Australian ska

The Australian ska scene has existed since the mid-1980s, when it started enjoying the same sort of interest as it did in the United Kingdom, following the success of UK 2 Tone bands such as The Specials, The Beat and Madness.

The first Australian ska band was Adelaide-based band The Jumpers, which formed in 1979. Other early Australian ska bands included Sydney bands Allniters, The Hangovers and Itchy Feet (led by vocalist Tim Freedman, who went on to form the commercially successful band The Whitlams) and Melbourne bands Strange Tenants, No Nonsense and Loonee Tunes. The Allniters, No Nonsense and Strange Tenants were the most high-profile Australian ska bands of this era. with the Allniters and No Nonsense both gaining Australian chart success.

The first Ska bands in Australia, included 'The Letters', formed in Melbourne in 1979, featuring founder member of 'Strange Tennants' John Holmes & Lee Hartneys father - and Melbourne band, 'Noisy Neighbours'. Both bands played in most main independent venues in Melbourne, and often together. Melbourne band No Nonsense emerged from an early ska band called 'Dicky Moron and the Rude Boys', that had a name change from 'Dicky Moron and the Four Skins', both bands were fronted by lead singer Richard Bruce. It is debated whether Strange Tenants formed first or No Nonsense but either way it seems there was only a couple of months between both bands forming in 1981. Loonee Tunes formed soon after in 1982. These three early Melbourne ska bands can still be found playing gigs.

In 1987, the Newcastle-based band The Pork Hunts appeared on the scene, soon changing their name to The Porkers. They spent more than 20 years touring and recording many albums, the most recent of which, This is The Porkers, was released in 2007.

More recent notable bands include: Mad Not Madness, Area 7, the Bedlam Beggars, Backy Skank, Los Capitanes, General Pants and the Privates, Sounds Like Chicken, The Seen, Loin Groin, Yeah Yeah, Just Kidding, Skamen, Trojan Horns, Blowhard, Dr. Raju, Addiction 64, Suspect 7, The Lyrical Madmen, Steel City Allstars, Bagster, The Mad Dash, Foghorn Leghorn, The Resignators, Rubix Cuba, Dr. Octopus, Son of Dad, CatchCry, Rad Rockets Are GO!, The Prophets of Impending Doom, The Accelerators, The My Tys and The Mouldy Lovers. Bands such as the Cat Empire have mixed ska with other genres such as Jazz and Calypso.

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