# The 8 Best Ska Tracks of All Time

Jamaican musicians in 1962 taking American rhythm and blues off the radio, flipping the emphasis onto the offbeat, and adding a horn section trained in jazz. Independence music, and the first link in the chain that ends in dubstep.

- **Origin:** Kingston, Jamaica, 1962
- **Tempo:** 130–160 BPM
- **Also known as:** bluebeat, rocksteady, jamaican ska, skank
- **Tracks:** 8
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/ska/

## The list

### 1. [The Wailers](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-wailers/) — [Simmer Down](https://waxonia.com/track/the-wailers--simmer-down/)

*1963 · Studio One*

Marley at eighteen, telling the rude boys to calm down over the Skatalites. A number one in Jamaica, and the first evidence that this group could write as well as sing.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Wailers%20Simmer%20Down) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja8UxtUu30k)

### 2. [Don Drummond & The Skatalites](https://waxonia.com/artist/don-drummond-and-the-skatalites/) — [Man in the Street](https://waxonia.com/track/don-drummond-and-the-skatalites--man-in-the-street/)

*1964 · Studio One*

A trombone melody of extraordinary melancholy over a rhythm going the other way entirely. Drummond wrote the saddest instrumentals in a music built for celebration.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Don%20Drummond%20%26%20The%20Skatalites%20Man%20in%20the%20Street) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll_5suXU_pg)

### 3. [The Skatalites](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-skatalites/) — [Guns of Navarone](https://waxonia.com/track/the-skatalites--guns-of-navarone/)

*1965 · Island*

A film theme turned into a horn workout, and the record that carried ska to British dancefloors. The house band of Jamaican music at full stretch.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Skatalites%20Guns%20of%20Navarone) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wtESlTKBa4s)

### 4. [Millie Small](https://waxonia.com/artist/millie-small/) — [My Boy Lollipop](https://waxonia.com/track/millie-small--my-boy-lollipop/)

*1964 · Fontana*

Six million copies and the first Jamaican record most of the world ever heard. Slight, joyful and historically enormous — it built the label that became Island.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Millie%20Small%20My%20Boy%20Lollipop) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HiuPND4W6KM)

### 5. [Prince Buster](https://waxonia.com/artist/prince-buster/) — [Al Capone](https://waxonia.com/track/prince-buster--al-capone/)

*1964 · Blue Beat*

Screeching tyres, gunshots and a spoken introduction. Buster understood that a record could be a piece of theatre, which is a lesson dancehall never forgot.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Prince%20Buster%20Al%20Capone) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=GBdXyLgjJuA)

### 6. [Justin Hinds & The Dominoes](https://waxonia.com/artist/justin-hinds-and-the-dominoes/) — [Carry Go Bring Come](https://waxonia.com/track/justin-hinds-and-the-dominoes--carry-go-bring-come/)

*1964 · Treasure Isle*

Three-part harmony over a Treasure Isle rhythm, warning against gossip. The most beautiful vocal record of the ska years and the one that has dated least.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Justin%20Hinds%20%26%20The%20Dominoes%20Carry%20Go%20Bring%20Come) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zOXcaGuwTRA)

### 7. [Desmond Dekker & The Aces](https://waxonia.com/artist/desmond-dekker-and-the-aces/) — [007 (Shanty Town)](https://waxonia.com/track/desmond-dekker-and-the-aces--007-shanty-town/)

*1967 · Beverley's*

Rocksteady now — slower, heavier, the bass suddenly in charge. The exact moment the music decelerates towards reggae, captured on a hit single.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Desmond%20Dekker%20%26%20The%20Aces%20007%20(Shanty%20Town)) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=alGOb2X9_ZY)

### 8. [The Ethiopians](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-ethiopians/) — [Train to Skaville](https://waxonia.com/track/the-ethiopians--train-to-skaville/)

*1967 · Rio*

A rhythm imitating a train, which the form had been threatening to do since 1962. The last great ska record before the tempo dropped for good.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Ethiopians%20Train%20to%20Skaville) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=L5fJQ9DYL0k)

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