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.
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, former members of the band Operation Ivy, Rancid is often credited as being among the wave of bands that revived mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s. Over its 33-year career, Rancid has retained much of its original fan-base, most of which was connected to its underground musical roots.
Lookout Records was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California, and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operation Ivy’s only album, Energy, and Green Day's first two albums, 39/Smooth and Kerplunk.
The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, often referred to simply as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California.
415 Records was a San Francisco record label created in 1978. The label focused its efforts on local punk rock and new wave music acts of the late 1970s through the late 1980s, including The Offs, The Nuns, The Units, Romeo Void, and Wire Train. Its name, pronounced four-one-five, was a play on both the telephone area code for the San Francisco area and the California penal code section for disturbing the peace. The label had a productive partnership with Columbia Records from 1981 until shortly before it was sold in 1989 to Sandy Pearlman, who retitled the label Popular Metaphysics.
Operation Ivy was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California, formed in May 1987. They were critical to the emergence of Lookout Records and the so-called "East Bay Sound."
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1997.
Energy is the only studio album by the American ska punk band Operation Ivy. It was originally released on vinyl and cassette in May 1989 through Lookout! Records with the catalog number LK 010. Although the album itself has never been released on CD, all of the tracks were featured on the career-spanning compilation Operation Ivy issued by Lookout in 1991. Despite achieving no mainstream success, Energy is considered one of the most important albums of ska punk and is frequently cited as an influence by many later bands of the genre.
Link 80 was an American punk rock/ska punk band from San Francisco's East Bay, United States.
Shaken 69 was a ska side-project started in 1995 in the Berkeley/Oakland area for musicians including Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, The Uptones' Paul Jackson and Eric Din, Skankin' Pickle's Lars Nylander and Mike Park and former Operation Ivy and Schlong drummer Dave Mello.
David Mello is an American musician known primarily for his work as drummer for the hardcore ska punk band Operation Ivy.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
The Insaints were an American punk rock group from Modesto and later San Francisco, California, United States, fronted by controversial vocalist Marian Anderson from 1988-1994. She was noted for her powerful, sexually charged and provocative live performances which frequently included on-stage nudity and sex acts. The Insaints made Bay Area headlines when Anderson was arrested for lewd conduct after a performance at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. The charges were eventually dropped after a year long legal battle, but the band broke up in 1994. In 2001, Anderson died of a heroin overdose at the age of 33.
Matthew "King" Kaufman is an American record producer who was the owner of leading independent label Beserkley Records in Berkeley, California from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, successfully producing records by Jonathan Richman, Greg Kihn and others.
The Rudiments are an American ska punk band from the East Bay, California, United States.
Skankin' Pickle Live is a live album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released on Dill Records in 1995.
Turn It Around! is a punk rock compilation album by Maximumrocknroll. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the Berkeley, California DIY punk scene. The compilation featured the first appearances of many bands who would later become well known outside of the scene, including Operation Ivy, Crimpshrine and Isocracy. Due to the poor sound quality of the original 7-inch version, Turn It Around! was reissued by Very Small Records in September 1991 as one LP. However, the compilation is currently out of print and has never seen a CD release.
The Jars were a new wave band from Berkeley, California, active from 1978 to 1982. According to Subterranean Records founder Steven Tupper, the Jars were one of the first bands to successfully combine 1960s garage and 1970s punk. They recorded two singles and were known for opening for many top punk and new wave bands that appeared in San Francisco during this period.
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk is a 2017 documentary about the punk rock music scene of San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area from the late 1970s to the 1990s. It features interviews performances by dozens of associated artists, notably Green Day. Iggy Pop provides voice-over narration throughout the film.
Lynette Christine Knackstedt was an American punk and ska musician, as well as a member of the band Skankin' Pickle.
