I don't know much about ska, but I know what I like

Lately I've had several ska songs in my head.  Why?  Random reasons, including free-ranging discussions with Miss Mox, etc.  Some I hadn't heard in years, but when I was a teenager I loved them.  And suddenly I realized- I liked ska and reggae long before I even knew what they were.  Possibly the earliest song I would have heard in that genre was "I Shot The Sheriff," a Bob Marley song covered, of course, by Eric Clapton.  But around the same time I remember hearing the Clash, the Police, and others who had some ska and reggae seeping into their styles.  And of course Madness had a song that seems to have been the first big ska hit in America, "One Step Beyond."  I didn't know it was ska, just that it sounded cool.  And it was a cover, though few knew that at the time.  Then there was a song called "Lebanon" that took me weeks to track down recently.

I slowly became more aware of the music, and got into Bob Marley (who started in ska,) UB40, The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Eek-A-Mouse, Jimmy Cliff, Fishbone, all sorts of variations on the theme. Even later, I got into Reel Big Fish, who are still around and who I've talked about on here before.

So herewith, some ska and reggae songs that have been on my mental playlist recently.


I Shot The Sheriff- Eric Clapton

Everyone knows this song, but not everyone knows it is reggae, or that it is a cover.  That's a bit sad, but then, it's not like Bob Marley isn't famous anyway...  And Clapton's version is pretty amazing.




Simmer Down- The Wailers

The first Wailers, that is, fronted by Bob Marley but not superstars yet.  I actually only discovered this after I had known Marley's later music for awhile.




One Step Beyond- Madness

They might be slightly better known for "Our House," but this is what I think of when I think of Madness.  It's actually a cover of a much earlier song by Prince Buster.




Lebanon- The Untouchables

This one rattled around in my head recently and I just could not figure out who did it.  I thought of it as a punk song and searched for it that way, coming up with The Human League's similarly-named song.  Not that that one's punk, but it is a bit of a stretch from their New Wave origins.  Not the same song, though; I like this one better, and remember listening to it over and over as a kid.




True Love Is Hard To Find- Toots And The Maytals with Bonnie Raitt.

 An old song, updated.