The First Wave of ska began in Jamaica and the UK in the 1960s. One fine example of export of music from Jamaica to England is in the intercut moments in the song 'Goodbye to Empire' by Maroon Town. The ska sound featured the melding of jazz, soul, local island music and blaring horns to great effect.

The Second Wave, also referred to as '2-Tone', ruled in the UK but made small waves in the US in its earliest moments in the 1980s. With a more stripped-down sound, 2-Tone managed to catch on with younger crowds through frequent radio play. As 2-Tone was ending its run in the years preceding the 1993 mainstream appearances, three major pockets of interest were popping up in the US: one radiating from New York City out to Washington and Boston, another in the Midwest and the third in California. These became The Third Wave, although ska continued to come from the UK with bands like The Potato 5 and The Loafers, and from elsewhere around the world with bands like The Porkers.

The East Coast

The East Coast scene can be best divided into three geographic areas. While the sound didn't differ much, the different areas had varying foundations.

Boston

Boston, with the largest number of colleges in the US, became the perfect place for ska bands to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including groups like Bim Skala Bim, Mr Cranky and The Bosstones (later known as Mighty Mighty). The sound tended to be highly influenced, particularly by the hard core sound that emanated from clubs like the Ratskeller and TT the Bear's. The Bosstones blended the two to make 'SkaCore', which would make a big splash in the country in the mid-1990s with the records SkaCore, the Devil and More and Don't Know How to Party. The SkaCore scene included bands like Thumper, and Voodoo Glow Skulls. Boston has always been a hot bed of ska activity, as can be seen on the Mash It Up compilation CD that hit the shelves in 1993. Other bands worth finding include Steady Earnest and Beat Soup.

New York City

Gotham had a band that for a long time was considered to be the US ska band: The Toasters. It was also home to what was considered to be the US ska record label: Moon Records. While their sound may have been the closest to 2-Tone, they received much praise as being the ones to usher in the new age of ska in the US in 1989. While there has always been a strong New York scene, including bands like The New York Citizens, the soul/ska of The Slackers and Skunkinutti sound of Perfect Thyroid, most of it is derived from the various members of the Toasters and those bands from Moon Records, including the excellent New York Jazz Ensemble. To this day, New York ska has remained strong, with the Toasters always leading the way.

Washington DC

Washington DC became a hot spot for ska in the early 1990s. With the Chequerboard Club hosting shows every other week, and shows on campuses such as George Washington University and Georgetown University, bands like the Pietasters, the Checkered Cabs, Boy O Boy and the Skunks made a big impact, as well as visits from bands like The Toasters, Bim Skala Bim, the Slackers and Perfect Thyroid. Also helping out the scene around DC was B O B records, whose compilations recorded the sound perfectly, capturing what an up-and-coming scene should sound like. In the mid-1990s, the ska scene slowly faded in and around DC and moved on to the deep South, with strong scene in and around Raleigh-Durham and Florida.

Ska, Midwestern Style

Midwest ska had one of the greatest party ska bands of all time: Gangster Fun. The fun-based, hyper, party sounds of Gangster Fun and Tom Collins and the Cocktail Shakers, Mustard Plug and Skapone made for some of the best happenings throughout the US music scene. Many other bands formed, frequently from the rubble of departed bands like Etch-a-Sketch and Pickle Betty Brown. This section of the country has several good compilations, including American Skathic, which many consider to be the finest ska compilation of the early 1990s and which also introduced Evan Dorkin as the ska CD 'Cover Artist of the Decade'.

Skalifornia, Here I Come!

The California scene was basically kicked off by the band Fishbone, releasing their first album, and The Untouchables becoming college campus favourites. Bands using punk, funk, and soul to layer the ska with popped up throughout California, with bands like Skankin' Pickle, Sublime and Buck-O-Nine being some good examples. The first major US Traditional Ska movement had its most visible example in Let's Go Bowling, although bands like Skavoovie and the Epitones and the Alstonians in Boston may beg to differ - but also bands like Ocean 11, Mobtown and Jump With Joey. One of the reasons that the Southern California scene is so well-known is a radio programme called The Ska Parade. Tazy Phillips and friends started the show and brought in various groups to perform. The first major radio play of bands like No Doubt, Save Ferris and Sublime came from KUCI. Northern California ska had several bands that gained fan followings, like Skankin' Pickle, Dance Hall Crashers, and Operation Ivy, who helped usher in the punk/ska combination. Operation Ivy would later break up and half of it would form a new band, Rancid. The South Bay Area had the edge for all ages with ska shows on Wednesday nights once a month and San Francisco had a half-dozen clubs that regularly brought in ska acts, including Maritime Hall.

This Is The End

When ska hit the forefront with the Bosstones, No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom and Sublime's Date Rape and Reel Big Fish, the Third Wave got itself an expiration date. As the 1990s came to a close, many bands broke up or, as it turned out to be more damaging to the movement, lessened the amount of ska in their sound, bringing forth more mainstream-friendly pop. While there are still many excellent ska bands out there, the Third Wave history can now be told as we await whatever the Fourth Wave will send our way.

Recommended Listening

Some of these are harder to find than others, but are all well worth the effort.

• Fishbone - Fishbone
• The Skunks - Mixed Nuts
• Various Artists - American Skathic
• Various Artists - Mashin' Up the Nation vol. 1 and 2
• Gangster Fun - Time Flies When it's Gangster Fun
• No Doubt - The Beacon Street Collection
• Various Artists - The Mash It Up series(1993-1995)
• Various Artists - Aces. Two and Fews
• Mighty, Mighty Bosstones - SkaCore, the Devil and More
• Various Artists - California Skaquake
• Various Artists - NME's Rude Awakening
• Let's Go Bowling - Music to Bowl By