Posted on 06/27/2021 4:37:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The evidence that we are in the midst of a ska revival is plentiful. Indie-punk phenomenon Jeff Rosenstock managed a critical hit with “Ska Dream,” a reimagining of his 2020 album “No Dream.” The genre thrives online, where the Ska Tune Network has more than 200,000 subscribers and ska cover versions rake in the views, including a version of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” by Los Angeles band the Interrupters that has 5 million and counting. This year sees the release of two major books, one a 400-page oral history of American ska and the other a spirited defense of the often-maligned genre. And with We Are the Union, there’s a band with genuine breakout potential; the group’s new album focuses on singer Reade Wolcott coming out as a trans woman.
There’s only one argument against the idea that we’re in the midst of a ska revival, and it’s a simple one — ska never went away.
The classic British ska outfits that first brought upstroke guitar playing to the Billboard charts have existed in various stages of restoration, anniversary celebration and short-lived hiatuses since the first George Bush was in the White House. Bands like Less Than Jake, Fishbone and the Slackers found varying levels of success in the ’90s and never stopped touring and never fired their horn sections. Ska disappeared from the radio in the ’90s, giving way to the much less upbeat sounds of nu-metal, but right on cue 20 or so years after that, we’re all rushing to catch up with what the rude boys, rude girls and rude non-binaries have known all along.
“I see it as a continuation. I mean, rock continues — nobody talks about rock revivals, do they?” says Pauline Black, singer of the Selecter, the British ska band that recorded the
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
hey nick, thanks for taking us back to a very happy place.
yo ears broke?
ping
...Or Oingo Boingo?
This is still a good clip. :-)
Dick Clark see Johnny the snitch (from the files of Police Squad).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFZTKFzRhes
I can’t seem to appreciate this music.I’ve heard better noise when my truck had a flat tire at 70mph.
welp... take it down the road and get yer tire fixed.
funny as ****!!!
The English Beat - Wha’ppen.
Still one of my favorite albums. Reminds me of sitting on the beach at Fort Walton watching the girls walk by in the 80s.
Ska from down under, The Melbourne Ska Orchestra:
In the early ‘90, with my three-year old son on my shoulders, I stumbled into an outdoor English Beat concert held by George Washington University, no tickets, no gates, just a small quadrangle off of 22nd St. I wonder if my little man even remembers.
These Are the Times--Prince Buster & the Voice of the People (1962)
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