[Ads-l] ska (1963)

[Andy Bach]

In yesterday's NYTimes, the obit for Toots Hibbert says he was the
first to use the term "reggae":
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/12/arts/music/toots-hibbert-dead.html

"Mr. Hibbert holds a firm spot in Jamaica’s musical pantheon as the
first artist to use the word reggae on a record, on the rollicking
1968 single “Do the Reggay” by his group, which was originally billed
simply as the Maytals. By some accounts, it was an accidental coinage
— Mr. Hibbert has said he was thinking of “streggae,” local slang for
a “raggedy” woman — but it stuck, branding the new sound that would
become Jamaica’s greatest cultural export."

WikiP has ska around from the late 50s with a number of possible
creation stories (both the title and the signature rhythm) but has it
evolving (through rocksteady) into ... or giving birth to reggae.
Alas the book "Ska, an Oral history" on google books stops at page 16,
where they've got the sound (agreeing with WikiP) but not yet agreeing
upon the name. But it seems to be '62 ish.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bUba45txcJ8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 5:16 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The earliest OED2 citation for "ska" as the Jamaican musical genre is Mar.
> 17, 1964. Fred Shapiro slightly antedated this to Mar. 14, 1964 with a cite
> from Melody Maker:
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2015-February/136041.html
>
> Here it is from Oct. 9, 1963, in a letter to the editor complaining about
> music played on radio programs of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation
> (JBC).
>
> ---
> 1963 _Daily Gleaner_ (Kingston, Jamaica) 9 Oct. 8/3 There is, however, one
> unpleasant musical form known as the "Ska beat" which is popular on the
> evening programmes of both stations.
> https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-oct-09-1963-1967363/
> ---
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org