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Intro
This is an ongoing project and is still in the early stages. Please email us at danny@wxxe.org with any and all contributions to this effort. The main attempt here is to summarize the history of ska, not to extensively document it -- we'll leave that to others more qualified. But we trust this summary in progress is helpful to some degree.
1954-59
ROLANDO ALPHONSO (tenor), Don Drummond (trombone), Johnny Moore (trumpet), Lester Sterling (alto), Lloyd Knibb (drums), Lloyd Brevett (bass), Jerry Hinds (guitar) and lastly Jackie Mittoo (piano), begin their recording careers. Initially, from '54-'59, it was playing mento tunes with hotel groups and cutting specials, which were strictly for sound system play. From 1958 and forward, Jamaican records began to be commercially released in Jamaica and England.
STUDIO ONE chief producer and leader CLEMENT 'COXSONNE' DODD argues the classic "Push Wood" by calypso vocalist JACKIE OPEL (which is incorrectly listed as "Sit Down Servant" on Opel's best of LP) as the first ska recording. If this track was indeed recorded in 1955, as claimed, the thumping off-kilter rhythm is very much ska, though the naughty lyrics are definitely in the calypso school.
As for the term 'ska', it is generally accepted that CLUET JOHNSON coined the term. Bassist Johnson and the Blues Blasters were Coxsonne Dodd's house band in the 50s and earliest 60s before the rise of the mighty Skatalites. In explaining the 'ya-ya' sound of the music & rhythm being made, the word 'ska' popped out. This may because he greeted all his friends as 'skavoovee', perhaps imitating American hipsters of the era. Lester Sterling, founding member of the Skatalites, confirms the Cluet Johnson story, but discredits the Bluesblasters and even his own Skatalites as the inventors of the style. He credits the inspiration for the ska beat to the interesting guitar playing going on in the Boots Randolph Big Band coming over the radio from the US.
1960
Premier Jamaican saxophonist Dennis 'Ska' Campbell starts doing session work playing his 'one note' style that by 1964 was becoming recognized as part of the new emerging music called Ska. Campbell was essential at Ska sessions because on many tunes he set the pace by literally blowing, 'ska, ska, ska', repeating for the breadth of the song.
1962
1963
While together in the Sheiks, JOHNNY MOORE, LLOYD KNIBB and JACKIE MITTOO start planning a new group that will include Don Drummond and Lloyd Brevett. They first ask guitarist Lyn Taitt to lead, but he declines. Tommy McCook (tenor) also declined their offer. This is the beginning of THE SKATALITES.
DESMOND DEKKER releases his first single on Beverley Records, his rendition of" Honour Your Mother And Father", and it's eventual B side, "Madgie". Desmond took the stage surname of Dekker, and when his debut single was released on Beverley's in 1963, it become a local hit.
1964
JIMMY CLIFF teaches Americans how to dance "the ska" at the Jamaican pavilion at the World Fair in New York City.
MILLIE SMALL has a hit single, "My Boy Lollipop." Recorded in Britain in 1964, the song was more pop-oriented than most Island Records fare but featured the characteristic shuffling beat, Small's shrill voice (common among female ska singers), and the harmonica playing of 19-year-old Rod Stewart, then a London mod just launching his own musical career. It was the first bonafide American ska hit, topping the charts at #2, though almost no one realized at the time it was a ska tune.
DON DRUMMOND'S song "Man In The Street", enters the Top 10 in the UK. Trombonist Drummond is not only the Skatalites busiest composer, but the most prolific in all of ska, with at least 300 tunes to his name by early 1964.
Jun 27th -- THE SKATALITES play their first gig at the Hi Hat in Rae Town, Kingston, Jamaica. They later record their first LP at Studio One, "Ska Authentic", and tour Jamaica as the "creators" of ska music.
The Skatalites
1965
Aug -- SKATALITES play their last show and decide that they need to go their own ways. The break-up results in the formation of two groups: Rolando Alphonso & the Soul Vendors and Tommy McCook & the Supersonics.
Jan 1st -- Don Drummond is jailed for the murder of his girlfriend, Anita 'Marguerita' Mahfood. He is later convicted and remanded to the Bellevue Asylum.
