Clasicos del Ska Mexicano (Classic Mexican Ska)

When the genre of Ska comes up the two countries that most people instantaneously think of are Jamaica and England. Jamaica being the birthplace of this music and England were it reached a wider audience. However there is one country that unfortunately has been largely forgotten in the history of Ska and that is Mexico. As any Mexican can tell you Mexico is a very diverse country with influences from just about every corner of the globe and the music is a prime example of this. Now looking at the music industry of Mexico and Jamaica in the 1960's both shared one crucial similarity and that was that record labels were all competing trying to put out the best "sounds" be it things influenced from the rock n' roll scene in the US and in Britain or homegrown stuff. In 1965 though a musician by the name of Toño Quirazco traveled to Jamaica and brought back the beats and sounds of Ska making it a huge hit in the country and also making Mexico one of the first countries outside of the Caribbean to start playing the new music genre. Unfortunately many of the artists and Ska songs from this era are almost impossible to find as the majority of people and even some record labels had no idea of their Jamaican heritage and thus just labeled them under the generic rock or tropical music genre labels making any mention of Mexican Ska in the history books almost non-existent.
Here I have put together a small compilation of some of the best of early Mexican Ska with a main focus on
Toño Quirazco who is the one that brought the genre to Mexico. For anyone who is familiar with this style of music you will be able to see in these songs some major influences from classic Jamaican bands like The Skatalites and Toots & The Maytals.
If you are a fan of ska, reggae, Jamaican or Mexican music than I highly recommend you give this a listen as you will not be disappointed 

1. Pily Gao - Mi Novio Esquimal (My Boy Lolipop)
2. Toño Quirazco - Merida Ska
3. Toño Quirazco - La Familia (Shame And Scandal)
4. Jorge Querol con Los Go-Go - Rudi Enamorado (Rudy's In Love)
5. Toño Quirazco - Jala De La Cuerda (Monkey Man)
6. Mayte Gaos - Susi La Coqueta (Runaround Sue)
7. Toño Quirazco - La Mucura
8. Las Misioneras de La Montaña (Monjitas A Go-Go) - Sonreir
9. Toño Quirazco - Ska de Los Santos
10. Toño Quirazco - Xalapa Ska
11. Toño Quirazco - Estambul Ska (Freedom Sounds) 

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