The Skatalites
April 28
The Skatalites began emigrating to the US since the 1970s Eventually enough members had arrived that enabled them to book a few shows beginning with shows in 1986 in New York City. It took a few years before they actually started touring the US in 1989 as support act for their old friend Bunny Wailer’s Liberation Tour from coast to coast including Radio City Music Hall, Irvine Meadows, The Music Hall in Boston and many other prestigious venues. In early 1990 the band emerged on the market officially on the first headline tour from NYC to California and back. They were always working on new music but the first official record deal in US was with Shanachie and they released “Skavoovee”, Grammy nominated “Hi-Bop Ska”, and Grammy nominated “Greetings from Skamania”. The next release was Ball of Fire in 1997 on Island Records. A “Best of The Skatalites” type release was done by Heartbeat Records the same year, entitled “Foundation Ska”.
