ska (jamaica)

getting close to the end of this little project
linking a youtube video to each of the 50 rhythms of the world
as written up by songlines magazine sometime in 2006
it's been quite fun really as well as educational
have discovered some performers needing further investigation
and a few styles that have confirmed my previous tendency to avoid
more still that have enlightened me in some way mostly thanks to wiki
typically about where geographically the music has come from
there's been a few that i metaphorically screwed my nose up at
ska being one of them - i wasn't a huge fan back in the 80's
when it became a major success in the mainstream
thanks to madness, the specials and a few local acts
the allniters being the most famous as well as itchy feet
led by a chap by the name of tim freedman
here's how songlines described it in their article

sixties jamaican dance music, ska, has a jerky, see-sawing beat and matching 'shanking' dance
the underlying shuffling rhythm derives from the mento folk style and shares calypso's catchy lilt
milly small's 1964 ska-pop hit 'my boy lollipop'
coincided with the more musically sophisticated former jazz and r&b bands
whose classics were recorded in the kingston sound system studios
coxsone dodd immortalised the magnificent skatalites
prince buster brought ska to london
inspiring the two-tone ska of madness and the specials

no chance that milly small's hit is going to get the nod here
but the magazine did recommend a song by a group called the skatalites
apparantly the founding force of ska in the early sixties
seems the band is still together and performing internationally
though most of the original members have shuffled on
their trademark song seems to be a cover of the guns of navarone
found a clip of the band including a couple of original members
performing said tune at the glastonbury music festival in 2003
in a country that embraced ska and allowed it to flourish
i must admit i do like this original sounding ska music
(41 of 50)