Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. It is a precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It was popularized by Jamaican musicians such as Duke Reid, Prince Buster, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, and Leslie Kong. Ska has been revived several times since its inception, most notably in the late 1970s British punk rock scene and again in the late 1990s third wave ska movement.
Ska first developed in Jamaica in the late 1950s, when there was a strong influence from American rhythm and blues on local music. The style was named after the Jamaican word for a quick, jerky form of dance music which had earlier been used to refer to mento. Early ska tracks were often simply instrumental versions of R&B standards or re-recordings thereof by Jamaican artists such as Laurel Aitken (“Boogie In My Bones”), Jackie Mittoo (“Ram Jam”) and Ken Boothe (“You’re Gonna Miss Me”). These early recordings were made possible by the introduction of electric guitars and amplifiers to Jamaica by American servicemen stationed there during World War II.
The first true ska recordings were done by Studio One house band The Skatalites in 1964, with hits such as “Guns Of Navarone” and “Ball Of Fire”. The Skatalites also played an important role in introducing horns to ska – up until this point it had been primarily an guitar-based genre. Other important early ska bands included Desmond Dekker & The Aces (who had mainstream success with their 1968 track “Israelites”), Toots & The Maytals (whose 1966 song “Do The Reggay” is generally credited with giving the genre its name) and Jimmy Cliff (whose 1968 cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” was one of the first big international hits for ska).
In the 1970s, two subgenres of ska emerged: roots reggae-influenced rockers and more pop-oriented lovers rock. Notable exponents of these styles respectively include Bob Marley & The Wailers (with songs like 1973’s “Stir It Up”), inner city London band Aswad (who scored a UK number one hit single with their version of Don McLean’s 1974 classic “American Pie”)
and Birmingham’s Steel Pulse (whose 1976 debut album Handsworth Revolution is considered one of the greatest reggae albums ever made).
The 1980s saw something of a decline in interest in ska globally, although pockets of activity remained – most notably 2 Tone bands like Madness (in Britain)