Despite being maligned and mocked, ska music always had a safe space at the movies. From Bond to Bueller, if filmmakers needed a music bed for a goofy chase scene, an out-of-control kid’s party, or a makeover montage, an upbeat ska track was the perfect fit. Here are 10 of the best ska songs used in movies.
Less Than Jake (featuring Kel Mitchell) “We’re All Dudes” from “Good Burger” (1997)
Nickelodeon and third-wave ska had a symbiotic relationship in the ‘90s, something about the fast-paced horns and uptempo backbeat really hit with the 2-17-year-old demographic. Ska-punkers Less Than Jake backing Ed’s surfer dude vocals during a fast food-making montage is a ‘90s kids culture time capsule. Gender Studies majors might have better observations about the inclusiveness of the lyrics “I’m a dude/He’s a dude/She’s a dude/We’re all dudes, hey,” but those think pieces might have to wait until “Good Burger 2” is released later this year.
Desmond Dekker “007 (Shanty Town)” from Vivarium (2020)
This creepy sci-fi horror snuck under the radar, but struck a chord when its release coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots star as a couple who find themselves alone in an empty, inescapable neighborhood and get mysterious deliveries to their door, including a rapidly aging child. Desmond Dekker’s spectacular 1967 song “007 (Shanty Town)” plays as they dance in their car’s headlights in a final celebration before their nasty little foundling ruins everything and they succumb to their tragic fate.
Dance Hall Crashers “Lady Luck” from “Meet The Deedles” (1998)
“Meet the Deedles” never seemed to exist outside of print ads in superhero comics. Judging by the ad, it’s about two fun-loving but troublemaking surfers, one of which is Paul Walker, go on a wacky adventure and may or may not have blue waves for hair. Since the Dance Hall Crashers never got enough respect, perhaps due to movies like this, so enjoy their song as Deedle 1 and Deedle 2 fly a parasail from a rear-projected close-up into a Jetski Cop while speaking entirely in lines recorded weeks after shooting.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Someday I Suppose” and “Where Did You Go?” from “Clueless” (1995)
Just before “Let’s Face It” went platinum and long before Dicky Barrett turned into an anti-vaccine nutjob, the Bosstones had the spotlight shown on them with two songs featured at a pivotal party scene in ‘Clueless.” Alicia Silverstone is on a date with a sitcom version of a gay person as she observes her stepbrother, played by the cyborg known as Paul Rudd, being nice to Brittany Murphy, who we’re meant to think is the most disgusting human being alive for not having a fashion sense of a Delia’s catalog. This act of kindness causes Silverstone to be attracted to him, long before “But you’re my stepbrother!” became a popular genre of pornography.
Isaac Green and the Skalars “Don’t Count” from “Bang” (1995)
There are three items of note in this Post-“Pulp Fiction” indie crime drama: It is the film debut of Lucy Liu, it was written and directed by Ash Baron-Cohen (as in Borat’s cousin), and it features an all-ska soundtrack. It doesn’t work. in this story of a downtrodden Asian-American woman stealing a motorcycle cop’s bike, uniform, and badge as she interacts with ill-defined Los Angeles racial caricatures. The premise is great, but this execution comes off like a British boarding school kid playing with Homies figures. Luckily, Isaac Green and the Skalar’s “Don’t Count” plays over the credits and it captures the mood and sums up the journey of the character of “The Girl” (sheesh!).
Rancid with Stubborn All-Stars “I Wanna Riot” from “Beavis and Butthead Do America” (1996)
What was it about comedy duos making their big-screen debuts that necessitated a ska song? When the animated fartknockers hit the road to replace their stolen TV, they eventually end up on a bus with the original 2-tone army: nuns. Compared to the rest of the movie, the sequence isn’t that notable aside from being scored by Rancid’s “I Wanna Riot.” This new version of the song revisits their ska-punk roots by scooping up the keyboard and horn section of New York’s scrappy supergroup, “The Stubborn All-Stars.”
Reel Big Fish “Beer” from “BASEketball” (1998)
Reel Big Fish and a raunchy comedy starring the “South Park” guys–two tastes that obviously go together. Despite being musically solid, Reel Big Fish cemented the image of the goofy, bowling shirt-clad, bouncy ska band in the public eye. Who better for the in-game entertainment for a made-up sport? The jokes aged like egg salad, but with “South Park” in its 26th season and RBF still touring, there was some magic in this cinematic equivalent of Cheddar Cheese Baked Pretzel Combos.
The English Beat “Save it for Later” from “Kingpin” (1996)
The English Beat provided the backdrop for Ferris Bueller running through backyards and as a zombie ska band on Scooby-Doo, but music supervisors must keep the song “Save It For Later” permanently on their desktop in a folder marked “Montage Music.” Most recently it appeared in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” but it’s a perfect fit for this slapstick sequence of a sleazy Woody Harrelson trying to fit into Amish society. Sorry Ferris, but your entitled ass leaping through the neighborhood doesn’t compare to bovine jizz jokes.
