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- From: tomas@psycco.msae.wisc.edu (Tomas Charlie Willis)
- Newsgroups: alt.music.ska,alt.skinheads,rec.music.info,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers
- Subject: FAQ: Ska (alt.music.ska) Frequently Asked Questions (Part 1 of 3)
- Followup-To: alt.music.ska
- Date: Wed, 26 May 99 02:02:05 CST
- Organization: Skayote
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- Summary: Answers to frequently-asked questions about ska music.
- Keywords: ska,rock-steady,bluebeat,FAQ,Jamaica,ska-core
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-
- Archive-name: music/ska-faq/part1
- Last-modified: $Date: 99/05/26 01:01:24 $
- Version: $Revision: 3.104 $
- Part: 1 of 3
- URL:http://www.twillis.com/ska/faq/
- URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/music/ska-faq/part1
-
- FAQ for (news:alt.music.ska)
- Questions and answers about ska music
- Tomas Willis
- tomas@twillis.com
-
- Administrivia:
-
- Go forth and skank.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Subject: 1.1: Introduction
-
- In response to all of those ``Isn't ska some dance form of reggae?''
- questions, I present the following historical background to the music we
- call ska, gleaned from liner notes I have lying about the place, various
- postings to (news:alt.music.ska), and sundry emailings with helpful ska
- fans.
-
- *** [August 96]
- The Hypertext Ska FAQ has moved to its final home! The new URL is
- <a href="http://twillis.com/ska/">http://twillis.com/ska/</a>,
- at the International House of Ska. This webified FAQ contains text, links
- and graphics that don't fit here in alt.music.ska.
-
- Please update your bookmarks!
- This is part 1, $Revision: 3.104 $, posted to (news:alt.music.ska),
- (news:rec.music.info), (news:alt.skinheads), (news:alt.answers),
- (news:rec.answers), and (news:news.answers). This FAQ is posted twice
- a month, whether it needs to be or not.
-
- This FAQ file is also available for anonymous ftp on the archive site
- rtfm.mit.edu as the file `pub/usenet/news.answers/music/ska-faq/part1'.
-
- This FAQ file is on the Web as
- URL:http://www.twillis.com/ska/faq/
-
- Acks:
- Michael Cancilla (mailto:mcancill@polyslo.calpoly.edu) posted a long list
- of ska bands that I have incorporated into this FAQ. That list has grown
- to list over 500 bands! Mike Fragassi (mailto:mfragass@ucs.indiana.edu) emailed
- me about 10k in response to my request for more info and is still at it.
- Thanks Mikes! Thanks also to everyone else in a.m.s and other reaches of
- netspace who sent me info.
-
- Dance harder!
- Tomas Willis (mailto:skafaq@twillis.com)
-
- Also, you can get at this document on the World Wide Web (WWW) at
- URL:http://www.twillis.com/ska/faq
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: 1.2: Table of Contents
-
-
- The ska FAQ is now distributed in three sections. Part one addresses
- background questions, part two contains information about ska via various media,
- and part three contains infomation about bands.
-
- Table of Contents:
- Part 1
- 1.1 Introduction
- 1.2 Table of Contents
- 1.3 What is ska music?
- 1.4 Where did ska come from?
- 1.5 What is first-wave ska? Second-wave ska? Third-wave ska?
- 1.6 What is ska-core?
- 1.7 What is a rude boy?
- 1.8 What is with the narrow-brim hats, dark suits and narrow ties?
- How come some of these ska bands look like the Blues Brothers?
- 1.9 What is skanking?
- 1.10 What about reggae?
- 1.11 Oi! What about skinheads?
- 1.12 Recommended reading and Bibliography
-
- Part 2
- 2.1 Introduction
- 2.2 Table of Contents
- 2.3 Where can I hear ska on the radio?
- 2.4 Where can I hear ska live?
- 2.5 Is anyone doing ska video?
- 2.6 Are there any ska movies?
- 2.7 Are there any books about ska?
- 2.8 What are some ska-related 'zines (fan-created magazines)?
- 2.9 How do I get a ska email-based mailing list?
- 2.10 What are some more Internet ska resources?
