Ska moves off the Island

The sound system business on the Island became highly profitable, and the clashes around the Sound Systems became more intense, and sometimes violent. By the mid 1960's, Clement Dodd owned 4 of the major Sound Systems on the island, and the popularity of the "Dances" increased the demand for more sounds and new bands.

A young man by the name of Robert Nesta Marly, as part of the Wailers, joined with Peter Tosh, recording for Dodd at Studio One Records. The Skalites launched in 1964, and combined, these two groups established a sound which was to gain (almost) global recognition in a very short space of time.


The Skatalites (Baba Brooks , Don Drummond , Jackie Mittoo , Jah Jerry , Johnny "Dizzy" Moore , Karl Bryan , Lester Sterling , Lloyd Brevett , Lloyd Knibbs , Lyn Taitt , Roland Alphonso , Ska Campbell , Tommy McCook), were only able to keep their inital line-up for around 18 months (Don Drummond was arrested on New Years Eve 1965, accused of murdering his girl friend Marguerita - he died in Bellevue, a mental institution in 1969.), but the high quality of the musicians and their combined individual styles were to be a force stimulating many imitators and new artists through the following decades.

On a global level, Ska was not yet widely accepted. To try and promote Ska into the UK, the Jamaican Government sent Jimmy Cliff, Prince Buster and band leader Byron Lee to the World's Fair in 1964 - including not only musical demonstrations, but also lessons in dancing "the shuffle". However, this attempt to break into the American market was to fail as the American public was focused on their own musical revolution as artists such as Ray Charles pushed the boundaries and fused Soul and Gospel, taking R&B sounds in a whole new direction.

In the UK, particularly England, however, a whole generation of youth was finding Ska. Since 1948, when England opened its doors to Colony members (as a measure to rectify the labour shortfall), many people gravited to the UK from Jamaica on the promise of better earnings and opportunities (of course, not being informed of the actual cost of living), bringing with them their musical and cultural heritage. By 1956, the first "Dances", often entitled "Blues Nights", were happenning, generally focused on the Jamaican community in the UK, but these were to dramatically increase in general popularity in the early 60's. By 1963 there were three labels releasing Jamaican music into the UK (including Blue Beat and Island). Jamaican artists began to see that the earnings potential in the UK was higher than on the Island, and this stimulated music releases, and even music tours by Jamaican artists in the UK.

There were definite parallels between the exported Island culture and the youth culture in the UK. The Mod scene, which had focused predominanly on the soul music of the 60's, became enamoured with the Ska music scene, not only because of the parallels in terms of "working class" music, but also because of fashion parallels between the Mods and the "Rude Boys" of Ska - good quality clothes, suits and hats.

The term "Rude Boy" was originally applied to the youth of Jamaica who came to cities such as Kingston in search of wealth and opportunity, but instead found social inequality, many ending up in the ghettos of Trenchtown and Riverton City - often turning to crime.

Soon this segregated further (mirroring in many ways what was happening in the Mod scene in the UK), as gangs evolved, volient clashes between rival gangs and against authorities began, and some gangs even working for armed political groups. Gang members were "cool", with slick fashion and their own musical identity - often dancingto Ska records at half-paced in a more relaxed manner. The music was soon to change to reflect this style - "Rock Steady" was born.

Next ... Rock Steady