I am a big Alt/Indie rock fan. Some of my fav bands are The Killers, White Stripes, Mars Volta , Bravery, U2, etc. I have recently heard about the beef between Brandon Flowers and the Bravery, saying that the Bravery was signed to Island/Def Jam just because of The Killer's success, and Flowers was Dissing them for being a Ska band. The thing is, I dont have a clue what the hell ska is.....another thing that is weird is that Killers guitarist Kouening said that a lot of the songs on the upcoming Killers album are ska. Will someone please tell me what ska is????!?!?!?!?!?!!?

Ska was the precursor to reggae and rocksteady...sort of a combination of calypso and American R and B. It usually has a faster, more energetic beat than more traditional reggae. Ska found revivals in the English Rudeboys of the 1980's, including groups like Madness, The English Beat, the Specials, and the Selecter. American punks adopted ska as well...the early albums by No Doubt were more ska than punk.

Thank you Eric.....I had heard something about a tie to reggae, but I have Bravery's album, and It definitely doesnt sound like reggae....but anyway thanks...

When I think of ska, I think of the Specials, the and the other bands pE mentioned. It made a brief comeback in the late 90s with bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime, and early No Doubt. But, it's gotta have horns man. The Killers and the Bravery aren't even remotely ska. I'd consider them new wave revivalists at best.

I know, It was really strange hearing Flowers slinging this word around as if it was an insult, and now that I know, its really strange to me. I was a Bosstones fan, but I never really [B]knew[/B that that was what it was called.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
When I think of ska, I think of the Specials, the and the other bands pE mentioned. It made a brief comeback in the late 90s with bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime, and early No Doubt. But, it's gotta have horns man. The Killers and the Bravery aren't even remotely ska. I'd consider them new wave revivalists at best.

I'm with you...I tend to think of the Specials as THE Anglo ska band. I never really liked much of the American ska. But there are great albums by the Selecter, the (English) Beat, and Madness. I also share the puzzlement...I hear no ska at all in the Bravery. I hear, as you do, new wave revival.

I always liked the English Beat. "Save it for Later" is on my list of all time great songs.

Don't forget Fishbone, The Untouchables, The Skatallites, and Let's Go Bowling!

Anyboyd remember 2-Tone Ted on KSPC?

There are lots and lots of great suggestions here.

Several months ago I was directed to a really nice, concise site titled Ska for the Skeptical. Its focus is on the traditional, but that's never a bad place to start with any genre. It's well-written, witty, and features a great introductory playlist with (ahem) helpful hyperlinks, if'n you know what I mean.

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We just did a ska night at the club two weeks ago with The Furios and Whitey, and have another show coming up with the Skatomatics. As well as the aforementioned bands, the whole ska-punk genre seems to be the dominant form of ska these days. Most of the people at the club seemed to prefer hearing Mustard Plug and Operation Ivy over The Toasters or even Hepcat. Others that go over well include Perfect Thyroid, Skankin Pickle, Homegrown, Capdown, and stuff like Voodoo Glow Skulls and Suicide Machines. My go-to ska track is I Like Your Girl by The Planet Smashers, a Montreal band that has been cranking out solid albums for over a decade. Also, Me First & The Gimme Gimme's cover of Queen's We Are The Champions is a guaranteed crowd pleaser!

I think the question should be "Who cares if ska even existed?"

Ska's relevance has been minimal at best, even at the "high" times of ska's popularity?!?

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
I think the question should be "Who cares if ska even existed?"

Ska's relevance has been minimal at best, even at the "high" times of ska's popularity?!?

On the contrary, I, as was pointed out above, Ska's first wave was the immediate predecessor of reggae. In fact, first wave ska masters like Prince Buster are pretty hard to distinguish from the likes of U-Roy. Outside of reggae, the huge success of first wave ska musicians in Britain not only led to a lot of the second wave acts cited above, but was a huge influence on British punk, especially The Clash (i.e. "Rudie Can't Fail").

I have to admit that I'm not as taken with the ska/punk bands of today and the past decade as I am the first and second waves, but I wouldn't judge the genre's relevance or influnce based on them any more than I would judge the relevance or influence of jazz based on Norah Jones, or the relevance or influence of rap based on The Black Eyed Peas.

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Since Rancid channels early Clash, they're pretty much into punk/reggae, closer to the Clash's cover of "Police and Thieves". That is a dub reggae classic for the punk crowd, but the Junior Murvin version is impeccable. The Clash pretty much pushed the punk's concept of dub on Sandinista! to its ultimate obsession. I love the Specials and the English Beat (especially both the debuts), although there's others for you guys to continue to mention.

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
I think the question should be "Who cares if ska even existed?"

Ska's relevance has been minimal at best, even at the "high" times of ska's popularity?!?

I have to second LT's point...if ska had never happened, reggae and rocksteady may not have followed. Would Bob Marley have become an icon without the first wave of ska?

And my love of second wave ska aside, while ska may have never done much on the charts, I'm not sure mass popularity increases "relevance." There are lots of little subgenres that may not be outrageously popular, but that doesn't mean they're irrelevant, does it?

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
I think the question should be "Who cares if ska even existed?"

Ska's relevance has been minimal at best, even at the "high" times of ska's popularity?!?

I think you're out of your freakin' mind! Just because it's not as popular as "Rap" (Wow, I think we need some more rap albums in the top 40...) doesn't mean it's not some incredbily meaningful music. I just pulled out Let's Go Bowling's "Live from Freeway Lanes" for the first time in a long while, and it had me jumping off the walls. There's an undeniable energy to SKA that's distinct from Punk & Reggae. 2-Tone Ted Morris, one of the bigger SKA D.Js from LA in the early 90's was my dormmate in college, introduced me to a lot of it. Don't mock what you don't know or can't appreciate.

I was talking about skas popularity in certain clicks and groups.If all your friends are liking something, it makes it seem as if the album is huge even if it was not.Which is awesome because who cares who else likes it as long as you do.

I have not bought an album in the top 40 or 100 for that matter for years, that i know of.I rarely reference popular music anyways.So why would i be doing so now.

I can respect every kind of music even if i dont like it.Because i know what it takes to make an album.

Dont preach to the choir.There are so many close minded listners on this board I am the last one to be getting slack for disliking ska.

Thanks for taking what i said completely out of context and bashing me for it.

Editor.

Honestly, Imprezu, I didn't see anything in your initial post to indicate you were talking about cliques or popularity. I read two short lines dismissing a genre that has had broad influence out of hand.

I'm sorry you took offense.

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I dont remember when ska was popular on the "charts" so I dont know what other kind of poularity i would be referencing.

Then again i dont pay attention to the charts and I was unborn and very young in its hayday.

So maybe you guys are right and i should butt out.

Just to clarify i dislike newer ska and any kind of ska rock fusiuon.I totally understand the influence of earlier ska artists.I just have never heard them called ska.

I love early studio one stuff, and any kind of island music in general.

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
I dont remember when ska was popular on the "charts" so I dont know what other kind of poularity i would be referencing.

Then again i dont pay attention to the charts and I was unborn and very young in its hayday.

This was just another excuse to call me old again, wasn't it...

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not old, wise.