I toyed with the idea of doing a blog for a few weeks before I actually started it. I had some friends from back in the days that had left the state and were living in so many different places. In the 90s I used to love making tapes for friends. The idea of a blog was great - I could make mixtapes for several people at the same time.
I was talking to somebody about the Graduate's "Elvis Should Play Ska" and that became my first post on December 16th, 2007.
I didn't know much about computers. Some of my earlier covers that I tried to clean up in Microsoft Paint look horrible today but I still find them online every now and then.
This banner here was used for the first two years or so before my wife designed the one that's been at the header for the last eight years.
(...and this was the early Tone and Wave header with the original Marco on the Bass header)
People keep saying how I should change the blog. Monetize it. Change the background. Add this and that to it. Aside from changing the header the blog has been consistent for better or for worse. I like stability and I hope you do too.
I have posted some punk, new wave, reggae, and mod over the years but I try to maintain 90% ska.
Most of the feedback I have gotten from the artists themselves have been positive. A small percentage has been negative and I used to try and argue why introducing their music to people who like their style of music but have never had a way of hearing it before is a good thing. I have since stopped arguing. Instead I just eliminate their name from the blog and I don't include them in any compilations I make for the blog or for people I know in the real world. I passively disavow them. Good luck selling your music from 30 years ago without allowing people to hear it first.
Anyway...I have had three different jobs, have lived in three different houses, and have had two children since I started the blog. I have met a few of you guys that I never would have met if I never started the blog. I have made numerous online friends and have been able to see how your lives have changed over the years through Facebook and other things.
I have learned a lot from you guys and I hope I have taught you a lot about this subterranean genre.
Ska is alive and well and I still have so many things that haven't been posted yet not to mention the nearly 200 records, tapes, and cds that I am still looking for.
I did not expect Tone and Wave to last for ten years (to be honest I didn't see Blogger lasting this long) and, at this point, I sure as hell don't see it going for another five years. I'm thinking I might make it another 2 years but who knows. I aim to post old forgotten ska music. If I make it to 2020 the stuff from 2007 will be old. I'm all for keeping it going. What do you say?
I wanted to do something 'special' for this 10-year anniversary but I can't think of what I could do that would be considered special to you. I thought of posting my favorite 100 songs that I've posted over the last ten years. I started a great list but then I realized that it's not really about me. It's about the bands and it's about you. What songs do you know and love that you only know about because of the blog? Let me know in the comments and I'll put a compilation together for the people who may have come to the blog too late to absorb all of these great rarities.