1966
By 1966, the slimmed down line up had change their name to Desmond Dekker and the Aces, and were set to embark on one of the most productive periods of recording in Jamaican musical history. At the end of '66 they recorded the seminal 007 (Shanty Town), which slowly grew from a solid underground favourite into an international smash hit, reaching No.14 in the UK chart in July 1967.
1967
Desmond and the Aces finished second in the 1967 Jamaican Song Festival with "Unity", but the following year went one better with the winning "Intensified" (which was arguably the weaker of the two entries).
1968
At the close of 1968, Dekker came up with "Israelites", a biblically inspired song, telling of the hardships of earning an honest living. The record, which saw a shift from Dekker's previous rocksteady sound into reggae, followed the same path that "007 (Shanty Town)" had taken, beginning as an underground hit, before blossoming into a huge international smash. This time the impact was even greater, with the record reaching No.10 in America, and toppling Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Throught The Grapevine from the No.1 spot on the UK chart. If it wan't for the Beatles, Desmond would probably have enjoyed more than just a single week at the top. Desmond travelled to the UK to promote the single, and after the success of the follow up It Mek, which reached No.7, he decided to settle in England, effectively ending his partnership with the Aces.
1969
DESMOND DEKKAR crosses over from Jamaica to America with "Israelites," a Top 10 hit.
TROJAN RECORDS starts re-releasing in England music by DESMOND DEKKER, DERRICK MORGAN, DON DRUMMOND, THE UPSETTERS and many others, sparking even more interest by non-racist skinheads, which fans interest in so-called, "skinhead reggae".
1970
Further recordings were made with Desmond voicing rhythms laid in Jamaica, and resulted in the minor hit "Pickney Gal" in January 1970 (No.42). His next major success came from fellow Kong protege Jimmy Cliff. Cliff had two songs rejected by Island Records, "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" and "You Can Get It If You Really Want", the latter of which he gave to Desmond. The song gave Desmond his biggest UK success since Isrealites, eventually peaking at No.2 in August 1970. To further compound Island's error of judgement, the Pioneers took Let Your Yeah Be Yeah to No.5 the following summer.
The mellifluous Cornell Campbell was greatly influenced by American soul singers, especially Curtis Mayfield, and had a reasonably successful career (as a solo act and harmony-group singer) performing ska and rock steady in the 1960s and early 1970s. However, his career peaked in the mid-1970s after he hooked up with producer Bunny Lee and dub pioneer King Tubby.
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
Eventually the name of Desmond Dekker began to disappear from the release sheets, and little was heard from him until 1975 when a re-issue of Israelites hit No.10 in the UK chart. This was followed up with Sing A Little Song, which gave Desmond his last UK chart entry, and peaked at No.16.
1976
BAD MANNERS is formed by school-mates in London UK, featuring the outragious stage antics of frontman Buster Bloodvessel. They combined ska with jump blues and boogie, coining it "Ska'N'B" which became the the name of their debut album in 1980 on Magnet Records.
While a student at York University in the UK, ROB "BUCK" HINGLEY starts a reggae/punk band, called The Klingons. He writes the song "Run Rudy Run" with Percy Aggett. He later goes on to form the band, THE TOASTERS.
1977
Jun 30th -- The Invaders play their first ever show at a house party. They later change their name to MADNESS.
1978
The group was the brainchild of one Gerald Dankey, better know to the world as The Specials toothless keyboardist Jerry Dammers, who had put the band together in 1978. Dammers, had served his apprenticeship in various bands on the Coventry scene since the early '70's, playing anything from soul to country & western music. With the arrival of punk, Jerry was inspired to try writing his own material, and evetually he started looking around to form a band to record a demo.
