Alton Ellis, the Godfather of Rocksteady music, was born in 1938 in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica. Along with his younger sister Hortense, who was born in 1941, the two created singles and duets for Clement and Coxsone Dodd’s legendary Studio One in Kingston during the early days of ska and rocksteady.…
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Mille, a/k/a Millie Small, born in Clarendon, Jamaica, is the 1960s ska, bluebeat, and rocksteady singer who is most famous for her 1964 smash hit “My Boy Lollipop.” Her fourth recording, “My Boy Lollipop,” was cut in London by a group of session musicians that included guitarist Ernest Ranglin (and,…
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The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including Guns of Navarone. They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period. They…
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This is a classic music video from Madness, the English ska band from Camden Town, London. They started in 1976 as part of the late 1970s and early 1980s 2Tone ska revival. Madness continues to perform with a line-up of their seven most popular members. This video is a great…
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The 2 Tone Story: A Checkered Past (Part 3) Part 3 of 3 Soon after the mass defection Roddy Radiation left to pursue his more rock ‘n’ roll-oriented muse with The Tearjerker. The remaining Specials and some newly hired hands reverted to The Special A.K.A. name for legal reasons, backed…
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The 2 Tone Story: A Checkered Past (Part 2) Part 2 of 3 And so was the Special A.K.A. Personnel stabilized with the addition of drummer John Bradbury, who’d co-written and played on “The Selecter.” The single became an underground hit; the band’s high octane live sets attracted numerous record…
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The 2 Tone Story: A Checkered Past (Part 1) Part 1 of 3 The Selecter’s Pauline Black perhaps put it best: “2 Tone was basically about black and white people playing together.” Label chief and Specials keyboard player Jerry Dammers could almost equally be succinct: “I just wanted 2 Tone…
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Super Buffet 
Rude Boy