If you came here hoping to find tons of information about 2-Tone or modern ska, I'm sorry. You'll find some but not very much. There are plenty of sites out there for that, (try the links page). If you came here looking for information on the roots of ska, I hope you aren't disappointed. That being said, read on and I hope you enjoy the site.

    The following information was provided by doing my own research or was sent to me by friends and/or bands and from other websites, (i.e. "The Real Jamaica Ska", "AboutSka.com" or "Hear and Now Productions"). Thanks also to Brian Rosenthal. If I left anyone out, I apologize. Please let me know.

    As for the term "ska", one of the the theories floating around is that Cluet Johnson coined the term. Clue J and His Blues Blasters were Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's house band in the 50s and early 60s before the rise of the Skatalites. As the story goes, in explaining the "ya-ya" sound of the music and rhythm being made, the word ska popped out, probably because he greeted all his friends as "skavoovie". Cluet Johnson and the small group of musicians around him, were said to be the "heppest" in the entertainment scene at that time.

    Since the early 1940s, Jamaica had adopted and adapted many forms of American musical styles. By the time World War II ended, there were countless bands in Jamaica playing the dances. Groups like the Eric Deans Orchestra, with trombonist Don Drummond and master guitarist Ernest Ranglin drew from American Artists such as Count Basie, Erskine Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, and Woody Herman.

    In the 1950s, smaller groups were superseding the big bands in America with a more bop/rhythm and blues sound. Jamaicans who traveled to the states picked up on this style. The sound systems of Count Smith, The Blues Blaster, Sir Nick the Champ, and Tom the Great Sebastian began playing this new style.

    In 1954, the first big Jazz concert was staged at Ward Theater in Kingston. Traditional mento-folk-calypso bands were active and playing frequently in hotels up and down the island. By the end of the 1950s, Jazz, R&B, and Mento influences were merged into a new style called "Shuffle". Shuffle gained popularity through the works of such greats as Neville Esson, Owen Grey, the Overtakers, and The Matador All-stars. Many of these bands used studio musicians for their recordings. Because the members of the studio musician groups were on an as-available basis, producers would simply add the word "all-stars" to the artists name to credit the backup bands. Recording studios and companies began popping up in large numbers to seek out new talent and at about the same time, The Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation began stimulating young musicians through regular radio shows.

    Two men played a critical role in the sound system from in the 1950s: Duke Reid and Clement Seymore Dodd. Duke read opened Treasure Isle Liquor store with his wife on Bond Street. Reid was known as "The Trojan", after the Trojan flatbed truck he used to transport equipment. Dodd named his sound system "Sir Coxsone Downbeat" after the Yorkshire cricketer Coxsone. Throughout the end of the decade the two men conducted a musical war. Even though Coxsone was more in touch with those living in the ghetto, it was Reid that was crowned King of Sound and Blues at the Success Club in 1956, 1957 and 1958.

    By 1962, Cecil Bustamente Campbell, later known as "Prince Buster", knew that something new was needed. He had his guitarist Jah Jerry emphasize the upbeat instead of the downbeat. To the present day, the upbeat is essential to Jamaican syncopation. Jamaican ska was born. The soundsystems began recording their own tracks to gain an advantage over the others. They also didn't label the vinyl they played. That way, others couldn't see what was playing and then steal it for their own sound systems. The sound system war escalated to the point that ruffians were sent to competitor sound system parties to cause problems. These people were known as "Dance Hall Crashers". Despite the primitive mono recording facilities, it was the determination of the ska enthusiast that enabled ska to become the first truly commercial Jamaican Music. In fact, "The Ska" was later named the national dance and music of Jamaica.

    Throughout the 1960s the ghetto areas of Jamaica were filling up with youths looking for work that did not exist. They felt excluded and did not share in the optimism of early ska roots. These youths drew group identity as "rude boys". Being "rude" was a means of being somebody, when society was telling you that you were nobody. And the way the rude boys danced the ska was different as well, they danced to it slower and with a menacing posture. The rudies connected with the "scofflaws", those who lived outside the laws, and this was reflected in the lyric of the music. The "rudies" customarily wore pants that were way to short... a style that could still be seen in the 1980s by The Beat toaster, Ranking Roger. Because of the rude boys, ska would change to reflect the mood their with more tension in the bass as opposed to the previous free-walking bass style.

