If you know anything about music, you know that ska is cool. When you take the typical rock pieces (guitar/bass/drums) and throw in a bunch of horns, what you get is something sweet. There are still a bunch of directions you can lean within the "ska" family -- punk (MIghty Mighty Bosstones, Less than Jake), reggae (The Skatalites, Sublime), pop (No Doubt), or what is considered just ska (Reel Big Fish, Five Iron Frenzy).
Here's the issue: ska is dead. Consider the above bands, which were all the ones I could think of off the top of my head:
Mighty Mighty Bosstones: last successful venture was in 1997; fell apart, for all intents and purposes, in 2003
Less Than Jake: popularity in the late 90s, successful album in 2003, then a slow fade into anonymity and an abandonment of ska for pop-punk
The Skatalites: a 60s band who had some success as they re-formed in the 90s, but now it's a group of dudes that continually changes members and tours for the heck of it
Sublime: hugely popular in 1996, when their lead singer died of a heroin overdose
No Doubt: very popular in the 90s, but went away in 2001 so Stefani could launch her successful dance-pop career, or something
Reel Big Fish: started a pretty steep decline in 1998, with the exception of one hit in 2002 that didn't feature horns
Five Iron Frenzy: not really popular outside their "cult following" (of which I'm a member); disbanded in 2003
As per yoozh (I don't know how to write the abbreviation for "usual"), wikipedia says it best -- "By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned..." My question is "Why?" Here are some theories I have:
Reasons ska (or any extinct sound) died* and went to heaven**
1. Maybe it was a top-heavy genre
When you think about the era of crooners, you think of Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Bing. Maybe when those three guys called it quits, there were no comparable talents to fill their shoes and the genre died. Maybe the demise of the Bosstones, Sublime, and No Doubt ended this party.
2. Maybe people were worn out from all that skanking
3. Annoying pretentious music insider comment: Genres always come and go because music is an organic thing that is constantly being innovated. People started making better music than ska, so people stopped listening to ska.
4. Maybe the youth of America has a collective attention span of about 10 years
5. Maybe the sound of ska naturally appeals to a certain narrow age range (say, 15-22)
If so, it might have a natural lifespan of 7-14 years in this culture of myriad competing fads.
*As with all living things, every music genre eventually dies
**Like dogs, all music genres go to heaven. Except death metal and whatever genre Marilyn Manson represented.
Help me speculate
Do you like ska?
Why do you think ska died?
Jon
