SKANK YOUR ENTHUSIASM (12)
By:
November 11, 2025
One in a series of enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, analyzing and celebrating our favorite… ska records! PLAYLIST HERE. Series edited by Josh Glenn.
New York City in the 1980s was mad for ska. We had our own brand of young, multi-racial, nattily dressed ensembles (The Toasters, The Second Step, and from my high school, The Boilers,) who were partly inspired by Jamaican ska of the ’60s but mainly by the 2-Tone bands in the UK from the late ’70s and early ’80s. I was a young mod kid then, awakening to the fashion, music and politics of the time — mods loved their own 60s-influenced bands (The Jam, The Chords,) but everyone loved 2-Tone. I adored all the stalwarts of that scene (The Specials, The Beat, Madness) but I had an especially soft spot in my heart for the only 2-Tone band comprised entirely of women: The Bodysnatchers.
Many bands of that era played overtly political songs that spoke to the economic and social discontent of Thatcher’s Britain and called for racial unity and resistance: the mere sight of black and white musicians (dressed in black and white, natch) on the same stage was a political statement. The Bodysnatchers were no different but also addressed the unspoken gender imbalance of the time; their songs expanded the political scope of 2-Tone to address women’s concerns.
A song like “Easy Life”, their second single, with its swirling organ riff and jaunty off-beat rhythm, sweetly but staunchly sung by Rhoda Dakar and punctuated by Miranda Joyce’s sax, is impossible not to dance to. But here’s the beauty of 2-Tone: you are forced to raise your consciousness as you shuffle your feet. “I could stay home and play houses / Clean for my man and press his trousers” sings Rhoda, weighing the torpor of the ‘easy life’ promised by post-war Britain, commandeered by patriarchy and convention, against the possibility of women having their own say, living their own lives, starting their own bands, making their own music.
“Is this our natural fate? Are we just meant to procreate?” The answer, if you watch The Bodysnatchers performing the song, is a jubilant NO. Captured live as part of the 1981 film Dance Craze, all seven members of the band are bouncing, bopping, kinetic — alive and joyously empowered. Their vibe, though organically defiant, gives a femme spin on the 2-Tone sound: the aggression of The Specials for example, is recast in “Easy Life” as a warmer, more positive energy, with all of the sharp social scrutiny of the politically engaged youth of the time. And like youth, The Bodysnatchers were fleeting and sparkling; they shone brightly for just two years, never cutting an album and only a few singles, but rude girls everywhere still regard them as pioneers, still giving us a reason to skank, celebrate, and stay free.
SKANK YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn | 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 | 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 | 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) | Francesca Royster on Joya Landis’ ANGEL OF THE MORNING | Mimi Lipson on Folkes Brothers’ OH CAROLINA | 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 | James Parker on The [English] Beat’s SAVE IT FOR LATER | Brian Berger on The Upsetters’ RETURN OF DJANGO | Annie Zaleski on The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ SOME DAY I SUPPOSE | Deborah Wassertzug on The Bodysnatchers’ TOO EXPERIENCED | Dan Reines on The Untouchables’ I SPY FOR THE FBI.
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