# Opinion on ska. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2020, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125 "2020-04-05T11:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/21 "2020-04-05T22:26:20Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > The Beatles could have been a great ska band, had they not taken a wrong turn somewhere. Heh. Our town’s best old-style hamburger joint (they serve you on roller skates…even now with Covid-19, though only every second stall accepts a car) is called Rudy’s. In my family, we sing the brass riff to “A Message to You, Rudy” every time we eat there. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/22 "2020-04-05T22:41:14Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > The Beatles could have been a great ska band, had they not taken a wrong turn somewhere. What kind of Ska band they’d become we know from “Ob La Di, Ob La Da”, so let’s be glad they mostly didn’t touch it again after “I Call Your Name”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/23 "2020-04-05T22:45:41Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 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.” Georgie Fame was another British musician who dabbled in ska at that time. Ska was alive in London in 1964, imported by Jamaican immigrants and records. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/24 "2020-04-05T23:25:13Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > (I assume first wave is 60s Jamaica, and second wave is 1977-1983 England. Where does Camper Van Beethoven fit in — 1986-1990 US?). Yes. One band I would recommend is Streetlight Manifesto, who came a little bit later. They and their Predecessor have the song “Riding the Fourth Wave.” And I don’t think I’ve ever heard CVB associated. Now that I think, I can see some influence/genre crossbreeding. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The Misfits 😕 Though I am tickled by the thought of Glenn Danzig skanking. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/25 "2020-04-06T01:56:19Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > 😕 Though I am tickled by the thought of Glenn Danzig skanking. You know, it didn’t sound right when I posted. (I was rushing.) Damned if I can remember who I was thinking about. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/26 "2020-04-06T03:28:10Z")
If ska has a bad rap at all, it’s just that, like a lot of things, it (well, third wave ska) got suddenly, immensely popular, and so people got tired of it almost as quickly. When I was going to university, ska was so suddenly popular that on a few occasions I saw playbills for shows advertising that “SKA” wpould be played, but which did not actually name the artists that would be performing the ska. It was just assumed that if ska was promised, people would come. Imagine a playbill that just said ROCK MUSIC AT 9 PM. While third wave ska started in the 1980s it really didn’t hit the mainstream until the mid 90s, No Doubt and Mighty Mighty Bosstones being the most commonly cited examples. I would guess, although I cannot say for certain, that part of ska’s sudden mainstream explosion was as a reaction to grunge; I think there was a willing market for rock music that wasn’t, well, grungy - limited arrangements, downtuned and distorted guitars, and vocals low in the mix. After that was over - and grunge didn’t really last all that long - maybe ska had a limited period of popularity. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/27 "2020-04-06T03:53:29Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > 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. Almost word for word ;). The almost being that I am more just unenthusiastic about third wave. Some of it was okay, but I don’t find myself returning to it these days. Whereas I do still go back and listen to the original Jamaican stuff and 2-tone. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/28 "2020-04-06T05:17:12Z")
I can’t say it was really my scene. The songs that I did like tended to be the ones that were basically alternative rock with a horn section grafted on top. I didn’t really want a lot of actual ska in my third-wave ska. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/29 "2020-04-06T07:17:09Z")
3rd wave also has its cousin that’s Ska-Punk. Bosstones fit, so do Less than Jake. There’s also Streetlight Manifesto who I really like, which is probably The Ska-Punk Band™ though I’ll grant most of their songs are pretty similar to each other. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/30 "2020-04-06T11:39:02Z")
I always liked it, or at least I always liked the late 90’s version of it since that’s the one that was around when I was in high school. I also like the swing revival that sort of showed up, hand in hand with ska. The swing concerts were fun. It was great seeing the area normally reserved for moshing full of people looking like they just stepped out of the 30’s/40’s swing dancing like they’ve actually rehearsed it. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/31 "2020-04-06T16:32:12Z")
Like Joey P, I was in high school in the mid to late 1990s when third wave ska was in its heyday, so I enjoy it. And since I played trombone in the school band, as well as the jazz band my senior year, I liked to picture myself as a backing musician in a ska band. I was too much of an introvert to see myself the front man in any band, but I thought it looked like it would be fun to play in the horn section of a ska band or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/32 "2020-04-06T18:14:33Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I can’t help but think the same every time I wear my baggy trousers. I agree. it must be love. I also dig Fun Boy Three and The Specials. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/33 "2020-04-06T18:28:36Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Y:confused: Though I am tickled by the thought of Glenn Danzig skanking. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You know, it didn’t sound right when I posted. (I was rushing.) Damned if I can remember who I was thinking about. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I also dig Fun Boy Three and The Specials. _The Specials!_ :smack: Wow, that was a major brainfart! :smack: My mind is going… ☹ As for Fun Boy Three, _The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum_ is one of my faves… perhaps because it’s been so appropriate over the years. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/34 "2020-04-07T12:07:17Z")
I really like 1st and 2nd wave ska. Didn’t really care for 3rd wave as it was poisoned with pop punk and the swing revival. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/35 "2020-04-07T23:06:45Z")
Even though I know very little about ska, I just have to put in a plug for Indigo Girls, who have done exactly one ska song: “[Heartache for Everyone](https://youtu.be/cEJEOvtSEns).” (Only the middle eight switches to 4/4 rock-‘n’-roll, as if the inverse of “I Call Your Name.”) I think it’s a great song and I enjoy it every time I hear it, so if ska always sounds like that, I say let 'er rip. I wonder what actual ska fans would think of it—did the Girls do OK? ---
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/36 "2020-04-08T04:05:30Z")
I’m kind of confused by the different waves of Ska, if anyone can enlighten me. I looked up the different waves, and according to Wikipedia, the third wave happened in the late 80s or early 1990s. However i remember being really into the “Ska” wave that happened from 2003-2008 or so. I would have been 13-18 years old when this happened, was this a 4th wave, or a continuation of the 3rd or something completely different. Bands i remember were anything from the Tony Hawk Games/Xgames…one band who i still enjoy to this day is Eleventeen. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/37 "2020-04-08T04:08:31Z")
I first encountered “ska” as a category I might assign an MP3 file to. I said to myself, “WTF is ska?” I keep confusing it with zydeco. Which is another term I wasn’t familiar with. Where does one encounter this thing called “ska” and who listens to it? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/38 "2020-04-08T04:31:16Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I first encountered “ska” as a category I might assign an MP3 file to. I said to myself, “WTF is ska?” > > I keep confusing it with zydeco. Which is another term I wasn’t familiar with. > > Where does one encounter this thing called “ska” and who listens to it? Ska was a predecessor to reggae. The main defining feature of ska is the off-beat rhythm. The chords all come on the “and” of the beat, typically. Ska will also usually have horns (but not required.) [A Message To You Rudy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntvEDbagAw) [Pressure Drop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dL2z_6PisI) Or, for real obvious third-wave ska beats, [Mighty Mighty Boss Tones, “The Impression That I Get”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIGMUAMevH0). That’s the beat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/39 "2020-04-08T04:34:22Z")
Actually, maybe MMBT might not be the best example – that particular song does mix various influences. Maybe [Mustard Plug’s “Brain on Ska”?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duZgZPLUwp8) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125/40 "2020-04-08T04:48:42Z")
Good Lord, you guys are getting me on a third-way ska revival trip. Shit, [Someday I Suppose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmOmAuhAQbE) was a fun tune. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinion-on-ska/851125.md?page=3)