Ska Boom Stories - Heavy Manners Bring Ska To Chicago

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.  The first 500 pre-orders get a rare 80 minute all USA ska mix CD courtesy of DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up Records.  Click here to order: http://www.diwulf.com/booksWhile Los Angeles and New York get the lion's share of the credit for the nascent American ska scene of the early 80's, in this episode I highlight the Chicago-based band Heavy Manners who were American ska and reggae trail blazers whose multi-racial and gender mixed line-up and live show took the Windy City by storm. From 1980 to 1984, Heavy Manners built a huge cult following opening shows for a who's who of 80's bands in Chicago and across the midwest including The English Beat, The Clash, Third World, Jimmy Cliff, The Ramones, The Go Gos, Grace Jones and Peter Tosh among others. The band's live shows were so legendary, that a gig they played with Tosh during a sold out show at Chicago's famed Aragon Ballroom nearly changed their fortunes. 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

Om Podcasten

Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast is hosted by Marc Wasserman, author of Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History published by DiWulf Publishing. Wasserman helped to found Bigger Thomas -- the first ska band from New Jersey -- in 1988 and had a front row seat to watch the growth of American ska. Ska Boom is the audio companion to the book, which tells the origin stories of 18 American ska and reggae bands and one national tour from the early 80s through the mid 90s that helped to give birth to and define a uniquely American version of ska and reggae. The podcast explores the impact of ska and reggae on popular music and features interviews with key ska and reggae musicians, audio documentaries about the history of ska and reggae and special episodes based on news and developments in the world of ska.