Origins (first wave)
Ska began around the 1950's in Jamaica, combining jazz and a carribean-folk style of music with influences from American R&B and rock and roll. The music was fast-paced and highly danceable, and it was often politically revolutionary in its lyrical subjects. Ska fans were marked by a seemingly odd code of dress (hollywood gangsters, in thin ties, black suits and pork-pie gangster hats). They were known as rude boys (a label such as punk or hippie). In the 1960's, ska adapted a slower pace forming what is called rocksteady (a precursor to reggae).
Initial Spread (second wave)
By the late 1970's, ska was popular in the U.K. Bands like The Specials, The English Beat and Madness, among others sped up ska and added punk rock elements to form 2-tone. Supplementing the lilting Jamaican rhythms of ska with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and brutal guitar chords resulted in a hybrid that slaked the late millenium teenager's thirst for a moshing groove, plenty of melody via the horns, and thoughtful or irreverent lyrics.
Popularization (third wave)
In the 1980's, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones began to blend 1970's 2-tone ska-punk with 1980's punk, the result being ska-core, a step up for the ska-punk sound.
