A Brief History Of Ska Music

Ska music developed in Jamaica in the late 1950's combining elements of Rhythm 'N' Blues, American Jazz, Calypso and has a very upbeat tempo.

As Jamaicans started to listen to American R&B artists such as Fats Domino they began to version their own style with artists such as Prince Buster and Clement Dodd and forming sound systems. Trucks would be loaded with amps and turntables and driven around the ghettos playing records. Different sound systems would become very competitive with the DJ's all vying for an audience. Sound systems were common in Britain during the 60's and 70's also.

The first recordings of Ska were made at recording studios such as Studio One and WIRL in Kingston, Jamaica.

These early recording sessions were produced by the likes of Prince  Buster(Pictured), Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd and Duke Reid.

In the 1960's the music became very popular in Britain among Mods and in the late 60's with the first wave of Skinheads. The British youth were introduced to Ska in the local youth clubs and would dance to artists such as Toots And The Maytals, The Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Symarip and Laurel Aitken.

As the first wave of Jamaican Ska waned in the early 70's with Reggae becoming more popular it wasn't until the end of the Punk era that the revival of Ska began in Britain with the explosion of  '2 Tone'. The sound was edgier with a fusion of punk in the music and the youngsters soon latched onto the 'craze'. It had it's beginnings in Coventry with Jerry Dammers' band The Specials.

They went on to have huge success in two explosive  years along with stablemates The Selecter.

Other bands who enjoyed massive success during the 2  Tone era were Madness, The Beat and Bad Manners.