Walking out of the house this morning I decided to take a detour and dig though my CD collection for some new shop music. Something different, you know mix it up a bit and break us out of that same dozen CD cycle we have been in. So I dug deep in to the archives, dusted off a few discs that frankly I was amazed that I still owned and headed into the shop.

Wanna know one of the pleasures of being the boss? I get to play anything I want and today I had a nostalgic urge to listen to some ska tunes. Remember ska right? Bright, island flavored pop infused with kick horns, bright colors and frenetic dancing? The sound enjoyed a decent revival a few years back with bands like Reel Big Fish topping the charts.

Ever since first hearing them way back when Pete Townsend was using them during his “White City, a Novel” period, I’ve always had a fondness for the horn sections in rock bands. Of course the whole “3rd wave Ska” thing eventually gave way to the “Swing Dance Revival” and next thing you knew we were all wearing zoot suits and wide brimmed pimp hats. Me? I never looked good in a zoot suit and don’t get me started on swing dancing. I tried it and sucked at it, sucked hard.

As is the way of popular culture, the trend peaked and rapidly lost favor till any music with a brass section was all but shunned from the airwaves. Such is the ebb and flow of music. It is however fun to turn them up from time to time and dance about like a loon. Of course there will still be no zoot suits in my future.

Oh and the other tunes we played right afterwards?
Rob Zombie