Top 10 Ska Bands 

bang on

Nah, we all know ska better than you. And you son, I was around when...and you, I saw..... blah blah, ska is always a dick swinging contest because everyone thinks they're unique and have seen something that's not been in the top 40. Just enjoy it folks

True, it’s watchmojo. Can’t drill down accuracy too much. Reggae and ska being the same and all, expectations lowered.

Lol good point

No, raise your expectations, idiot!

reteposh not sure if a funhaus fan or music history buff

The lack of Lord Creator and their infusion of jazz horns in Reggae was very disappointing to me.

Wrong also it started in the 30s in irland

Agree with you Pete! Not really accurate is it, the wailers were never Ska. What about Selector and Bad Manners? Still enjoyed watching this though! 😃

DID YOU KNOW SKA CAME BEFORE REGGAE?

😂 The who??

Totally agree Pauline Black is Legend been 53 and from England I grew up on second wave of Ska more into oi! these bays I've been a Skinhead since 1984.

Bad Manners was the best concert I ever saw. An amazing energetic Ska show of 1000 Mods slam dancing in Reseda,CA.

brass section = 'jazz'! LOL

Thank you. So much to say here about this list but why bother.. Those who know, KNOW.. :)~

And nobody but nobody did this fusion better than The Police 👍🏻 there are good bands on this list but The Police kicked ass 👍🏻

She was way off the mark here, I'd want my money back 😂

@@thornbird6768 Nope ,are you saying the Fucking Police are better at ska than the Specials,you are having a laugh mate

So can’t I.

No Bad Manners either. Seen Buster live a few years ago. Still amazing today

Madness were crap, stupid band, insulting Prince Buster by naming themselves after this great legend, The Specials are the only true British ska band. Oh, let's not forget The Selector.

Gerpic59 after the disapointment that was this list, i might just go watch *that*

It's the heavy heavy monster sound

Uriel Ramirez The nuttiest sound around

@@joseortiz4631 ...which is a cover of a Prince Buster song.

The nuttiest songs around

Streetligt has the best horn section for sure

@@megamegapop12 Yep, pretty hard to do better than them. :D

Those were the bands the introduced me to ska Now it’s my favorite music genre

Love FIF but some of the pioneers of ska needed to be listed

I saw FIF in Philly last month. I felt like a teenager again, but I could only go in the mosh pit a little at a time.

Couldn't agree more. Plus The Selecter not even on the list.

@@tomkowo485 The fact that The Toasters beat Toots and the Maytals makes it an insult. And yes The Selecter should have been in this list.

+theakstonsrock The list is a joke really.

A Much Better List!

Yeah that’s a good point where tf are bad manners

So no original ska bands why not

Go buy the album or rent the early 80s movie Dance Craze. I have both and play them often. ENJOY!!!

Prince Buster would get on the list

That's awesome

Cool

I'm Roland Alphonso's daughter n I loved ur grandpa. May they both RIP ❤💛💚

Very cool!

Wow awesome xx

Because its "The Selecter"

@@Rj-tz5kb Well whatever it certainly is a gross ommision (sp) Two tone was an important movement in Coventry, it was a time of interacial violence, of murder and the appeal of right wing anti immigration parties (does that sound similar) The whole Coventry music scene was vast and complex with a history before two tone, you can't imagine the various influences on a young man as I was back then, playing Irish music in sessions, singing in clubs alongside Pauline Black (pre selector) Growing up with so many different musical influences from Reggae and Heavy Metal to Prog Rock. A spiders web of connections I and my friends were part of. It wasn't just the music though, we were anti apartheid we fought on the streets for equality. Rock against Racism and Two Tone were both expressions of that

What about the Bad Manners?

ayoooo hello from el paso too lol

Fixed idea are sick man!!

The Selecter shouldn't be in that top 5 imo, they have catchy songs, i'll give them that but their stage presence is awful. I'd do mine for music quality and live shows so it would be: 1: Bad Manners (seen 3 times) 2: The Beat (seen 3 times) 3: The Specials (yet to see but seen videos) 4: Madness (yet to see but their shows have gone downhill) 5: The Selecter (seen once, never again)

***** You must have seen The Selecter on a bad night.I've seen them loads and they always put on a great live show. I must admit Bad Manners are my favourite,probably because I've seen them so many times!!

