First Wave Ska was invented in the early 1950s in Jamaica. It was a form of music that combined traditional Jamaica Island music with American Jazz laced into it. It has a heavy accented off beat and used a lot of horn instruments, namely the trumpet, trombone and saxaphone, and the Jamaican government HATED it because the music seemed to be a form of rebellion against the government, who were terrible at the time. If you have ever heard the term "Rude Boys" or "Rude Girls", they are what the Jamaican government called those that rebelled against them, even though it was peaceful music, and some of it was very Christian religious music. I will do another blog on everything Ska, because I love it, and add links, but for now, I am focusing on Punk.
Second Wave Ska was a ska movement during the early 1980s that British bands created. It was a mixture of the origional Jamaican beat, but added New Wave rock. Most of the bands sound kind of strange. There were some great bands that did exist with it, but it's my least favorite ska genre.
And finally, Third Wave Ska. This one is easy because most of you that read my blog probably remember the 1990s. Bands like No Doubt, The Aquabats, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Buck-O-Nine, Goldfinger, and a lot of Punk bands created it. Third wave is best descibed as Punk Rock with horns. I wanted to explain that because there were, like I said, lots of Punk Rock bands that used the rhythem of ska, and I am going to talk about one.
The "real" Punk movement lasted from the late 1970s, and continued the late 1990s, although, the closer it got to the year 2000, most of the Punk bands were sellout bands. They weren't that bad, but it wasn't real Punk Rock, and if you think that the Hot Topic store at the mall is Punk, listen to the Nerdcore rapper, M.C. Lars' song, Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock. I think that the best of the real 1990s Punk bands were formed before 1996. There were Punk bands that lasted past those timelines, but new Punk music is almost dead. There are real Punk bands out there still, but not in the mainstream at all. I remember when I got home from my LDS Church mission in 2001, I started looking up new Punk bands, but they were all sellout Punk. I'm not saying they were all bad, there were even a few I liked, but I knew that "True Punk" was ninety-nine percent dead. Luckily, some of the old punk bands were still around and stuff, so that was good. There are even a few out there that I loved in high school that I saw live that still tour around.
What I wanted to do with this blog post was tell you my five of my favorite Punk Rock albums. Some of the bands I talk about have a few great albums, and even warrent their own blog posts where I go song by song, but I won't do that here. I will just tell you the albums, and a few songs that I love from them. This isn't a "Top Five" list exactly, so they aren't listed in order or anything.
1. This one has to be first. The Ramones: The Ramones 1976
This was one of the first introductions of Punk Rock to the world. Most of the first Punk bands in America have all stated that when they heard The Ramones, and how they couldn't really play their instruments that well, and have songs that were less than two or three minutes long gave them the idea that they could have a band too. This one is fantastic. It has Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat on the Brat, Judy is a Punk and I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend. Every single track is shorter than three minutes, with most clocking in at just over two minutes. This is fun stuff, and clean, which is hard to say about most Punk albums.
2. The Mr. T Experience: Our Bodies, Ourselves 1993
This album is near and dear to me. The first time I was introduced to Punk was with a song my cousin played for me on his guitar, Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend, however, there are some great songs on this one. Somebody Who Cares, Dustbin of History, More Than Toast, Will You Still Love Me When I Don't Love You, and Game Over are so awesome. I know that the band's leader, Dr. Frank, may not have a great voice, but the lyrics and writting on this album are outstanding. Dr. Frank, whose name is actually Frank Portman, has written three young adult novels, and a short story about baseball, of all things. Even though the other members of the band rotate in and out, Dr. Frank is the lead, and when he's involved, it's always his distinct writing style that carries the name of the band.
3. The Groovie Ghoulies: Fun in the Dark 1999
Even though this album was released in 1999, the year I graduated from high school, The Groovie Ghoulies had been rocking since the late 1980s. Most of their songs are about fun monsters that love rock n' roll, and every album usually had a song with innuendos in it. Can you guess what is fun in the dark? (Wink Wink), This one has my favorite GG track, (She's My) Vampire Girl, although they did re-record it for a later album, I still prefer the original. It also has She's Got a Mind Scrambling Device, Outbreak!, Don't Make Me Kill You Again and Ivy Says. Band leader Kepi was married to their guitarist, Roach, but they had a falling out, and she quit the band, and so they broke up as a result, but they also had a girl drummer. Usually Kepi would play bass and sing, or just sing if they had a bass player for a few shows or so, lol. I love their stuff, but it's a lot like The Ramones where most songs are three or four easy chords on the guitar. I'm not bragging, but I can put on a GG album and by the end of their short songs, I am able to figure out the chord progressions and can play along, but it doesn't matter, I love these guys. Kepi Ghoulie is still at it and has some amazing solo albums, and even an album that is for children, and has a few amazing songs on it that are amazing, and would be awesome on any album. It's great stuff.
4. The Donnas: The Donnas 1997
Speaking of loving bands, I hope my mom isn't reading this, and hope that you readers won't judge me. I love The Donnas, and in the early 2000s, I went to a few of their shows at a small club in Salt Lake City, and after every show, they would each pick out a guy from the crowd of about fifty people to make out with, nothing too steamy, but still, I was picked by the lead singer three times. I'm not bragging at all, but it was fun. The Donnas are great. They are one of the few all female Punk bands out there that had a good run. There are a few others, but The Donnas were my favorite. This album has Get Rid of that Girl, Hey, I'm Gonna Be Your Girl, Friday Fun, Da Doo Ron Ron, I don't Wanna Go to School and Drive In. They had a pretty successsful career for a Punk band. They eventually signed on with a bigger record label, and their sound improved, but the raw nature of their first album is so much cooler. I still love listening to this album. Good Times!
5. Rancid: ...And Out Come The Wolves
You didn't think I would write a blog about Punk Rock and not have this incredible Rancid album, did you? Most of the albums and music I have mentioned are closer to Pop Punk, and not straight up Punk, but Rancid is that one with the rhaspy voice, fast playin', lyrics not really sung on key or at all, and there are a few songs that use the ska rhythms I was talking about before. If you want to hear a face melting bass solo, listen to the first minute of this album, it's incredible. My favorites on this album are Time Bomb, Ruby Soho, Old Friend and Roots Radical. This album is fantastic, and a must listen for anyone interested in Punk music, or even if you are curious. There is a few swears on this one though, so you can't be upset with me by being surprised, however there aren't very many. I feel kind of like an idiot even talking about bad language in Punk music because the whole ideaology behind Punk Rock is do what you want and let no one tell you different, and this album is an amazing example of that. There are even some songs where they sing about Punk Rock kids thinking they know what real Punk is, but then fail in life, which is really cool.
When I started this blog, I wrote a post about a quote from Joey Ramone that basically said, Punk isn't about being angry and violent. It's about passion and doing the thinkgs you love, no matter if society tells you differently, and that is a perfect definition of Punk Rock. I hope you all enjoyed this post, and feel free to look up any of the songs I mentioned. I knew I was going to be listing a few, so I didn't do direct links to them on YouTube, but they are all available to listen to on YouTube.
That does it for this one. I hope you are all staying safe and following the mandates about wearing masks and social distancing. I appreciate all of you readers and the support you have all given to me. I never thought that I would have a blog with anymore than ten posts, but almost every single day, I think of a topic or hear something interesting that I think would make a great topic and blog post. I don't want to overload you all, so I limit myself, but that just means I have more to talk about on the subjects and what not. I've heard it said that a little Nate goes a long way! ;) I love you all and hope you are well. I'll see you next time.
Oi Oi Oi!!!
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