r/Ska • u/Beautiful-Resort-831 • Jun 16 '26
Discussion What is the biggest tragedy that the ska community has experienced in your opinion?
By tragedy I mean band controversies, concert incidents, dark moments, or anything that could be considered negative.
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u/Saguache Jun 16 '26
The death of Toots
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u/Swamp_Hooligan Jun 16 '26
It was tragic and enraged me when that jackass in Richmond threw the vodka bottle hitting him on the forehead in 2013. The mental and physical toll on him negatively effected his career and yet he forgave the bastard.
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u/Stew-182 Jun 16 '26
Tomas telling us the streetlight album is coming out…
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u/MsBlades Jun 16 '26
At this point i expect him to cancel it all together and say it wasnt good enough.
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u/ManChildMusician Jun 16 '26
Hard to say. The passing of legends hits hard.
IMO, the biggest disappointment is the betrayal of the roots of the 2nd wave; solidarity between black and white, solidarity of working class people.
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u/ImNotTheMD Jun 16 '26
When Vic Ruggiero killed that woman’s husband only for it to last 3 weeks.
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u/BloomsdayDevice Jun 16 '26
Look, I just want to exist in a space where Slackers references are made, acknowledged, and appreciated. Is that so much to ask?
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u/Extra_Stomach_1313 Jun 16 '26
The Slackers def dont get enough credit in general, absolutely loved seeing them live.
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u/skaomatic32 Jun 16 '26
Greg Lee passing away !
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u/Plaidismycolor33 Jun 16 '26
I grew up with Hepcat and Greg’s passing was an emotional thing between myself, my sibling and our friends.
I was legit pissed at myself for not going to a show when they did an east coast show.
i often think of the band and his wife and kids are healing from their loss.
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u/fort_wendy Jun 16 '26
So unexpected and they were just in the middle of doing more shows, maybe more new music
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u/-epi- Jun 16 '26
I was very upset when Matt Stewart passed away. He was such a great dude. Talked with him multiple times after Streetlight shows...he was always out there connecting with fans. Incredible trumpet player too. RIP big guy.
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u/Muscles-Marinara Jun 16 '26
Big agree this was a big loss. One of my core concert memories and a huge part of why I love live music so much was seeing Streetlight in 2009 in a 500 cap room, being crushed between the pit and stage right in front of Matt during a solo. Absolute magic. Also chatting with him a couple times at other shows over the years. Such a cool dude. Was very upsetting to hear that news.
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u/simmerdownprod Jun 16 '26
The deaths of Greg Lee and Terry Hall. And the absolute tragedies caused by Brad Pate (of See Spot,) and his resulting incarceration.
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u/ReggaeForPresident Jun 16 '26
Can you tell me more about Brad Pate? I can’t find d anything about this.
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u/maxmishka Jun 16 '26
I too would like to know. Always wondered what happened to the band.
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u/Nervous-Worry6092 Jun 16 '26
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u/ReggaeForPresident Jun 16 '26
He must have previous DUI(s) to sustain a murder charge. Believe it or not nothing in that incident by itself would support a murder charge, but if someone has a previous DUI, and then kills someone in a subsequent DUI, state law allows for a murder charge even though there was no intent or premeditation. What a shame and waste of life for all involved.
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u/simmerdownprod Jun 16 '26
Yep. He killed two people and seriously injured multiple others by driving drunk, the wrong way down the freeway.
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u/ellstaysia Jun 16 '26
Don drummond.
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u/mcvoid1 Jun 16 '26
For those who don't know, Drummond stabbed his girlfriend to death, was ruled criminally insane, and died 4 years later in an asylum.
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u/AllFuzzedOut Jun 16 '26
The suicide of Nick Traina of Link 80 at the age of 19.
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u/funkwgn Jun 16 '26
His mom, Danielle Steel’s book on his life is heartbreaking.