Toots and the Maytals “Sweet And Dandy” from “The Harder They Come” (1972)
Forget ska songs appearing on soundtrack albums, this hallmark of Jamaican cinema tops every list of the best movie soundtracks. Reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff as an impoverished farm boy who comes to the city to be a singer and encounters a creepy preacher, a greedy record producer, corrupt cops, and drug dealers in league with the corrupt cops. Basically a Western with better music. The production spanned the era of the big band dance ska as it transitioned to the vocal-driven genre of rocksteady to the foundations of reggae. As he visits a studio where Toots and the Maytals are recording, proving that ska isn’t just suburban kids with big sideburns.
Honorable Mention: Goldfinger (1996-2004) Too Many To Name
Kenny Loggins is known as “The King Of The Movie Soundtrack,” but there was hardly a silly teen comedy during the turn of the millennium that didn’t have one or more Goldfinger songs. If they didn’t divide their attention by also appearing in numerous video games, Goldfinger would wear the crown.
Funicello & Fishbone “Jamaica Ska” from ‘Back to the Beach” (1987)
Despite being a parody of the long-forgotten 1960s beach party movie genre, this movie about Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon as adults being unable to relate to their kids was permanently on basic cable. In a throwback within a throwback, Funicello, backed by Fishbone, dives into a musical number teaching these ‘80s kids how to do the ska. And after her college bribery scandal, the joke of Lori Laughlin and friend saying that Jamaica Ska is a required course at their college hits much differently.
After a few quiet years (and an amazing split EP with Envy), Thursday continued to push their sound into the territory that was first explored on “A City by the Light Divided.” One major difference that we hear on “Common Existence” comes in the form of how this energy is focused. “A City by the Light Divided” broke into post-rock territory on quite a few tracks, and we have the thousand-mile stare to prove it. Trust us, we were almost put in lock up because we would zone out so much that our family became concerned. Anyway, “Common Existence” stripped off some of the reverb, somehow made the bass guitar even more distorted, and the result is an album full of contemplative bangers that showed us how Thursday was still a cut above their contemporaries.
If you look up “swan song” in the dictionary, you’ll see the album cover for “No Devolución.” Thursday knew they were going to break up before we did, and it sounds very much like this is the album they wanted to be remembered for. Sitting perfectly between their latter-day sonic explorations and the iconic sound from “Full Collapse” that gave them mainstream popularity, “No Devolución” is a career-spanning sound jammed into a single LP. Thursday ended their studio career with an album that’s as heavy as it is pretty; as challenging as it is thoughtful; as focused as it is exploratory. It’s the complete opposite of how our first band ended. We can’t say too much, but an entire bass cab was filling with dog shit and dropped into a pool.
“Waiting” embodies the spirit of the basement show that Thursday was known for in their early days. At the end of the day, Thursday has been and always will be a tight group of friends who just wanted to play music together. As inexperienced as they were musically, their potential was evident right off the rip. “Waiting” is Thursday in their purest form, and it’s their naïveté and sincerity that shines through as they’re all learning how to write their songs, and in some cases how to play their instruments.
It goes without question that Thursday has always been a moody band. Unlike its predecessors, “A City by the Light Divided” delivers a moodiness that’s simultaneously subdued and grandiose, which is a far cry from their more tense and frenetic delivery that we were used to at this point in Thursday’s career. Considered by many to be Thursday’s departure album, we are given a production that lends itself to textural guitars, an absolutely unrelenting rhythm section, acrobatic vocals, and synths that sound like a Robert Smith wet dream. Now if you know anything about Robert Smith you know those wet dreams could flood an apartment. The guy never got a security deposit back if you catch our drift. Back to Thursday, if you haven’t yet listened to this one with a good set of headphones, we strongly recommend that you do so.
We’re working our way back to black hair dye, skinny jeans, and Geoff Rickly breaking his own nose with the mic swings. “War All the Time” was Thursday’s first major label release, and they clearly took full advantage of the resources they had at their disposal. “War All the Time” is personal, political, ambitious, and anthemic. If you listened to this album in your teens, it’s safe to say you wanted people to see you as a deep thinker. Just look at your collection of Vonnegut books. Fortunately for you, “War All the Time” holds up better than those tight t-shirts in the back of your closet that you still convince yourself you’ll be able to fit back into some day.
I was told by the Hard Times editors that if I didn’t end this list with “Full Collapse,” they’d have to put me in a witness relocation program after all the death threats posted exclusively on Livejournal that I’d receive. Listen, I have the dove tattoo… and I may have even said off-record that “A City by the Light Divided” is my personal favorite album. But speaking objectively, “Full Collapse” is Thursday’s most important album, and we can’t deny its impact. “Full Collapse” is responsible for most of us hearing about Thursday, and it’s safe to say that a lot of us downloaded it off of Limewire before it was released because we were that fucking excited about it. “Full Collapse” pulled at our heartstrings upon its release, and the nostalgia is stronger than ever with this one in 2023.
