Remember the ska and swing revivals of the late ‘90s? Music journalist Ken Partridge gives the definitive account of that peculiar phenomenon with his engrossing new book Hell of a Hat: The Rise of ’90s Ska and Swing (out now on Penn State University Press). In this 360°Sound exclusive, Partridge talks about how ska and swing, genres that first came to prominence decades earlier, shot into the public consciousness with big radio hits, appearances in movies, and more. Partridge, who works as managing editor for the website Genius, also provides his picks for the essential ‘90s ska and swing albums you need to hear.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
360°Sound: I think most of our readers have at least a sense of what ska is. But I think maybe depending on their age and what they grew up listening to, they may associate it with different eras, i.e., traditional Jamaican ska, 2 tone, ‘90s ska. Those are all quite different, but what is the through line? What are the core characteristics of ska present in all the eras?
Ken Partridge: I think if you listen to all of the Jamaican stuff and then listen to some of the, for instance, third wave stuff from the late ‘90s, you might think to yourself, ‘Wow, there’s really not a lot these have in common.’ I think the way that it has evolved, the one through line is the offbeat guitar, the skanking guitar sound. It kind of comes in between the beats. The other main characteristic would be the use of a horn section. That was very prominent in Jamaican ska and has pretty much carried all the way through, although there are a lot of ska bands that don’t have horns, such as Operation Ivy, one of the most influential ska-punk bands of all time.
Focusing on ‘90s ska, how would you further break it down subgenre-wise?
The one that most people think of because it was the most prominently featured on alternative radio and MTV was ska-punk, bands like Less Than Jake, Suicide Machines, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish. These were bands that took more of a punk influence and adapted music for the modern times. Then you had groups like Hepcat and The Slackers who were more beholden to traditional Jamaican sounds.
You write that ‘90s swing and ska, which were largely upbeat and cheerful forms of music, reflected the times. This was post-grunge music and pre-9/11, and the economy was humming along. Discuss how the social and economic climate of the mid to late ‘90s helped birth this movement.
I started thinking about the early part of that decade and the stuff that was popular. Music was a lot darker in the early ‘90s between grunge and gangsta rap. You had the L.A. riots and the Gulf War, and there was a recession during Bush’s term. I feel like there was such a big change by the time of the Clinton years with the economy doing so well and no major conflict with foreign countries. It seemed like all of culture got super upbeat; it wasn’t just music. It was TV and movies. There was a lot of teen movies and you had TRL [Total Request Live on MTV].
It’s hard for me to imagine that [ska and swing] could have reached that level of popularity at any other time. In fact, we saw by the end of the decade and certainly into the 2000s, ska and swing disappeared from the mainstream as quickly as they got there. I don’t think it’s any coincidence because I think ska and swing were very much things where you’d go out to a show and you’d dance around with all your friends and have a great time. Maybe you’d wear a suit, maybe you wouldn’t. To me, it just really seemed to reflect the overall mood and culture at the time.
Swing was featured in the movies The Mask and Swingers, and The Gap’s “Khakis swing” commercial. Do you think these media portrayals were critical in pushing it over the top?
Yeah, I think it was kind of a double-edged thing. Certainly, those were the things that put it front and center in the mainstream and led to a lot of records and concert tickets being sold. It also made it seem like a flash in the pan or a fad. I think as soon as it happened the backlash was inevitable. By all accounts, just as quickly as it took off, it crashed pretty hard. Probably more so than ska, it struck people as being a fadish kind of thing.
There were some movies and commercials that had ska in them. But I think for the neo-swing movement, these films and commercials were much more central to it, and I think people tend to distrust things that seem like they’re engineered by focus groups, or corporations are trying to sell you something. People came to mistrust the swing movement. It was like something that was shoved down our throats. But the one thing I hope I show in the book is that all the bands that got some success out of this had all been playing this music for a long time. It wasn’t like they were bandwagon jumpers. Even if the record labels were trying to cash in on something that was popular in the underground, I think most of the bands that were involved with this were actually part of the scene that just happened to break.
What are some essential ‘90s ska and swing albums you’d recommend?
I would say you can’t go wrong with Redlight or The Question, the second and third albums by The Slackers. The Hepcats album Right On Time is pretty fantastic. On the more punk side, I would say Mustard Plug’s Evildoers Beware! Voodoo Glow Skulls are great; you can’t go wrong with either Firme or Baile de Los Locos.
The book is named after a song by the Bosstones. The one everybody bought is Let’s Face It, the album that had “The Impression That I Get.” I actually really like the record that came out before that, Question the Answers, that’s the album that has “Hell of a Hat.” Somewhere in between the trad and more punky stuff would be the Pietasters, they had a really great record called Willis.
For the swing stuff, I think you really gotta talk about Royal Crown Revue since they were the band that got it all started. All of there is stuff is pretty great, but I’d say The Contender is their finest moment. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are great, they’re all over the map, if you’re looking for the swing stuff, Zoot Suit Riot is the way to go.
You interviewed a lot of ska and swing bands for this book. Was that one of your favorite parts of the process?
Yeah, that was super fun. These were the bands that were my heroes when I was a teenager. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview some people from big bands over the years, but I think Dave [Kirchgessner] from Mustard Plug was almost more exciting than any interview I’ve ever got to do [laughs]. These are the people who I had their tapes in my crappy Nissan Sentra when I was driving around as a high schooler. This was very formative music for me. Everyone I talked to was super nice and accommodating.
So much has changed since the late ‘90s. You don’t have major labels signing bands like they used to, and you don’t have the radio and MTV promotion. I think if we were to have another ska and swing revival today, it might be more likely to be due to a viral TikTok video. What are your thoughts on the possibility of another revival?
If there is another wave of ska, it won’t look like the last one. It won’t be radio hits and MTV airplay because I don’t think MTV even plays videos anymore. It’s funny because there has been a resurgence in ska over the last couple years, a number of new bands who have been making noise, selling a lot of records, and touring successfully. That’s really encouraging.
With virality and social media, I think one of the biggest stories in ska music over the last few years has been Skatune Network [a one-person ska cover band]. For the younger generation, it’s a real galvanizing force. It’s not getting the kind of exposure that Bosstones and Reel Big Fish got 25 years away, but it’s what’s turning on kids to ska now, and I think that’s really cool.
There are bands like Catbite and Bad Operation. The cool thing about some of these newer bands is they’re a little bit more outspoken about stuff than the ‘90s bands were, and I think that’s partially a product of our times now. This is a very fractured time in America. I think the state of ska is really strong. Probably less so with swing stuff, although there are still swing bands out there and people who love the dancing aspect of it. I don’t think we’ll necessarily see another super mainstream moment for either of these genres in the same way as we did in the late ‘90s.
