r/Ska

I was thinking about how the breakup of English Beat gave us 2 of the biggest pop hits of the 80s, Tenderness by General Public and She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals. And also how Terry Hall of The Specials co wrote Our Lips Are Sealed by The Go-Gos (and released his own version with Fun Boy 3). I realized there are a bunch of other non ska pop mega hits whose writers and performers are legit ska musicians. Some examples:

Victor Axelrod was keyboard player for The Boilers (and producer for The Frightnrs), and played keys on all of Back To Black by Amy Winehouse (among many others as well)

The horn section for Mephiskapheles (Greg Robinson, Osho Endo, and Alexander McCabe) is on the Moby version of The James Bond theme for Tomorrow Never Dies

Rob Hyman from The Hooters co wrote Time After Time with Cyndi Lauper (and plays keys all over the album)

Eric Bazillion from The Hooters wrote One Of Us by Joan Osborne (and is also on that Cyndi Lauper album)

What other examples can you think of? Not ska songs that became hits (not Bosstones/Madness/English Beat), and not bands that were once considered ska that then became huge (No Doubt/Smashmouth), but legitimate pop mega hits that unexpectedly involve ska musicians. Or huge stars that were in ska bands (like actor Oscar Isaac, who lives in my neighborhood, and our kids are the same age, so I really want to meet him and get him to play ska again).

The Family Business LTD is a new ska project involving legendary Operation Ivy members Tim Armstrong and Jesse Michaels. The project features Jordan Cardy of Rat Boy, Preston of The Ordinary Boys, and Antonee First Class of The English Beat, with Armstrong and Michaels serving as additional creative collaborators.

The Family Business LTD has shared “Floor Burner,” the first single from their upcoming self-titled debut album, out September 25 via Hellcat Records.

According to the band, the song was pieced together from three separate ideas and ultimately became “the blueprint” for THE FAMILY BUSINESS LTD, with one simple goal: getting people on the dance floor.

Jordan Cardy and Preston first met in Essex in 2014 and reunited in Los Angeles in 2023 to write with Armstrong. After Tim suggested bringing in Antonee First Class, the album was written and recorded in just two weeks. The Calamatix also joined the sessions as the backing band, contributing rhythm section and bass parts that helped shape the record’s sound.

The album brings together multiple generations and different corners of ska, blending Jamaican ska, two-tone and punk influences.

Heading to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima soon! What venues /live houses have alot of ska shows? I want to check their schedules to see if i can catch some live music while i am in each city!

I’ve been in the scene consistently for about over a year now and have always dreamed of my own birthday show, my birthday is in march and I think it’d be awesome if it happened this year but I don’t know many bands and struggle talking to people at shows and such. Overall I need advice on what I should do the next couple of months to put myself out there and become a little more known in my scene even if it’s just for a small house birthday show? Also any tips or advice if the goal comes around on planning and reaching out to bands?

Years ago I had a ska song on my original iPod. I can’t find my old iPod and my original account has been gone for years. I only remember the following lyrics: I got dumped for a guy named Larry. Could have been Stephen or Gary. Granted the lyrics could have been “she dumped me for a guy named” and the guys names could be different or also rhyme. I believe it was a regular paced ska song. Not super fast or super slow and the singer was male. I bought a few ska compilations to see if I could find it but have had no luck. Sorry for babbling and any help would be awesome 😊

Around 2000-2002ish I was downloading any ska I could find from Napster. That’s around when I found Heavy Step and the Parka Kings.

I know the Parka Kings were on Jump up records and that’s why you can’t find them on Spotify like all the other great bands from jump up.

Heavy Step all I know is they were from Indiana and the singer joined deals gone bad after heavy step.

I still love both bands but I have to bust out my CDs or mp3s to listen. You can’t find find them on YouTube of course and I highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t heard them.

He leído que el ska no gusta mucho, pero he notado que más que nada los jóvenes son quien repudian este género y honestamente no entiendo porque, sé que estamos en una época de música que si no es tendencia no gusta, más sin embargo ni siquiera en la escena se le toma tanta relevancia al ska. (Tengo 17 años, soy rude girl) Y con pica gente de mi edad he podido compartir el gusto genuino al ska, pero con gente mayor si. ¿Porque?

Hello everyone!

I don't know if there are any Dutch Ska listeners in the sub. If you like Doe Maar... my band Antje Krook is trying to fill the empty hole that Doe Maar left in the Dutch music scene. It's quite the boots to fill, but you can only try to find out if it works or not.

We've had a great live show-year last year (some bigger festivals and national radio appearances) and we've been working so hard on the debut EP, I really wanted to share the proud moment of the release of our first single "Ik weet wat ik wil". I would be honored if you would give it a chance!

Cheers

Put this album out two years ago and figured it might be worth sharing here.

I made it in my living room with my friends, and somehow it ended up winning Best Rock Album at the New Mexico Music Awards last year.

It's not strictly a ska album per se, but as with most stuff I make, there's a lot of ska influence throughout.

If that sounds like your thing, give it a listen!