Various Artists

Ska From The Vaults Of WIRL Records

Image of Various Artists - Ska From The Vaults Of WIRL Records
Record Label
Kingston Sounds

About this item

Ska was the name given to the music that came out of Jamaica between 1961/66. Based on the American R&B and doo wop records that the sound systems in Kingston Town used to play. But the American records style started to mellow out while the Jamaicans preferred a more up-beat sound. So the sound system bosses became record producers, creating their own tunes to cater for this demand. Sir ‘Coxonne’Dodd and Duke Reid led the way getting the island's top musicians in the studio to make music. The subtle switch in the rhythm that emphasised the offbeat made the music unmistakably Jamaican, and ska was born.

WIRL Records(West India Records Limited) was set up by the Jamaican politician Edward Seaga in the late 1950s. He had supervised the recording of an album of ethnic Jamaican music and needed an outlet for its eventual release. In 1962 the year of Jamaican Independence, Seaga became a member of Parliament, representing the Jamaican Labour Party. He then decided to sell the label to Bryon Lee, the sale led to a name change from WIRL to Dynamic Sounds.

Kingston Sounds have compiled some of the best scorching ska sounds that came out of WIRL vaults - and they still sound as fresh today as the day they were first recorded.

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