Bad Manners never fail to put on a cracking show

DeanBean No

1957 was ska. Reggae was late 60s

desmond deckker

@@jimmyponciano8186 yes

Ed Masterson ok u win

Totally agree with you buddy ...THE SELECTER should be up there with THE DELTONES, as for the PUNK / SKA music I think that they forgot about the CLASH, THE RUTS AND THE SLITS who were doing that back in 1977 -- 78

Wouter Smit Yep, this list sucks like many similar ones. Everybody likes something of his/her own, we are all very different individuals. Our emotions are not a matter of any competition or making stupid lists.

Wouter Smit Toots and the Maytals are ska, so were The Wailers. Bob Marley and the Wailers on the other hand weren't.

Wouter Smit the Wailers were 1st Wave Ska, until they started with Reggae. 1st Wave Ska Music sounds quite different from the Ska Punk we know today, it established from Boogie music.

Bob Marley and the wailers is Ska have you never heard of simmer down judge not and toots and the Mytals is also Ska its just older and towards the front of the reggae era okay

+jemoeder2021 Yeah, early Maytals were definately Ska. 'Treating me bad' was Toots and the Maytals at their best. That song is ska!

Hahahahaha

+Gavin George I dosent think so ;) :D

Well, since they seem to think Sublime was a Ska band, obviously, they have no idea.

+Laith Fisk I agree with you on some of the point you were making, most specifically the "once something becomes pop" part. I saw the Ramones at Toad's Place in CT quite a few years back now, and that was a cool show. Was surprised many years later to hear "Sedated" on the mainstream radio, and even as elevator music one time. Was the strangest thing to me.

Anon Nymous actually they are. Sublime is Reggae/Ska/Punk Rock

I saw Skatalites over the summer! Great show.

My list would go like that too! 100% agreed

I think I would add No Doubt to the list

The selecter

The Beat at No1...but yeah easily the top three

Agreed.

+Foxtrot760 In the top 5

and what about Bad Manners?

They also forgot UB40, and I'm pretty sure Bob Marley and The Wailers should've been #1.

+R Linders The clips title is "Top 10 Ska Bands" .... UB40 and Bob Marley and the Wailers are much more Reggae than Ska.

+StewO101 Aren't Reggae and Ska almost the same thing? Besides, if you check the pages for The Wailers and UB40 on Wikipedia, you'll notice they're credited as "Ska".

RunningGirl1985 And Mustard Plug and The Voodoo Glow skulls.

Big D and the kids table. Goldfinger. Suicide machines

All of these bands still record and tour. How can you miss them?

Yup, they're all still around.

@@dsook4520 a group I found thru MySpace was The Taj Motel Trio!! They were good!! Are Mad Caddies punk or ska??

I would say this list is a joke.

The list is flawed yes, but the Wailers we know for the Reggae they made, started of with ska, all early Jamaican music started of as Ska and grew into Reggae. Most people know Ska as the British version, but its so much older, dates back to the late 50's already.

So should Sublime!!! Newer ska bands y’all should check out are Pepper and Stick Figure

Agreed for Madness, there's no way Op Ivy and Toasters deserves to be on this list. Where are Bad Manners, Selecters, Desmond Decker, Laurel Aitkens or even Judge Dread ffs!

@@Grilapin well I mean without op we wouldn’t have many 3rd wave ska bands

Word!

Madness = great, specials = great, but no Beat? Where's your heart?

C Lewis Messina I'd say Madness and the Specials are better. But The Beat are good and yet another British band. Also, Bad Manners and The Selector are good. Surprise surprise they're British too.

ONE STEP BEYONDDDD!!!

So much jamaican ska. Original sound they missed. Desmond Dekker, Prince Buster, Peter Tosh, The Clarendonians, The Aces, etc. All original. The first wave that came before the 2nd wave. I play in The Uptones (Joined in 2005). another Ska band that was missed. Jesse Michaels from OP ivy says The Uptones are one of their major influences. I mean no disrespect, but I just wanted to add to the clarification of the term SKA GENRE. It started in Jamaica. And Even Toots claims that Desmond was one of the first pioneers. I hope this knowledge adds strength to your idea of unity. May we rock steady this spinning ball of chaos... Moose

This is rubbish

agreed - Bob Marley? Seriously? I was under the impression Bob Marley was the grand poobah of reggae, I would never consider him ska. And I always considered the song "Our House" as New Wave or 80s punk, all the "wavers" were listening to that when I was in high school.

Madness, madness, madness...