    Many who flocked to Kingston to gain fame in the music industry turned to the ganja trade when money ran out. Many turned to a life of crime and violence. As a result, both political parties in Jamaica began to employ armed enforcers and organized goon squads. Public opinion shifted against guns and Rude Boys. A gun law was passed whereby, after a cooling off period when guns could be turned in without threat of prosecution, those found in possession of an illegal gun or ammunition would be held for an unlimited period of time... by order of a special "Gun Court". Artists and producers often supported or condoned the actions of the Rude Boys through Ska music. The antigun movement was reflected in songs by the likes of The Soul Brothers (Lawless Street), and The Heptones (Gunmen Coming to Town). Duke Reid, a former policeman, issued initially instrumental titles like The Rude Boys. Clement Dodd backed a young group who envisioned themselves as rudies - The Wailers (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer). Prince Buster invented the mythical character "Judge Dread" who handed out 400-year sentences to the Rude. Desmond Decker's 007 (Shanty Town) release was the most definitive of the rude boy documentary titles (reaching number 12 in the UK charts).

    Once ska caught on at home, it made its way across the Atlantic, where it proved popular with the expatriates. At about the same time, England started to put a lid on the unlimited immigration policy of the commonwealth and race riots began to break out. Many artists and producers including The Trojan and Cuban born Laurel Aitken were at this time, bringing ska and reggae to England. At the same time, three labels were releasing Jamaican music in the UK. Melodisc, which created the Blue Beat label for ska, with Prince Buster and Laurel Aitken as their main artists. Island, Chris Blackwell's creation; and R&B. As more and more Jamaicans moved to Britain, it became a more lucrative market for artists than Jamaica itself. By the end of the 60s, ska had slowly (literally), turned into a new sound.

    What most of these record companies do not consider, however, is that for a dozen years a scene has slowly been expanding right on their doorstep, and it is close to exploding. It is perhaps the only underground musical movement that New York can now call its own. T-shirts in record stores and cover artwork on compact discs proudly proclaim it in large letters: NYC SKA.

    Ska is an odd-looking word: Short, punchy, almost funny. So is the music at times, a light, bouncy, horn-infused grandfather of reggae. (The word tself comes from the sound a guitar makes.) Ska has arrived in three musical waves, beginning in Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s as a homegrown version of rhythm-and-blues performed by collectives of former jazz musicians like the Skatalites. The music traveled to England along with Jamaican blue-collar laborers, quickening its tempo as it mixed with punk and working class youth sounds in the 1970s. A second wave of interracial ska bands, including the Specials, the Selecter and the English Beat, first appeared on England's Two-Tone label, registering in America as a quick spark on the pop charts.

    But that spark slowly ignited an international fire as New Yorkers like Rob (Bucket) Hingley (a veteran of the English movement) and Jeff Baker not only started bands like the Toasters and the Boilers, but also helped to establish a solid underground network, connecting ska groups in New York with ones in Brazil, Japan, Germany, Hawaii and elsewhere through newsletters, fan magazines and record labels.

    "It was New York that galvanized the national scene with bands like the Toasters touring," said Hingley, who runs Moon, the premier ska label in the United States, in addition to playing guitar and singing in the 12-year-old Toasters. "The music really hooks people once they finally hear it. First you meet a kid at a concert, next they have a band, then they're opening up for you and the next thing you know, you're putting out a record of theirs."

    Five years ago,ska concerts in New York City were strictly underground events, where green-haired punks, skinheads and stylish ska fans known as rude boys danced to the holy triumvirate of New York ska bands: The Toasters, the Scofflaws and the NY Citizens. Now there are concerts every weekend at downtown clubs like Wetlands, New Music Cafe, the Cooler and Coney Island High, and the audience is a broad, multiracial mix, where hippies meet skinheads and college jocks dance with rude boys.

    "What we have to do is package the ska shows, turn them into multiband nights with five or six groups," Zahn said. "There just seem to be bands coming out of nowhere. I'm getting tapes from all over the coast that even people involved in the ska community have never heard of. I had a ska band from Venezuela here the other night dropping off their tape, and there's an Argentine band interested in playing here."

