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.
Ska punk is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardcore punk. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre distinct from other forms of punk rock. It is closely tied to third wave ska which reached its zenith in the mid-1990s.
The Toasters are one of the original American second wave of ska bands. Founded in New York City in 1981, the band has released nine studio albums, primarily through Moon Ska Records.
Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, 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.
Moon Ska Records was one of the most influential ska record labels of the 1980s and 1990s.
The Scofflaws are a Huntington, Long Island, New York-based third wave ska band that debuted in 1988. Known for their rambunctious live shows, technically proficient horn solos and tight arrangements, the Scofflaws were one of the top third wave ska acts of the '90s and one of the most beloved bands on the now-defunct Moon Ska label, as well as the center and focal point of the once-thriving Long Island ska scene.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
The Pietasters are an American eight-piece ska/soul band from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.
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 Skoidats was an American band that played music combining elements of ska, Oi!, jazz, and punk rock.
Mephiskapheles is a ska band based in New York City. Their name is a portmanteau of "ska" and "Mephistopheles", of the Faust legend. As their name suggests, their lyrics are often playfully satanic in nature.
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.
"The Impression That I Get" is a song by American ska punk band the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Let's Face It (1997), in February 1997. The track reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart while also charting highly in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The song was certified gold in the United States and Australia. Chris Applebaum directed the song's music video while Adam Stern produced it.
Jeff Erna is an American drummer, from Boston, Massachusetts, most notable for being the original drummer for the punk bands Dropkick Murphys and Street Dogs.
The Kingpins featuring Lorraine Muller - The Queen of Ska was a ska band from Montreal, Quebec that created Stomp Records label with fellow Montreal Ska band The Planet Smashers. The last Kingpins tour took place in 2004, after which the members of the band reformed under the name Lo and the Magnetics founded by Muller in order to reflect the drastic line-up changes that had taken place since the band's inception in 1994. During their ten-year reign, the band toured extensively in Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. They are known for their danceable ska rhythms, and their catchy song-writing abilities in both English and French.
Hub City Stompers is an American ska, reggae and oi! band formed in 2002, based out of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The band includes former members of Inspecter 7, Professor Plum, Predator Dub Assassins, Bigger Thomas, The Best of the Worst, and Bomb Town among others. They are influenced by various styles of music, including reggae, oi!, punk rock, hardcore, hip-hop and jazz.
The Rudiments are an American ska punk band from the East Bay, California, United States.
The Press are an American Oi! band. Formed in New York City in 1984, the outspoken anti-fascist band were early members of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice. Vocalist André Schlesinger also supported the views of the British Socialist Workers Party, and this was reflected in some of the band's lyrics. Their songs appeared on several compilation albums, as well as a posthumous CD collection of their recordings called The Complete Press: 1984-1994, released in 2007 by Insurgence Records, re-released on vinyl in 2017. Their song "21 Guitar Salute" has been covered by Dropkick Murphys and Hawkins Thugs; in 2000 The Franks recorded a version of The Press' "It's Not What I Want." In 2019 The Press’ song "Revolution Now" was recorded by another New York-based band, The Take.
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.
