero too, but my favorite Fishbone song has always been Ma & Pa. It's one of those compulsive songs that demands repeat airings. Plus, during college I had a bunch of friends in a band that did a truly kick ass cover version of it.
early Fishbone is so classic: I saw them as a bunch of 16 year-olds at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, the building couldn't contain them. I love "UGLY" and "Lyin Ass Bitch" also. I am so sad they drifted away from the ska.
The Untouchables were really great at about the same time with "Free Yourself" "I Spy" "Agent Double O Soul" "Steppin' Stone" - damn
i saw Fishbone on the Reality of my Surroundings tour.
gees, maybe i'm a sucker for a cheap gimmick at a show but it was cool as hell when they would do horn solos....a guys would run hard toward the front of the stage and the horn would come flying from behing the band, he'd catch it, blow his brains out and run back, tossing the horn back behind everything.
they did this even for the friggin trombone! yow.
I couldn't agree more on the sadness of Fishbone moving away from their early ska-influenced sound. Later on they moved into a special category I kind of reserve for Primus and one or two other bands: so talented they don't know what to do with themselves.
I love stage antics when done in the right spirit and done right. The Scofflaws re-enact an attack on the USS Enterprise during "William Shatner" and The Aquabats, a super rad band that I should have mentioned in my original post, does all manner of shtick during live shows (including the lead singer diving off spotlights into the audience).
the term Ska was completely and totally overused and abused in the 90's. It seemed to be anyone with a horn section or vaguely reggae feel.
Same thing happened with the term 'heavy metal' in the 80's. every single band with long hair was called 'metal'. It's industry bullshit if you ask me.
it's all rock to me
Lono,
You're right about that, though I still think that the bands I mention above very much have a claim on the ska tab.
I think some bands were a little bit relieved when the ska fad blew over (right into the whole swing / jump jive fad if I'm not mistaken). Voodoo Glow Skulls came out with a song, for instance, that said something to the effect of We're Still Here Doing Our Thing.
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My favorite ska band is Bad Manners, an old English Ska Band that is still around. They have had a couple different sounds over the years, but always sounded great. I saw them in Seattle several years ago and they were the best live band ever. Definately check them out.