Making musical history was the last thing on Doreen Shaffer's mind when she joined The Skatalites. Still a schoolgirl, she was just happy to be singing in a band.
Looking back, the vocalist, now 65 and one of three original members still touring with the group, realizes the extent of their impact. In a burst of creativity during the early 1960s, The Skatalites defined the sound of ska, the forebear of a myriad of Jamaican musical styles. Often described as the Caribbean island's first indigenous form of music, ska spawned rocksteady, which morphed into reggae. From there, the list goes on.
"At that time, it didn't register," Shaffer says by phone from her home on New York's Long Island ahead of a five-date Japan tour that starts Sept. 26. "Everybody had anxiety because you so badly wanted to be on a record. Young people think about the present. It's not like you're looking back after 10 years."