- 2.11 Can anyone reccommend some good ska albums for someone who has
- absolutely no clue about ska?
- 2.12 What are addresses of some record labels producing ska discs?
- 2.13 Are there some mail order stores that carry ska?
-
- Part 3
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 Table of Contents
- 3.3 What are the names of some ska bands?
- 3.4 Can I write to any of these bands?
-
- ------------------------------
- History
- *******
-
- Beginnings
- ==========
-
- Subject: 1.3: *What is ska music?*
-
- Ska is dance music, first and foremost. Ska was a *Jamaican dance
- music* that swept out of Jamaica in the early 1960s to shake the butts
- of working- and middle-class Jamaicans before going on, via the West
- Indian immigrant connection, to the UK, and then on to the world. In
- the UK, ska was also known as *blue beat* music. *Rocksteady*, and
- later, *reggae* sprang from the loins of ska in the late 1960s.
- Mid-1970s and 1980s/1990s revivals of this popular dance form have kept
- this music alive and fun through the present. The ska beat on drums
- and bass, rhythm guitar, lots of horns and maybe a Farfisa or Hammond
- organ -- that's the ska sound.
-
- Ska was *not* recently invented by ska-influenced bands like No
- Doubt, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish or any other 90's
- band.(1) Ska *is* a forty-year-old music form now in a fresh, vigorous
- "3rd Wave". Ska is rich in history, broad in scope and guaranteed to
- make you shake your groove thang.
-
- For the musically inclined, here is a description of the rhythmic
- structure of ska:
- Musically, Ska is a fusion of Jamaican mento rhythm with R&B, with
- the drum coming in on the 2nd and 4th beats, and the guitar
- emphasizing the up of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beats. The drum
- therefore is carrying the blues and swing beats of the American
- music, and the guitar expressing the mento sound.
- `[SB(JJ)]'
-
- Brendan Tween (URL:mailto:brendog@panix.com) mentions that the
- Skatalites frequently used a G-Em-C-D guitar progression, while most
- modern ska uses a straight 1-4-5 progression (A-D-E C-F-G), although
- A-D-E9-A is another possible progression.
-
- Bob Timm, of the Ska Mining Company, offers some additional thoughts
- about `What Counts as Ska', at
- http://ska.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa100397.htm.
-
- Ska features a strong bass and drum rhythm section, guitars,
- keyboards and brass. *I* say, the bigger the ska band, the better.
-
- ---------- Footnotes ----------
-
- (1) Props to these bands for their commercial success, but don't
- let the hype convince you that their sound is the ska sound!
-
- Jamaica
- =======
-
- Subject: 1.4: *Where did ska come from?*
-
- In the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica rhythm & blues sounds from
- the African-American experience in America were adapted by Jamaican
- musicians and blended with traditional Jamaican *mento*, spiced with
- jazz, as well as ya-ya, See , and other island sounds and cranked out of
- dance hall systems and mobile "sound systems" mounted on huge trucks.
-
- In the late 1950s Jamaica was about to gain independence from Great
- Britain, and pioneering Jamaican record producer *Clement "Sir Coxsone"
- Dodd*, no doubt in a spirit of nationalism and a desire to get down,
- called on his musicians to create a danceable uniquely Jamaican sound.
- Bassist *Cluet Johnson (Clue J)* ran the "hardest-driving dance and
- recording band" developing this sound in Jamaica and went about the
- town greeting his friends with a call of "*Love Skavoovie*." `[SB(JJ)]'
- From this greeting, the name of the music naturally developed into
- "*ska*."
-
- In late 1960 and 1961 bands recording for Dodd laid down the first
- truly ska tracks, distinct from calypso, r&b, jazz and American and
- British pop sounds. *Coxone* was in strenuous competition with Arthur
- "Duke" Reid, who founded Trojan Records (see ) and Prince Buster (Cecil
- Campbell), who left Dodd to found "The Voice of the People", his own
- sound system. Chris Blackwell's Island Records provided another vital
- nexus for early ska music (see ). There developed "a unique Jamaican
- jazz culture where the melody of horns fused with the drums in a free
- form music which was mellifluous and rebellious."`[RAR,p.126]' Thus,
- ska became Jamaica's first indigenous popular music form. A hit at
- home, ska reigned supreme in Jamaica for many years: "The National
- Dance", indeed.
