The Vans Warped Tour 2010 will feature a Ska Stage, with The Uptones, The Untouchables and more ska greats, performing roots, two-tone, and 3rd wave ska classics. The brainchild of The Ska Parade’s Tazy Phyllipz, the Ska Stage will serve as an introduction to ska for the uninitiated, and a joyous skanking celebration for dedicated ska fans. Rumor has it the Ska Shrine will also be open to the skanking public at several west coast Warped dates. Watch this space and the Warped and Ska Parade sites for details as they emerge about this skantastic event.
Hats off to Barb at Music Mondays on Mashable.com. Included in this week’s posts is some SKA from the bay area’s Uptones. “Ridiculous,” a Ska anthem, was her first SKA post! Let’s bug her for more. Make a comment here.
COME OUT COME OUT! to Unkle Fun’s Rude Boy Rude Girl Social. This is an exploration into Jamaican music From Ska, Rocksteady & Early Reggae and 2-Tone.
EVERY SUNDAY @
HOTSY TOTSY CLUB
601 San Pablo Avenue
Albany, CA
21 & up / No Cover!!!!!!
Here’s a nice article about Sister Mary Ignatius Davies, the nun who fostered ska, rocksteady and reggae. One of the unsung heroes of Jamaican music, she ran the music program at the Alpha School for wayward boys in Kingston, famous for the seemingly endless list of brilliant musical stars it produced. Found this on the SF Vintage Reggae Society blog (which has a GR8 music stream!) from a post at BayAreaSka. Buster loves teh Internets.
The newly opened ‘home of British music’ at The O2 has an AMAZING Ska showcase with, get this…original lyrics by Steel Pulse, The Specials and UB40, Lynval Golding’s suit, 2 Tony ‘Gad’ Robinson Aswad hats, Rock Against Racism footage and artifacts and loads of 2 Tone Records fan club material.
There has long been a connection between the fashion and music of Mod and Ska. Though Mod was born in England, and Ska was born in Jamaica, they have shared certain looks, sounds and attitudes, over time. In Los Angeles in the early 1980s these styles came together in a new and big way. Continue reading ‘It Ska Mod Mod Mod Mod Mod World!’
Here’s an extraordinary guide to starting for a ska band, from a man who really knows his bidniz. Victor Rice is a master producer, musician, composer, and all around scholar of ska and dub and reggae musics in their myriad forms. His step by step guide, published as a guest blog on Ska Blah Blah, is an enjoyable read for any ska fan, and could be essential to someone really taking the plunge. Professor Rice’s discussion of tempo, in particular, could save bands, and their audiences, a lot of grief! The study of upstroke vs. downstroke guitar upbeats is eloquent – I have never heard it described so accurately.
