Ska Boom Stories - The Offs: American Ska Punk Pioneers

Welcome to Ska Boom! Stories, which is the audio companion to my new book Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History now available through DiWulf Publishing.   Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksThe Specials released their first single Gangsters in May 1979 and it is considered the spark that lit the ska-punk flame that still burns to this day. Though The Specials get the lion share of the credit for being the band that popularized the 2 Tone take on punk and reggae, the other one, which you’ve probably never heard of is The Offs who are American ska punk pioneers who released a punky reggae version of "Johnny Too Bad" in 1978.  One of the most interesting stories about The Offs was their relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat who designed the cover for the band's only album "First Record." Today, original copies of the album sell for thousands of dollars. The original artwork for the cover sold at Sotheby’s for $300,000 in 2011! 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