Punky Reggae Party - The Police

Welcome to “Punky Reggae Party” a special audio documentary series of the Ska Boom podcast that focuses on the historical origins and impact of reggae on popular music that will explore the phenomenon of punk and post-punk bands adopting the sounds of reggae.So it was only a matter of time before I got around to talking about The Police and their embrace of reggae. If you are of a certain age -- I’m looking at all of my fellow Gen X-ers – then the band’s early records Outlandos D'Amour and Reggatta de Blanc were likely the soundtrack of your middle school and high school years  – they most definitely were for me.The Police took inspiration from Bob Marley, whose accessible reggae mixed with rock influences had established itself widely by the late 70s. It was this Marley influence that The Police synthesized into their sound and which set them apart from many of their contemporaries. And while they were riding the sounds of reggae to success, reggae artists in Jamaica took notice and in one case, the singer Sheila Hylton recorded a better version of "Beds Too Big Without You."Ska Boom is hosted/co-produced by Marc Wasserman & co-produced/engineered by Rob George. 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.