I Still Dance to Ska Music

Some Reggae by the Clash-Guns of Brixtonmore photos

So, I have a confession to make. I still dance to Ska music, as well as to Reggae music, too. What's the difference? Well, Ska dancing has more of an arm swinging, loopy sort of movement; while Reggae dancing--to me--is more of a swaying sort of dance. Why the admission? Well, this week part of The World Music Show is dedicated to Ska, Reggae and Dub music (more on what that is in a bit).

In the first hour, I'll play an interesting twist on Reggae. From Australia, I'll play a song called "Drangkinbala," by the band Blekbala Mujik. The band formed back in 1986 and has been playing a mixture of rock and Reggae while mixing ancient sounds of the didgeridoo. And I'll play a track from a Sudanese Reggae singer named Rasha. Plus, I'll feature some classic tunes from Desmond Dekker & the Aces with the classic song "You can Get It," as well as the song "Let your Yeah be Yeah," by The Pioneers.

For Ska, which grew out of early Reggae, you'll hear a trifecta of classic 80's tunes (which were my favorites to dance too). From The Specials "A Message to You Rudy," to The English Beat and Madness, I think you'll like what I play.

As for Dub music, I'm going to play some truly classic dub from Augustus Pablo and Lee Perry. Dub music, like Ska, grew out of Reggae in the 1960's and has since grown beyond those original boundaries--in fact, many hip-hop bands use these techniques. Dub consists of instrumental remixes of existing recordings. The music manipulates and reshapes the recordings by removing the vocals while emphasizing the drum and bass parts. This is sometimes called "ridim." Other techniques include using echo and reverb.

And, what would a Reggae, Ska and Dub hour be without some Bob Marley? Well, it would be incomplete of course. But, I won't be playing your everyday, run of the mill Marley tune. Nope, you'll hear an early blues sort of version of his song "Get Up, Stand Up." Plus, I'll feature two songs by one of his sons--Ziggy.

You'll need to stick around to the end of this first hour because I'm going to feature a Reggae-influenced song by The Clash.

But don't let the fun of the first hour stop you from listening to hour two. I'll feature a nice side by side tune from the Latin Playboys and Los Lobos, which have a few of the same members. And, I'll feature a couple of tracks off a CD called Big Blue Ball, which was a CD three years in the making. The producer and musician Peter Gaberiel invited artists from all over the world to his countryside recording studio outside of London and recorded a remarkable album.

Mixed throughout the second hour will also be some gems from Cafe Tacuba and a Latvian folk song. The World Music Show airs Saturday nights at 10:00 PM. You follow me on Twitter, too, @wcvworldmusic