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Show "ISP Rhythms of ska heard throughout Utah By Dennisia Whisler senior reporter-The Signpost The birth of the Utah ska scene has been attributed to many causes, but the radio-god, who blessed the masses with the angelic sounds of the Specials, the English Beat and Madness, must be given his due credit. "I've been a fan of ska from about 1988, when I graduated from high school," said Todd Leetham.of Orem, a Utah ska veteran of about 10 years. "I was a fan even before then, but I didn't know what it was. A lot of people started out in my generation listening to the two-toned ska, primarily Madness and the Specials." That opened the door for a local scene in Utah to get its start which began with the band 004 (double 0 four) around 1987. Since their inception, many other bands have surfaced. Around the same time, but a wee bit later, the bands Insatiable and Swim Herschal Swim came into existence. Insatiable is still involved in the local scene and is going strong. They've toured the nation and have also toured Canada twice, according to Leetham. "Insatiable is a great bar band," said Jimmy Thompson, Brigham Young University student and lead singer for My Man Friday, a Provo ska band. "They don't seem to really tap into the younger crowd. They just don't seem to have those kinds of ambitions." Swim Herschal Swim, however, only lasted five years, from 1989 until 1994. "Swim Herschal Swim was a little before their time," Thompson said. "They got frustrated and broke up." This is strange considering they drew huge crowds when it came to shows. "The shows that Swim Herschal Swim put on were bigger than Stretch shows. Swim was bigger than Stretch always. A couple thousand people would show up to their Swim Herschal Swim shows," Thompson said. The band Stretch that Thompson is referring to is the infamous Stretch Armstrong of Provo, who had to change their name several times due to legal troubles before they broke up. They are most noted for their album Loligag. Ska From front page mixed with the fashion of the punk scene. The Traditional Wave, or First Wave was, of course, when ska was born in the late 1950s. Dodd, as well as such artists as the Skatalites and Prince Buster, made the concept of ska fun and popular earning it the title of "National Dance and Music" of Jamaica. The Skatalites recently came to the University of Utah to perform for the St. Paddies Day Swankfest. The Skatalites started performing in 1963. Bass player Lloyd Brevett, and vocalist Doreen Shaeffer, were the original members of Skatalites to entertain the U of U audience. Their music still has the same traditional Jamaican flavor as in the '60s. "We just enjoy the young audience," said Nathan Breedlove, the band's trumpet player. Breedlove, a jazz musician at heart, joined the band in 1990 after an audition. The Second Wave blossomed during the late 1 970s to early 1 980s. It was called the Two Tone Wave because of the faster, lighter sound it offered. It used more horns than the Traditional Wave and, like traditional ska, was music for the working class. The Specials and Madness were key bands in the Two Tone scene. Incorporating black and white dress with the Rude Boy image, they were symbols for unity between blacks and whites. The Third Wave, which we are in now, is made up of ska-core bands and bands desiring to get back to the roots of traditional ska. Ska-core is much harder and faster than original ska, due to its punk and hard-core influences. The guitars are still rhythmic, but heavily distorted. The drums and bass still emphasize the second and fourth beats, but experiment with different rhythms and notes. The chord progressions are essentially the same, but much ornamentation is added. The entire genre is just louder and more obnoxious than any other ska. But it can still be danced to the fundamental factor of ska music. Also, the Third Wave of ska features bands desiring to bring back sounds like the Skatalites and the Specials. Let's Go Bowling, out of Fresno, Calif., features a light sound focusing more on melodies and harmonies of all the instruments rather than highlighting just one musical concept. "We have brainstorming sessions, everybody writes," said Darren Fletcher, original keyboardist for the band, whose most recent release was their live CD called "Freeway Lanes" on Asian Man Records. Another interesting black sheep of the current ska workings has been a band out of Washington, D.C., called The PieTasters. What started out as a garage-punk dream evolved into a ska-based sound that is not really classifiable. Motown, soul, '60s rock and simply two-tone have all been influences on the seven-member band. The intelligent and more creative diehard fans have simply created a new genre that the PieTasters alone fill. "The PieTasters are a soul-ska band. They were influenced by a lot of southern soul, as well as a lot of two-tone stuff. Soul ska would be the best way to classify them, in my opinion," said 17-year-old Steve LaPlace, a dedicated PieTaster fan of Rochester, N.Y. The Third Wave, ska-core, as well as traditional and two-toned ska. is being in-fluenced more and more by Latin rhythms and