Today I log on and see "82 messages" in my mailbox. Sensing dread,
I begin to look at the titles. Whoa! Loads of SKA in the subject lines!
Oh happy day!
Ska was the first musical form I found voice in. I was in a ska band
for 5 years, as singer-songwriter. Had it not been for ska, I would
probably be listening to Top 40 to this day.
I lived in England for one year in 1980 (I was 11) and remember catching
"Rat Race" by the Specials on Top of the Pops. 2 years later I was
back in the states, in 8th grade, and caught it again on the now
defunct video show "MV3." The day after 8th grade graduation I
buzzed off my long surfer hair and got a pair of monkey boots.
We formed the band that summer. All my friends became punks,
and I was the lone rudie, until our band started to attract fans.
ZOOT ska-zine once listed us as one of the top - 5 U.S. bands, and
we only ever recorded a demo (thanks for putting up with
the brag).
All that behind me, the music will always be close to my heart.
I haven't heard a good US band since The Untouchables or early
Fishbone. IMHO, all the bands are trying to copy 2-tone, without
taking the music anywhere new, or listening far back enough to
the trad. sound.
These days, when I get the urge, I mostly listen to the traditional
stuff. There is nothing that kicks quite so hard as "Duck Soup" or
"Lucky Seven" by the Skatalites. Anyone interested in what I
consider to be the best early ska records to buy, feel free to email
me privately. I even own a few original rarities: D. Dekker and
the Aces: ISRAELITES; Symarip: SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP.
I love it.
Mike
Michael Faulkner--------pyramus@wavenet.com
This .sig contains the word ABORTION purely because the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 outlawed this word in Cyberspace.