Around 1960 ska music was born in the tiny Caribbean ghetto, TRENCH TOWN. Ska music originated from both mento and rhythm and blues and emerged at much the same time as the dance hall deejay's who played it did.
In TRENCH TOWN in the '60's the neighborhood hoodlum "rude boy" would clash with other rude boy gangs, while an abundance of Rastafarian "blackheart men" were declaring the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, a.k.a Ras Tafari, as their God (Jah). Destitute, everyone was being severely oppressed by the government.
Ska was greatly admired in the U.K. as early as 1962 and soon in other European communities. During 1966 ska gave way to rock steady which became reggae in 1968. It was not until the early 70's that the United States began to catch on to this tropical rock with accents on the second and fourth beats.
Most of the original performers grew up in TRENCH TOWN including, Bob Marley (d. 1981) and the Wailers, The Heptones, Toots Hibert and The Maytals , Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, and many more. Reggae music has been covered by many superstar performers like Eric Clapton "I Shot the Sheriff," Johnny Nash "Stir it Up," Barbara Streisand "Guava Jelly," and Joe Cocker "Could You Be Loved."
It should also be noted that the album "Legend the Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers,"* released posthumously in 1984, has been in the Billboard magazine top-ten record album charts for over 400 weeks.
The box-office performance of Jamaica-theme films is summarized below:
- COOL RUNNINGS** 1993 68.9 Million Domestic B.O.
- THE MIGHTY QUINN** 1989 4..5 Million Domestic B.O.
- THE HARDER THEY COME 1973 [figures
not available at press time]
*Billboard **Daily Variety
Recent Articles
Verifying the timeliness of TRENCH TOWN, Entertainment Weekly and Billboard both recognized the resurgence of ska.
EW - 12/19/97
Billboard - 10/18/97
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