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 were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr remained constant members. The band's final line-up also included guitarist Nate Albert, drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardist John Goetchius, and trombonist Chris Rhodes.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike that of any of its contemporaries in the then fledgling Japanese ska scene, and over the course of the past 31 years, they have been influential on Japanese music as a whole. Its sound, the product of the musical influences of its members, is a mix of traditional ska, jazz, and rock. In the vein of many other more traditional ska acts, many of Skapara's songs are purely instrumental.
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary music and created a legacy of work that would be drawn upon later by reggae and ska artists.
The Beat are a British band founded in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
2 Tone Records was an English record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records.
Go Jimmy Go was an American ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul influenced band from Honolulu, Hawaii. Although chronologically, the band belongs to the third-wave, their mellow, slower tempo sound is reminiscent of the classic style of the original 1960s Jamaican first wave of ska.
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, United States, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spanky's Café in their hometown of Riverside, where they played shows with the Angry Samoans, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Firehose, Murphy's Law, and The Dickies.
Big D and the Kids Table is a ska punk band formed in October 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college. Their first release was on their own Fork in Hand Records label, but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy. The band has been noted for its strict DIY work ethic, such as engineering, producing, and releasing their own albums and videos and self-promotion of their own shows.
Super Eurobeat is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan. The series itself is one of the longest-running music compilations. It has been running for over thirty years and the current list consists of 250 volumes.
Tilly and the Wall was an indie pop group from Omaha, Nebraska. Their name originated from a children's book called Tillie and the Wall, written by Leo Lionni. They are particularly noted for having a tap dancer, Jamie Pressnall, provide percussion, instead of a drummer.
"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown, first appearing on the 1967 album Make It Happen. It was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in July 1970, and it became a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 12 September 1970. Subsequently, Motown released "The Tears of a Clown" as a single in the United States as well, where it quickly became a #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City who has played in reggae, blues, ska and rocksteady bands since the early 1990s, including The Slackers, Stubborn All-Stars, SKAndalous All Stars, Crazy Baldhead and The Silencers. He has also performed with punk rock band Rancid, both live and in the studio. He has released four solo acoustic albums and continues to tour and record worldwide. Ruggiero is known primarily as a singer and organist, although he also plays piano, bass, banjo, cigar box guitar, guitar, harmonica and percussion.
Japanese ska is ska music made in Japan. It is, along with its counterparts elsewhere in the world, part of what has been called the "third wave of ska [that] combines the traditional Jamaican Club sound with metal, punk, folk, funk, and/or country."
Pots and Shots is the debut album of J-ska band Potshot. The album was released in the United States by Asian Man Records in 1997.
Dance to the Potshot Record is the fifth album of J-ska band Potshot. The album was released in the United States by Asian Man Records in 2004. This was the last album to come out in the USA. The album was released by Vivid Sound in Japan in 2002.
The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park. The group debuted with 1998's The Chinkees Are Coming!, and followed with 1999's Peace Through Music and 2002's Searching for a Brighter Future before a greatest hits album was released in 2003. According to the liner notes for the band's debut album The Chinkees Are Coming!, the music was recorded by members of the band Tuesday with vocals provided by Mike Park. Subsequent albums were recorded all or in part by members Park, Miya Osaki, Greg Alesandro, Jason Thinh, and Steve Choi, as well as "guest" musicians, including Slapstick and Tuesday drummer Rob Kellenberger and Link 80's Steve Borth, often with members trading and playing different instruments than listed. All of the members were involved with the ska/punk scene. Jason Thinh was from the band Short Round, Miya was a member of the Santa Cruz punk trio The Muggs, Greg Alesandro a member of San Jose band Statue Man, and Steve Choi later becoming a keyboardist and guitarist for Rx Bandits in 1999.
Hifana is a Japanese breakbeat musical duo, consisting of KEIZOmachine! and Juicy. The group formed in 1998, in the Tokyo neighbourhood of Kichijōji.
Zyyg is a Japanese rock band under B-Gram Records label. Their management office was Seas Music Factory. On April 1, 2019, it was announced their activities would resume after more than two decades.