In 2012, the founder and primary songwriter of New York hardcore legends, the Cro-Mags, found himself on the outside of a competing version of the band, fronted by John Joseph. He allegedly turned up at their show at NYC’s Webster Hall, gained access to the VIP section courtesy of a hunting knife, and proceeded to stab and bite then-current members of the band. Flanagan himself was also stabbed during the melee, and claimed that he only bared his teeth in self-defense. The fact that the Cro-Mags’ debut and best-known album is entitled “The Age of Quarrel” is probably just a coincidence. Flanagan’s charges were later dropped due to lack of cooperating witnesses.
The AC/DC drummer was arrested in New Zealand in 2014 and charged with attempting to procure the murder of two associates. You read that correctly – the man who played on “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (the most famous song ever written about hiring a hitman) was arrested for trying to hire a hitman. That’s the type of shit you can’t make up. The murder-for-hire charge was dropped due to “insufficient evidence,” although Rudd was still sentenced to eight months of home detention after pleading guilty to threatening to kill a man and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. No word on whether the would-be murder plot involved concrete shoes or high voltage.
In 1989, the outlaw scumfuc, projectile defecator, and all around fun guy born Jesus Christ Allin, was charged with “assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder” stemming from an amorous encounter gone awry in Ann Arbor, Michigan, though he plea-bargained to the less severe, and less verbose, infraction of “felonious assault.” He admitted to burning, cutting, and drinking the blood of a female companion, but insisted that the acts were consensual and that she had done the same to him. The experience earned the transgressive Romeo 15 months in prison.
We like to have fun here at The Hard Times. But if you’re a regular reader, you already know that one thing we take seriously is desecration of 18th-century Spanish missions and their surrounding plazas. Which is why it isn’t funny that the Prince of Darkness messed with Texas in the most Ozzy way possible – by drunkenly pissing on the Cenotaph, a monument commemorating the Battle of the Alamo. Or that he was wearing only his future wife Sharon’s dress when he did so. Not funny at all. To this day, when one of our contributors binges on White Claw before touring historical sites, we sit them down and warn them to “Remember the Alamo.”
In 1984, the Mötley Crüe vocalist spent a day with Dr. Feelgood before he and Hanoi Rocks drummer, Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, hopped into his De Tomaso Pantera to visit a liquor store for more booze. In his intoxicated state, Neil lost control and struck an oncoming vehicle head-on, killing Dingley and causing brain damage to the occupants of the other car. He was charged with vehicular manslaughter and DUI, sentenced to 30 days in jail and 5 years probation, and ordered to pay $2.6 million restitution and perform 200 hours of community service. Alas, sometimes when you shout at the devil, he shouts back. So dear reader, keep your eyes peeled for drunken glam metal singers and buckle up because it’s all murder from here on in.
You: Isn’t this a list for punk and metal artists? Us: How many Ramones albums did you produce? Spector, the legendary producer who worked with the Crystals, the Ronettes, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Beatles, among others, also produced the 1980 Ramones album, “End of the Century,” allegedly holding the band at gunpoint during the sessions. Unfortunately, his 2A fetish didn’t end there. Spector shot and killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2003, for which he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years to life. He died in 2021 while still incarcerated, proving that sometimes a wall of steel is mightier than a wall of sound.
The Norwegian white supremacist, church burning enthusiast, and sole member of pioneering black metal project Burzum, has been called “the most notorious metal musician of all time.” In 1992, he joined Mayhem, replacing bassist Necrobutcher, who took issue with guitarist Euronymous’s callous treatment of vocalist Dead’s suicide (including rearranging the scene and taking photographs for later use as an album cover). Vikernes had no such qualms, playing with Euronymous in Mayhem and inviting him to guest on Burzum albums. Sadly, the bromance was not to last. In 1993, the relationship between Vikernes and Euronymous became acrimonious, and Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death in his apartment. He unsuccessfully claimed self-defense and was sentenced to 21 years in prison for murder, arson of three churches, attempted arson of a fourth church, theft, and storage of explosives. Vikernes now considers himself retired from music, enjoys long walks on the beach, and spends his free time being a complete piece of shit.
Let’s be honest, you read this far to make sure he was on the list, right? On the night of October 11, 1978, the erstwhile Sex Pistols bassist, and girlfriend Nancy Spungen, partied in their room at NYC’s Chelsea Hotel. By 11:00 the next morning, Nancy was found dead of a stab wound. Sid alternately claimed that he remembered nothing, that Nancy had fallen on his knife, and that he had stabbed her but not meant to kill her. Many have speculated a suicide pact gone wrong. Sid was charged with Nancy’s murder, but released on bail awaiting trial. On December 5, 1978, Vicious went to the Hurrah nightclub to see the band Skafish, where he flirted with the girlfriend of Patti Smith’s brother, Todd Smith. A fracas ensued in which Smith was stabbed in the face with a broken beer bottle by Vicious, sending him back to Rikers Island for assault and parole violation. On February 1, 1979, Vicious was again released on bail, having completed seven weeks of heroin detox. He celebrated his freedom and independence from heroin by, naturally, acquiring and shooting some heroin. His mother found him dead of an overdose the next morning, ending a sordid but defining chapter in the history of punk rock. We’ll never know for sure if Sid “did it” – we only know that he did it his way.
