Prince Buster, the Jamaican musician widely celebrated as a grandfather of ska music, passed away. Buster was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1938 and came to prominence there in the 1960s, pioneering the sound that would come to be known as ska. In fact, reggae is actually an offshoot of ska, which means that if you’re a Bob Marley fan, you need to stand up and salute Prince Buster, because if it weren’t for him, many bands like No Doubt or Sublime would not even have a sound. Apart from Marley and the Wailers, here are some of the best ska/reggae bands to listen to.
Toots and the Maytals
For the past five decades, Toots Hibbert has helped take reggae and ska to a global audience. Indeed it is widely accepted that his hit Do the Reggay was the first song to ever feature the word reggae. Other classic hits include Pressure Drop, 55-46 (That’s My Number) and Monkey Man - songs which inspired and influenced the whole Two Tone movement in the UK in the late Seventies and early Eighties. A consummate showman at the head of some fabulous musicians, Toots has been with the band for 55 years and shows no signs of stopping now he’s been given the all-clear to return to touring, after suffering a head injury when he had a bottle thrown at him during a festival in the US. Pick up the album Funky Kingston.
Reel Big Fish
RBF started as a Led Zeppelin cover band until 1992, when backup singer Aaron Bennet turned lead singer and they changed their genre to ska. They were one of the legions of Southern California ska-punk bands to edge into the mainstream following the mid-’90s success of No Doubt and Sublime. Now, they are one of the biggest ska bands on the American scene. Still fronted by original lead singer and song writer Aaron Barrett, Reel Big Fish continues to tour non-stop, playing over 250 shows a year to thousands of loyal fans all over the world, gaining more and more underground popularity as the Ska scene continues to flourish. Their best album is Turn The Radio Off.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
A great deal of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s explosion of ska and ska-metal was laid by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who were one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and heavy metal and who also helped shift its tone toward testosterone-filled party music. The Bosstones built up a devoted cult following throughout their career, but their level of commercial success never quite matched that of more pop-oriented third wave ska bands. Even if their music often strays far afield from classic 2 Tone ska revival (especially their earlier material), the Bosstones, unlike many of their contemporaries, have retained some of that movement's political consciousness. Since they’re a great live band, listen to Live From The Middle East.
UB40
Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 were formed in a welfare line in 1978, and their multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community their members came from. The band consolidated its street credibility with political topics appealing to dissatisfied youth and got a boost from fans of the waning Two Tone ska revival movement. Brothers Robin (lead guitar) and Ali Campbell (guitar, lead vocals) formed the centerpiece of the group. Their debut album Signing Off is probably their best raw offering, with Promises and Lies a great commercial success.
The Skatalites
The sound of the Skatalites is, to a large degree, the sound of Jamaican ska records from the 60s, but the actual reason the group formed as 'The Skatalites' was to perform live. By June of 1964, the musicians who came together as the Skatalites had already been crucially involved in the development of ska, but it wasn't until then that this group of the top studio musicians formed a self-contained live band. By all accounts, they were one of the most exciting live bands on the island, but unfortunately, it seems that the only live performance that has survived in any recording medium is a famous piece of silent film that shows them playing on the back of a parade float. Listen to Foundation Ska to experience the best of this band.
