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Ska Train - Various Artists




Year Released: 1996

Label: Hallmark Records 

Year Bought: 2011

Thanks to men old enough to know better sporting long shorts, dyed green hair and dodgy piercings, ska music has something of an image problem. When some hear the word 'ska', they think of bands doing HILARIOUS cover versions of pop songs or unwashed teenagers in a field who think Jackass is funny.

True ska is, of course, nothing like that. Developed in Jamaica in the 1960s, it enjoyed a revival in the late 1970s through groups such as The Specials, Madness, and The Selecter.

This compilation album, released in 1996 (I bought it off a market stall in Braintree in 2011), focuses very much on the first wave of ska. I'm no expert on this genre, but according to short essay in the CD sleeve, the genre name comes from "the scat singing often adopted by vocalists simply to keep up with the chugging instrumental rhythms."

The iconic ska attire – suit, braces, boots – came about thanks to Desmond Dekker, who insisted the bottom six inches of his suit trousers be cut off when handed a suit to play in before his first UK shows, according to the notes.

This compilation is a warm, enjoyable dalliance into the genre. It features standards such as 'Oh Carolina', 'The Wings Of A Dove', and 'Train To Skaville', but what it doesn't have is any Prince Buster or Desmond Dekker, so it's hardly a definitive collection.

An enjoyable listen though. Would provide the perfect soundtrack to a barbecue in a garden which had a shed painted in the colours of the Jamaican flag.

7/10

Track Listing:

1 The Ethiopians – Train To Skaville

2 The Maytals – Never You Change

3 Byron Lee And The Dragonaires – Easy Snappin'

4 The Blues Busters – The Wings Of A Dove

5 The Maytals – It's You

6 The Blues Busters – Shame And Scandal In The Family

7 Byron Lee And The Dragonaires –  Oh Carolina

8 The Ethiopians – Engine '54

9 Byron Lee And The Dragonaires –  Jamaica Ska

10 The Maytals – Daddy

11 Byron Lee And The Dragonaires – Summer Down

12 The Ethiopians – Train To Glory

13 The Maytals – My New Name

14 The Blues Busters – How Sweet It Is

15 The Ethiopians – Come On Now

16 The Blues Busters – Donna

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