Ska Boom Stories - The Harder They Come & The Birth of American Reggae

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available for pre-sale through DiWulf Publishing.  Now that the book is finally finished and going into production, I want to use this series to share a behind the scenes look at what readers can expect from the book. In 400+ pages across 19 chapters, I’ve attempted to knit together the origin stories of groups of passionate musical pioneers who helped created a uniquely American version of ska and reggae.Before The Specials appearance on Saturday Night Live helped kick off ska a craze in America in the early 80s, the release of “The Harder They Come” in early 1973 (with subtitles so that American audiences could follow the Jamaican patois dialogue) had an impact far beyond its modest take at the box office. While the film had a cultural impact and developed a strong cult following in the years following its release, it was the movie soundtrack which captured the hearts and minds of like-minded people introducing the sound of reggae in the early 70s to a wider American audience full of young, impressionable listeners. Many of the musicians I interviewed for Ska Boom who came of age in the 70’s and early 80s and became early American ska and reggae pioneers like Rob Hyman of The Hooters, Alex Valenti of Skadanks, Ron Rhoades of The Shakers, Duck McLane of Blue Riddim Band and Dan Vitale of Bim Skala Bim -- cite the Harder They Come movie and soundtrack as a direct influence.If you’ve listened and received some value from this episode, then please help support the  podcast for as little as $3 per month on Patreon. Supporters get access to exclusive content like special episodes of the podcast and advanced promo chapters from the book.Please note: The music clips included in this podcast fall under the “Fair Use Doctrine” as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The law allows for use of music clips for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices