Moon Ska World, formerly known as Moon Ska Europe, is a ska record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1998 as the European sister label of the defunct American label Moon Ska Records, which was owned by Robert "Bucket" Hingley of The Toasters. Moon Ska World is a licensed affiliate run by Lol Pryor, the former Dojo Records and Link Records head. Due to illnesses in both Pryor and the other principal owner, Sonia "Red" Bailey, as well as deaths in their families, the label was put on hold until 2006, when Pryor changed its name to Moon Ska World and began running the label on his own.
Unlike its American counterpart, Moon Ska Europe released bands from genres outside of ska, but in 2006, the label shifted its focus exclusively towards ska and old reggae. In addition to releasing more than thirty albums licensed from Moon Ska Records, as well as early albums by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Buck-O-Nine, Moon Ska Europe released albums by Spunge (who later signed with Warner Bros. Records), Whitmore, King Prawn (Re-Releases of their first two albums) and Less Than Jake (their debut European release). In 2006, Moon Ska World signed UK underground ska act The Big, European reggae act The Upsessions, Hawaii ska/soul act Go Jimmy Go and former Bodysnatchers and Special Aka vocalist Rhoda Dakar. They have also released albums by The Toasters, The Riffs, 2 Tone supergroup Skaville UK, and skinhead reggae act Symarip.
The label has remained dormant since the release of an album and single by the Dub City Rockers in 2011.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones is an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr have remained constant members. The line-up also includes drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardist John Goetchius, and trombonist Chris Rhodes.
The Bodysnatchers were a seven-piece all-female band involved in the British 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Moon Ska Records was one of the most influential ska record labels of the 1980s and 1990s.
The Ethiopians were one of Jamaica's best-loved harmony groups during the late ska, rocksteady and early reggae periods. Responsible for a significant number of hits between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group was also one of the first Jamaican acts to perform widely in Britain.
The Pietasters are an American eight-piece ska/soul band from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.
Mighty Diamonds are a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and remained together as of 2012. They are best known for their 1976 debut album Right Time produced by Joseph Hoo Kim and the 1979 release Deeper Roots.
Spring Heeled Jack is a third wave ska band based out of New Haven, Connecticut. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Ron Ragona and drummer Dave Karcich in 1991. After a short breakup, Ragona and Karcich reformed the band with a new lineup. This lineup went on to record two albums before announcing a hiatus in 2000. While the band members moved on to perform in several new bands, their intention was to play the occasional reunion show. This plan would never come to fruition as a cerebral aneurysm would be cause for Karcich's death in 2002. In 2015, several band members returned to reform the band full-time. A third studio album, Sound Salvation, followed in 2017.
King Django is an American bandleader, singer, songwriter, arranger, engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, especially in the genres of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall, rhythm & blues and soul. Other influences in his music have included traditional jazz, swing, klezmer, hardcore/punk rock, hip-hop and electronica.
The Gladiators are a Jamaican roots reggae band, most popular during the 1970s. The core was Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon and Gallimore Sutherland. The two most famous albums are Trenchtown Mix Up (1976) and Proverbial Reggae (1978) with songs such as "Hearsay", "Jah Works", "Dreadlocks the Time is Now". "Mix Up", "Music Makers from Jamaica", and "Soul Rebel" – a song written by The Wailers. Gladiators also cooperated with the toaster U-Roy.
Ruder Than You is an American ska band that was founded in 1989 at Penn State University and, in 1991, the group relocated to Philadelphia. While ska and reggae stylings have always provided the common musical thread, over the past 15 plus years Ruder Than You has been mixing in dancehall, hip hop, rocksteady, and rub-a-dub – even adding elements of funk, jazz, and punk – to create their own unique sound.
Deal's Gone Bad is a band from Chicago, Illinois. Their sound mixes reggae, rocksteady, and ska music with American soul. They have been together since 1994, with numerous lineup changes over the years. The current incarnation has been mostly stable since 2003. The band hews to a more traditional ska-reggae sound while many others working in the genre morphed into a more punk variety.
Asbestos Records is an American independent record label in Stratford, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1996 by Pastor Matthew Flood of the Church of the Perpetual Brackstone. It was started as a vehicle to release albums and compilations for local bands, and to book DIY shows at the Newtown Teen Center.
SGR was an American ska-core band from Voorhees, New Jersey, United States, that formed as a five piece act in 1996, during the United States third wave ska boom. The band's catalog spans four albums, a live recording, and a handful of compilation appearances. The band's last live show took place in June 2007.
Pama International is an eight-piece reggae band from the United Kingdom. They describe themselves as 'Dub Fuelled Ska Rocksteady & Reggae'. They often play with other ska, dub and reggae artists. The band takes elements from many sources to produce their sound whilst broadly staying within the reggae format.
The discography of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, an American ska punk band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts, consists of eleven studio albums, ten EPs and twenty two singles, among other recordings.
The Skints are an English reggae punk band from London, described by Clash Music as “the torchbearers for modern British reggae music.” The Skints mix reggae, ska, dub, punk rock, dancehall, soul, and rap, touring extensively across the UK, Europe and the United States. Their album Swimming Lessons (2019) debuted at number 1 on the Billboard reggae chart. Their original style of music has been described as "tropical punk".
The Skunks were a third wave ska band formed in 1988 by a group of high school friends from suburban Maryland. They recorded three albums, performed extensively in the Washington, DC/Baltimore, Maryland area, and toured the United States.
Skaville UK were a British ska band. Bassist and vocalist Nick Welsh had previously played with a number of bands including Bad Manners, The Selecter and Prince Buster, whilst Louis Alphonso (vocals/guitar) and Martin Stewart (keyboards) also played with Bad Manners. Drummer Al Fletcher also played with The Selecter, Die So Fluid and Lee "Scratch" Perry. He died in 2016. The band regularly played with noted ska singer Rhoda Dakar on guest vocals and she also sang on the Decadent album.