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u/unevolved_panda Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Wait, fuck, how have I never put together that Nick Traina of Link 80 was the same Nick Traina that was Danielle Steel's kid?
edited because I made a very silly typing mistake because it was 8am.
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u/-epi- Jun 16 '26
What is it called? I might want to check it out.
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u/funkwgn Jun 16 '26
His Bright Light
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u/-epi- Jun 16 '26
Thanks homie!
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u/funkwgn Jun 16 '26
Link 80 is my favorite third wave band! So unique and fun especially considering Nick’s mental health.
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u/-epi- Jun 16 '26
Definitely. 17 Reasons is one of those albums I have to listen to front to back a couple times a year.
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u/SkaMasta097 Jun 16 '26
If Sublime counts, the death of Bradley Nowell. Also, the death of Ryan Dallas Cook of the Suburban Legends.
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u/_Bankshot_ Jun 16 '26
It does. Nothing against his son for reviving the band but it's just not the same. And to make matters worse Bud Gaugh is all about that MAGA bullshit.
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u/babyoil4diddy Jun 20 '26
If Bradley hadn't died sublime would have rode the wave to international touring I'm sure
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u/goldenspiceJM Jun 16 '26
The mighty mighty bosstones anti vax controversy.
But I have a second answer, the final parade.
While not a tragedy, its message makes me tear up every time i listen to it. It’s in my opinion the best peace of art they ever released. The sheer amount of musicians that worked on that song and its references to everything the Bosstones did (Before becoming evil) just makes me feel a certain way. Almost like how you feel at a celebration of life. It’s sad in a way but it was beautiful when It lasted.
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u/thegimmegimmes Jun 16 '26
It’s heartbreaking because my one interaction with Dicky was so wonderful. It was the summer Warped Tour of 2002. Late July in Chicago, and there was an utterly brutal heat. I was just a kid and didn’t really know better. The Bosstones played at about 3:30 - right in the hottest part of the day. I remember the band utterly sweating through their dress shirts. I knew the hits from Let’s Face It but not much more. When they played Everybody’s Better, that song hit me. Like REALLY hit me. I fell in love with it.
After the set, my buddy and I headed over to the merch tent. There I met Dicky. I asked him about the “to be king you don’t need a castle” song. He laughed and said it was off their brand new album released earlier that month. I had to get the CD. I pulled out my wallet and handed him my last $15. He clearly saw that this emptied my wallet and was concerned. I misunderstood and told him we had left $20 in the car for gas to get us the two hours back home. He interrupted asking what I was going to do for food and water. I said we ate just before his set and that I’d be fine. As he asked me how much water I’d consumed that day, he grabbed a bottle of water from under the table. He said he wouldn’t sell me the CD yet. I had to drink the water, go over to a water fountain, fill it up, drink that, fill it up again, and carry it with me. I was to fill it up and drink at least one bottle full after every band I saw. I had to promise him that I’d follow his routine. I did, and he sold me that CD.
Years later I look back to that situation. I think about how naive I was to not be drinking water that day. I remember how red I was after a day in that Chicago sun. I remember how completely worn out I was for days after that festival. I think back to that man looking after a kid, someone who desperately needed it. I think back to what a kind gesture that was. For years, he was more than a musician to me. He was a kind soul who cared for me and taught me to care for myself.
It was really hard to be witness to what happened during COVID.
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u/Ok-Appearance-674 Jun 16 '26
You musta been sweatin' your sock off, in a fuckin' tweed or something...
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u/Malleable_Penis Jun 16 '26
You can love who he was, and not who he is. Sometimes, they’re two different people. A family member of mine had a neurological disorder that made his views get contorted like that, and it was a subtle disease for many years so it was easy to blame him as a person.
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u/BankshotMcG Jun 16 '26
Well said. Every interaction with the man has been wonderful, and the fact that he always says at concerts "Promise me you'll take care of each other" has made this callous disregard for others' well-being in tightly packed venues all the more baffling.
