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Ska

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                              Music of Jamaica

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   Ska is a form of Jamaican music combining elements of traditional mento
   and calypso with an American jazz and rhythm and blues sound. It is
   notable for its shuffling, scratchlike tempo and jazz-like horn riffs
   on the offbeat.

   Originating in Jamaica, possibly in the 1950s, it was a precursor to
   rocksteady and later reggae. It was the predominant form of music
   listened to by rude boys, although many ska artists condemned the
   violent subculture. It is also popular with mods and skinheads, with
   artists such as Symarip, Laurel Aitken, Desmond Dekker and The Pioneers
   aiming songs at these groups as early as the 1960s.

   Musical historians typically divide the history of ska into three
   waves. There was revival of note in the United Kingdom in the late
   1970s and early 1980s, and another wave of popularity in the 1990s,
   mostly based in the United States and Argentina.

Origins

   After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers,
   and were able to hear rhythm and blues from Southern United States
   cities like New Orleans, by artists such as Fats Domino and Louis
   Jordan. Moreover, the stationing of American military forces during the
   War and after meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts
   of American music, and that there was a constant influx of records from
   the US. To meet the demand for such music, entrepreneurs like Prince
   Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems,
   which were portable discothèques. Sound Systems would be set up in
   yards for outdoor dance parties. Soon, a tradition of more than one
   sound system showing up to a yard party sprung up, creating a dueling
   DJs effect. Sound System operators were judged by both the power of
   their systems and the quality of their records. Operators would obtain
   records from Miami and New Orleans, and these records were hot
   commodities in Jamaica. Sound system operators often removed labels
   from the most popular records in order to enjoy a monopoly on the
   best-liked tunes and draw the most customers.

   As jump blues and more traditional rhythm and blues began to ebb in
   popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their
   own version of the genre. Record store owners and sound system
   operators began to inaugurate record labels. The ska sound is known for
   the placement of the accented guitar and piano rhythms on the upbeats.
   Some believe that the early jazz and rock 'n' roll broadcasts from
   American radio stations were misinterpreted by an eager Jamaican music
   audience, hence the off-beat rhythms that almost mimick the breakup of
   weak radio signals that hit the West Indian shores. Others consider ska
   not a misinterpretation, but its own response to American music. The
   upbeat sound can be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as
   mento and calypso. It has been argued that ska came from the
   combination of such native and local musical idioms with those of
   American music. Likewise, the ska sound coincided with the celebratory
   feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962, an
   event commemorated by ska songs such as Derrick Morgan's "Forward
   March" and the Skatalites' "Freedom Sound".

   One generally accepted theory is that the creator of ska was Prince
   Buster (born Cecil Campbell in 1938). It came with the inaugural
   session of 13 songs being recorded for his new label, Wild Bells. The
   session was financed by Duke Reid, who was supposed to get half the
   songs to release, but in the end he received just one, by trombonist
   Rico Rodriguez. Among the pieces recorded were " They Got To Go" and "
   Shake A Leg".

   According to reggae historian Steve Barrow, during the sessions, Buster
   told guitarist Jah Jerry, to “change gear, man, change gear,” and the
   guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving
   rise to the revolutionary new sound.

   The first ska recordings were created at facilities like Studio One and
   WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica by producers like Dodd, Reid, Prince
   Buster, and Edward Seaga (later Jamaica's prime minister). Ska was
   showcased at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Byron Lee & the
   Dragonaires were selected as the band for the occasion, and Prince
   Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris, and Peter Tosh performed with them. Prince
   Buster and U-Roy of Jamaica brought ska to the UK in the early 1960s.

   The word "ska" may have onomatopoeic origins in a tradition of poetic
   or possibly musical rhythms. Guitarist Ernest Ranglin said that the
   offbeat guitar scratching that he and other musicians played was
   referred to as "skat! skat! skat!" Some believe that Cluet Johnson
   coined the term. Bassist Johnson and the Blues Blasters were Coxsone
   Dodd's house band in the 1950s and early 1960s before the rise of the
   Skatalites.

   In explaining the 'ya-ya' sound of the music & rhythm being made, the
   word 'ska' popped out. This may be because he greeted all his friends
   as ' skavoovie', perhaps imitating American hipsters of the era.

   Because the newly-independent Jamaica didn't ratify the Berne
   Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works until
   1994, copyright was not an issue, creating a large number of cover
   songs and reinterpretations. Groups like Clement Dodd's house band, The
   Skatalites, often did instrumental ska versions of popular American and
   British music, such as Beatles tunes, movie themes, or surf
   instrumentals. Bob Marley's band The Wailers covered the Beatles' " And
   I Love Her", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan's " Like a Rolling
   Stone".