-
- As many have stated in alt.music.ska, ska did not spring into sudden
- existence out of nowhere. Many of the elements of ska can be heard in
- recordings from the late 1950s. It wasn't until these were all brought
- together in the Kingston scene under the influences of Coxsone, "Prince
- Buster", Clue J, "Duke Reid" and others that ska emerged as a distinct
- sound. By the time ska made its "world debut" at the 1964 New York
- World's Fair at the the Jamaican exhibition it was an established
- phenomenon at home.
-
- More ska history is available from the exciting new Island Records
- site, http://www.islandlife.com/tough/1.html.
-
- Ska came to England with immigrants in the early 1960s. Known in
- the UK briefly as "Jamaican Blues", ska inspired the formation of the
- Blue Beat record company, providing yet another name for the ska sound:
- "blue beat". Ska gained popularity in the UK amongst the members of
- the "Mod" scene, leading to the residual association of small-brimmed
- trilby (pork-pie hats)(1) and scooters(2) with ska music.`[HSBR]' About
- the time "skinheads" in the UK were getting into ska, Trojan Records
- was still releasing ska hits into the UK top 10 (as late as 1969 or
- 1970), but by that time rock-steady and reggae were waxing as ska
- waned, for a while, at least.
-
- ---------- Footnotes ----------
-
- (1) The pork-pie (trilby) hat came to the Mods by way of the rude
- bwoy fashion of Jamaican immigrants in the UK. See .
-
- (2) For scooter talk, check out the Usenet group alt.scooter or the
- Original Motor Scooter Home Page
- (http://weber.u.washington.edu/~shortwav) or `The Bollocks Page',
- http://www.t5.net/TheBollocksPage/.
-
- Calypso, Trinidad and Tobago
- ----------------------------
-
- Three waves of ska
- ==================
-
- Subject: 1.5: What is first-wave ska? Second-wave ska? Third-wave
- ska? Is there a fourth wave?
-
- These terms describe ska music coming from three different time
- periods separated by gaps in the popularity of the music. Roughly
- speaking, "first-wave ska" began in late 1960(1) in Jamaica and lasted
- until the late 1960s in Jamaica and England (as blue beat), by which
- time its popularity had declined in favor of ska offspring rock-steady
- and reggae. Seminal first-wave Jamaican ska artists include the
- Skatalites, Laurel Aitken, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan and Desmond
- Dekker.
-
- Joly, joly@dti.net, reminds us that Duke Vin brought Sound System
- to London in the 50's, and in the Sixties the London Ska scene became
- so strong that, as can be seen in the movie `Scandal' (see ), it
- eventually toppled the government!
-
- "Second-wave ska" flourished in the late-1970s and very early 1980s
- and saw the emergence of popular groups such as the Specials, the
- (English) Beat, Madness and the like in England. Second-wave ska is
- strongly associated with the 2 Tone scene [1979-1981] in the UK, as
- shown in the movie `Dance Craze', although American bands like Her
- Majesties Secret Service brought the 2-Tone sound to the States in the
- early Eighties. Two-tone ska is faster, tighter and uses more horns
- than some older Jamaican ska, although certainly not as much as the
- Skatalites. Certainly, through the first and second waves, ska was a
- music for the man-in-street, the working people.
-
- "Third-wave ska" is a late-1980s/early- 1990s revival of ska,
- involving such bands as Weaker Youth Ensemble, the Allstonians, Bim
- Skala Bim, the Voodoo Glow Skulls and The Toasters. Many popular
- rock/hardcore/funk bands, such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, are
- strongly influenced by ska sounds. In the last few years, some bands,
- like Hepcat, Steady Earnest, the Allstonians, Skavoovie and the
- Epitones, have recovered a roots ska sound.
-
- In Puerto Rico and Latin America, new ska fusions are emerging.