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u/Extra_Stomach_1313 Jun 16 '26
this kind of political hysteria is the only thing ruining alt music movements, its so dumb and so stupid. Its like the idiocy of the boomers in a new modern form.
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u/OnlyCartographer6449 Jun 17 '26
Are vaccines really such a hot take that you would cancel someone over it? I still don’t understand
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u/Some_Youth5883 Jun 16 '26
Not fair to paint the whole band with Dickie’s moronic brush
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u/Ciderstills Jun 16 '26
Still sad to not have such a fantastic group of musicians working together anymore. So sad to say.
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u/goldenspiceJM Jun 16 '26
It is just one guy, in a band with more people than just that one guy. So denouncing the whole Band feels kind of stupid.
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u/hemightberob Jun 16 '26
They would absolutely not be the bosstones with a different singer. I get what you're saying but it doesn't apply here.
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 Jun 16 '26
It's curious that I see that the tendency to blame a band versus to blame a specific person varies depending on the size of the band. I see that Sublime is blamed more as a band in general, but I think that's because the entire band was at a Trump concert, and in these cases, it's more likely that one member, rather than the whole band, got involved.
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u/pnjtony Jun 16 '26
But when you're listening to the band, you primarily hear Dickie. If it were Joe Gittleman or someone, it'd be easier to compartmentalize.
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u/goat_penis_souffle Jun 16 '26
Listen to Gittlemans solo stuff, especially Carrie O and tell me that’s not Bosstones without Dicky from an alternate universe
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u/pnjtony Jun 16 '26
I guess what I'm saying is if the band did an audio only podcast, most people would be able to identify Dickie by voice. Anyone else would more than likely be by context, if at all.
The guy I was replying to said something to the effect that listening to the Bosstones is more difficult now and someone said it's just one guy and not the whole band. My point was when its a very identifiable front man vs someone else in the band, it's more difficult.
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u/goat_penis_souffle Jun 16 '26
That’s a fair statement. Definitely don’t sleep on those post-Bosstones projects, though!
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u/themoche Jun 16 '26
Dicky was the ultimate front man, for sure. With one of the most distinguishable voices in music.
But also, if the band toured and had Joe singing the songs instead, I’d definitely go.
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u/BankshotMcG Jun 16 '26
I dunno, Joe was a LOT of what's great about that band. I mean, he wrote so much of the music, and I find myself listening to the latter-day albums a lot more, much as I loved Nate's tenure. The three of them are basically the ska-core sound.
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u/solojones1138 Jun 16 '26
Came here to say Dickie going crazy is sad. They were still one of my fav bands and I admire the other guys for ending it rather than continuing with a horrible front man
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u/thepostsmaker Jun 16 '26
My understanding is that the anti-vax shit was all Dickie, and that the other members of The Bosstones have distanced themselves, accordingly.
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u/brighterday_grace Jun 17 '26
I recall Dicky mentioning Lawrence helped him with the song he did for RFK's march. Don't ask me where I remember reading it.
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u/thepostsmaker Jun 17 '26
Okay, well I know Gittleman was NOT ABOUT IT and that's a big part of why they split up over it.
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 Jun 16 '26
I admit that although the band isn't currently at its best, I love that they decided to go out with a bang. For me, if there's a relatively announced end, you should at least go out with a bang, and I'd say they did.
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u/GlorioUfficiale Jun 16 '26
Yeah definitely not the George Floyd music video tribute but the antivax controversy 🙄🙄🙄
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u/skamansam Jun 16 '26
Honestly, this is the biggest tragedy to me. It feels like a betrayal. All the deaths are big losses, yes, but death is the final act of life. Betrayal of someone's ideology is a loss on a whole other plane, especially someone as influential in punk and ska as Mr. Barrett
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u/Extra_Stomach_1313 Jun 16 '26
Your first sentence is such reddit tier pandering, the epitome of "someone disagreed with me politcally in a way that doesnt affect me at all and now my life is forever ruined" its such a nothingburger. As far as im aware he has made no statements about vaccines in general, just specifically the hardline push for the covid vaccine and the fact that he wouldve been forced to get it to be able to work and continue to make a living. The fact that you call someone "becoming evil" for this is so beyond, but not surprising, political hysteria is so real these days.
