Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and turned into rocksteady and reggae. It combined Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line and rhythm accented on the offbeat.

In the early 1960s ska was extremely popular in Jamaica and also with British mods. In the late 1960s it became the favourite music of English skinheads. Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three waves: the original Jamaican ska in the 1960s, the 2 Tone revival in England in the late 1970s, and the third wave of ska, started in the late 1980s.

Original ska in Jamaica was produced by Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Prince Buster. Famous ska-bands were Byron Lee & The Dragonaires, The Skatalites, The Wailers and so on.

2 Tone genre, that combined ska with punk rock, rocksteady and reggae, started in Coventry, when Jerry Dammers, vocalist of The Specials opened a new record label. 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time of high racial tensions. 2 Tone artists are Bad Manners, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, Madness, The Selecter, The Specials.

Third wave ska started in USA, influenced by 2 Tone. First well-known ska-band were The Toasters, and then other bands were created, such as The Uptones, Operation Ivy, Fishbone, Let's Go Bowling and Bim Skala Bim.