I’ve been on a ska binge lately, so I thought I’d make this thread. What’s your opinion on ska, specifically third-wave ska? Why does it get a bad rap?
Who gives it a bad rap? I grew up in Orange County, Ca and it was pretty mainstream. Sublime is/was a great group.
Yeah, I kind of think of ska kind of like fun party music from the mid to late nineties / early 2000s. Bands like the aforementioned Sublime, Mighty Mighty Boss Tones, No Doubt, Real Big Fish, so on and so forth.
I enjoy listening to reggae, reggaeton, dancehall, ska, ska-punk, etc, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to always know which genre a particular song belongs to. If that makes sense.
Latin American ska was a big thing among hip folks in the late 90s-early 2000s. I guess that’s “third wave,” right? Lots of good bands, like Argentina’s “Los Pericos.”
(I assume first wave is 60s Jamaica, and second wave is 1977-1983 England. Where does Camper Van Beethoven fit in — 1986-1990 US?).
Also, check out the Beatles’ obscure 1964 song “I Call Your Name.” They break out into ska just for the eight-bar guitar solo! The Beatles were so amazing, they casually invented ska in a few seconds of a throwaway song! (I’m exaggerating, of course — that beat has other roots, too, such as New Orleans 50s piano rockers like Fats Domino — or was it Chubby Checker?).
I’ve noticed that when I’d put the iPod into the dock at my office, I mostly listened to Third-Wave Ska. It’s fun. In our old building, I shared an office with a door so I could play it loud. In the new office, I have a cubicle so I have to tone it down. I’m not sure how people would like some of the Sublime songs. Reel Big Fish, though, Save Ferris, Mephiskapeles, The Misfits… Those are office-playable.
Speaking of playable, I opened iTunes. Almost none of my library was imported from the old computer. 
I could try to recover them from the backup.
Where does it get a bad rap, and why?
I’m pro-ska, but some I love, some I like, and some I don’t much care for. As with other (sub-)genres, it depends on other factors, like musicianship, songwriting, and how much a particular group’s sound appeals to me.
I thought it was a cool new sound when I heard it, but it seems like there’s not much variety in it. When bands try to branch out, it turns out they’re not very good at non-ska music.
The exception for me would be Fishbone. They put out some really wild shit back in the day.
It all kinda sounds alike, but I like it. I dig the revved up stuff, like Rancid.
I’ve never heard anything negative about ska. And I’m surrounded by cynical music snobs…
Discovered reggae in the 70s, then went back to see where it came from (did the same with folk/rock/Beatles stuff and discovered skiffle).
Early ska stuff has a lot of energy. And dub (NOT the same as dubstep).
Interesting. In my circle, third-wave ska is something we mostly try to forget, like the late-90s swing revival. I liked ska well enough at the time (went to a good number of shows) but I can’t listen to it today for more than one song.
Ska is Madness to me.
I agree and in general I don’t care for ska. There are some good ska songs, to be sure, but if someone told me during a road trip that when they drove all we would listen to was ska, I’d be very unhappy. In fact, the ska songs I like most are generally those that are the least ska-like. Pretty much anything by Fishbone is cool, for instance.
If this is specifically how I feel about third wave, well, I don’t like it.
If it’s about ska in general, I love 2-tone and like the Jamaican roots ska.
I’ve been listening to ska since the 1970s when The Harder They Come came out. Toots and the Maytals etc. (Though the first ska hit in the US was “My Boy Lollipop” by Millie Small in 1964, nobody knew what it was at the time.)
I can’t say I ever really was aware of different “waves” of ska, or that some people gave some of it a bad rap.
My favorite group currently is Desorden Publicofrom Venezuela. I had a chance to catch them live a few years ago when they came to Panama.
Oh, yeah, ska is basically definied in 3 waves: the early stuff from the 60s, Jamaican ska, bands like The Skatalites and Toots and the Maytalls. Then came 2 Tone, after the record label, the second wave, with bands like The Specials, Madness, The Beat, combining elements of ska and punk together. That was late 70s into the 80s. Then in the late 80s/early 90s came the third wave, with bands like Rancid, Mustard Plug, Mighty Might Bosstones, etc., also weaving in other music influences.
Do you do a lot of skanking? Do you call people “rude boy”?
I don’t think anyone cares what you listen to in the privacy of your own home.
Cool. The one band from this scene that made it on the US charts (circa 1999?) was Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (from Argentina).
Yeah, the Beatles chronicler extraordinaire Ian MacDonald surmised that the boys heard that Millie Small song right as they were about to record “I Call Your Name.”
I can’t help but think the same every time I wear my baggy trousers.
The Beatles could have been a great ska band, had they not taken a wrong turn somewhere.