The Donkey Show was a

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

that played Ska during the eighties. The band was formed in 1985. They introduced many people to ska music and were in the unique position of being one of the founding bands of the "California Ska Sound", a precursor to what some would call the third wave of ska. At one point they even received radio play on major radio stations such as

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

Notability

The Donkey Show were known for their male and female lead vocalists. The group's horn section included saxophonist

Dave Hillyard "Disco" Dave Hillyard is a tenor saxophonist originating from San Diego, California. He has performed in groups such as The Slackers, The Rocksteady Seven, The Donkey Show, Hepcat, Stubborn All-Stars, and has guested with the likes of Rancid ...

who went on to play with Hepcat,

the Slackers The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of Nort ...

and more.
The Donkey Show helped bring the 1960s ska traditional sound to the U.S. and influenced other bands such as the Toasters (Thrill me up), Let's Go Bowling (Rude 69) and Hepcat (then known as Sharpsville Step) to do the same. The Donkey Show appeared in a

Ska Parade Ska Parade, also known as SP Radio One, is a southern California radio show whose goal is to promote up-and-coming ska artists, as well as other types of new bands. The show was created by Tazy Phyllipz and Albino Brown. The show was a part of the ...

video, part of a documentary series that focused on ska bands between 1988 and 1993. The documentary includes five-to-10 minute concert clips as well as Q & A sessions with the musicians.
They performed concerts in various cities in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and toured the US twice to sold-out crowds. They were the touring support for the Fishbone's 1989 Truth and Soul Tour. Some members of the band backed

Buster Bloodvessel Douglas Trendle (né Woods; born 6 September 1958), better known as Buster Bloodvessel, is an English singer who has been the frontman of the two-tone band Bad Manners since forming the band in 1976.Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encycloped ...

Bad Manners Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981). They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...

on a California tour as Buster's All-Stars. The group's relationship with Boston-based ska band

Bim Skala Bim Bim Skala Bim formed in Boston as a ska band that was influenced by the bands in England’s two-tone movement as well as artists such as the Clash, UB40 and Bob Marley. Their "Boston Blue Beat" sound, a mix of upbeat two-tone ska, rock ‘n’ r ...

, along with Gerald Lokstadt of Spot Productions arranged for the Skatalites saxman, Jamaica's Chief musician

Roland Alphonso Roland Alphonso OD or Rolando Alphonso "The Chief Musician" (12 January 1931 – 20 November 1998)Thompson, p. 262 was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of the Skatalites. Biography Born in Havana, Cuba, Alphonso c ...

to make his first solo trip to California in 1989 to record and perform with the Donkey Show. They played their last show at Berkeley International Ska Festival in 1990, in front of nearly 15,000 people in support of

Dave Wakeling David Wakeling (born 19 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and General Public. Career Wakeling began his professional career ...

's group from Birmingham England,

the English Beat ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

.
Many former members of the band have gone on to play for some of the most successful modern ska bands. Dave Hillyard was also in the band Hepcat, and is now in the Slackers. Kent and Creedy went on to play in Unsteady. Matt Parker played with the Adjusters, a political soul and ska band in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, as well as the Phoenecians and the Aggrolites in LA, and Thomas Zambrano has gone on to lead and produce Los Angeles–based ska and reggae pop group Hoodlum Pharaohs.

Breakup

In an interview from 2001 vocalist Kym Clift spoke of the breakup. "The band retired for many reasons; one being the fact that we were all branching out in different ways creatively as musicians. I know that sounds like such a stereotypical answer, but it's the truth. Oftentimes this leads to successful bands, you know, creating a unique sound from a variety of influences, but unfortunately for the Donkey Show, I feel it was partly responsible for the demise of the band. we were all pretty young, stubborn, and eager to explore new opportunities. Although I was very disappointed, I knew it was for the best. We quit while we were ahead and I would much rather do that then sell out, perform halfheartedly, or play shitty music."

Studio Sessions

Kym Clift: Vocals
Ray Campbell: Vocals

: Saxophone
Stanley "Bronco" Farwell: Trombone
Garry Gorrell (early band): Trumpet
Rob Dominguez: Percussion
Matt Parker: Farfisa organ
Kent Graves: Drums
Thomas Zambrano: Bass
Eric Bird (early band) - Bass
Chris "Creedy" Bates: Guitar

Discography

1988 - Mr. Brown 7"
1989 Bali Island E.P.
1998 Just Can't Get Enough of...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donkey Show American ska musical groups Third-wave ska groups