Tone of Ska and The Wave

2 TONE

The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in England, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and aggressive guitar chords. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials. Although 2 Tone bands were respectful to the original Jamaican ska artists, The Specials failed to credit musicians such as Prince Buster, Toots & the Maytals and Dandy Livingstone as the composers of songs on their 1979 debut vinyl release. However, in many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in the United Kingdom. The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as The Beat (known as English Beat in North America) and The Selecter.Although only on the 2 Tone label for one single, Madness were one of the most effective bands at bringing the 2 Tone genre into the mainstream.

3rd Wave of Ska

In the 1980s, bands influenced by the 2 Tone ska revival began to form in the United States and other countries. The first well-known American ska revival band was The Toasters, who played in a 2 Tone-influenced style and paved the way for the third wave ska movement. Other notable early third wave ska bands included The Uptones, Fishbone, Operation Ivy, Let's Go Bowling and Bim Skala Bim.
Many third wave ska bands played ska punk and it's subgenre, ska-core. Ska punk took 2 Tone and increased the punk rock elements while ska-core blended ska with hardcore punk. However, some third wave ska bands — such as The Allstonians, Hepcat and The Slackers — continued to play in a more traditional 1960s-influenced style. By the early 1990s, ska revival and ska punk bands were forming throughout the United States and many other countries. An enormous growth of the ska punk genre occurred after the ska-core band Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records in 1993 and appeared in the film Clueless with their first mainstream hit "Someday I Suppose". No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Suicide Machines, Less Than Jake and Goldfinger also gave the ska genre more mainstream attention. By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum. Some of the most popular ska punk bands have maintained a steady following in the 2000s, although many of those bands have moved away from their earlier ska-influenced sound to embrace other genres.

Source: Wikipedia