Ska punk is a fusion of Jamaican ska and British and American punk rock. The earliest combinations of the two sounds occurred in the late 1970s as punk's revolutionary lyrical content led to a natural affinity with similarly styled reggae and other Caribbean musical styles. This, the second wave of ska (2 tone), was primarily British, and was followed closely in the late 1980s and 1990s with American skacore, which achieved much mainstream commercial success.
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Ska was born in 1950s Jamaica, combining jazz and mento (a native folk music) with influences from American R&B and rock and roll. The music was fast-paced and highly danceable, and it was often politically revolutionary in its lyrical subjects. Ska fans dressed like Hollywood gangsters, in thin ties, pork pie hats and black suits and called themselves rude boys. In the 1960s, ska adapted slower beats, forming rocksteady (a precursor to reggae).
By the late 1970s, ska was popular in the United Kingdom, aided by Jerry Dammers' (of The Specials) record label, 2Tone Records. The Specials, The English Beat and Madness, among others sped up ska and added punk rock elements to form Two Tone. Some hold that Bob Marley's "Punky Reggae Party" (1977) began the fusion.
Supplementing the lilting Jamaican rhythms of ska with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and brutal guitar chordss resulted in a hybrid that slaked the late-millennium teenager's thirst for a moshing groove, plenty of melody via the horns, and thoughtful or irreverent lyrics.
A pop-oriented form of ska punk became very popular in the mid-1990s, including bands like No Doubt, Rancid, FIF and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The earliest stages of this development occurred with cult favorites from the 1980s like Operation Ivy, Goldfinger and Regatta 69, who added influences from klezmer, rocksteady and Irish folk music.History
Origins (first wave of ska)
Initial spread (second wave of ska)
Popularization (third wave of ska)
