Formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1981, by brothers Bruce and Ian Hearn, Strange Tenants are widely recognised as the Godfathers of Australian Ska. The originality of…
Browsing: Ska
In the early 1960s, Jamaican producers such as Leslie Kong, Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and Duke Reid created a new sound to replace American R&B acts.…
The Selecter are often considered 2 Tone’s ‘also ran’s’ behind The Specials. They were a top live draw in their own right, though, and their 1980 album Too…
No Nonsense began as a gang of mates hanging out together from Oak Park High School in the western suburbs of Melbourne (Australia). At the…
Having relocated from Jamaica to Brixton at the start of the 1960s, it was pretty much right-time-right-place for Cuban-born ska legend, Laurel Aitken, as ska began filtering…
As a former bouncer at Brixton’s Ram Jam club, Alexander Hughes met Prince Buster and Derrick Morgan. As a debt collector for Trojan Records, he…
The Tigers were a British ska band comprising singer/guitarist Tony Jacks, guitarist Ross McGeeney (Jacks’ one-time partner in Starry-Eyed & Laughing), bassist Nic Potter (ex-Van Der Graaf…
Known worldwide as the reggae label, Trojan started in 1967 as an offshoot to Island Records, set up to issue the Jamaican productions of Arthur…
Madness were at the forefront of the UK ska revival at the end of the 70s. They ultimately shed the 2 Tone image and became one of the most…
London’s Belle Stars came together in 1981 from the ashes of 2 Tone act, The Bodysnatchers when it was Rhoda Dakar, not Jennie McKeown fronting the band. They…
Ska revivalists The Beat were formed in Handsworth (a racially mixed area of Birmingham immortalised by reggae band Steel Pulse with their Handsworth Revolution album) in…
Before California was swamped by a glut of ska-punk, The Untouchables ruled the roost. Emerging from Los Angeles suburb Silver Lake in 1981, they covered tracks…
Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Dekker (real name Desmond Dacres) was orphaned as a child. He lived in Seaforth, St Thomas, before returning to…
September 1979. England. The Prince by Madness had entered the British charts on 1 September. The Specials (pictured above) were riding high in the Top Ten…
The independent 2 Tone Records label was founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials in 1979. Dedicated to dance-floor music performed by racially mixed bands,…
Though short-lived, The Specials Mk I were punk’s multi-racial idealism made flesh. The group came together almost by osmosis, gathering together the remnants of several…
