Ska Boom-Episode 022: The Villains Bring Ska To Canada

Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast

In this episode I turn my ska gaze up to the Great White North and focus on the amazing story of The Villains. Never heard of them you say….well, its your lucky day. Sit back and have a listen to the story of the band of Brits who snuck into Canada and were then arrested and sent to prison for playing ska!The Villains became one of the most popular bands in Canada in the 80s and made a huge impression on the Canadian media and public becoming synonymous with ska. For those who never saw the band live or have never heard their music, they were a 2-Tone styled musical circus that toured Canada non-stop. I compare them to the musical love child of Madness and Bad Manners with a strong skinhead influence and style. One of the most challenging things about writing Ska Boom was deciding which bands to feature in the book. And as I made some truly tough choices, I kept coming back to The Villains. Ultimately, because the focus of the book is on the birth of American ska, I had to leave them out. But trust me, their music is great and their story is truly cinematic in scope and one worth writing about and documenting. They are most certainly one of the pioneers of North American ska and I hope to do their fantastic story justice with this episode. Please note: The music clips included in this podcast fall under the “Fair Use Doctrine” as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The law allows for use of music clips for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices