Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Christine Keeler
2. Fidel Castro
3. Simmer Down - Bob Marley, The Skatalites, The Wailers
4. Alley Pang
5. Exodus
6. King Solomon
7. Eastern Standard Time
8. World's Fair - Ken Boothe, Stranger Cole, The Skatalites
9. Two for One
10. I Should Have Known Better
11. Hot Cargo
12. Black Sunday
13. Ska la Parisienne
14. Don-De-Lion
15. Dick Tracy
16. Hanging Tree

Disc 2:

1. Scandal Ska
2. Occupation
3. Old Rocking Chair - Jackie Opel, The Skatalites
4. Third Man Ska
5. Ringo's Theme (This Boy) [Ska Version]
6. Ringo's Theme (This Boy) [Version 2]
7. Nimrod
8. Woman a Come - Margarita, The Skatalites
9. Cleopatra
10. Beardsman Ska
11. Addis Ababa
12. Silver Dollar [Original Version]
13. Vow - Jackie Opel, Doreen Schaffer, The Skatalites
14. Doctor Kildare
15. Killer Diller
16. Naked City

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70579 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-09
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.com
It's not often that nearly four-decade-old music manages to be both seminal and cutting edge, but these 32 hits from Jamaica's--and the world's--greatest ska outfit are just that. Early ska blended R&B shuffle with mento (Jamaican calypso)--Jamaica's antic response to stateside boogie-woogie. Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, the late Tommy McCook, and the other Skatalites injected the swinging sophistication of jazz-honed chops, and this set captures the band just starting out, during their '64-'65 tenure at Coxsonne Dodd's legendary Studio One. Ska's buoyant appeal has never died, merely gone underground now and then, and it's raging at an all-time high today. Foundation Ska shows why the Skatalites still dominate. Every track's a burnished gem, and fans will get extra kicks from the band's backing turns for Bob Marley and the Wailers ("Simmer Down") and Stranger Cole and Ken Boothe's "World's Fair" duet. --Elena Oumano

Customer Reviews

Is that a joke?
Poor imitation of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Huh?!?

The Skatalites *started* ska.

You didn't think it came from the US did you?

This album was recorded in 60's Jamaica, you can't expect crystal clear sound. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones aren't fit to lick the stage these guys played on. Third wave 'ska' is almost all garbage.

There are four kinds of ska:

1. Traditional aka 'first wave' (60's Jamaica) (ex. Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Toots & The Maytals).

2. Rocksteady (late 60's Jamaican music with a tempo between the Skatalites and reggae) (ex. Phylis Dillon, Alton Ellis, Ken Booth, The Gaylads, The Paragons, Jackie Mittoo and Tommy McCook after the Skatalites broke up).

3. 'Two-Tone' aka 'second wave' (early 80's British ska revival) (ex. English Beat, Bad Manners, Madness, The Specials, Selector),

4. Neo-trad (90's traditional style) (ex. Jazz Jamaica, The Slackers, Hepcat, The Toasters, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)

No Doubt is pop, only famous because their singer's a hot chick. The Bosstones are even worse, basically Green Day with a horn section.

Musical Scorcher!
This is the definitve Skatalites collection that I was looking for when I was a kid! These are some of the hardest and best recorded Skatalites tracks in existence. It's all here - Lloyd Knibs & Drumbago whacking the hell out of their kits with rimshots like firecrackers; Ernest Ranglin matching the whole massed horn section lick for lick; edgy, lyrical solos from Roland Alphonso and Tommy McCook; Lloyd Brevett's nimble explosive-propulsive double bass; Jackie Mitoo's crucial piano; and, of course, Don Drummond's trombone like a Dread clarion over the whole glorius racket. This is the real thing, the orignal, and still the best.

(I just wish they had included their original recording of the "James Bond Theme" the version on "Ball of Fire" is nowhere near as intense as the original!)

Overall great, but could use more of the original hits
This 2 disc set is well worth the amount anyone pays for it. Although I am a lil' bummed that the band's bigger hits aren't included (Guns, Phoenix City...) this is a truly great collection of their stuff. Some of the collection's biggest standouts occur when this super group backs super vocalists such as The Wailers on "Simmer Down", Stranger Cole and Ken Boothe on "World's Fair" and Jackie Opel's "Old Rocking Chair" which also features a great solo from Jamaican guitar legend Ernest Ranglan. The album also incldues a great set of liner notes describing the history of the band and the songs included.