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ska comes out of rocksteady i think.
dick hebdige's book "cut n paste" is a good history of reggae, particularly of the development of dub/sound system dimensions of the form. but it goes all the way back to the origins of reggae.
his "subculture" book is interesting in showing the intertwining of reggae and early punk in london of the middle 1970s.
on reggae more generally, i am a hopeless fan of studio one and earlier "roots" stuff in general--i like the horn sections in particular, how they are generally a little "out of tune"---but my main fixation is dub--whence the higher-level fixation on the congos, one of the finest vocal trio/dub style combinations--and among lee perry's finest production efforts (all hail black ark) and so.
i find ska to be in the main tedious--mostly becuase when i hear it i focus on the horn arrangements and once i do that i imagine myself being trapped in a second tenor sox part for the rest of my life and that, folks, is not good, not good at all.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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