What are you listening to???

paradime · January 21, 2019

On 1/17/2019 at 6:08 AM, Jesse C. said:

I've always wondered how Ska became the music of the SoCal Mod scene of the 80s. I was told by Mark Stolinavich a huge SD Mod guy that it's through this song. Sting played the super cool quintessential Mod character in the Who movie Quadrophenia and after seeing it Disco hater kids in SoCal wanted to emulate the 60s British scene they saw in the movie. When everybody heard Sting was the lead singer in a band called the police Man In A Suitcase was playing on every radio in town, so all the kids were turned onto the sound of British 2 Tone Ska and because those Ska bands dressed in suits, they thought that was the music of the new British Mod scene. Funny thing is, although that was the connection in Cali, the Mod revival in the UK was centered around Rock music. A time when rumors traveled faster than the internet.

Edited January 21, 2019 by paradime

Jesse C. · January 21, 2019

4 hours ago, paradime said:

I've always wondered how Ska became the music of the SoCal Mod scene of the 80s. I was told by Mark Stolinavich a huge SD Mod guy that it's through this song. Sting played the super cool quintessential Mod character in the Who movie Quadrophenia and after seeing it Disco hater kids in SoCal wanted to emulate the 60s British scene they saw in the movie. When everybody heard Sting was the lead singer in a band called the police Man In A Suitcase was playing on every radio in town, so all the kids were turned onto the sound of British 2 Tone Ska and because those Ska bands dressed in suits, they thought that was the music of the new British Mod scene. Funny thing is, although that was the connection in Cali, the Mod revival in the UK was centered around Rock music. A time when rumors traveled faster than the internet.

To be honest, I never really associated the Police and Ska until years later, and it was only because of the styles they kept using. Not saying that your friend is wrong, he probably has forgotten more than I will ever know about the So Cal music scene than I know, but I never even saw Qudrophenia until the late 80's!

Ska was pretty big in the Latino community because it is a working class sound and has a Caribbean rythm. Thus some of the most popular latin groups today, in music that matters, are Ska style bands.

paradime · January 21, 2019

Holy shit that's badass. Definitely a latein flare to it, almost Cuban sounding. Great to see Ska is taking another lap around the track. Manu Chao had a 90s latin Hip Hop thing going that blew my mind. Truth is the latin iteration of popular American British music has an elevated rhythm quality to it.Stands to reason though I guess. My brother Cervantes turned me onto a bunch of Mexican garage bands from back in the 60s that had all the talent and experimental chops of the US psychedelic Rock scene. I used to think it was a shame they didn't get the attention they deserved, but look what attention did to American Rock. IMO some of the most honest and best quality art comes from the struggles of the starving artist. Often the only time they're free to do whatever the F they want.