Annotative Bibliography- Evolution of Ska

Paul Latty

Western Michigan University

Heathcott, JH. (2003). Urban spaces and working-class expressions across the black Atlantic: tracing the routes of ska. Retrieved from http://rhr.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/2003/87/183.pdf

(Heathcott, 2003)

The first wave of ska was the main focus of this article the first wave erupted in the early 1960s out of the energetic dance hall culture of urban Jamaica among working-class youth cobbling together old island traditions and new forms of expression from arrange of materials found in American, British, and Jamaican popular culture. I was introduced to the real definition of Rude Boy they said they were a suit and tie hooligan bent on turf protection and the defiance of adult authority. This matched what I had in mind when I thought of the rude boys I know today. I learned that many artists associated with the global reggae explosion of the 1970s, such as Bob Marley, Bunny Livingstone, Toots Hibbert, and Lee “Scratch” Perry, got their start as young Rude Boy instrumentalists in ska bands. By the late 1960s, Marley and other stars began to slow down the tempo of ska, launching experiments with the genre that would result in rocksteady and reggae music. Before reading this I had always thought that reggae and rocksteady came before the upbeat ska music was formed.
This article gave me a lot of good information about the first wave of Ska and how Ska came to be in the first place. I never knew about a lot of the things that influenced the youth to come up with the music they did. I feel like after reading this article I got more then enough information to write a very good page about the first wave of ska for my website.

Stambuli, N.S. (n.d.). Rude boy style moving ska into the postnational world. Retrieved from http://dialogues.rutgers.edu/vol_06/essays/documents/stambuli.pdf

(Stambuli)

Originating in Jamaica, ska is a musical genre that combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American Jazz and R&B. Beginning in the late 1950’s it came to be through three main waves across the Atlantic, with each new wave showing a change in ska’s sound, style, and setting. The first wave emerged in Jamaican shantytowns as the people’s voice of poverty and oppression. The second wave erupted in England to stand behind intense riots and a cultural backlash. During the second wave, an offshoot of ska, reggae, became a component of the Civil Rights Movement. The third and final wave shows ska as a U.S. commodity with little intrinsic value but more as just a form or great upbeat music liked by meany. In this article it talks about how this constantly changing and migrating music genre influenced and affected different society’s politically, socially, and there cultural structure up to the twentieth century
I found a lot of good information from this article about all the waves of ska over the years I will most defendant be using this as a source in my website. I feel that is is the best article that I have found yet. Most of the articles that I have found deal with only the first wave of ska hit on the second slightly and don’t even touch the third wave .

Wallach, J.W. (2001). Ska dangdut? the cultural politics of the Indonesian ska craze. Retrieved from http://www.jeremywallach.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/skadhut.pdf

(Wallach, 2001)

The music that became known as ska evolved out of imported American rhythm and blues and Jamaican influences in the working class neighborhoods of
Kingston in the years after Jamaican independence in 1962. By the late
1960s, ska had been largely superseded in Jamaica by newer genres like rock steady and reggae, but ska, with its infectious, upbeat-stressed rhythms, subsequently caught on in
Great Britain, where it was performed by “two-tone” bands composed of black and white musicians for multiracial youth audiences. In the capital city of Jakarta in 1999 and 2000, the most common statement one heard about ska music was that it was “currently trendy” ngetrend) or currently booming (lagi booming) among the anak muda (the young kids).
Ska was seemingly everywhere dozens of recordings featuring ska music in one form or another filled local cassette stalls and climbed the national charts.
This article had a lot of good information about the first and second wave of ska but did not say much about the new era. None of the articles that I have found in these second two pages had much information about the third wave. I think that i am going to need to find a few more sources for the information that i am looking for to get some information on the newest wave of ska know.

Prahlad, S.A.P. (2010). New brooms sweep clean: reggae and the Rastafarian tradition. Retrieved from http://themanorhousedispatch.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/new-brooms-sweep-clean/

(Prahlad, 2010)

In this article I felt like they praised the first two waves of Ska music but felt like the third wave had no rel significances. They said that Third-wave ska in the United States “marks the loss of ska’s original value… the depreciation of its meaningful past.” Third-wave ska audiences could not relate to the themes of original ska music so they were abandoned in favor of songs focused on themes familiar to the American teenaged audience. I would agree with this to some extent but I feel that the ska artiest of today know about the past of ska and are trying to just take it in a new direction making it there own. Why just keep doing what was done in the first and second wave when we have are own wave that we can do anything with.
This article had a lot of good information but I feel that I can find a better source dealing with the third wave. I have found great information for the first and second. This might be as some would say because ska is dead. I don’t agree but do agree that has changed greatly over the years. But I feel like it has made a change for the better and still live on in the heart of the artiest and fans to this day and will always be loved by meany.

