Top 40 Before 40 Rock Artists - #31 - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The band that falls at #31 on my list is actually one of the most fun bands on this entire list to just rock out to.
This band also comes from a sub-genre of rock that MOST people my age remember very fondly as “ska.” The genre is still around, but it definitely is not nearly as popular as it was back in its heyday in the 1990’s.
For those of you who are just joining this list at this point, let me give a quick summary below:
- In my almost 40 years on this planet, I have had the great pleasure of listening to a lot of music that doesn't make it to the airwaves, and a lot of these bands are some of my absolute favorites.
- You WILL see some Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame bands on the list too, but for the most part, you are likely going to disagree with this list almost entirely.
- I am sharing this ranking so that you get some insight into some great bands you may have never heard before AND for a little bit of a personal challenge to myself to rank these bands.
With that said, let's get to #31 on my Top 40 List Before 40:
By digboston - MMB_Dig_fenway01, CC BY 2.0
#31 - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Oh boy, where do I start in trying to describe a band that is so energetic that one of their band members doesn’t really have ANY other role than to just dance on stage and generally hype up the crowd through his gyrations alone?
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a true original in the space of ska in the sense that I get the impression (no pun intended) that they could either fight you or have a great night out drinking and partying just because it’s a Tuesday.
Led by frontman Dicky Barrett, these guys can put you in a great mood with pretty much ANY of their songs. Even the songs that have a more aggressive tone or topic still seem to make the listener (well, me anyway) want to get up and just start “skanking” and generally just move around.
I first heard of the Bosstones back in the mid-90’s when they released their album Let’s Face It which featured the hit single, “The Impression That I Get” (hence the pun above). Along with that came “The Rascal King” and other favorites like “Royal Oil.”
The band has put out TONS of material, and for the life of me, I honestly don’t think I can find one song that I just don’t like -- which is hard to do for even most of the bands above them on this list. There’s ALWAYS one bad song from your favorite band, right? Well, if you know of a bad song that these guys have put out, please let me know.
They have been pretty active in the last couple of decades, but their mainstream popularity has faded over time which is just a shame. I think everyone could use a bit more of the Bosstones in their life, to be honest.
The best part about the Bosstones is that they don’t EVER come off as a novelty act from a time when things were different. They have managed to stay relevant AND rock hard since the day they took the stage.
Their newest album While We’re At It is still just as awesome as any of their other albums, and the song “Wonderful Day For The Race” is just a good time tune about how things are good for the human race in spite of what the world tries to tell us.
Of course, these Bostonians are armed with some heavy intellect and write their songs to be inspirational, motivational, but also to comment on the social norms of our world.
If you have never heard of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones before, then I will just say, “You’re welcome for the introduction.” Now, get to listening.
If you HAVE heard of them before, and you are thinking, “I wasn’t really a fan.” Well, I would say you just never gave them a chance, and you should just pick ANY one of their albums to arbitrarily put on your playlist. You’ll thank me later.
For the rest of you who are fans of the band, well, all I can say is keep these guys in your song rotations, check out their live shows, and just keep your support up, because the world needs these guys to keep making music.
Similar Artists That I Recommend That Didn't Make The Top 40:
The Pietasters, Rx Bandits, The Mr. T Experience
<-- Check out #32 on this list or Check out #30 on this list -->(Available January, 26th, 2021)
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