SKANK YOUR ENTHUSIASM (INTRO)
By:
October 1, 2025
Here at HILOBROW, we’ve devoted several of our “enthusiasm” series to our favorite music, including, in order of publication: 1974–1983 Hip Hop (HERC YOUR ENTHUSIASM), 1974–1983 New Wave (QUIRK YOUR ENTHUSIASM), 1994–2003 albums in any genre (WOWEE ZOWEE), 1974–83 Punk (CARBONA YOUR ENTHUSIASM), 1964–73 Country (DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM), 1974–83 Proto-Punk (STOOGE YOUR ENTHUSIASM), and 1984–93 Heavy Metal (MÖSH YOUR ENTHUSIASM).
Recently I invited 25 HILOBROW friends and stalwart contributors to share their listening notes about a favorite Ska song… from any year. I’m thrilled with the SKANK YOUR ENTHUSIASM series lineup! (Here’s the Spotify playlist.)
The lineup includes:
Lucy Sante on Margarita’s WOMAN COME | Douglas Wolk on Millie’s MAYFAIR | Lynn Peril on Prince Buster’s TEN COMMANDMENTS | Mark Kingwell on The [English] Beat’s TEARS OF A CLOWN | Annie Nocenti on Jimmy Cliff’s MISS JAMAICA.
Here’s Lucy on “Woman Come”:
What on earth was going on there? [Margarita] sang, a little off, in a keening, winding melody that didn’t sound Jamaican, while the Skatalites played stop-and-start behind her; it almost sounded as if she and they were playing two different songs. And the lyrics! She was “ya daughter from Manchurian border,” singing to her “ace from outer space,” who “speak the language of the breeze, and harmonize it with the symphonies in the trees.” She “can hear the breeze singing to me, not imaginary sounds but true melodies…”
And…
Mariane Cara on The Selecter’s ON MY RADIO | Adam McGovern on The Specials’ GHOST TOWN | Josh Glenn on The Ethiopians’ TRAIN TO SKAVILLE | Susannah Breslin on The [English] Beat’s MIRROR IN THE BATHROOM | Carl Wilson on Prince Buster / Madness’s ONE STEP BEYOND.
Here’s Carl on “One Step Beyond”:
Listen to Buster’s “One Step Beyond” again. It’s fun, but it isn’t goofy. It’s laid back and jazzy, not “nutty.” It’s full of this awesome mouth percussion that appeared in places in 1960s Jamaican music that now reads as a clear antecedent to beat boxing. You might say that Madness’s version is pushier simply because of its punk attitude. It’s also much less considered than some of Madness’s other ska covers, because it had really just been used live as a kind of entrance fanfare; to make it into a single, the 1:10 instrumental had to be looped, with a harmonizer used the second time through, to make the repetition sound fresh. But the exaggeration can also feel, however unintentionally, like caricature.
And…
Carlo Rotella on The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ THE IMPRESSION THAT I GET | Rani Som on The Bodysnatchers’ EASY LIFE | David Cantwell on Desmond Dekker’s 007 (SHANTY TOWN) | Annie Zaleski on The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ SOME DAY I SUPPOSE | Mimi Lipson on Count Ossie’s OH CAROLINA.
Here’s Mimi on “Oh Carolina”:
Some say this is the first ska record, but is there ever a first anything? The choppy beat doesn’t quite kick over to a skank, I don’t think — to my anachronistic ear, it suggests the playground or the school bus. What sounds new, what raises the hairs on the back of my neck, is the ring of a hand drum with a metal resonator. Producer Prince Buster had brought in nyabinghi drum master Count Ossie and his Mystic Revelation of Rastafari for the session, and that was a first, and it caused a sensation in Jamaica.
PS: Happy birthday, Mimi!
And…
Alix Lambert on The Specials’ TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG | Marc Weidenbaum on Dandy Livingstone’s RUDY, A MESSAGE TO YOU | Heather Quinlan on Fishbone’s MA & PA | Will Hermes on The English Beat’s WHINE & GRINE / STAND DOWN MARGARET | Peter Doyle on The Skatalites’ GUNS OF NAVARONE.
Here’s Marc on “Rudy, A Message to You”:
Livingstone’s original “Rudy,” which he wrote and sang, is a more coolheaded and streamlined affair than what the Specials would do with it a dozen years later. His horn section, for one thing, doesn’t sound like a block party on the verge of chaos. Vocal harmony is essential, but with fewer lines and more pointed intervals. The Specials sing the song en masse; their “Rudy” is an intervention. In contrast, Livingstone’s reedy voice slots alongside and leads his horn section. When he delivers the song’s damning line — “Better think of your future … Else you’ll wind up in jail” — you sit up a little straighter. Then the chorus comes ’round, and you can relax again.
And also…
James Parker on The [English] Beat’s SAVE IT FOR LATER | Brian Berger on The Upsetters’ RETURN OF DJANGO | Francesca Royster on Joya Landis’ ANGEL OF THE MORNING | Deborah Wassertzug on The Bodysnatchers’ TOO EXPERIENCED | Dan Reines on The Untouchables’ I SPY FOR THE FBI.
Here’s Francesca on “Angel of the Morning”:
Landis’s narrator comes off as frank, confident, even a little playful. Is it the way that Landis’ attractive soprano, clear and without affectation, flirts with the other instruments — the brass and synths, and that heavy, more frankly sexual baseline? Is it her pacing, which does not stop for tears, but moves through the song jauntily, as if dragging out the emotion would slow down the dancers, who are ready to move on to the next tune? Landis’ narration suggests a life of hooking up with minimal guilt, or least where there’s more room to acknowledge the complexity of sexual desire, beyond being its victim.
Pick it up, pick it up! The SKANK YOUR ENTHUSIASM series kicks off tomorrow. Again, here’s the series playlist.
JACK KIRBY PANELS | CAPTAIN KIRK SCENES | OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP | TYPEFACES | NEW WAVE | SQUADS | PUNK | NEO-NOIR MOVIES | COMICS | SCI-FI MOVIES | SIDEKICKS | CARTOONS | TV DEATHS | COUNTRY | PROTO-PUNK | METAL | & more enthusiasms!