Eventually the band took the name The Automatics, and Jamaican born Lynval Golding replaced Neol Davies on guitar. The band played a mix of reggae and punk, that was not always well received by the audience. The most noteworthy event from this period was the band supporting Ultravox at Tiffany's night club, shortly before Tim Strickland left the microphone stand and headed into obscurity. As chance had it, another Coventry band, The Squad, had just split, and Dammers remembered being impressed by their vocalist, 18 year old Terry Hall. Before long Hall was the offical voice of the Automatics, and the bands ranks were swelled further with the recruitment of lead guitarist Roddy Byers. Byers, who had previously played in his own band The Wild Boys, was inspired by the punk uprising to take the pseudonym Roddy Radiation, and his spikey hair, leather jacket and Doc Martens image was also a hang over from that period. Dammers had met Roddy in a club called the Domino, and after much beer had been consumed, he talked Byers into going to London the next day to record a demo. Roddy was awoken the following morning from his hangover by the sound of Dammers wrapping at his door. Eventually Byers recovered enough to join the band, and they set off to the bright lights in search of fame and fortune. They found neither.In London, the band recorded a demo tape, and also filled a support slot at the Marquee in Charing Cross Road, but, short of cash, they had to borrow a tenner to get home. Dammers sent a copy of the demo tape to John Peel at Radio 1, and also left a copy with a 'friend' of Johnny Rotten. After the demise of the Sex Pistols, Dammers had the idea of inviting Rotten to join The Automatics, but the demo tape never reached him, instead, it eventually fell into the hands of Bernie Rhodes, the manager of The Clash. Rhodes set up a meeting with Dammers, and the eventual outcome was that The Automatics were given a support slot on The Clash's On Parole tour. At this point another band emerged who were using the same Automatics moniker, and as they had already secured a record deal, Dammers and co. had to change their name, first to The Coventry Automatics, then to The Special A.K.A. The Automatics. Eventually, The Automatics part was dropped all together, it was only tagged on the end to let those who already knew of the band exactly who The Specials were. The tour was not a success for the band, their awkard mix of punk and reggae was not well received by the punk audience, and they were only being paid #25 by Rhodes, although this was later doubled on the insistence of The Clash. At one gig in Leeds, roadie Neville Staples started toasting along as Jerry played a version of The Maytals 'Monkey Man' on the keyboard. Staples was invited to add his chanting to the song on stage that night, and from then on became a permanent member of the band.
Fed up with the treatment dished out by Bernie Rhodes, Dammers dream was to have his own record label, and with the bands music and image in place, he set about designing what was to become the famous 2-Tone records logo. Taking a picture of Peter Tosh from the cover of the Studio 1 'Wailing Wailers' album, Dammers traced the image, amended it to suit his needs and then added some black and white checks. The image became known as Walt Jabsco, and featured on the custom sleeve for all future releases on 2-Tone. Scraping together money from family and friends, the band set about making their first 'professional' recording, which was aided further by a donation of #700 from a local business man. A no holds barred version of 'Gangsters' was duly recorded, to which Neville Staples added the "Bernie Rhodes knows, don't argue" introduction, but this left the band short of anything to put on the B side. As luck would have it, John Bradbury, who was now permanatley seated behind the Specials drum kit, had recorded an instrumental with former guitarist Neol Davis a few years earlier. This was dusted off, remixed, titled 'The Selecter' and pressed up on the flip of 'Gamgsters'
1979
During this year, ROB "BUCK" HINGLEY moves to London to work at the Forbidden Planet comic shop. He went on to form the reggae/ska band "Eyewitness" with Jimmy Scott from BAD MANNERS.
Mar -- THE BEAT play their first show in Birmingham, England, combining soul, reggae, pop and punk into a new version of Ska.
Apr -- MADNESS is the new name The band were fed up with the Invaders moniker and were racking their brains for ideas, by April they had decided on Madness. The name was suggested by Chris and came from the classic 1963 BlueBeat single by Prince Buster that the band included in their set.
Jul -- 7" Singles, TT1/TT2 Gangsters/The Selecter (by The Selecter) July 1979. First release by THE SPECIALS and the first of their new label Two Tone Records. Gangsters This was the special AKA s first release ever. The success of the record, which peaked at #6, spawned the whole 2 tone craze. This song is based on the Prince Buster Classic, Al Capone. It was made the charts in 1967 despite the fact that Bluebeat released it 2 years earlier. The success prompted a UK tour of Buster including an appearance on the Ready Steady Go.
The specials took the riddim of the original sped it up and made their own lyrics. This record also samples the same car breaks as Al Capone.