melodies. This could be the future of ska in a fourth wave. Already, ska is experiencing heavy changes in its cultural flavor as more of its sound seems to be coming from south of the border. Many bands from Puerto Rico and Argentina, as well as Brazil and Venezuela, are adding the musical elements of cha-cha and salsa to ska to create "chachaska" and "salska." Currently, the VooDoo Glow Skulls have been experimenting with Latin influences in their latest album "Baile do los Locos" or "The Dance of the Crazies." Now loud and spicy, ska is ' getting more attention as society wants to dance and get hot and sweaty skanking the night away. Will ska survive this fourth evolution? Of course. No matter how much society progresses, or how old ska gets, ska will always be ska because ska's universal appeal and novelty come from its ability to evolve and still hold its fundamental principle to dance. Ska will never die. "They played at parties, then began playing with Swim Herschal Swim," Thompson said. Stretch had a tape release in '93 and a CD release party in the fall of '94. The Loligag CD release party is rumored to be Stretch's biggest show and in the middle of the peak of the ska scene in Utah, according to Scott Neves, University of Utah student and co-host of the radio show "Huzzah for Ska" on KRCL community radio on 91 FM. Stretch, however, attributes their success to a lot of luck. "They had a lot of radio air-play," Thompson said. For some obscure reason, around the time of Loligag and shortly thereafter, the radio station X96 of Salt Lake decided to take Stretch under their wing and constantly play their stuff. "X96 had heavy air-play for Stretch," Neves said. That not only earned them popularity, it especially helped to introduce ska to a younger crowd. "Maybe it's a trendy thing," Neves said. "My opinion is people will listen to what's on the radio." In December of 1997 when the band had its last show, many believed there was not much more to listen to but the local scene is still going. One year before Stretch's death, they took a new ska band under their wing, called My Man Friday. "They rubbed a little of their charm on us and broke us in and helped us out. Now we'll do well," Thompson said of the band's tutelage under Stretch's guidance. My Man Friday came to be in 1 996 and had their first show that Halloween. In a little over a year the band has almost risen to the level Stretch was at before they disbanded. "We're laughing at the success we're having," he said. "It's like an adventure. We're blown away with how well we've done in a short time." Thompson attributes their success to ambition and hard work at trying to move their music up to the next level of quality. Within this 10-year period there have been other local ska acts as well. They include Rhythm Fish, who have now reformed as Sturgeon General, Model Citizen, Catfische, the Knockouts and several "Missionary bands," lovingly nicknamed because of the fate that awaits them. These have included the Shriners, the Pastry Bandits and the Soulutions. Some of these bands have survived during this time, others have since expired, but the scene still exists, at least according to some. Most don't even believe that what Utah has presently in the way of local ska music even counts as a subculture scene. And there are many factors contributing to its current decline and fall. "There is a subculture, a core of about 400 to 500 people that usually show up," Neves said. "Ska had its peak in Utah a couple of years ago." He said this is because of both Stretch's demise and X96 not pushing local bands. In fact, the entire Utah night-life culture just does not seem friendly toward locals at all. "Clubs aren't as willing to push local shows," Neves said. There really are only three venues, at the moment, for local ska acts. They are the Wrapsody Theater in Provo,and Club DV8 and Bricks, both of Salt Lake. See Utah page 3 T I r A Week Of Remembrance JLhe purpose of the tribute is not only to learn more about a tragic event that was a part of our history, but also to learn about the connection between what happened in germany in the 1930s and 1940s with what is occurring today. the prominence of hate groups in our country has sparked the issue of how society treats a variety of minority groups. ..and in a diverse educational setting such as ours it is time to foster understanding and tolerance. May 14, 1998 Holocaust Memorial Address 2:00 p.m. Wildcat Theater, WSU Shepherd Union Building Reception will be held at the Shepherd Union building Student Lounge at 3:00 p.m. LfisLJ Join Weber State University in a Citizens March for Tolerance May 21, 1998 12:30 p.m. WSU Administration Building to Ogden High School 3750 Harrison Blvd (1 Mile Route Buses will be available to return marchers to campus) Holocaust Memorial Program 1230 p.m. Ogden High School Auditorium 2828 Harrison Blvd May 21, 1998 All programs are free to the public and presented in conjunction with Ogden High School, Ogden City School District and WSU Diversity Committee May 14-21, 1998 Display of Holocaust Materials WSU Stewart Library Main Lobby 1 -:: 'v Weber State University For more info call: WSU Public Relations 626-7771 |