- Some call the emerging latin ska "salska", with bands fusing
- afro-caribbean and Latin pop-rock sounds with roots ska for a unique
- and exciting sound! Skarlos, carlos@skinhead.org, reports the
- development of "skakakore",(2) a ska/hoodcore or rap/ska/hardcore mix.
- The band with the longest name to date, La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos
- del quinto Patio, mixes cha-cha with ska - "chachaska". Let's not
- forget "freestyle ska", that European ska/hip-hop fusion. It sure
- isn't ska-core, but it is a new direction! Is this the *fourth* wave
- of ska?
-
- Additionally, there has been a recent infusion of self-identified
- *Christian ska* bands, particularly in the US. These bands include the
- O.C. Supertones, Five Iron Frenzy, the Insyderz, Squad 5-0, the
- Israelites (not Desmond Dekker's backup band), Aloha Fridays and Big
- Dog Small Fence. This is one step beyond the gospel covers the Wailers
- recorded in 1962! How do you know a band is a Christian ska band? Ask
- them. (Mephiskapheles is another sort of thing, altogether.)
-
- For more details on the Skatalites, check out
- http://www.profane.com/skatalites/
-
- A recent Max Perlich interview of Dodd is available at
- http://www.grandroyal.com/Magazine/Issue1/UpFront/Clement.html, wherein
- *Coxsone* answers the question: "How does it compare to the ska of the
- past?"
-
- For more on skinhead reggae, check out
- http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lashout/sknmusc.html.
-
- For Usenet discussion of reggae, check out news:rec.music.reggae
-
- ---------- Footnotes ----------
-
- (1) There is some discrepancy as do the *exact* time at which a
- music distinctly "ska" was first played and recorded. Music recorded
- as early as late 1958 and in 1959 have much, if not all, of the musical
- elements "required" to be ska. It is not clear to me that the term
- "ska" was in use prior to late 1960, however. The knowlegeable Noah Roy
- (nr24@columbia.edu) of Moon credits Theo Beckford's `Easy Snappin' as
- the first ska recording.
-
- (2) "Kako" is Puerto Rican for "homeboy".
-
- Ska-core
- ========
-
- Subject: 1.6. What is ska-core?
-
- Yet another label. A matter of semantics. Ska-core is either
- hardcore/punk-influenced ska or ska-influenced hardcore music. Or a
- fiction. Compared to traditional ska, ska-core is faster and harder.
- Voodoo Glow Skulls and Operation Ivy are commonly called ska-core bands.
- At some points, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have claimed to play
- ska-core. Some claim that ska-core songs change rythmic structure from
- ska-like to hardcore-like within one song. This could be
- differentiated from ska-influenced punk. Others point out that
- ska-core bands may have a rock-like lineup, without horns. *Just turn
- up the music and dance.*
-
- Lately, I've heard the terms "carnival punk" and "skunkcore" applied
- to the kind of thrashy ska/punk/hardcore/klezmer fusion played by the
- Blue Meanies and others. Is this another form of ska-core?
-
- Your Usenet news server may support the new "ska-core" newsgroup,
- alt.music.ska-core, which is dedicated to discussion of ska-core
- *without* traditional ska *vs.* ska-core flame wars.
-
- Rude bwoys
- ==========
-
- Subject: 1.7: *What is a rude boy?*
-
- A "rude boy" is not just an impolite male child. The street-cool
- toughs of Kingston, Jamaica, dressed nattily in the latest and hep-est
- threads were known as "rude boys" and they ruled the Kingstown dance
- halls. (Read "rude" as "chill" or "dope" or, if you are older, "cool",
- or if older still, "reet"). The term spread to the UK, and was revived
- by second-wave ska fans in the UK.
-
- Academic Caribbean historian Horace Campbell writes, in `Rasta and
- Resistance':
- Between 1964 and 1967 a subculture of angry youths developed in
- the [Jamaican] society. Answering to the psuedonym "Rude Bwoy"
- [sic] and searching for for avenues of self-expression and
- recognition, these unemployed youths were quickly integrated into
- the [ganga] export trade, many of them as enforcers.
-
- ... these young people created terror among working people, such
- that they were feared by both citizens and police.
- `[RAR, p. 111]' The [bracketed] comments are mine.
