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IF THE BLUES BROTHERS PLAYED SKA, WOULD YOU CALL THEM THE SK'USE BROTHERS?
A SHORT HISTORY OF JAPANESE SKA
(Well, at least as far as Fuji Rock is concerned)
Ska of course originated in Jamaica in the 1960s, and its legacy is long and winding. Japan’s ska wave dates to the 80s and 90s, with TSPO and another regular Fuji Rock act, Ska Flames, both founded in 1989 and laying a foundation of sorts for the scene. There’s a bit of a back story though, and more than a few tie-ins to this festival. Enter Gaz Mayall.
Gaz Mayall, son of blues guitarist John Mayall, started up a ska band in London called the Trojans (obviously invoking the famous ska label Trojan Records, though there is no direct relation). By 1988, The Trojans music was being released in Japan, and most current Japanese ska musicians will note The Trojans as a significant influence. Touring followed, and Gaz and his band got to know the Japanese scene, even helping to release Japanese ska bands on UK record labels. Once Fuji Rock Festival started up, Gaz also got involved. His brother, Jason Mayall, still has a major hand in curating the Palace of Wonder area, and the wood-floored Crystal Palace tent was originally conceived of as a sort of ska shrine, where the music could live and people could dance to it. On Sunday night, don’t be surprised if the tent (and the festival) close out to vintage ska 45s, just as has happened so many times in recent years.
For the rest of this history, which is also a primer for this year’s fest, let’s hit the Way Back Machine, i.e. YouTube, and get some context for TSPO and Dad Mom God. Here goes:
20 YEARS OF TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
THE BEGINNING: This is really early TSPO – 1991! – the crazy, psychedelic madcap ska that made them great. For the first half of the video, they’re playing “Monster Rock,” the first single they released and a tune that’s still a big fan favorite. The next part is almost like dark side Lawrence Welk.
SKA PURITY: “Down Beat Stomp” (2002) is a pretty straight ska tribute, showing a strong influence of first-wave 1970s British ska and original 1960s Jamaican ska, even though you can sense some later influences. It reminds me a bit of early Fishbone, when they were trying to do the straight ska thing too.
POMO SKANIVERSE: Ska has always had its postmodern side, possessing the ability to turn any riff into a horn riff and then play it over a ska beat – most obvious early on with spy theme music, but now extending to just about everything – thus making all music potentially ska music, and the universe one big happy skaniverse. Check out this encore where they play the “Love Theme” from the film The Godfather. The performance is from 2006.
HITTING THE MAINSTREAM: 2008. Edging up to the current era, you’ll see TSPO labeled “J-Pop” or “J-Rock”, and pop songcraft has certainly eroded the raw ska energy of the early days. The tune in this clip, “Pride of Lions” just feels co-opted and homogenized, even though Fumio Ito, of the much harder edged ska-punk band Kemuri, sits in as a guest vocalist.
TEAM-UP WITH PUFFY: Lamentably, even before the edges started to dull, things like this began to happen. TSPO collaborated with numerous guest vocalists. Don’t ask me why this clip has Spanish subtitles.
MOM DAD GOD
(A NEW CHAPTER)
With this side project, it seems like Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta is trying to tap something more real, more down and dirty. So he’s gone lo-fi with a bit of a scuzz-blues sound and a raw, rock-ska beat. Still, there are a few too many horn solos to make one believe he’s truly regained his youth. Horn solos, remember, are a fetish of the middle-aged jazz aficianado.
Mom Dad God plays the theme from the popular manga, Lupin the 3rd. TSPO has also covered this tune in several versions – you can find them easily online. For notes on the pomo skaniverse, see above.
