Most of them don't listen to ska at all, sadly.

No one knows what ska is here :( Seriously, except my dad and a friend or two, people I know are musically retarded..

Same here.

A lot of people in my school/neighborhood really love ska, but just a bit too much to the point where it gets annoying. I don't know how they can listen to and play it so often.

Most of my friends listen to it, but aren't obsessed with it. Like we go through phases, usually in the summer. Or at least, that's what I've noticed.

I wouldn't say I hate ska or anything, but I've had trouble getting into it based on what I've heard (though I'll admit my experience has been a little limited thus far). Could someone recommend a few things (I'm no expert, but just nothing too obvious please), especially if there's anything you think might appeal to someone just trying to get into the genre?

For the first 5 or 6 years of their musical career, the Wailers were a ska group. So to the person who was adamant about Bob Marley not being a ska artist: you're just plain wrong about that. Bob Marley played ska music for almost as many years as he played reggae but Marley was one of the few ska artists that successfully made the transition into reggae music, when reggae music came to the fore-front of the Jamaican music scene in the mid Seventies.

One person said that reggae is a sub-genre of ska but it's a weak argument because ska existed a long time before reggae music came around. Any music historian will tell you that ska couldn't possibly be a sub-genre of reggae because ska was at the root form of music that reggae music evolved from. It would be as ludicrous as arguing that funk music is a sub-genre of hip hop. Technically reggae is a sub-genre of ska but reggae music was far more successful on a global basis. The first wave of ska music in the 60s and early 70s didn't have much of an audience outside of Jamaica and certain areas of London England.

Most people who categorically dismiss an entire genre of music usually do so because of lack of exposure to the musical form. I'm not particularly crazy about heavy metal but I'll also admit that I'm woefully ignorant of the heavy metal genre. It's foolish for me to say, "I hate heavy metal" because I lack the musical expertise to pass judgement. My knowledge of heavy metal doesn't go much beyond earliest hm bands like Hawkwind, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple all of whom I like as bands. For me, life is too short to be an all around musical expert and I currently have my hands full exploring the mysteries of Brazilian music which has about as many distinct genres as British and American pop music.

A lot of the 3rd Wave ska music sounds derivative and unorignal to my ears so I can understand why someone would complain about it, but that's not the case with the 2nd (1978-1985) UK Wave and the 1st Jamaican (1960-1974) Wave. The very best of ska is the 1st Wave but most of that music was recorded under primative conditions and the production values sound horrible to a person who was born and raised during the digital era where the musical production values are usually flawless. I'm used to low tech production values because I grew up listening to my father's old 78 rpm 1930s era recordings of delta blues masters like Blind Blake, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt. For those of you who can't get beyond the poor sound quality of the earlisest ska the recordings of the Specials, Madness and Selector on the 2-Tone label are great 2nd Wave recordings that should be heard by one and all

If they don't like it, their loss.

One thing I don't get though is why most contributors to this thread are at school...

The reason people hate ska is probably because the "Ska" only bands they've heard are the likes of Reel Big Fish, Less than Jake and all them other modern American bands who are labelled as ska.

i like the glow skulls. i've listened to a lot of different ska via my friends, and the voodoo glow skulls are the only ska band i could find that i liked enough to buy a couple albums and play them once in a while. i just find ska to be a little too "hyper."

Maybe you should check out the first or second waves that are not so 'hyper'. Specials, The Toasters (although classed as 3rd wave) maybe more to your liking.