Where'd You Go? by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Trust us, you would have loved Boston in the late '80s. You could have gone to the Rat or the Channel and seen any number of future-legend bands up close. Boston itself was crawling with alternative legends; running into a member of Throwing Muses or the Pixies while running for a bus in Allston was an everyday occurrence.

Yet nobody in Boston was thinking much about ska until the Bosstones came along. Fronted by singer Dicky Barrett—who’d previously drawn a comic strip in the local 'zine Boston Rock—the Bosstones mixed chops and camaraderie, hanging out with fans between sets but getting right down to business onstage.

Barrett was fond of wearing his bathrobe during shows; this led to the band’s tradition of plaid outfits. A major hometown hit, the breakup-themed “Where’d You Go” led to greater success with a major-label deal, and the nationwide hit “The Impression That I Get.”

The prefix “Mighty Mighty” was added to the Bosstones’ name by a waitress at the Rat.

Watch for a few booby-traps in the drum pattern; punk-ska drummers don’t exactly play like machines. The bridge on “Where’d You Go” shakes you out of the comfort zone with accelerated, close-together kicks; if you don’t pick those up right away you may not make it back to the verses.

Gargling with Drano would be one way to approximate Barrett’s vocal delivery, though not recommended.

Bosstones fans were glad to see the band come out of retirement and revive its Christmas-week “Hometown Throwdowns” in 2007; this led to summer gigs in 2008. Barrett went on to be the announcer on television’s Jimmy Kimmel show.