Ska ME CRAZY!

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is my favorite band, in any genre, in any country. They're just amazing, and it's really weird to think that in Japan, a ska band is an insanely popular, regular chart hitting band. And unlike most of the bands that got on the charts during the "ska boom" in the 90s in the U.S., TSPO know their roots...or at least when it comes to ska. It's just cool to see how they do all these little things that might not mean anything for the average listener, but is pretty nifty for a Jamaican music fan like me.

Here are a couple of things I've found:
- Skatalites covers. They've covered a lot of Skatalites' songs (and I know some songs, like Skaravan, are covers that the Skatalites did themselves, but to simplify things, we'll say it's Skatalites songs). Skaravan, Shot in the Dark, Bongo Tango, You're So Delightful (You Can Depend on Me), Lucky 7, and who knows what other Skatalites tunes they've covered? If you watch their DVD, Ska Evangelist on the Run, they also show a clip of them covering Black Sunday.
- Specials Cover. In their DVD, Down Beat Arena, they cover Nite Klub in one of their encores.
- If you watch their music video for "A Quick Drunkard," in the beginning when Gamo puts on that record, the record has the Justa Records label on it...but the Justa Records label has a striking similarity to the Studio 1 label!
- If you listen to some of the live versions of "Ska Me Crazy," you hear the guy saying, "Don't call me Scarface," which is a phrase made popular by Prince Buster in his song, "Al Capone"
- On that side album they did that was all techno and electronica-ish, "Speed King," if you listen to the third track closely, "Speed King on the Run" you hear them using a sample of the intro of the song "Skinhead Moonstomp" (originally a Derrick Morgan tune) by Symarip. "I want all you skinheads...put your braces together and your boots on your feet..."
- This might be a stretch, this might be because it fits their "big band" image, or it might be another tribute to the Skatalites! In their live shows, sometimes they use musical stands...which, lo and behold, the Skatalites used to do back in the day!

There are probably more, and I probably have too much time on my hand to recognize all this, but it's just interesting to me.

EDIT: See? I just discovered something new today! I was listening to their "Live" album, and they're playing Lucky Seven. At the end of Lucky Seven, they go straight into Prince Buster's "Mr. Prince"! That's tight.