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Beginning with roots in traditional Jamaican reggae, the '60s influx of West Indian immigrants into the U.K. led to ska's absorption into the British new wave (The Specials, English Beat) and punk rock (Clash) scenes of the late 1970s.
In the '80s, California punks picked up on the bouncy musical style and finally to its current incarnation as last summer's hip sound.
But unlike lounge, ska has not faded so rapidly from the collective retro consciousness. Sure, most of the NoDoubt-style of watered-down ska beats have left Casey Kasem's Top 40 (not counting the occasional ska cover of a bad '80s tune).
But real ska aficionados were playing and listening to the music before the fad and will continue after ska nights at the local bar become a fading memory.
"As far as its instant popularity dying down, well, I always knew it was going to happen. When the major label wave hit we knew this would be fun for a little while," says Matt Collyer, one of the biggest ska junkies in Canada.
STARTED OWN LABEL
Collyer likes the music so much that being the lead singer of Canada's best known ska band, The Planet Smashers, was not enough. He also helped start a ska label -- Stomp -- and runs a ska-oriented store.
"When we were starting out (in 1993) the ska community was pretty tight knit. However, it only went so far," says Collyer. "Eventually you had to do something on your own.
"As far as majors picking up ska bands at the time it was pretty much unheard of. So we essentially started up our own label."
The label, begun with a member of The Kingpins, another Montreal ska group, initially released Smashers albums and "Skanadian" compilations. It has since grown to include seven (soon to be eight) bands.
When the revival hit in 1997, Collyer says they needed to get an office to deal with the increased business. They soon transformed the front of the office into their store.
"We're so close, man," says Collyer, about his label's journey into the black. "As far as making money, I'm essentially living off The Planet Smashers still. But Stomp is inches away."
Part of that success is due to last summer's Smashers album, Attack of the Planet Smashers, which hit No. 2 on college radio and sold more than 10,000 copies. While nowhere near Alanis numbers, its pretty good for a band appealing to a very specific audience.
But Collyer doesn't think ska's brief surge in popularity has had any long term effect on either the band or its label.
"You could say the ska revival has been happening for a while on the independent level. As far as the major label ska revival, that just happened around us. It sort of just blew by us and it's gone now," he says.
Of course, Collyer is not ungrateful of the major league push his genre received. "As far as helping us, I think it helped every ska band in the world. Now people understand what ska music is."
With the ska wave subsiding, The Planet Smashers are preparing to return to the studio to put together a new album.
Although they will start recording in August, Collyer doesn't think it will be in stores until next April, due to Stomp's already full roster of records awaiting release.
"It will have more punkier tunes," he says, hinting the band might move slightly away from their U.K.-style brand of ska. "But it will be a more soulful, more rootsy album as well."
In the meantime, the band will be playing today at the National Gallery, as part of the Jazz Fest's fringe series.
Collyer thinks their music will fit in well with the festival.
"Initially ska music was played by jazz musicians from Kingston, Jamaica. They combined American R&B with traditional Jamaican music.
"When they played, it would be a jazz head followed by soloing and finishing with a jazz head. The old-school ska music was very jazzy."