A Message To You Rudy This was the first release of the band as The Specials. It peaked at #10. This song is more/less a straight cover of Dandy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message to You". That record came out in 1967 on ska beat and was moderately successful. Both versions feature Rico Rodriguez on Trombone. Monkey Man Too Hot both of these Tracks are featured on the Specials First album. Monkey Man was originally done by Toots and the Maytals in 1969. It reached #48 in the UK charts and was released on Trojan. Too Hot was originally done by Prince Buster and came out in 1966. In both of these songs the specials rev the tempo, but keep everything else.
Fall '79 -- ANGELO MOORE and several of his junior high classmates in South Central Los Angeles form a new band fusing funk and ska (along with elements of pop, rock, soul, metal, jazz and punk) that eventually took on the name FISHBONE.
Fishbone in the early years
THE SPECIALS form in Coventry, England and tour with the Clash. Their combination of ska, reggae and punk rock began what came to be known as 'two-tone' ska.
Dec 25th -- THE BEAT were riding high in the UK charts with their first single, a smoking remake of the classic Smokey Robinson tune "Tears of a Clown".
1980
BAD MANNERS releases their debut album "Ska'N'B" on Magnet Records. They go on to spend 111 weeks in the UK pop charts with 15 hit singles between this point and 1983.
Internationally, he was an almost forgotten name by the end of the '70s, but the British 2-Tone boom saw a rekindled interest in his work there. In 1980 Desmond signed with independent label Stiff Records (who were also home to Madness), and he recorded an album of updated versions of his previous hits. The album was something of a mixed bag. Obviously none of the tracks came close to the originals, but there were pleasant if unspectacular renditions of Israelites, Lickin' Stick and Rude Boy Train (on which Desmond plays Stylophone!). As well as various members of the Equators, the line up of musicians on the Black And Dekker album included Jackie and George from the Pioneers, a young Roland Gift, and Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding from Graham Parker's The Rumour. Two singles were taken from the album, but neither Israelites or Many Rivers To Cross made any impression on the charts.
Also, this is the year that ROB "BUCK" HINGLEY relocates to New York City to manage the Forbidden Planet comic store there on a "temporary basis".
1981
THE UNTOUCHABLES from Los Angeles start doing little shows at friend's apartments, mostly. They release their first album in England on Stiff Records (home of 2Tone greats Madness), because of an overwhelming feeling of indifference from American companies. "I Spy for the FBI" was a minor hit, a combination of ska with retro-soul, R&B orientation. An early, early ska band named the Donkey Show never had a domestic release in the US, although they had a 4-song EP appear on Unicorn, which is ultra-rare today.
The Untouchables first record that I remember was Twist-n-Shake b/w Dance Beat, released on their own Dancebeat label in 1982. Then came 1983's Tropical Bird b/w The General. Tropical Bird was a pretty traditional ska number with jungle overtones.The General was a classic two-tone sounding dance tune. Their first 12" was a six song EP('84) -- Live & Let Dance, that included originals like Free Yourself, Lebanon, Whiplash and What's Gone Wrong -- all of which got some local play on KROQ during the mid-80s -- mostly Rodney on the Roq, but occasionaly during regular rotation as well. Also included a great cover of Stepping Stone ( of course what self-respecting mod/ska band doesn't do a great cover of Stepping Stone, so maybe that's not sayin' much). Their early singles and records were eagerly bought up by mods and have become rarities. It was in '84 that the Untouchables started to get recognition, becoming the posterboys for the Los Angeles mod scene appearing in movies like Repo Man and Surf Nazis Must Die. Their first full-length LP came in 1985 -- Wild Child. Interestingly enough, Wild Child -- the song -- was written by Tony Rugolo lead singer of The Question and was intended for The Question's own LP which -- for various reasons -- never saw the light of day. So, UTs stole, borrowed, grabbed, bought (depending on who you talk to) the song from Tony and it became the title track as well as one of their best live numbers. The entire album was musically tight and very consistent.
Sometime during the year ROB "BUCK" HINGLEY forms the band NOT BOB MARLEY with co-workers from Forbidden Planet. This band eventually is re-named THE TOASTERS. Their first gig is at the A7 Club on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with Bad Brains.
