American Ska Oral History Book Update #6: The New York Citizens Influence on 3rd Wave Ska

I recently completed an interview with Daniel Marotta for the American ska oral history book! Dan was the guitarist for New York Citizens who were one of the most innovative American ska bands of the 80s and early 90s. They were active during a critical period of time right before the explosion of the American third wave of ska driven by No Doubt and Mighty Mighty Bosstones -- bands that both opened for the band during the height of their popularity! Dan shared how the NYCs developed their unique hybrid ska sound and how it influenced other bands:

"We went through a couple of phases. Getting a harder sound came out of the mere fact that our shows we're really slamming, and we thought we could step out of it a little bit and do something a little different. I mean, there were other bands that started doing some of what we were doing; No Doubt for instance. They opened for us in California. They didn't have a huge following at the time. But they struck me as a pretty good band. I’d like to think we were a huge influence on the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. We used to be very friendly with them. We hung out with them a lot. I remember some of the guys in the band saying that some of our songs, like “Plate O' Monsters,” were a blueprint for what they were doing."

Check out "Plate O' Monsters" from the NYCs "On The Move" album from 1988!