Can anybody name a few? I'm just starting to get into this

@Traxxattaxx fuck yeah 😁

I had the luck to shake him and Tommy McCook both a hand, thanking them for a nice gig at Doornroosje, Nijmegen (NL), 8 months later they both where unfortunaly gone...

Such a sweet and wonderful man. I used to film reggae music, and became friends with the Skatalites. You'd be hard pressed to find a better group of gentlemen. Much love.

Dear Michele, gods don't die they take their place in the stars and wait for the rest of us, and long for you and loved ones to sit at their side again and for ever.

I met your dad and Lester Sterling briefly in early 1998. It was a pleasure and an honor.

+Insomniac Coffee or Streetlight Manifesto

I was really missed when reel big fish wasn't on there. Then at the end it's mentioned.

+Insomniac Coffee That is true, and the Wailers are a true Ska band, no one wants to listen to that. lol

Wailers is reggae

+Mike Giordano During the sixties, the wailers were a ska band and produced over a hundred such tracks for Studio 1. Simmer Down is perhaps their best known song from this period and there is an early ska version of One Love which is worth listening to.

I agree. Spot on.

+Dimitri Sanchez (08Cheeseits) I keep hoping they'll get one right.

you serve a good point i love the selecter

I know, right?

My thoughts exactly. None of the bands in the video are real Ska.

Catch 22 is not groundbreaking. They just took ska to another level of awesomeness

Check out lemon tree by the wailers

Kinda sad how they mention them instead of The Prince.

The Wailers started out as a ska band. Their first big hit was "Simmer Down" a traditional SKA tune

The Wailers, formed In the early 1960s, when the upbeat rhythm ska sound was still the dominant music genre of Jamaica. The slower rhythmic style of reggae, that evolved from ska, took hold in the 1970's. The Wailers and later, when their lead singer, Bob Marley went solo, settled into their more familiar known reggae sound.

Wailers have songs that are Ska. The main difference between Reggae and Ska is where the guitar notes are. In ska it's on the off beat for example........ in ska you have "1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +" but the guitar plays on the "+" in each beat. In Reggae it's the opposite, the guitar is played on 8th note beats 1, 2, 3, 4 and muted one the "+" The Wailers had song with both types of rhythm composition, Ska and Reggae.

daddysensei Silver Half these bands are not even SKA. Actually early No Doubt should be in this list. Amazing SKA band!

daddysensei Silver thank you

daddysensei Silver Man, Pauline Black and Buster Blood vessel!!!!

@@Dakitu2000 Laurel Aitken is the GODFATHER of Ska but, yeah I got you.

Thank god true Ska people are here to tell the truth even now years later ( i know i am late to the party ) but my heart is true SKA

+I Geriatrici I would put Madness at number 1 and id fit Bad Manners in too, prob at number 4.

+Jim Tom I agree!

Replace Rancid with Operation Ivy

+I Geriatrici Skatalites should be at number one ALWAYS, they are the fucking fathers of the ska, speaking not even of their unique swing and feeling

Less than jake?!?!?!

They did both reggae and ska. It saddens me that so many people are only aware of the radio-friendly reggae tracks.

agreed...

The Wailers began as most Jamaican artists did as a vocal group singing Ska before the group split. Their sound evolved as Jamaican music evolved

Many people claim that the forerunners of what is called Rock and Roll to not be Rock and Roll, doesn't change the facts that it is. Same thing with Ska, while some songs may be specifically reggae, some are Ska sounding, and you can hear the strong influences of reggae in MANY Ska songs.

Wulf-359 But Ska came first, Reggae evolved from Ska and Rocksteady, there was no Reggae before there was Ska

EXACTLY

Haha THATS WHAT I SAID TOO 😂😂

The Selecter, not Selector.....

No Bad Manners??? Ok. Stopped watching at No.5 after reading this comment. Thanks for saving me a couple of minutes :)

Tooootally. The Selector being left off was a major mistake.

I'm not sure, the new album is shit and it's too poppy

Josh Badge It's a little difficult to dismiss a band with over 35 years of success just because their latest album is "Shit and too poppy", especially when said album went top 10 in the UK and has gold status. They must be doing something right.....

Man, that is like saying you don't think The Beatles are up to much because you didn't think Abbey Road was all that great. Think! Think before you type, compadre.

Oh man,The Selecter.Sounds of my salad days.

You make the list next time!

Awesome list! Dead right 😃

Hellwyck The Untouchables

The Beat

A proper list !!!

yeah! What about D Dekker!

this!!