THE BEAT (called the "English Beat" only in the USA, because an American band used the name first) plays at the Roseland in New York City. Only about 100 people attended, including ROB "BUCK" HINGLEY, who leaves the show determined to promote ska music in the USA.
Jun -- 7" release of THE SPECIALS "Ghost Town" CHS TT17 Ghost Town/Why?/Friday Night, Saturday Morning June 1981
Jul -- THE SPECIALS July 1981, "Britain's nights of anarchy" erupted throughout cities up and down the country. London, Liverpool and Birmingham were amongst those to suffer the disturbances that resulted as a direct consequence of the Brixton riots in April, and further violence flared in South London a few days later. TV coverage of these events was often accompanied by an eerie reggae based tune that seemed to relate directly to the images on screen. The song was of course 'Ghost Town', a UK chart No.1, and the last single by the most succesful line up of The Specials. By the time of these riots however, the band had collapsed. A stressful tour of America led to strained relations and constant bickering that eventually pulled the group limb from limb.
1982
THE TOASTERS play their first show at CBGBs in NYC and earn $22.
1983
During this year, THE TOASTERS release their first single, "Beat Up"
Jun -- SKATALITES re-unite under the auspices of a reunion performance scheduled for the Sunsplash festival in Montego Bay, Jamaica in July. Their performance was a smashing success and the band played several more concerts in Jamaica while weighing offers to tour abroad.
Jul -- BIM SKALA BIM plays their first show, in Boston.
1984
Jul 7th -- SKATALITES play to thousands at Selhurst Park during the London Sunsplash. They play 7 tunes and also back Prince Buster on three before closing with a reprise of their theme song, "Freedom Sounds".
1985
THE TOASTERS first release, their "Recriminations" EP, with Joe Jackson helming the production and even playing melodica on the track, "Run Rudy Run". First nationally distributed ska record in the USA, through Important/Relativity.
FISHBONE has their first release, a self-titled 6 song EP on Sony Records. It includes "Party at Ground Zero", combining funk and ska, and this becomes their signature tune. The entire lineup were composed of African-Americans playing a style that combined elements of ska, funk, and punk, combined with mod fashion.
DESORDEN PÚBLICO in Venezuela and LOS FABULOSOS CADILLACS in Argentina both start their long and respected careers that help fuel a huge interest in ska all over Latin America. Both originally are heavily influenced by British 2-Tone ska, but go on to create a new, exciting Latin ska fusion sound.
1986
NO DOUBT forms in Orange County, California and plays their first show at a house party.
MOON SKA RECORDS in NYC releases "NY Beat: Hit and Run", which becomes the first "3rd wave" ska compilation anywhere.
1987
March -- NO DOUBT plays their first "official" gig at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California, playing 2nd on a bill of fourteen bands. Legandary LA ska band THE UNTOUCHABLES headlines the show.
"Mash It Up" compilation of Boston area ska bands is released, which included songs by BIM SKALA BIM and the BOSSTONES (later called the Mighty Mighty Bosstones).
OPERATION IVY plays their first show at Dave's Garage.
THE TOASTERS release "Skaboom" on Celluloid in the USA and as "Pool Shark" in the UK on Unicorn Records. They go on their first national USA tour, billing it as "Toast on the Coast".
THE SCOFFLAWS start up on Long Island, New York. Originally named "The New Bohemians," The Scofflaws sold their moniker to Edie Brickell and were able to buy proper instruments and equipment -- and they recorded their classic debut CD in 1990. The Scofflaws sound is firmly rooted in traditional, horn-powered ska sound pioneered by the legendary Skatalites, but it is mixed with the knowingly campy sensibility of the 50's and 60's.
Christmas -- Two huge sold out concerts with FISHBONE, THE TOASTERS and Murphy's Law (which included JEFF "DJANGO" BAKER at the time) at the Ritz in Manhattan.
1988
THE TOASTERS release "Thrill Me Up", go on their first European tour and start up MOON SKA RECORDS in earnest after Celluloid goes broke.
DESORDEN PÚBLICO of Venezuela gets signed to the local division of Columbia Records (which later becomes Sony Latin). Their heavy political emphasis seems to only help record sales.
