When the Specials kicked off the nouveau ska craze in England not long ago, it seemed like a fine idea. Working from a local base in Coventry, the Specials launched their own label, gave a start to kindred groups (Madness, the Selecter, Bodysnatchers, the Beat), scored hit after hit with a revamped version of early Jamaican rock and attracted listeners both black and white – which was only...

Forget about punk. Forget about the new Mods marching to the beat of "My Generation," an anthem almost as old as they are. In the England of 1980, ska is the word.

A heady Jamaican brew of riffs and rhythms that arrived in Britain in the early Sixties via West Indian immigrants, ska is currently enjoying a big commercial renaissance as the dance music for young working-class whites bludgeoned by...

Nearly twenty years ago, the ska nation arose, dedicated to the principle that American teens did not look stupid twisting and crawling in porkpie hats and checkered sneakers. They were wrong, of course, but that hasn't stopped ska from rising anew in the Nineties – like goth or mod, ska is one pop style that keeps inspiring revivals no matter how much everybody else hates the shit. The...