-
- Referring to Desmond Dekker's `Rude Boy Train', `007', and other
- songs describing rude boys, `Melody Maker' defined the term as "a sort
- of cool super-hooligan.' [DD] Dekker sings:
- Them a loot
- Them a shoot
- Then a wail
- At Shanty Town
- When rude boy deh 'pon probation
- Then rude boy a bomb up the town.
- `[DD]'
-
- Obviously, rude boys are the people your mother warned you about.
- For a cinematic example, check out Jimmy Cliff's portrayal of real-life
- rude boy Ivanhoe Martin Rhygin in the film The Harder They Come (For
- more information, see See .)
-
- Laurence Cane-Honeysett wrote on:
- From the summer of 1966, up until 1967, a whole series of records
- referring to the exploits of so-called "Rude Boys" were released in
- Jamaica. Almost every major artist on the island recorded material
- featuring lyrics either condemning or defending the actions of the
- young men who spread mayhem across the island. Some described the
- Rude Boys as no more than glorified hooligans, who caused trouble
- for trouble's sake, while others depicted them as heroes, akin to
- the gangsters and cowboys featured in the popular films of the day.
- To most, however, they were simply victims of the deprived social
- conditions into which they were born and subsequently raised.
-
- Whichever way one viewed them, the Rude Boys were an established
- part of Jamaican life and had been around long before the glut of
- releases which drew attention to there activities. The main reason
- for the sudden interest was the explosion of violence during the
- summer of 1966, undoubtedly agitated to a large degree by the
- exceptionally hot weather. By October, following six deaths over
- the preceding three months, the Jamaican government declared a
- state of emergency and instructed the police and military to cordon
- off the trouble zone in Kingston and enforce a 10pm to 6am curfew.
-
- The fact that this period coincides with one of the major
- transformations in Jamaican music is no coincidence.[sic] The heat
- which had made tempers become frayed had also made dancing to Ska
- an exhausting experience and it was a natural progression to slow
- the tempo of the music. Eventually the rhythm slowed to such an
- extent that it became a completely new sound - Ska had been
- replaced by Rocksteady.
-
- By early 1967, both the weather and tempers had cooled and the Rude
- Boy theme became less frequent in song lyrics. Over the years that
- followed, Rude Boys were rarely mentioned and despite the succes of
- Perry Hanzell's film, `The Harder They Come', which starred Jimmy
- Cliff as the doomed anti-hero, 'Ivanhoe Martin Rhygin', they
- featured only occasionally in songs such as the Slicker's `Johnny
- Too Bad'.
-
- Towards the end of the seventies, British Ska bands such as The
- Specials and Madness re-invented the image of the Rude Boy,
- presenting him as a fun-loving young man, attired in a stylish
- two-tone suit and a pork-pie hat, more akin to the Mods of the
- sixties than [to] the original Jamaican version. The British Rude
- Boy was not to last, however, and following the demise of the Ska
- revival, he quickly vanished. Since then, Rude Boys seem to have
- been all but forgotten outside Jamaica ... until now!
- `[C25]'
-
- Today, a "Rude Boy" or "Rude Girl" is a *dedicated* ska fan, with a
- sense of history, style and the ska scene. A trendy poseur *cannot*
- be rude.
-
- Fashion
- =======
-
- Subject: 1.8: What is with the narrow-brim hats, dark suits and
- narrow ties? How come some of these ska bands look like the Blues
- Brothers?
-
- This is rude boy fashion from Jamaica in the 1960s.
-
- Jamie Mowder in NYC (mowder@axp1.acf.nyu.edu.) writes about ska
- fashion:
-
- Maybe the "dark suit and pork-pie hat" thing comes from people
- trying to look like Jerry Dammers from those old Specials album
- covers. And *he* was probably trying to look like "Walt Jabsco",
- the cartoon guy from the 2 Tone label design. And Walt was (so
- I've read) modeled after the way Peter Tosh looked on the cover of
- the `Wailing Wailers' album from Studio One.
-
- So, I guess all these *Blues Brothers* types are actually trying
- to look like Peter Tosh from 1965! It is "rude bwoy" fashion from
- Jamaica.
