Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast
Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast is hosted by Marc Wasserman, author of Soul Salvation: A Gen-X Love Letter To The English Beat and 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 his books.
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.
Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast
Soul Salvation - A Gen X Love Letter To The English Beat: FYC
Welcome back to the Ska Boom podcast! This season is called Soul Salvation and its the companion to my new book “Soul Salvation – A Gen X Love Letter To The English Beat."
Through the book and this podcast I’m telling the story of the Special Beat Service album which embodies both the brilliance and the bittersweet end of the English Beat whose songs served as a soundtrack for thousands of Gen Xers like me.
The book and this podcast is my tribute to the band’s final, triumphant act – which initially was largely overlooked – and how their music and the love of a young woman changed me forever.
The focus of this episode is on the origins of the Fine Young Cannibals, the post-English Beat band formed by original guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele with singer Roland Gift.
What many casual fans of the English Beat may not know is that Cox and Steele were the original creative engine of the band, at least across the first two albums. Wakeling referred to Steele as the “Mozart of the bass” and his unique and unorthodox approach to playing his instrument was responsible of many of the band’s most remarkable songs. So its no surprise that the Cox and Steele's combined efforts led to great success with their new project.
My new book Soul Salvation : A Gen X Love Letter To The English Beat is now available for pre-sale from DiWulf.com and will be published on August 12th.
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.