Marco On The Bass Celebrates Third Anniversary!

Its been three years since I launched Marco On The Bass in April 2008 and here I am — 500 posts, 170,000 unique visits and 260,000 page views later — still chugging along, posting interviews, gig alerts, news items, podcasts and offering all sorts of content about ska, reggae and all its various story lines and off shoots. Three years in, this blog is still a labor of love — when I started I figured I’d write about the 2-Tone ska, reggae and rocksteady music I loved and see if people were interested. And not only have ska and reggae fans responded (readers have visited from 183 countries and territories), but it’s gotten much bigger and better than I ever expected, with a few live events, concerts and shows.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to interview 2-Tone era heroes like Pauline Black, Lynval Golding, Neol Davies, Rhoda Dakkar, Roddy Byers and to highlight the past, present and future of American ska. My goal still remains to help tell interesting stories and share my passion for ska and reggae.

I’d like to personally thank everybody who stops by, subscribes to the RSS feeds, follows me on Twitter or is a fan on Facebook. Sustained by your comments and my love of all things ska and reggae-oriented, this site is a one-man operation and, for the time being, is likely to remain that way — so all of your support and comments are greatly appreciated. Your kind words and encouragement keep me going.  In many ways this is the best non-paying job I have ever had.

If you are a fan of what I'm doing here, there are ways you can help spread the word: Go 'Like' Marco On The Bass on Facebook and suggest the page to your friends; If you’re on Twitter, follow me there at Marco On The Bass, too. Retweet the good stuff. If you tumble, I'm also on Tumblr. Reblogging is fun. Or just tell every single person you know about the site.You can also consider downloading music from my band Bigger Thomas on the sidebar of the blog.

With that out of the way, let’s take a quick look back at three years of Marco On The Bass. Below you’ll find a few of my favorite posts and some of you the readers most popular posts.

MY FAVORITE POSTS

I started blogging just as The Specials 30th reunion started to gain steam in the spring of 2008.  It's been incredibly exciting and gratifying to follow and write about the whole story from early rumors through multiple tours, including a 2-night stop here in New York last April.  I've also enjoyed chronicling the history and stories of American ska and reggae like Blue Riddim Band, The X-Streams, The Untouchables. Heavy Manners, The Terrorists, Bim Skala Bim, The Toasters, The Shakers and more. I also loved doing a series of interviews and profiles of all the New York City-based ska bands from the 80's who were featured on the NY Beat: Hit & Run compilation. 

READERS FAVORITE POSTS
Interviews with Pauline Black of The Selecter and Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers/The Special A.K.A. have been among the most popular and well read blog posts as has a feature about the long-standing musical friendship between Ranking Roger and Mick Jones.  Posts I wrote about the rise and fall of Acid Ska in the late 80's and the sad demise of The Special A.K.A. vocalist Stan Campbell and the story behind VH1's aborted attempt to reunite The English Beat for their  'Bands Reunited' series remain very popular.  A post about The Equators who were signed to Stiff Records and released the overlooked 'Hot' album during the 2-Tone era is still widely read.

Here's to another great year of ska and reggae!