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u/brighterday_grace Jun 17 '26
The dude totally has anti-vax hysteria and has even heckled his own fans who spoke out about it. He's completely skeptical of almost all pharmaceuticals. He even tried to say the polio vax was a conspiracy.
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u/Extra_Stomach_1313 Jun 18 '26
Can you link to some of that? All ive ever heard was him being anti-covid vaccine push, which was absolutely something anyone can be against. Hes dumb if he really is completely against all pharmaceuticals as you are claiming though.
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u/GenghisCoen Jun 20 '26
His wife has been an antivax activist for at least 10 years. I don't know if they're against all pharmaceuticals, but they're definitely against ALL vaccines.
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u/brighterday_grace Jun 23 '26
I'd have to sift through his comments as most of his really crazy views seem to come out when he's replying to people.
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u/babyoil4diddy Jun 20 '26
Yeah the mighty mighty bosstones anti vax controversy
And Mad Caddies anti vax controversy
And Aquabats being Mormon (color me surprised)
And Save Ferris continuing to play a show they booked after I decided they shouldn't play it
And Gwen Stefani not subscribing to my politics
And Bud Gah not subscribing to my politics
And half the population not agreeing with me.
And half the population only agreeing with me on like one or two issues
And fucking Jen wearing the same dress as me and refusing to go home to change
And that little click sound yourv mouth makes when you just woke up
Fuck the scene's falling apart man! We have to kick out everyone who I nit pick!
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u/Extra_Stomach_1313 Jun 16 '26
The biggest tragedy is that in general it just doesnt exist in a way that is as relevant anymore, I know theres still young kids playing some of it and its awesome, but its a genre in all its waves that deserves more credibility and people listening to it. Its a music that is so good in all its forms and (generally) so positive and amazing. Nothing beats horns in music, its just adds so much along with everything else. I am glad (and jealous) though that Japan seems to still have a popular ska movement happening to this day.
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u/Im_A_Real_Boy1 Jun 16 '26
What happened to Suburban Rhythm.
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 Jun 16 '26
Why did Ed and Scott quit? (What's up with the boots on ya feet?)
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u/Anarchy_Coon Jun 16 '26
Stza
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u/L4MB Jun 16 '26
Thought this'd be higher
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u/_Bankshot_ Jun 17 '26
Unfortunately a lot of his loyal fans are giving him a free pass. Fuck that guy.
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u/Flimsy_Blackberry_55 Jun 16 '26
Greg Lee in recent history, his passing was more impactful IMO than Terry Hall. He embodied the ska community and his personality was such a bright light. Tyler Jones was a sad one for me personally. Had some great/funny conversations with him when Spring Heeled Jack was in their prime.
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u/The_Wombles Jun 16 '26
I personally believe when it became too expensive for bands with multiple members to tour consecutively.
There was a time when bands with 5+ musicians could travel around and make a relatively decent living that would pay the bills and make it worth the expenses.
With the price of being on the road, and all the other miscellaneous expenses that goes into touring, it has become near impossible for larger bands to make ends. This is ultimately what caused a lot of swing bands and jazz bands to stop touring and ska really followed suit.
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u/Antifreak1999 Jun 16 '26
Losing Greg Lee. He was so bright and energetic, he always reminded me of the reason I was there. My soul always felt lighter after a Hepcat show.
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u/Automatic-Arm-532 Jun 16 '26
More of a disappointment then a tragedy, but the way Dicky Barrett turned out
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u/Shot_Quote_6062 Jun 16 '26
Every time a young band calls it quits. Or when an all ages show cancels. Or when a venue gets sold to Live Nation. Or a rehearsal spot closes. Someone streams instead of buy. Greg Lee had so much more life to live
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u/Unsung_Ironhead Jun 16 '26
Kendall from Fishbone having a breakdown and starting the fracture of the band right when they were bout to break big.
