Welcome to Ska Boom Stories which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of the Ska Boom podcast is talk about ska with an emphasis on American ska history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. Though Augustus Pablo never gained the international recognition of a Bob M...
Mar 18, 2022•26 min•Season 5Ep. 16
Welcome to Ska Boom Stories which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of the Ska Boom podcast is talk about ska with an emphasis on American ska history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. Like me, you’ve probably heard 'Pass the Dutchie' many times. And it probab...
Mar 11, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of this podcast is talk about ska with an emphasis on American ska history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Stubborn Records, I interview Jeff Baker (K...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Season 5Ep. 14
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae. The musical development which ignited Danny Elfman’s interest in starting Oingo Boingo and inspired him to start writing his first conventional pop songs was the emergence of British 2 Tone ska bands whose music reminded him of the Highlife...
Feb 25, 2022•25 min•Season 5Ep. 13
In honor of Black History Month and as part of my mission to share unique and often untold American ska stories, this episode of Ska Boom Stories is dedicated to John Spence the original lead singer of No Doubt.Spence often gets short shrift whenever the story of No Doubt is told and regrettably his contribution to the band has been somewhat overlooked and slightly scrubbed from No Doubt’s history. On the one hand I understand that because his story is a sad one. But the truth is that without Sp...
Feb 18, 2022•20 min•Season 5Ep. 12
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.If any band deserves the title of punky reggae kings its Steel Pulse. They helped invent British reggae and their debut single "Ku Klux Klan: is definitely one of the great punk singles, without actually being a punk record. Steel Pulse were...
Feb 11, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.If any band could give the 2 Tone bands and The Clash a run for their money when it came to singing about the state of politics in the late 70s and early 80s, it was the Gang Of Four. And, if you listen carefully, many of the band’s earliest...
Feb 04, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.On February 27, 1986, the Cosby Show, then the most popular TV show in America aired an episode that featured the music of Black Uhuru. Let that sink in for a moment. How often did you hear roots reggae on American network television in the ...
Jan 28, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.I first became aware of Grace Jones late one night during the mid 80s when I happened upon her video for “My Jamaican Guy” on Friday Night Videos. For younger listeners, Friday Night Videos aired on NBC and was an attempt by the network to c...
Jan 21, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of this podcast is talk about ska and reggae with an emphasis on American ska and reggae history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. In this episode, I’m speaking with Grammy nominated regga...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.The Members were one of the prime movers in the era's cross-cultural mix of reggae and punk. The NME wrote of the band in 1978: “Of the many rock bands co-opting reggae into their act, few do so with as much love and style as the The Members...
Jan 07, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.So it was only a matter of time before I got around to talking about The Police and their embrace of reggae. If you are of a certain age -- I’m looking at all of my fellow Gen X-ers – then the band’s early records Outlandos D'Amour and Regga...
Dec 31, 2021•20 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of this podcast is talk about ska with an emphasis on American ska history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. In this episode, I’m speaking with Horace Panter – bassist for The Specials. Ho...
Dec 24, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. The goal of this podcast is talk about ska with an emphasis on American ska history and the bands, musicians and people who have helped to create and influence a uniquely American version of ska and reggae that spans from the late 70s until today. In this episode, I’m speaking with Jayson Nugent – guitarist for The Slackers.N...
Dec 17, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggaeThe convergence of punk with reggae and ska in the late 70's and early 80's resulted in some significant musical developments leading some punk and post-punk bands in England to experiment with the sound of reggae and dub in particular.Reggae...
Dec 10, 2021•21 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggaeThough drum and bass rhythms drive the various eras of ska, rocksteady, reggae, 2-Tone, dancehall and beyond, drums and drummers have defined each distinct phase. And like the divide in rock music that occurred in the mid 70's when synthesize...
Dec 03, 2021•19 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggaeThe convergence of punk with reggae and ska in the late 70's and early 80's resulted in some significant musical developments leading some punk and post-punk bands in England to experiment with the sound of reggae and dub in particular.Reggae...