Desorden Público in their earlier days
1989
TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA puts our their first release, self-titled on 12" yellow vinyl in Tokyo, Japan, kicking off a huge number of releases.
MOON SKA RECORDS releases "Skaface" as the first ever USA ska compilation and includes a song by an obscure California ska band, NO DOUBT.
March -- LONGST D. releases the techno-ska fusion "This Is Ska" featuring Buster Bloodvessel of Bad Manners. It peaked at #56 in the UK charts.
May 28th -- OPERATION IVY plays their last ever show at 924 Gillman St in Berkeley, California.
1990
LET'S GO BOWLING from Fresno CA and THE SCOFFLAWS from Long Island release their first CDs on Moon Ska Records.
Dec 16th -- SKATALITES founding member Jackie Mittoo dies in Toronto Canada from cancer.
1991
TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA performs for 10,000+ fans at the Budokan in Japan and becomes a huge new sensation, combining traditional ska with jazz improvisation.
THE TOASTERS get endorsed by Miller Beer and play 232 shows in one year.
Nov 30th -- MUSTARD PLUG plays their first ever show at Dee's Basement in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1992
Moon Records organized a show at the Ritz in NYC and called it 'SKALAPALOOZA', featuring Bad Manners, the Skatalites, the Toasters and many more. After this smashing success (and a legal injunction from the Lollapalooza people to stop using their name) an annual Moon 'Skavoovee' tour package was christened.
STUBBORN RECORDS started by Jeff 'Django' Baker features some of the top NYC bands at this time, including Skinnerbox, the Insteps, and the Stubborn All-Stars.
Oct -- THE PIETASTERS start up at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg VA, basically playing 2-Tone covers to get free beer. Their original name was "The Slugs".
MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES are recognized at the Boston Music Awards for Best Single, Best Album and Best Rock Band.
1993
THE SKATALITES album "Skavoovee" is released in the US on Shanachie Records and in Japan as "McCooke's Book". They then joined the national USA "Skavoovie Tour" with SPECIAL BEAT (members of the Specials and The Beat), THE TOASTERS and SELECTOR. Pollstar names it a Top 50 tour for the year.
The Skatalites touring lineup in 1993
SHAGGY successfully reworks the Prince Buster ska classic "Oh Carolina" and almost creates a hot, new ska/pop fusion. Unfortunately, he opted to become a pop-reggae novelty act instead.
DESORDEN PÚBLICO of Venezuela reaches #6 in the Venezuelan radio charts with their song, "Tiembla". As a result, they embark on several international tours, including festivals of 120,000 people.
1994
NEW YORK SKA-JAZZ ENSEMBLE plays their first ever show with THE SKATALITES in front of 1,000+ fans at the "Skarmageddon '94" concert at New York City's Manhattan Centre. Combining some of the best players from the Toasters, the Scofflaws and the Skatalites, their tight ska-jazz fusions win them an immediate following.
In January of 1994, American music-industry trade magazine Billboard had ska on the cover page as 'the next big thing.'
1995
"Dub 56" by THE TOASTERS becomes the first Moon Ska Records release to sell 30,000+ copies in the USA alone.
Summer -- The first Warped Tour includes an obscure Orange County band, NO DOUBT.
Oct 10th -- NO DOUBT releases the album "Tragic Kingdom" which immediately debuts at #175 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. While the album is more ska-influenced than ska-centered, it brings worldwide attention to Jamaican ska nonetheless.
1996
Jan -- SKATALITES are nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Reggae Album for their 1995 release, "Hi Bop Ska".
May -- NO DOUBT hits #5 on the Billboard charts with "Spiderwebs", a solid ska song. The band does its first ever European tour, opening for the band Bush and then followed with dates in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Japan, cementing their international reputation.
Aug -- "Tragic Kingdom" by NO DOUBT goes Double-Platinum in the US. It went Platinum the month before. TIME MAGAZINE declares that "It's a Ska World Afterall" in their Aug 12th issue.
Dec -- "Tragic Kingdom" hits the Number One spot on the Billboard charts. The album will spend nine weeks at No. 1, and 36 weeks in the Top 10 in the USA. It also becomes a Top 5 album in the UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Norway, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Denmark and Finland.