-
- Dancing
- =======
-
- Subject: 1.9: What is skanking?
-
- Skanking is the *canonical* ska dance. Being canonical doesn't make
- it the only or One True ska dance; it is, however, the standard dance
- these days. Skanking involves angular pumping of legs and arms, with
- knees and elbows bent. Mike Fragrassi (I think) described this a
- rythmic "herking and jerking."
-
- The original *official* ska dance was called "*The Ska*." This dance
- originated in Jamaica and was the dance one did at ska shows. It is
- not as punk-influenced as contemporary skanking. Jeremy D. Mushlin,
- JDM7548@acfcluster.nyu.edu, described it as:
- Not like jamming your elbow to your opposite knee back and forth,
- but sort of like the milk-the-cow, do the monkey sort of thing ...
-
- Guido van Breda has turned up a great series of still shots of
- *Ronnie and Jeanette* - *the couple who taught New York the Ska*, who
- visited the 1964 World's Fair in New York with Jamaican musicians Byron
- Lee and The Dragonaires, Jimmy Cliff and Prince Buster. Watch them
- dance in the animated GIF, or check out the stills at
- http://www.dataweb.nl/~vanbreda/pictparade.html
-
- Hey! All you skankers and moshers: class up the joint and do The Ska!
-
- Controversy now rages over the propriety of slamming, moshing,
- body-passing and stage-diving at ska concerts. These dances, while
- wildy popular with some, are reviled by most more traditional types.
- However, Jay Vidheecharoen, jvidhee@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu, wisely points
- out that "*Stage diving on top of people who are skankin' isn't too
- smart ...*"
-
- Reggae
- ======
-
- Subject: 1.10: What about reggae?
-
- Reggae music is an offshoot of ska that developed in the late 1960s.
- Reggae was developed out of rocksteady music, a music developed by
- early ska vocalists (e.g. Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, Desmond
- Dekker) as audiences demanded a more *steady* beat `[TKS]' and perhaps
- less all-instrumental music. (see ) Note that many reggae stars got
- their start as ska musicians. Notable examples are Bob Marley, Bunny
- Wailer, Peter Tosh, Rita Marley Anderson, Toots and the Maytals,
- Desmond Dekker. As the fast beat of ska mellowed through rocksteady, it
- gradually led to the creation of reggae.
-
- As Horace Cambell wrote in `Rasta and Resistance',
- "The transition from rock steady to reggae was, like the
- transition from ska to rock steady, an impreceptible process which
- was both a response to and a reflection of the changing social
- conditions of the society. Where rock steady had the legacy of
- singing the sex and romance songs of Jackie Opel and Lord Creator,
- reggae laid emphasis on Africa, black deliverance and redemption."
- `[RAR]'
-
- Note that reggae has not always been inextricably linked to
- Rastafarian culture. See .
-
- The British band UB40, loosely associated with second-wave ska,
- offers the following thoughts about the origins of reggae in their all-
- cover tribute album, `Labour of Love':(1)
-
- "This is a selection of songs. They represent an era. An era,
- after the first skinhead wave, when black boys were still rude
- boys and only hippies wore their hair long. They represent reggae
- when it was first called by that name. Reggae before it was
- discovered by cops, sociologists and TV producers. Before it was
- claimed by lefties, liberals, punks and rastas. Reggae was just
- another dance music and most D.J.' still sniggered at it.
-
- In those days, reggae appealed not to the intellect or the social
- conscience, but to the heart and hips."
- `[LL]'
-
- For more reggae info, check out the rec.music.reggae Usenet group.
- Usenet rec.music.reggae
-
- The rec.music.reggae-related Jammin Reggae Archive is accessable on
- the WWW from the Jammin home page, which has *moved* from the older
- `jammin.nosc.mil' site and the old `orpheus.ucsd.edu' site to the new
- site at www.arrowweb.com/jammin You can access the Jammin archive by
- ftp, too: ftp://spectra.math.uga.edu/reggae
-
- ---------- Footnotes ----------
-
- (1) Side note for UB40 fans: UB40 covers Tony Tribe's 1969 version
- of "Red, Red Wine," but this song was written by Neil Diamond!