   As music changed in America, so did ska. In 1966 and 1967, when
   American soul became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound
   accordingly and evolved into rocksteady, with the bass playing more
   varied rhythms, more emphasis on the downbeat, and more soulful vocals.
   Some historians suggest that the popularity of rocksteady's slower
   tempo was a result of an exceptionally warm summer in 1966, during
   which dancers were physically too hot to dance to the uptempo numbers.
   It has also been suggested in some oral histories that the rise of
   rocksteady was likewise a response to the Jamaican rude boy subculture,
   as rudies valued keeping a cool, composed demeanor, and danced more
   slowly than others in the yard. Some notable rocksteady musicians were
   the Supersonics (house band at the Treasure Isle recording studio) and
   the Soul Vendors (house band at Studio One).

   Some notable rocksteady vocalists were the Melodians, who scored a hit
   with "Rivers of Babylon", the Paragons, the Heptones (one of the most
   popular vocal groups in Jamaica in the late 1960s), The Ethiopians, and
   Desmond Dekker, who did a number of rocksteady songs during the late
   1960s. Toots & the Maytals, another popular vocal group, were the first
   to use the term 'reggae' in a song title with their hit "Do the
   Reggay". Rocksteady lasted until the emergence of reggae in 1968.

2 Tone

   The 2 Tone (aka Two Tone) era was named after the label 2 Tone Records,
   founded by Jerry Dammers, keyboardist of The Specials. 2 Tone is also
   known as second wave revival ska. The sound combined Jamaican ska
   rhythms and melodies with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and
   aggressive guitar chords. 2 Tone recordings are characterized by faster
   tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge than original 1950s
   and 1960s ska.

   The record label's name had a double meaning; it referred to two tone
   tonic suits that some of the original Jamaican ska musicians and rude
   boys wore, and the second was to signify the multi-racial membership of
   most of the bands on the label, such as The Beat (known as English Beat
   in the US) and The Selecter. The Two Tone movement promoted racial
   unity at a time when racial tensions were at a high point in the UK.
   One of the symbols of the Two Tone movement was a black and white
   checkerboard pattern representing black and white people together.

   2 Tone bands were respectful to the original Jamaican ska artists,
   although the Specials notably failed to credit Prince Buster, Toots and
   the Maytals, Dandy Livingstone or Andy and Joe as original authors of
   songs on their 1979 debut vinyl release. However, the reworking of
   classic ska tracks in many cases turned them into hits again. The
   Jamaican artist Prince Buster made more money from royalties from cover
   versions than he earned from his own records.

   Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness was one of
   the most effective bands at bringing the Two Tone music style to the
   public eye and encouraging people to learn more about the musical
   style. Their high public profile was partly due to their videos getting
   heavy airplay on MTV and the BBC's influential music show Top of the
   Pops.

Third wave ska

   When Two Tone ska appeared in the UK in the late 1970s and early 1980s,
   groups began to form in the United States and other countries. Two of
   the earliest, and longest-lived, American ska bands are The Toasters
   and Bim Skala Bim. The Toasters, a band created in the two-tone era
   were one of the main driving forces behind the third wave of ska. Bands
   like Operation Ivy and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones can be credited with
   popularizing ska-core and ska punk, a fusion of punk rock or hardcore
   and ska. Some third wave ska bands play music mostly in the 1960s
   style, such as Hepcat, Skavoovie and the Epitones, and The Articles.

   In 1983, The Toasters' frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley created Moon
   Ska Records, which became the biggest American ska record label. It
   featured many bands that became staples in third wave ska, including
   Dance Hall Crashers, The Allstonians, The Slackers, Skavoovie and the
   Epitones, The Scofflaws, The Pietasters and Let's Go Bowling. Moon Ska
   Records officially folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe still continues
   its operations. In 2003, Robert Hingley launched a new ska record
   label, Megalith Records.

   In 1996, Mike Park of the band Skankin' Pickle officially founded Asian
   Man Records, which was the biggest West coast United States third wave
   ska label. Asian Man Records provided increased exposure for such ska
   bands as Big D and the Kids Table, MU330, Less Than Jake and Chris
   Murray and can be credited for much of their rise in popularity.

   By the early 1990s, ska and ska punk bands were appearing throughout
   the USA and many other countries. An enormous growth of the ska punk
   movement occurred after the The Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with
   Mercury Records in 1993 and appeared in Clueless with their first
   mainstream hit "Where'd You Go?".

   Brett Gurewitz and Tim Armstrong started Hellcat Records in 1997 as a
   sub-label of Epitaph Records. Known mostly for punk rock, the label
   also featured third wave ska and ska-core bands like Voodoo Glow
   Skulls, Choking Victim, Leftover Crack, The Slackers, The Pietasters
   and Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady Seven.

   By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in ska punk bands had waned,
   partly because the swing revival gained momentum in the United States.
   Exceptions included bands like Reel Big Fish, Suburban Legends,
   Streetlight Manifesto, The Aquabats!, Mad Caddies, and Less Than Jake
   (most of which started moving away from the ska-influenced sound to
   become more pop punk-oriented).

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
