SKA

any ska listeners out there?

if so what are your top ska band?

to get the ball rolling im into

reelbig fish
the beat
operationivy
the specials
community cervix... just to name afew

What about old school ska? The stuff that regge is based off of?

Old school Ska is class. I love to hear really old ska tunes out and about, although must confess I'm no expert in the genre. I keep meaning to go and get a compilation or box set from the Trojan label, who put out much of the Ska music of the 60's.


Anyone got any reccommendations of old ska artists/bands to check out?

I really dont listen to much, but Real Big Fish has a couple good tunes.

The one Ska band that I do listen to often is Mustard Plug. Great band. If you've never heard of them, I reccomend the album "Evildoers Beware".

I also saw "The Planet Smashers" at Silver Star Mt. one time and they put on a great show, though I dont have any of their C.D.s

[edit on 15-2-2007 by JbT]

Trojan was more reggae than ska really, but thats no bad thing at all, theres some damn good music to be found on that label. Theres plenty of Trojan compilations out there, Amazon is as good a place as any to start looking. Two old school ska names to look out for are The Pyramids and Prince Buster, who is easily the king of ska music. I have the FABulous greatest hits album (shown on the link site) on vinyl back home. A definite must buy.

Also, any bands on the 2-Tone record label are worth listening to, along with the older Madness stuff. You should also be able to get a copy of Dance Craze on DVD if you look for it. Theres also an American band called The Untouchables, they had a few hits and an excellent album out in the mid 80's which is available on CD. Its also worth checking out
moonskaworld for contemporary ska, and theres a good UK band/gig list here. Mostly tribute bands but some who do original music as well

I'm not a big fan of ska, but i do love some Choking Victim and Leftover Crack.
More ska-punk, but hell, still great music.

1. Toots and the Maytals

2. The Specials

3. The Toasters

4. Skankin Pickle

5. Less Than Jake

Toots & the Maytals are simply badass

Yeah i would go with that "ridcully" stated anything on the two-tone lable is normally ska based.

Symarip...skinhead moonstomp ....a classic
Desmond Dekker
The Selector
The Specials
The Beat

And.....The Ordinary Boys some of their stuff really sounds "ska" based

Just thought Id post about a CD I've just bought. Quite simply, I nearly wet myself when I saw the track listing! Its called Ska Archive, and you can get it from Amazon Marketplace here with a starting price of just £3.91 ex P&P

Tracks are;
1. Train To Skaville - Ethiopians
2. Skinhead Moonstomp - Symarip
3. On My Radio - Selecter (1)
4. Guns Of Navarone - Skatalites
5. Monkey Man - Maytals
6. Rudy A Message To You - Livingstone, Dandy
7. Return Of Django - Upsetters (1)
8. Phoenix City - Alphonso, Roland
9. Long Shot Kick De Bucket - Pioneers (1)
10. Gangsters - Specials
11. Bonanza Ska - Malcolm, Carlos
12. Liquidator - Harry J & The All Stars
13. Carry Go Bring Come - Hinds, Justin
14. Tide Is High - Paragons (1)
15. Israelites - Dekker, Desmond
16. Red Red Wine - Tribe, Tony
17. Tears Of A Clown - Special Beat
18. Double Barrel - Barker, Dave & Ansel Collins
19. I'm In The Mood For Ska - Lord Tanamo
20. Wonderful World Beautiful People - Cliff, Jimmy

[edit on 7-3-2007 by ridcully]

Getting well into the Ska vibe since this thread, even written a couple of ska-ish songs.

Got offered a gig supporting the Selecter too last year, couldn't do it though as they asked only 2 hours before the gig after the original support band cancelled.

Can anyone reccommend any good ska bands doing the live rounds (in the UK)?

Hey Paul

Click the last two links on my first post, theres plenty there for you

If you guys dig Ska, you should check out The Players.
They've played with a bunch of ska hall of famers-- Toots and the Maytals, The Skatalites, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Joe Strummer, The English Beat, The Toasters, and The Pietasters, The Scofflaws, King Django to name a few.

I'm not really into tradition ska or the two-tone stuff, but some of the ska-punk is great. Operation Ivy, Against all authority, old less than jake, blue meanies, etc. By the way, nice avatar buck satan

Anyone listen to citizen fish? The old members of Subhumans (UK) playing upbeat ska-punk. Outofstep...are you by any chance a fan of Minor Threat? Thanks by the way, Misfits have always been my 2nd favourite band (second to the Dead Kennedys of course)

Yeah, I forgot about Citizen fish. I like them, but I do prefer the subhumans stuff. Yes, I'm a minor threat fan, and just a huge fan of 80's hardcore in general!