Nov 26, 2021•20 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Welcome to the first episode of “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae The convergence of punk with reggae and ska in the late 70's and early 80's resulted in some significant musical developments leading some punk and post-punk bands in England to experiment with the sound of reggae and du...
Nov 19, 2021•20 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Welcome to a special edition of the Ska Boom podcast which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History. I was very sad to hear that Astro, the vocalist and DJ for UB40 and later the splinter group UB40 featuring Ali and Astro passed away at the age 64 on Saturday November 6th. This episode is a tribute to him and the iconic role he and UB40 have played in popularizing reggae around the world. Astro – born Terrence Wilson – got his nickname as a kid becau...
Nov 12, 2021•18 min
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. In this episode, I’m speaking with Brendan Tween the guitarist and vocalist who co-founded Mephiskapheles along with drummer Mikal Reich. The two now play together in the New York-based ska band Barbicide Mephiskapheles started in New York City in 1990 after Brendan's hardcore band The Shaved Pigs split up and he and Mikal --...
Nov 05, 2021•59 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. In this episode, I’m speaking with Dave Kirchgessner, who is the lead singer of Mustard Plug. 2021 is the band’s 30th anniversary and as of this recording they have played 1,900 shows, recorded 8 albums and sold hundreds of thousands of records, becoming one of the most well-known and popular American ska punk bands.I first b...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Welcome to Ska Boom Stories, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. I’m heading out to Los Angeles this week to take part in Top Rankin’: The ON Klub & Birth of the LA Ska Boom -- at the Grammy Museum on Saturday 10/23 this episode celebrates the 40th anniversary of the O.N. Klub and the two bands –The Boxboys and The Untouchables -- that were responsible for giving rise to the LA ska scene ...
Oct 20, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. In this episode, I’m speaking with Mike Sosinski -- who is the guitarist and lead singer of ska punk band Kill Lincoln and also the head honcho of Bad Time Records, a ska punk label based in Alameda, California. Bands on the Bad Time label include many of the bands now making waves in the American ska and ska punk scene and b...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Welcome to a special edition of the Ska Boom podcast which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History. I was very saddened to hear that news that Everett Morton, the original drummer of the English Beat passed away at the age 70 and this episode is a tribute to him and the iconic role he played in creating the unique sound of the English Beat and 2 Tone ska. I think its fair to say that the timeless quality of The Beat's sound is defined by Morton's dis...
Oct 09, 2021•14 min
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. In this episode, I’m speaking with Heather Augustyn who writes extensively about the history of ska music in Jamaica, the U.K., the U.S., and all over the world. Her books, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and online publications aim to give recognition of these artists and this marginalized genre of music. S...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing and Amazon. In this episode, I’m speaking with Andrew Sacher, who is a senior editor at BrooklynVegan and one of the few music journalists who is regularly writing about and covering ska and ska music. I'm turning the tables on Andrew and interviewing him about his ska origin story and the important role that he is playing in cove...
Oct 01, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing. Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books In this episode, I’m speaking with music journalist and author Ken Partridge, whose new book "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of 90s Ska and Swing" is now out and available. Ken is a writer and editor with bylines in leading music publications including Billboard, The AV Club, Pitchfork, T...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing. Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode, I’m speaking with my Rude Boy George bandmate Jenny Whiskey about her American ska story. I’ve known Jenny since the mid 90s when her band Professor Plum opened for my band Bigger Thomas at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. She was just 16 and decked out in giant p...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing. Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books Though my band Bigger Thomas –originally called Panic! -- is not featured in Ska Boom, our 80s American ska story contains a lot of the same trials and tribulations experienced by the 18 bands whose stories I've documented. That is to say, the human condition set to a ska and reggae ...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing. Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books The X-Streams remain the band I wished I had seen live and their story is one that continues to draw me in. Perhaps because they came so close to success before self-destructing. Perhaps because they brought an energy and intensity that was both mesmerizing and a little bit frighteni...
Sep 03, 2021•25 min•Season 3Ep. 19
