"Party at Ground Zero" - Chris Dowd

“Party at Ground Zero” (PDF) from the self-titled EP, Fishbone

As the second wave of ska music broke in the United Kingdom during the late 1970s, traditional Jamaican music had also influenced the underground music scenes of American cities with Afropunk bands like Washington, D.C.’s Bad Brains and New York City’s Living Colour. In Los Angeles, Fishbone had combined ska and progressive rock with the frantic energy of Cold War hysteria, as celebrated in the 1985 single “Party at Ground Zero” featuring trombonist Chris Dowd, that would influence other California musicians like Frank Zappa and The Aquabats.

Some of Fishbone’s earliest performances around Los Angeles took place at Madame Wong’s, a Chinese restaurant that hosted punk rock and new wave shows to increase its nightly traffic. Along with the Hong Kong Cafe across the street, the DIY music venues competed for business while providing refuge for the outcasts of mainstream America in what became known as the Chinatown Punk Wars.

Here is a YouTube of Fishbone performing “Party at Ground Zero”:

Recommended listening: “Episode 525: The Chinatown Punk Wars” by 99% Invisible Podcast. February 10, 2023.