I do think Sublime deserves a spot

@@angelocemoni4100 If the list was top 10 ska-punk bands, then yes, they would deserve a spot. Half on this list dont belong...

I agree!

I couldn't agree more, my friend. As much as I enjoy new ska bands, and ska punk, everyone seems to blank out the roots of Ska and where it all came from.

I was in the Toasters and I say your right I bet Rob would to.

Totally! im from Argentina and Madness should be in one of the top 3 at least if not the 1st

point taken, although Madness changed their genre, with baggy trousers ,house of fun and it must be love. BTW i love those songs, i just want to say 2 things . 1 i thought the specials were equal to madness if not slightly better with SKA music 2 why do i as an Indian think that all the British ska bands were better than the American bands . If Madness ,the specials are 1 and 2 (depends on which order you prefer) then surely The beat and Selector come in 3 and 4 in that order.like to hear your opinion on that . Tc spurs rule 1969

JCBAirmaster73 i was born in Glasgow , i have never ever been to America

juan alejandro lucero obando MALDITA VECINDAD

HEPCAT?

Replace Laurel With Sublime and We cool

Better list... Although I'd throw in that combining Studio One Blue Beat and Rock Steady, along with 2nd and 3rd gen + the differences in British versus American and in America, East Coast (NY) versus West Coast (LA), plus sub-generas does not do the music justice. That being said, hell of a better list than Mojos...

Panteón rococo

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU SOMEONE ISNT RETARDED I LOVE YOU

Cameron James There is no such thing as 1st wave ska. It's just called ska. Everything else is a bastardization of an original art form.

Early Wailers were. Ska Jerk.

Yes, JoshDone didn't take his lesson in ska music. ;)

Originally, yes, they were ska. Studio One, son!

@JoshDone You're a moron

overenthused See, by the looks of things, you have no leg to stand on, other than to call me names an invite me to kill myself. I've forgotten more about music than you will ever know. Your haircut and photograph seems like you're the kind of guy that thinks My Chemical Romance and The Offspring are geniuses. See, I'm 44. I saw The Clash. I saw Nirvana. I saw The Beat before they broke up in '84. I grew up in Alphabet City in NYC in the 1970's and 1980's, where, had you been there, you would have shit your pants like a little girl. I saw The Ramones with Dee Dee and at Coney Island High (a club you've never heard of). I saw Fishbone at The old Ritz in 1986. The list goes on and on, and the fact that you have the gall to call out someone older than you that has been there and has seen more classic bands than you is a shame. You can't debate me on the merits of my points - you simply respond with insults. We're both music lovers - we could probably have a civilized conversation about it without turning it into a pissing contest, but since you have, you're gonna lose this argument every time, kid. Ask your mommy what bands were cool. Do you even know the real names of Cavo and Nene? Have you ever seen Missing Foundation at the bandshell in Tompkins Square Park? Were you at the police riot there in 1988? Of course not - You're a snot nosed little internet tough guy that essentially knows very little and has experienced even less. Go ahead - Show us how smart you are, asshole.

+Jett Crash Early Wailers yes .

The wailers were mento and ska and rocksteady... Bob marley & THE WAILERS were reggae... Thats why there albums are either THE WAILERS or BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS... Uf you want the reggae grab the bob albums uf you want the other stuff grab tge albums not preceded by BOB

The Gaylads had only a very few ska songs. And I don't think Judy Mowatt or Phyllis Dillon had any.

They all fiddled with ska before transitioning to rocksteady. Judy Mowatt is the only one that is on the bubble. She had a few rocksteady tunes she sang on her own or with The Gaylettes/Gaytones. Try to find the disc "The Gaylettes Featuring Judy Mowatt ‎- We Shall Sing". The Gaylads- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zOIF3c3tPuA.html Phyllis Dillon- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ellBKrnKBBM.html

@@ska_jerk The Gaylettes had maybe 2 ska songs. Ive yet to find a Phyllis Dillon ska.

Madness woke the world up !! my best and happiest memories all include Ska, but my first ever LP i bought was Madness and i will defend them till my last breath !

+Graeme Matthew Indeed, this list is full of fail. So many better representations. King Edwards and Babba Brooks spring to mind.

+Graeme Matthew Finally some one who knows there Ska. They said madness first to have a horn section then have the skatalites as #1 who have a horn section. The Selector not even mention and should of been in the top 5 .

