what is good SKA?

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:37 pm

http://www.7secondsoflove.com/winners/

i really like this kinda upbeat ska. does anyone know of any similar stuff?

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:52 pm

My faves are Madness and The Specials

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:48 pm

what are they like?

Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:07 pm

I never have been a huge fan of rathergood.com, but the guy that runs it actually has a pretty decent band put together.

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:34 pm

punisher wrote:The Specials

hey neat, they did the song "little b!tch" from Dance Dance Revolution.

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:47 pm

punisher wrote:My faves are Madness and The Specials

Although immensly talented, i found Madness a little on the twee side. The specials, The Beat and Selecter were my personals.

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:36 am

punisher wrote:My faves are Madness and The Specials

x2

kurupt · Post by **kurupt** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:57 am

the answer to your question is...

there is no good ska.

Richard Cranium · Post by **Richard Cranium** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:59 am

At first glance I thought the question was 'What is Ska' but really is their such a thing as 'Good' Ska?

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:41 am

I like it.

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:20 am

WTF is SKA anyhow?

roid · Post by **roid** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:21 am

it's the kindof "off-beat" (like reggae) music that is in that link in the OP.

i describe SKA as punk + reggae + horns

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:03 am

I read that ska was a precursor to reggae, but I have reggae tunes dating back to the 1950's. I'm no expert, but I think ska and reggae had parallel births in jamaica around the same time, give or take a few years. Both are fusions of traditional afro-style jamaican beats and rythm and blues. Ska is more dancey and jazzy with horns like roid said. I didn't really get into a lot of ska, but I'm a fan of The Specials, Madness, UB40 and a few others. There's a few bands out there right now that I'd consider ska influenced. Namely, No Doubt and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

I've got some old live Specials somewhere that is just awesome. It's on cassette tho.

If you can find the specials doing a tune called "Night Club" live, grab it.

Pugwash would know more since he grew up in London and ska was really much more popular there than over here.

roid wrote:what are they like?

umm, wow. They're like really good pop ska. I dont know what else I could say. Give em a listen, you wont be sorry.

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:10 am

Re-worded : So what does SKA stand for?

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:22 am

wikipedia wrote:The word "ska" may have onomatopoeic origins in a tradition of poetic or possibly even musical rhythms. Guitarist Ernest Ranglin said that "the offbeat guitar scratching that he and other musicians played was referred to as 'skat! skat! skat!'" Some believe that Cluet Johnson coined the term. Bassist Johnson and the Blues Blasters were Coxsonne Dodd's house band in the 50s and earliest 60s before the rise of the mighty Skatalites. In explaining the 'ya-ya' sound of the music & rhythm being made, the word 'ska' popped out. This may because he greeted all his friends as 'skavoovee', perhaps imitating American hipsters of the era.

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:33 am

The Ska that was a part of the album of my early years came off the back of punk and had a hard political edge to it (even early madness). The lineups were usually multi-racial - hence it being pre-dominantly british due to the mass immigrations from Jamaica - and the lyrics were specifically english angst. I reckon this is one of the reasons ska didn't translate to well to American audiences.

Richard Cranium · Post by **Richard Cranium** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:56 am

This might answer some questions...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:03 pm

Thx ... its not an abbreviation then.

Palzon · Post by **Palzon** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:31 pm

Toots and the Maytals are amazing. They still tour. Overall i like their music and sound better than Marley. Seriously. Listen to these guys.

SilverFJ · Post by **SilverFJ** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:36 pm

Lucky Boy's Confusion (poppy)
Pain (poppy)
Sublime (diverse as hell)
Leftover Crack (if you like really fast ska)
Reel Big Fish (awesome, but they're sellouts)

Pun · Post by **Pun** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:54 pm

I'd throw Sublime into the "Ska inspired" category.

SilverFJ · Post by **SilverFJ** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:08 pm

Yeah it's not all ska but the ska songs they do have are great. Check out the 40oz to Freedom by Sublime for the best (and most ska-like) songs.