During the course of the year, MOON SKA RECORDS opens a retail store on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The "Moon Ska Stompers" side project band writes the theme song for the "Kablam" show on Nickelodean. THE TOASTERS play show number 2,000 in Atlanta, Georgia. And Moon Ska Records rejects a buyout offer from the Mercury Records/Polygram group.
1997
Jan -- THE SKATALITES are nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Reggae Album for their 1996 release, "Greetings From Skamania", because no ska category exists.
THE SCOFFLAWS are a tremendous live act, and a great sampling of their live performance -- Live, Volume One -- was recorded on December 28, 1996 at a sold-out gig at NY Avenue in their hometown, Huntington, NY. Live (released in 1997 on Moon Ska) brilliantly captures the energy, sweat and fun of The Scofflaws live and in person. It features many of their signature tunes ("William Shatner", "Paul Getty") as well as some new cuts. A music video for "Nude Beach" was shot by Drew Sentivan and features live footage from this show, intercut with shots of the band on one of their favorite Long Island beaches. Live charted well in CMJ's Top 200, and the video was aired on over 200 national and regional music video shows.
"Hard Band for Dead" by THE TOASTERS sells 60,000+ copies worldwide and their video song "2-Tone Army" gets played on MTV. Band leader Rob "Buck" Hingley writes a Coca-Cola jingle for a national radio ad, which becomes just one of many commercial uses for ska music in the USA this year.
Sat, Aug 23rd -- Over 3,000 ska fans showed up for the NEW ENGLAND SKA FESTIVAL at the Nashoba Valley Ski Resort, near Boston. Among those playing were The Toasters, Skavoovie & The Epitones, Skinnerbox, Spring Heeled Jack, Johnny Too Bad & The Strikeouts, etc. A film crew from CBS shot footage of it for a new TV show they aired.
1998
MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES score a UK Top 20 hit with "The Impression That I Get" from their album, "Let's Face It" on Mercury Records.
Feb -- LOS FABULOSOS CADILLACS, the legendary ska band from Argentina, wins the Grammy award for best performance by a "Latin Alternative Rock" group.
May 5th -- Founding SKATALITES member Tommy McCook passes away near his home in Lithonia, Georgia.
Sat, Aug 22nd -- NORTHEAST SKA FEST at Nashoba Ski Area in Massachusetts features Hepcat, Mustard Plug, Planet Smashers, Dropkick Murphys, Allstonians, Skavoovie & the Epitones, Skoidats, Pilfers, Edna’s Goldfish, New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, Kicked In The Head, Big D & The Kids Table, Metro Stylee.
Nov 17th -- Roland Alphonso, legendary saxophone player for the world famous SKATALITES, passes away at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles CA. He was 67 years old.
1999
2000
DESORDEN PÚBLICO of Venezuela finally finishes out their contract with Sony Latin and decides to switch to the new indie label Guerra Sound Records instead to get more creative freedom.
Desorden Público of Venezuela
Jun 14th -- THE SKATALITES admitted to membership to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Aug 7th -- THE SKATALITES awarded an engraved silver plate with the signatures of all of Jamaica's Prime Ministers during a gala concert in Kingston, Jamaica at King's House, official residence of the Prime Minister. It was presented by the current Prime Minister, PJ Patterson, who had personally been a fan of the band back in 1964.
Dec 15th -- CHRIS BLACKWELL is inducted as a non-performing member of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Blackwell is honoured in recognition of his Island Records empire, that developed from a small independemt ska label and crossed into the rock market, providing a home for artists as diverse as Bob Marley & The Wailers to Lord Creator, Traffic to U2. 15th December 2000.
Dec -- MOON SKA RECORDS closes down both the label and retail store because of financial complications, ending an era.
2001
2002
2003
Jan -- Buck Hingley of THE TOASTERS announces the new label MEGALITH RECORDS to pick up where the old Moon Ska Records left off. The new label almost immediately starts signing bands and releasing new CDs, beginning with "Still Standing", a mammoth 4-CD set of 88 bands.
Mar -- SKA SUMMIT in Las Vegas NV sells out 10,000 tickets for a huge ska festival featuring 33 bands on 4 stages in one day. The success of the event spurs calls for more major ska festivals in the US.
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