Spencer Chapman and Golfinger, Mustard Plug, the Selecter, and Desmond Dekker shoulda been on the list instead of “the toasters”

And rancid

I saw reel big fish live they are great

Oh no man, good bands but NOT great bands.

Lets throw some Voodoo Glow Skulls in the mix

Sublime shouldn't even count as a ska band, their genre is alternative

Yeah definitely should have added streetlight manifesto

It's more alternative than reggae, as much as I like Operation Ivy I don't consider them a real ska band, but they're closer to being a ska band than Sublime.

Hopefully you have heard of Catch-22 then, because they came before Streetlight. :) There are a lot of good bands missing (Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Mustard Plug, Less Than Jake, Suicide Machines, Save Ferris, No Doubt, to name a few) but there are so many sub-divisions of ska its hard to choose "the best". It would seem they focused on "the most influential"?

Jen H yeah I love them all but in my opinion streetlight is my favorite.

ikr not a ska list without all two tone

U wot m8?

+terawattz and the Lambrettas?

piter loko What shit you talk they were one of the best bands on the two tone label during the 70s better than that American bullshit what passes off as ska..

piter loko I have they're fucking crap embarrassment to be classed as ska not fit to lick Desmond Dekkers boots or The Selectors

Lol

JUSTIN Senko heck yeah! I saw Fishbone twice in 2012 and they put on a fantastic show!

no shit mate, madness are the most successful ska band ever!!

Also, the Mighty Bosstones are just like screaming into a microphone... it isn't what Ska should be. Operation Ivy? Who???

I think the view on Madness is they where a bit comercial, not as edgy as say The Selecter or Specials

Clive Ellis They didn't need to be as edgy as anyone else, they made their own ska sound. Plus's they did "hide" some messages(?) in quite a few of their songs...

Bentley Walker what are some of the messages? In Black by Design, Pauline Black says that Madness would dress in silly out fits when they went on certain shows, like Swap Shop, to please producers, which The Selecter would never do.

the bosstones shortlived? over 30 year career! #1 in ska-core, maybe ranked too high here against pure ska legends but not short lived!

***** never said u didnt yeah punk started in the usa but u also killed it bands like green day LOL

***** Yet the Dead kennedies and Greenday are still performing you mental midgets

America ruined everything -every youtube commenter

pedrofaba I'd trust someone who's spent 9 days in a countries view on said country any day of the week. Maybe you should have spent those 9 days building an identity for Spain?

*****--I guess you told them

The Wailers produced some of the best ska out there - 'Simmer Down', 'Maga Dog' and 'Rudeboy' are great examples of this. Bob Marley also released some great ska music before the wailers formed - listen to 'Judge Not' or his cover of 'One Cup of Coffee'.

***** I'm sure he meant it as sarcasm...Wailers is not ska, just like nirvana is not rap. Its what he meant.

Michael Vigil I actually think you missed Derp's joke - the point is that they were originally a ska band to begin with - 'Simmer Down' is one of the great ska anthems.

+Manuel Fernandez Yeah, where is Bad Manners. Their Ska 'n' B album was great. I liked The Bodysnatchers too Manuel, but did they release enough material to make a top 10?

+Manuel Fernandez I agree. You should have done this list instead of these nincompoops. How about The Skatelites?

Omg yes!!! Need the Selector and Bad Manners on this list!

Literally just learned that this was a specific genre yesterday.

Then why are you here

Precisely!

Lol

This is reggae

The first Ska record I ever heard and this was before I even knew Ska was a thing, was Prince Buster - Al Capone. Many years later I heard Gangsters by The Specials on Top Of The Pops and I instantly recognised it, jumped aboard The Ska Train and was Ska`d for life. Shame on WatchMojo

And Desmond Dekker.

Don't forget the band who sung "We are number one"

"Hey! Hey!" -Shit, how could I forget. Gotta love Lazy Town, that song is pretty catchy.

Mustard Plug

Reel Big Fish is included in the vid. :)

my guess, since FIF and Supertones were considered "Christian" is to why they didn't make the list. Still great bands, and all these years later I still love FIF!

Fishbone's from the 70s - For the US, it'd be hard to get much earlier for ska than that. In the UK, you can go back to the mid-late 60s but for the US I'm pretty sure it started JUST before the 80s and then the early 80s kicked it off with the Uptones and Toasters. I just remember seeing a docu on Fishbone forming in late 70s, might've been slightly less than sober at the time but this is one of the details I remember