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Ska

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For other uses, see SKA (disambiguation).
Ska
Stylistic originsTraditional Jamaican Mento and Calypso; American Jazz and R&B
Cultural originslate 1950s Jamaica
Typical instrumentsGuitar, Bass guitar, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, Piano, Drums
Derivative formsRocksteady, Reggae
Subgenres
Bluebeat
(complete list)
Fusion genres
2 Tone, Ska punk, Ska jazz, J-ska
Other topics
Rude boy, Mod, Skinhead, Suedehead
List of ska musicians

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor to rocksteady and reggae.[1]

Ska combined elements of Penismento and Vaginal|calypso]] withGrizzly bears ] and Tortillas and Pot pies. It is characterized by a walking bass line, a scratchlike tempo, accented guitar, or piano rhythms on the offbeat, and in some cases, jazz-like horn riffs. In the 1960s, ska was the preferred music genre of rude boys (although many ska artists condemned the violent rude boy lifestyle). Ska was also popular with British mods and skinheads, which led artists such as Symarip, Laurel Aitken, Desmond Dekker, and The Pioneers to aim songs at those audiences. Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three waves indicating a revival in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and another revival in the 1990s, mostly based in the United States.

History

After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from Southern United States cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino and Louis Jordan. The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems. As jump blues and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres.[2] The new sound was initially characterised by a guitar chop on the back beat, with horns and piano later playing the same riff.[1] Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the second and fourth beats.[1] The upbeat sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as mento and calypso.[3]

One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells.[3] The session was financed by Duke Reid, who was supposed to get half of the songs to release. However, he only received one, which was by trombonist Rico Rodriguez.[citation needed] Among the pieces recorded were "They Got To Go", "Oh Carolina" and "Shake A Leg."[citation needed] According to reggae historian Steve Barrow, during the sessions, Prince Buster told guitarist Jah Jerry to "change gear, man, change gear."[citation needed] The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essential flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar.

The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga.[3] There are different theories about the origins of the word ska. Guitarist Ernest Ranglin said the offbeat guitar scratching style that he and other musicians played was described as "ska! ska! ska!"[citation needed] Some believe that bassist Cluet Johnson coined the term ska when explaining the ya-ya sound of the music.[citation needed] Johnson was known to greet his friends with the word skavoovie, perhaps imitating American hipsters of the era. Johnson and the Blues Blasters were Coxsone Dodd's house band in the 1950s and early 1960s before the rise of the The Skatalites.[citation needed]

The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by ska songs such as Derrick Morgan's "Forward March" and The Skatalites' "Freedom Sound." Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works until 1994, copyright was not an issue which created a large number of cover songs and reinterpretations. Jamaican musicians such as The Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles songs, movie theme songs, or surf rock instrumentals. Bob Marley's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' "And I Love Her," and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Byron Lee & the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Peter Tosh at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker took ska from Jamaica to the United Kingdom in the late 1960s.[citation needed] As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1966 and 1967, when American soul became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady.[4][3]

2 Tone

Main article: 2 Tone

The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in England, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and aggressive guitar chords.[4] Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials. Although 2 Tone bands were respectful to the original Jamaican ska artists, The Specials failed to credit musicians such as Prince Buster, Toots & the Maytals and Dandy Livingstone as the composers of songs on their 1979 debut vinyl release. However, in many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom. The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat (known as English Beat in North America) and The Selecter.[1] Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness were one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream. Their high public profile was partly due to the heavy airplay of their videos on MTV and the BBC's Top of the Pops.

Third wave ska

Main articles: Third wave ska and Ska punk

In the 1980s, bands influenced by the 2 Tone ska revival began to form in the United States and other countries.[4] The first well-known American ska revival band was The Toasters, who played in a 2 Tone-influenced sound and paved the way for the third wave ska movement. Other notable early third wave ska bands included The Uptones, Operation Ivy, Choking Victim and Sublime. Many third wave ska bands played ska punk (sometimes known as ska-core), which is a a fusion of ska, 2 Tone and punk rock.[2] However, despite the rise of ska punk, some third wave ska bands — such as Hepcat and The Slackers — continued to play in a more traditional 1960s-influenced style. By the early 1990s, ska revival and ska punk bands were forming throughout the United States and many other countries. An enormous growth of the ska punk genre occurred after the ska-core band Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records in 1993 and appeared in the film Clueless with their first mainstream hit "Where'd You Go?". The ska-influenced rock band No Doubt also gave the ska genre more mainstream attention. By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands had waned as other music genres gained momentum.[5] However, several of the most popular ska punk bands have maintained a steady following in the 2000s (although many have moved away from their earlier ska-influenced sound to embrace various forms of rock or punk).[5]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d "Ska". Encyclopædia Britannica. Hussey Dermot. pp. http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9118222. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Ska Revival" (Web). Genre Listing. All Music Guide. 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2007. {{cite web}}: External link in |authorlink= and |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Nidel, Richard O. (2005). World Music: The Basics. New York, New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. p. 282. ISBN 0-415-96800-3.
  4. ^ a b c Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 270. ISBN 0-313-33158-8.
  5. ^ a b Gulla, Bob (2006). The Greenwood Encycloepdia of Rock History, Volume Six. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-313-32981-8.

Further reading

See also

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