Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   In this episode, I’m speaking with  Dave Kirchgessner, who is the lead singer of Mustard Plug.  2021 is the band’s 30th anniversary and as of this recording they have played 1,900 shows, recorded 8 albums and sold hundreds of...

Welcome to Ska Boom Stories, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   I’m heading  out to Los Angeles this week to take part in Top Rankin’: The ON Klub & Birth of the LA Ska Boom -- at the Grammy Museum on Saturday 10/23 this episode celebrates the 40th anniversary of the O.N. Klub and the tw...

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available from DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   In this episode, I’m speaking with Mike Sosinski -- who is the guitarist and lead singer of ska punk band Kill Lincoln and also the head honcho of Bad Time Records, a ska punk label based in Alameda, California. Bands on the...

Welcome to a special edition of the Ska Boom podcast which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History. I was very saddened to hear that news that Everett Morton, the original drummer of the English Beat passed away at the age 70 and this episode is a tribute to him and the iconic role he played in creating the unique sound of the English Beat and 2 Tone s...

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   In this episode, I’m speaking with Heather Augustyn who writes extensively about the history of ska music in Jamaica, the U.K., the U.S., and all over the world. Her books, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, an...

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing and Amazon.   In this episode, I’m speaking with Andrew Sacher, who is a senior editor at BrooklynVegan and one of the few music journalists who is regularly writing about and covering ska and ska  music.  I'm turning the table...

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books  In this episode, I’m speaking with music journalist and author Ken Partridge, whose new book "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of 90s Ska and Swing" is now out and available. Ken...

Welcome to Ska Boom Interviews, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode, I’m speaking with my Rude Boy George bandmate Jenny Whiskey about her American ska story.  I’ve known Jenny since the mid 90s when her band Professor Plum opened fo...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books Though my band Bigger Thomas –originally called Panic! -- is not featured in Ska Boom, our 80s American ska story contains a lot of the same trials and tribulations experienced by th...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/books  The X-Streams remain the band I wished I had seen live and their story is one that continues to draw me in. Perhaps because they came so close to success before self-destructing. Pe...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksOften compared in look and sound to Steel Pulse, the Babylon Warriors were one of the first bands in Los Angeles in the early 80s to play nothing but reggae.  Though the never became...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksThe Specials released their first single Gangsters in May 1979 and it is considered the spark that lit the ska-punk flame that still burns to this day. Though The Specials get the lio...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIf I could have, I would have included a few more chapters on other important bands who also deserve credit for helping to develop a uniquely American version of ska and reggae.  For...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for sale through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIf you were one of the lucky people to order a pre-sale copy of Ska Boom!  you should have received a copy of an amazing 80 minute CD called “Ska American Style 80s edition”  cur...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode of Ska Boom I’m going to explore the brief marriage between ska and acid house music that took place in the late 80s. Depending on how much of a ska purist you may or...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for sale through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksThe Boilers were one of the most innovative and influential ska bands to emerge from 1980's NYC Ska scene that you may have never heard of.  Though they burned brightly...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksThe release in the U.S. in early 1973 of 'The Harder T...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for sale through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksThe New York Citizens retain a certain mystique for those of us who remember them in their late 80s to early 90s prime. And if you missed seeming them, I feel bad for you. Th...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode I focus on the origin story and the importa...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksWhile Los Angeles and New York get the lion's share of...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn the episode I look at the important role that 171A, a re...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode I highlight the story of The Uptones from B...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksMore than most American ska bands, Gangster Fun were a prod...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksIn this episode I highlight the key roles that Lionel and C...

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksI became enchanted and obsessed by the ON Klub in Los Angel...