Lattes Lead to Ska

I was in the coffee shop in the Carmel Plaza waiting for them to fix up two large "Jamaican Me Crazy" blend lattes, a single for Susan, a double for me, when the Mighty Mighty Bosstones "Impression That I Get" came on the radio. I got very excited. I looked around to see if anyone else was surprised this ska-esque 90s hit was blasting so early in the morning. No one was. That they were all over seventy may have been a reason. They all were quietly enjoying their cream cheese croissants and greens teas, too engrossed in the paper to notice this joyful musical memory trigger.

I was 19 when I saw the Bosstones in concert, at my university in Los Angeles, in the gym. I knew of them because I had been working at MTV since summer and the ska references were plentiful in the music scene during that time. I dug their vibe. They were ska for the mainstream and that was cool for me. Fantastic energy! Bring on the trumpets! I had always adored a horn section to go with a nasty beat. So ska. If you like ska as I do chances are you like the reggae too. Growing up by the beach shaped my musical sensibilities for sure. I was never the surfer groupie girl in a bikini, I was really more of a teenage beatnik bohemian type with a penchant for tortured sensitive jocks, bell bottoms, turtlenecks, platforms, funny hats and sunblock. I still hung out with the surfers and raided their knowledge of mellow rhythmic sensations to listen to while on a beach or near a beach or thinking about a beach. So I liked the Bosstones because they reminded me to listen to Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers, The Skatilites.

When I listen to music I play it to most often maintain a dream and inspire it coming to fruition. My dream of driving on muddy roads, in an open red jeep on a beautiful blue skied day in Kingston town, while sipping on a Ting and rocking out to The Maytals with nothing but a straw hat and a green sun dress on was formed many moons ago on Carmel Beach or during teenage weekends in Santa Cruz.

For awhile I yearned to be one of those Carmel girls who looked 20 when we were 15, who could show up at the beach with an old towel and a new bikini and leave with an older boyfriend and a new tan. Those girls had seeming countless On The Beach fleece sweatshirts for bonfires and hair that was straight and long and normal no matter the weather conditions. I longed to be like them, but only for a minute. I was too busy being obliviously unusual to fall for the adonis surfers and only really wanted to know who was on their radio, and where they got it. And thank goodness I wasn't one of those girls and I am still friends with those guys and that I learned so much about music from them.

I am so grateful that to this day Sublime, No Doubt and The Specials are always inspirations for me to dig a little deeper into the sources of their beat references. Hearing the Mighty Mighty Bosstones again opened up a huge can of worms for me. Must pull out the old school ska and reggae collections. Must dream of far off Jamaican beaches and mad chilling over patties and curry with my friends in Jam-Rock.

Isn't it all about the references anyway? Well for me it is. For food, for fashion, for art, for music, for love, for life.

What's next? Oooh, want to go to Jamaica now. Wanna come?

Hope you enjoy a bit of "Uptown Ranking" by Althea and Donna, it has Toots written all over it. Don't you think? Ya?

xo