Kovaleski, S.F.K. (1996). American skinheads: fighting minorities and each other - non-racist factions try to counter supremacists. Retrieved from http://www.creativityalliance.com/news/1996-01-16%20AMERICAN%20SKINHEADS%20FIGHTING%20MINORITIES%20AND%20EACH%20OTHER.pdf

(Kovaleski, 1996)

In this article they talked about the second wave of ska and some of the neo-Nazi skinhead group that happened to lesson to the music of ska at the time. Since emerging in this country in the mid-1980s, racist skinheads have become a pervasive and troubling social phenomenon. Over the past eight years, at least 40 murders have been attributed to them, 34 of them since 1990, according to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. Racist skinheads also have been held responsible for thousands of assaults, firebombings and desecrations. This is not what ska is all about but it is part of its past and must be recognized. There views were never really put into the music but meany skin heads were fans of the ska scene. Their outward trademarks are cropped hair, flight jackets, swastikas and other supremacist insignia, and steel-toed Doc Martens boots are still somewhat part of the fashion used by fans of ska today but most is fading into band tees and colorful button ups similar to the look of the rude boys from mostly the first wave but who have lasted tough out the waves. This is not what most people think of when they think of the up beat ska music but it is part of ska's past.

James, J.J. (2005). Ska for the skeptical. 1. Retrieved from http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jboo/ska/ska.html

(James, 2005)

This article gave me some information that I plan on using it has a very nice play list of ska songs that’s goal is to show the progression of roots ska through rocksteady, early reggae, and even a few two-tone and third-wave revival tracks that deserve respect. You can hear the music changing though out the songs from being slower to faster and the two toneness going away in the music but not all together.
But even though it changed you still get that same good feeling when you lesson to it. The thing I have found out from all of these articles is one thing everyone should know about ska is that it is the music of Jamaica. while the origin of the term "ska" is relatively uncertain, rest assured that the music is not principally represented by hyperactive groups of pre-teen children listening to Reel Big Fish and sometimes appearing in Capri Sun advertisements. ska is Jamaica's heritage, and more recognized types of Jamaican music (ie: reggae, rocksteady) are primordially borne of ska. the music came into its own during the late 50s, when the styling of mento, jazz, and American r&b converged in dance halls and studios to produce an entirely new genre of music. I feel like I will make another page so that you can hear the changes from early ska to the later now a days stuff. I feel like they are both great in there own ways. I hope people feel the same way when they can hear both.

Romer, M.R. (2005). Ska music 101. Retrieved from http://worldmusic.about.com/od/genres/p/Ska.htm

(Romer, 2005)

I feel that is has been the most helpful out of all the articles that I have been looking at for the past few weeks. I have been playing guitar for a few years now so I have been trying to really figure out the way ska is played because of the fact ska music was made for dancing. The music is upbeat, quick and exciting. Musically, ska can be characterized with a drumbeat on the 2nd and 4th beats and with the guitar hitting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats. Traditional ska bands generally featured bass, drums, guitars , keyboards and horns. I feel like a huge part of the music is the horns its something other music is missing it really gives it that island feel and is almost relaxing but exciting at the same time. In this article they talk about Clement "Coxsone" Dodd one of the most important figures in ska history, though he was not a musician. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jamaica was about to receive its independence from Great Britain. Coxsone, a disc jockey, recognized the country's need for national pride and identity, and began recording popular bands in his now-legendary studio, Studio One. Meany of theses recordings were ska and Coxsone himself had ska climbing the charts in Jamaica. Also this article really talked about skanking the style of dancing that goes along with ska music. It has remained popular among ska fans since the beginning, and it's a relatively easy dance to do. Basically, the legs do "the running man", bending the knees and running in place to the beat. The arms are bent at the elbows, with hands balled into fists, and punch outward, alternating with the feet. I have been to meany ska shows and everyone still dances like this its a great time and you just feel good while your doing it. I might put up a how to video on the website so you can do it yourself while your lissonng to the music on the page. I’m really existed to write this website because of the fact I really enjoy the topic I have chose and after doing all of this research I have found a few better questions to ask myself when I am writing my paper.