First see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~knibbetc/page3d2.htm#Ska Just a day after the Obituaries for Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd, the Jamaican record producer who at Studio One launched amongst others the career of Bob Marley, the following appears in today's Belfast Telegraph. Live music: The real rocksteady crew The godfathers of ska are bringing their funky rhythms all the way from Jamaica to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Edwin McFee looks at the long - and sometimes troubled - career of the Skatalites By Edwin McFee Formed in the spring of 1964, the Skatalites are widely considered the first ever ska band. For many, they didn't merely define the sound of Jamaica, they were the sound of Jamaica. The Skatalites were playing rocksteady rhythms to thousands of people way before Madness and the Specials bought their first pork-pie hats. Without the Skatalites, there'd be no Bad Manners and no Selecter, and newer ska-influenced bands like Rancid and Voodoo Glow Skulls would sound totally different. With an initial line-up of Tommy McCook (tenor sax), Rolando Alphonso (tenor sax), Lester Sterling (alto sax), Johnnie Moore (trumpet), Don Drummond (trombone), Jackie Mittoo (piano), Jerry Hines (guitar), Lloyd Brevett (bass) and Lloyd Knibb (drums), the Skatalites brought ska to the masses. It was trombone player Don Drummond to whom the Skatalites looked for guidance and Drummond was one of the most prolific songwriters of the day, notching up at least 200 songs by 1965. Tragically, Drummond suffered a breakdown and murdered his girlfriend, Anita Mahfood, in 1965. He was convicted and sent to Bellevue Asylum, where he died a few years later, aged 37. In an ironic footnote, Drummond scored a Top 10 hit in the UK for his reworking of The Guns Of Navarone while he was in the asylum and never got to enjoy his success. In the mid-60s, the remaining Skatalites decided to go their separate ways and out of the ashes formed two super-groups - Rolando Alphonso and the Soul Vendors, and Tommy McCook and the Supersonics. However, the band later re-formed in 1983. They released the highly influential record Return Of The Big Guns the following year and took to the road, bringing rocksteady to the unsuspecting public. In the early 90s they underwent their first tour of Europe with both old and new members in tow. Skatalites founders Tommy McCook, Rolando Alphonso and Jackie Mittoo all passed away during the decade, but the rest of the band ensured that their legacy would live on in their music and continued to record and tour. Proving that you're never too old for rock and roll, the band scored their first Grammy nomination for Greetings From Skamania and played the legendary Glastonbury festival. The US also embraced the band, with Rolling Stone proclaiming them as "Jamaica's answer to the Motown house band and Booker T and the MGs combined." The Skatalites play the CQAF marquee in Writers' Square, Belfast, on May 8. Tickets & 9024 6609.