I am glad to be back and clueing you into another band from the world of ska! In our ongoing SKAROUND The world series, we take you to the land of the rising sun, Japan! Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is still a relative unknown to the average American audience, but the people that do know of them absolutely love them. If you do not know them well, you are in for a treat!
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra was founded in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and was composed of 10 veterans of the Tokyo-underground scene. The music they produced and released was unheard of at the time and it was like nothing else! They have grown to become very influential in Japanese music over the past 31 years.
SKA SKA SKA
With the band’s infused mix of ska, jazz and rock, they were absolutely killing the live game and changing the way ska was viewed, not just in Japan, but all over. The band’s name is abbreviated as Skapara by the diehard fans, and that would also be a bad-ass name for a band! (Sorry folks, it’s technically taken.)
TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA PROMOTIONAL PHOTO
Here’s a little secret: Do you remember the Playstation 2 video game, “Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus?” Well, they did the Japanese theme song for it, “Black Jack.” They also did Playstation songs for “Incredible Crisis” in 1999. And, if you’re a Kamen Rider fan, they had songs in the “Kamen Rider Saber” 2020 television series! That’s also bad ass!
With 25 studio albums (yes, 25!), and the newest album “SKA=ALMIGHTY” out now, you have a lot to check out. It doesn’t matter if you look up old or new stuff because this band will not disappoint. And being that most of the stuff is instrumental, you can put in on in the office alone or with people.
SKA ALMIGHTY PROMOTIONAL ALBUM COVER
As you know, I am a huge ska fan and I had the chance to see this amazing band live only once. They have done international tours and I am hoping they will tour state side again soon because I would love to see this beyond amazing band live again! I guarantee you will love Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra!