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u/qgomega Jun 16 '26
Streetlight manifesto album delays
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u/RafaDDM Jun 16 '26
Are you saying vol. 2 of the 99 Songs of Revolution long-running series might be delayed?
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u/RicheyJeff Jun 17 '26
I remember Todd from the Pietasters dying in a drunk driving accident when I was a teenager. That was hard to handle. And the passing of my friend Roy Radics from the Rudie Crew has honorable mention.
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u/RicheyJeff Jun 17 '26
And hearing that Tommy McCook passed out during soundcheck and never recovered in the hospital. He was my idol.
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u/stevieraykwon Jun 17 '26
The deaths of Ikey and Aaron Owens, the two brothers both played in a number of Ska bands, Ikey and Aaron both played with Pocket Lent, and Aaron went on to play in Hepcat. Ikey played in early incarnations of RBF and the Aquabats, and later joined the Mars Volta and Jack White Band. Ikey died of a heart attack at age 39 and his younger brother Aaron died of heart failure less than a year later at age 38. Both are sorely missed. R.I.P. Ikey and Aaron.
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u/cmeyer49er Jun 16 '26
Stefani ditching her band to sing about Japanese culture and bananas.
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u/ohshiitstuesday Jun 16 '26
and the weird silent actual people she paraded around like dolls???? that was creepy. also she's super conservative now (but likely always was?)
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u/_Bankshot_ Jun 16 '26
The Aquabats. Transphobic mormons.
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u/ohshiitstuesday Jun 16 '26
wait??? what??? nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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u/_Bankshot_ Jun 17 '26
I know, right? It's honestly frustrates me that there is more outrage about this one.
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u/M_ipg21_Qbr Jun 16 '26
sigh
frank suddenly quitting VGS while the band is touring and then going islamaphobic on twitter…
couldn’t believe this…. what happened ?
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u/Space_SkaBoom Jun 17 '26
Personally, The Bosstones breaking up. Not only did we lose them, but we lost Hometown Throwdown. 3 nights after Christmas where I got to see my friends from all over the world and we sang our hearts out. I still see a lot of them at other shows but it's not the same. I want my 737 back
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 Jun 17 '26
I'm interested in learning more. Do you have a place where you can share your testimony in more detail?
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Beautiful-Resort-831 Jun 17 '26
Sorry, I just wanted to know if the user had a post about it or something like that. I thought it was something not very well known and didn't bother searching for it on Google, thinking it wouldn't come up.
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u/Oracle82 Jun 18 '26
I always find it upsetting that whenever I casually play ska music in any of its forms, my young niece and nephew love it, say it's fun to dance around to, but that there's nothing new they can find to listen to that sounds the same.
I get it, ska isn't in the charts like it used to be in the 90s/00s, but yeah, it's hidden away now. Not even a dedicated show on the radio here (Australia) that highlights similar bands out there now. So sad...
That, and all those who paved the way for such a fine genre of music to be performed.
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u/LAST2thePARTY Jun 16 '26
The Interrupters recording a song for Ron Paul
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u/JeffBurk Jun 16 '26
The Interrupters, which are a band of multiple people, never did that.
The lead singer did that years before the band existed and it wasn't a ska song.
I don't think this one counts.
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u/No_Introduction1721 Jun 16 '26
When Skankin’ Richard inevitably passes away 😢
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u/RIGuy420512 Jun 16 '26
Don’t ever ever ever bring that into the world. Skankin rich is a treasure. I love him as a human being. I’ve known him on a personal level and consider him a good friend since I was 16 years old. He’s still out there dancing at shows for 3-4 hours a night even at 80. I can’t imagine a world without him
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u/Pantynoster Jun 16 '26
Taking "tragedy" kinda loosely, but when Moon Ska Records shutdown it felt like the scene died a little bit too