During the mid to late 1990s, ska music had a resurgence, and I have been hooked ever since. The genre originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. It is distinctive music, which is made up of a mixture of calypso/reggae, jazz, and rhythm and blues. I like the fact that ska bands have horns, usually consisting of a trumpet, trombone and saxophone player. There are three periods of ska music, starting with the Jamaican music, then the 2 tone period in England in the late 1970s, and the 3rd wave starting in the 1980s. The most well known band in the 2 tone period was Madness, which had an international hit in 1982 with Our House. The most visible ska band during the 3rd wave had to be No Doubt. Their 1995 Tragic Kingdom album was a smash hit and their success led to countless other bands springing up. Gwen Stefani has done well as a solo artist, and the band No Doubt has changed their sound from a decade ago. They are scheduled to release a new album in 2009. Like No Doubt, Mighty Mighty Bosstones formed in the mid 1980s but did not have wide commercial success until a decade later. In 1997 their release, Let's Face It, contained the single The Impression That I Get, which rose to number one on the Billboard charts. Since 2000 the Bosstones have not had as much commercial success and the members have moved on to other projects. Lead singer Dicky Barrett has worked in LA radio and as an announcer for the Jimmy Kimmel show. The band has not broken up and they still tour occassionally, primarily in New England, where they are more prominent than other parts of the country.
Other third wave ska band that I enjoy include;
The Aquabats
The Insyderz (Christian ska band)
Less Than Jake
Let's Go Bowling
The OC Supertones
Reel Big Fish (great band with a wacky sense of humor)
Save Ferris (they did a remake of Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners)
The Toasters (check out their song 2 Tone Army)
*Some source information from en.wikipedia.org
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