-
- Rastafarianism and Ska Music
- ............................
-
- The Wailers, for example, were not to embrace Rastafarianism until
- after the 1965 visit of Jamaica by the Ethiopian emperor Selassie I,
- and did not cut their first song with Rasta lyrics until 1966, with
- "Rasta Ship Them Up." In fact, Reggae's early popularity in England
- was due mainly to the "Skinheads" and "skinhead reggae". (see .)
-
- For more on Rastafarianism:
- `"Rastafari: The Birth and Development of Cultural and Religious Resistance in Jamaica and Throughout the Rasta Migration", by Bush Doktor'
- http://ebhon.jnst.uor.edu/Users/doktor/rastapaper.html.
-
- `"A SKETCH OF RASTAFARI HISTORY", by Norman Hugh Redington'
- http://paradigm.uor.edu/users/doktor/norman2
-
- Skinheads
- =========
-
- Subject: 1.11: Oi! What about skanking skinheads?
-
- Skinheads, originally, come out of the same *working class* culture
- as ska. Just look at early Sixties pictures of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh
- and Bunny Wailer -- they have no hair! Skinhead culture spread more
- widely in the late Sixties as more and more Jamaicans went to the UK
- and influenced the White youth culture there. These old UK bald-heads
- were rude boys. Yesterday's and today's skinhead fashion has a legacy
- from Black Jamaica. Since the first skinheads were trying to look like
- shave-head rude boys, it makes all those Nazi skinhead types seem pretty
- ignorant, eh? It's a good thing they are in the minority.
-
- For more info see the FAQ for alt.skinheads by Sid Sowder, if you
- can find it. It no longer is being posted to the obvious places on
- Usenet. (If anyone turns up a copy of this c.1991 document, please
- send it to me me. -TCNW)
-
- Skinheads in the Caribbean ("Cocos pelados") are still associated
- with the ska scene, as they are elsewhere. In Puerto Rico, the ska
- scene is closely tied to the skinhead *(Cabezas de Piel)* and oi scene,
- according to Skarlos.
-
- More info on non-racist skinheads is available on the Web:
- http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lashout/skns.html, thanks to Paul
- Paukstelis lashout@ksu.ksu.edu, a.k.a. *Lash Out USA*. `Lashout' seems
- to be unavailable a lot, because of KSU's draconian web quota policies.
- A bi-linugal, non-racist skinhead page is `Un Mode de Vie',
- http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/1741/. Another good skinhead page
- is `Monkey Boots', http://www.zebra.net/~mdjones/page_monkey_boots.html,
- by Lisa (monkeyboots@zebra.net).
-
- For more about the "straight-edge" scence, check out
- http://www.straight-edge.com/define.html.
-
- Skinheads can be found on the Usenet in the newsgroup
- news:alt.skinheads. In addition, calmer skinhead conversation can be
- had in the newer newsgroup news:alt.skinheads.moderated.
-
- There is skinhead chat on the IRC, on the Undernet, on channel
- `#skinhead'.
-
- Recommended Reading
- *******************
-
- Subject: 1.12 Recommended Reading and Bibliography
-
- Recommended Reading: (see )
-
- The liner notes to [SB] are particularly rich, with extensive text
- and great photographs. Also, the notes for [C25] and [DD] are quite
- informational.
-
- Amber, 74653.2176@CompuServe.com, of KRUA's "This is Ska" show
- recommends `Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of
- Jamaica' by Stephen Davis and Peter Simon for "a lot about classic ska,
- the politics involved, the origin of Rastafarians, and a bunch of other
- stuff." If Davis and Simon leaves you hungry for more Jamaican
- politics, check out a Marxist view in `Rasta and Resistance', as cited
- the See .
-
- Also, check into the alt.skinheads, and rec.music.reggae, Usenet
- groups for related topics. The rec.music.reggae-related Jammin Reggae
- Archive is accessable on the WWW from the Jammin home page:
- http://www.arrowweb.com/jammin.