    "But as popular as ska is getting, it's still surprising how many people don't know it," he added. "On a typical Friday, we get tons of phone calls about what's playing. When we say it's a ska show, there's always a pause and then we hear: 'Ska? What is ska?' We've gone so far as to say, 'Think of it as Jewish reggae: Imagine 'Hava Nagilah' and then put some island rhythms in there."

    Not every club in New York has such an open attitude toward ska. "I don't book ska shows anymore," said the manager of one club, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "If there aren't fights inside, you have nearby restaurants and neighbors complaining about skinheads loitering around with 40-ounce beer bottles in their hands." But other club bookers and concertgoers say that fighting at ska shows is becoming a rarity. The attitude of ska music has always been one of having fun in the face of oppression, as encapsulated in a warning made famous by the Jamaican legend Prince Buster: "Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think."

    At Wetlands this month, when the New York band the Slackers opened for the English Two-Tone band the Selecter, the scene was peaceful and friendly. With fast, shuffling guitar-strumming, infectious drumming on the offbeat and a horn section worthy of a '60s soul revue, the music had even the most awkward of club denizens skanking, or bouncing from leg to leg and swinging their arms.

    Where most rock bands get by with three or four members, ska bands may have as many as a dozen. In addition to guitars, bass and drums, they often have an entire horn section. These groups sometimes find older players from the jazz or Latin music worlds; other times they recruit young people who have just graduated from their high school jazz band. Either way it makes for eclectic music. At 11 members, the Slackers are among the more diverse and unpredictable bands in New York.

    There are many different styles of ska being played today, but the main schism is between the bands that try to blend it with punk and hardcore music and the traditionalists who look back to Jamaica for a purer sound. It is this first style that fans and record executives alike predict will make ska part of the fabric of popular music.

    "Ska is probably the biggest underground network going right now," said Fred Feldman, the general manager of Another Planet records. "Moon Records has a 15,000-name direct-marketing list, and the Toasters are selling at least 25,000 to 30,000 records now, most of it through nontraditional retail outlets. I think the bigger labels are still waiting to see what happens with this Rancid song and to see how Green Day does with the ska band it signed to its 510 label, the Dancehall Crashers. If any of it becomes huge, then you'll see a feeding frenzy."

    Many bands, however, remain skeptical. For a long time some musical pundits have written off ska as creatively defunct without ever having listened to the stylistic extremes of the music, which range from the swing- and bebop-influenced instrumentals of the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble to the industrial electronic ska of World Service. As Baker said, "One of the strengths of ska is that the foundation is so simple but so effective that it can endure a lot of changes but still maintain a relationship to the original style." Nonetheless, Mikal Reich of Mephiskapheles added: "Ska is almost the marketing kiss of death. We've been talking to record labels and they're always telling us they don't know how to market ska; they don't know who to sell it to. I used to think people in the record industry were barracudas and would jump on anything. Here you've got Rancid with a ska single in MTV's 'Buzz Bin,' and I still have to spell ska to people over the phone."

    And for more than a decade, rude boys up and down the East Coast have been buying their Doc Marten boots and Fred Perry shirts at 99X, also in the East Village. Rude boys were originally unemployed youths-turned-gangsters from Jamaica's shantytowns that dressed in the latest clean-cut fashions to intimidate and impress.  Their narrow-brimmed porkpie hats, close-shaven haircuts, wraparound sunglasses, skinny ties and sharkskin suits with tapered legs have survived in ska wear today, as have the checkerboard patterns (symbolizing black and white unity) of England's Two-Tone look.

    "Whenever there's a big show in New York, the store gets packed because all these people come into town from all over," said Alex Pietropinto, who works at 99X. "Their style hasn't changed. You can look at pictures of people 30 years ago and see a rude boy now, and they look the same." Another factor that has helped ska endure is the word itself. The word "ska" can be combined with almost anything. There have been Skalapalooza tours and Skampilation records; this weekend, there's a Skalloween concert in the East Village, and in December, New York is to have its first Skanukkah concert.