Ska music is the precursor to reggae and rocksteady music. Ska took the accented upbeat from mento and calypso music and embedded it within the musical rhythm that typifies dub, reggae, and dancehall music today. The up-beat, syncopated melody that typifies ska music and the reggae that followed is variably described as skank, skat, and ska, and is widely believed to be the source of ska music’s name, though other theories also exist.

History of ska music

Ska originated in Jamaica in the very late 1950s, blending traditional Caribbean music forms such as mento and calypso with the jazz, big band, and R&B music that was broadcast across the water from American radio stations. Ska music tends towards instrumentals, like American jazz, and frequently features brass instruments such as the trombone, saxophone, and trumpet driving the song’s melody alongside bass and drum beats.

In the late 50s and early 60s as American broadcasts of blues and R&B music began to wane, Jamaican performers developed their own sound to fill the gap. Ska took off from this sound, most famously with The Skatalites. Ska’s modern, exuberant sound took hold of the Jamaican music scene in the early 1960s at the same time that Jamaica declared independence from the United Kingdom. In later years ska music followed West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom to capture the ears of the British mod scene in the 1970s.

In the 1970s ska evolved into 2 tone music with a faster tempo and the harder-edged addition of punk rock guitars and lyrics in the Coventry, England area. In the late 1970s Jerry Dammers of The Specials began releasing new 2 tone albums in the UK with his 2 Tone Records label, which also led to a revived interest in original ska recordings throughout the UK.

2 tone music was politically notable for it’s racial unity, a trend that continues through modern ska and reggae today. 2 tone bands including The Beat, The Specials, and The Selecter all featured multiracial lineups at a time when the UK was suffering from deep racial tensions.

Ska continued to remain close to punk music and spread to become a worldwide phenomenon in the 1980s as American ska bands such as The Uptones, Fishbone, The Untouchables, Hepcat, The Toasters, and Mighty Mighty Bosstones became popular. These ska and ska punk bands often focused more heavily on brass instrumentation and faster tempos. The premier American ska record label, Moon Ska Records was founded in 1981 by Toasters’ frontman Robert “Bucket” Hingley.

Ska remains popular in the west coast US with the 1990s commercial success of The Hippos and Save Ferris and later appearance of ska-inspired punk and pop bands including Sublime, No Doubt, and Reel Big Fish, all of whom released Billboard hits during this time.

Ska bands and musicians

The Wailing Wailers (of Bob Marley fame) were originally a ska band as well, and some people describe the reggae anthem One Love as a ska song. Desmond Dekker, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, and The Melodians were other popular ska bands. Today, The Heptones are a popular ska band based in Los Angeles.