Marco On The Bass Celebrates Fifth Anniversary!

Its been five years since I launched Marco On The Bass in April 2008 and here I am — 750 posts, 400,000 unique visits and 700,000+ page views later — still chugging along, posting news, profiles. interviews, gig alerts and offering all sorts of content about ska, reggae and all its various story lines and off shoots.

Five 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 203 countries and territories), but it’s gotten much bigger and better than I ever expected.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to interview 2-Tone era heroes like Pauline Black, Lynval Golding, Neol Davies, Rhoda Dakkar, Roddy Byers and many others who share my passion and to highlight the past, present and future of American ska. My goal still remains to help tell interesting stories and share my love for ska and reggae.

I’d like to personally thank everybody who stops by, subscribes to the RSS feeds, follows me on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Retweet the good stuff.  Please consider downloading music from my band Bigger Thomas on the sidebar of the blog or at Bandcamp or come to one of shows if you are near where we play.  If you live in the New York City are please consider coming to one of the monthly Electric Avenue ska shows I co-host with my fellow NYC ska blogger Steve Shafer (Duff Guide To Ska) which brings our blogs to life with shows that highlight the diversity of ska and reggae across the Northeastern U.S.

With that out of the way, let’s take a quick look back at five 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 in 2010 and a show scheduled for this July. 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 the story behind songs including ones about "One In Ten" by UB40 and "Our Lips Are Sealed" by Fun Boy Three as well as a profile of Musical Youth. One of the most difficult but important posts I wrote was a tribute to Tommi Infamous, singer for Bomb Town, who passed away last Fall.

READERS FAVORITE POSTS
Interviews with Pauline Black of The Selecter and Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers/The Special A.K.A. remain among the most popular and well read blog posts. Features about the sad demise of The Special AKA vocalist Stan Campbell, the story behind Pete Townshend's of The Who's cover of The Beat classic "Save It For Later," and the long musical appreciation that has existed between Rnking Roger and Mick Jones. Posts I wrote about the rise and fall of Acid Ska in the late 80's 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!