-
- There is a glossary of Jamaican terms and idioms in the book `The
- Harder They Come', by Michael Thelwell (Grove Press, NY, or Pluto Press,
- London, 1980). More etymological information is available in
- `Dictionary of Jamaican English', by F. G. Cassidy and R. B. Le
- Page (Oxford University Press). The novelization of `The Harder They
- Come' has also been recommended as a tool for understanding Jamacain
- patois and culture. You can find a patois dictionary on the WWW at:
- Patois Dictionary. Another can be found at
- http://www.willamette.edu/~tjones/languages/rasta-lang.html.
-
- For more information on Jamaican culture, you could check out the
- gopher and WWW servers at the University of West Indies, Mona, in
- Jamaica, University of West Indies Mona Home Page,
- http://www.uwimona.edu.jm/.
-
- Sappy@aol.com recommends: "a really good book on Reggae, Ska,
- Calypso, and other forms of Caribbean music:" `Cut `n' Mix', by Dick
- Hebdige. "It explains the heritage of these forms of music and talks
- of some of the more renowned original artists. The second part of the
- book gives a full account of the Rise and Fall of the Two-Tone label
- and movement in England. It's published by Comedia and the ISBN is
- #0-415-05875-9." Thanks, Sappy!
-
- Total Madness - you list it as Complete Madness, but that's a
- mistake. It's by George Marshall and traces the history of the band
- from their very early days to their reunion concerts. Includes full
- discography and colour photos.
-
- Boss Sounds - Classic Skinhead Reggae - by Marc Griffiths, this book
- is the first ever referencew guide to reggae from 1967 to 1972.
- Includes loads on ska and ska artists too.
-
- Spirit Of '69 - A Skinhead Bible - also by George Marshall traces
- the history of the skinhead cult from the Sixties right up to today.
- So there's plenty of ska in it, plus a chapter on 2 Tone.
-
- Skinhead Nation - George Marshall's follow up to Spirit Of '69,
- again with plenty of ska references.
-
- The Two Tone Story - Actually this is George Marshall's first book,
- but it has just been revised and published again. Loads of info on The
- Specials, The Selecter, The English Beat and so on.
-
- You're Wondering Now - Paul William's guide to all things connected
- with The Specials.
-
- All of the above books are available from Moon or Taang! in the USA.
- For a free catalogue anyone can e-mail S.T. Publishing at stpbooks.com
- or can write to S.T. Publishing, P.O. Box 12, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire.
- DG11 3BW. Scotland.
-
- Bibliography
- ************
-
- Cited Sources
- -------------
-
- "[SB]"
- "Ska Bonanza: The Studio One Years," Various Artists, Heartbeat
- CD: HB 86/87, (1992). Liner notes by Julian Jingles (JJ) and
- Chris Wilson (CW).
-
- "[C25]"
- "Celebration: Twenty Five Years Of Trojan Records," Various
- Artists, Trojan Records CDTRD 413, (1991). Liner notes by Laurence
- Cane-Honeysett.
-
- "[DD]"
- "The Best of Desmond Dekker: Rockin' Steady," Desmond Dekker,
- Rhino Records R2 70271, (1992). Liner notes by Harry Young.
-
- "[LL]"
- "Labour of Love," UB40, Virgin/A&M Records, CD4980, (1983). Liner
- notes by the band.
-
- "[HSBR]"
- "The History of Ska, Blue Beat and Reggae," Various Artists,
- Esoldun S.A.R.L./Blue Beat REG 101, (1992). Liner notes by Delroy
- Sion Eccles.
-
- "[TKS]"
- "Two Knights of Ska: Derrick and Laurel," Derrick Morgan and
- Laurel Aitken, Unicorn Records PHZD-61, (1992). Liner notes
- anonymous.
-
- "[RAR]"
- "Rasta and Resistance," by Horace Campbell, Africa World Press,
- Inc., P.O. Box 1892, Trenton, New Jersey 08607, USA, (1987).
-
- "[RPM]"
- "RPM" A Ska museletter. (see .)
-
- Uncited Sources
- ---------------
-
- "[AMS]"
- `alt.music.ska', various postings. This was become the largest
- source of info for this FAQ through 1995.
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of FAQ: Ska (alt.music.ska) Frequently Asked Questions: Part 1
- ******************************************************************
-