Skankin' Pickle was a San Jose, California based ska punk sextet during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Formed in 1989, they released several LPs, mostly on their own record label, Dill Records. Members included vocalist/saxophonist Mike "Bruce Lee" Park, guitarist Lynette Knackstedt, bassist Ian Miller, bassist Mike Mattingly, bassist Jay Vance, trombonists Lars Nylander and Gerry Lundquist, and drummer Chuck Phelps. On the back of the CD booklet to Skankin' Pickle Fever they are quoted as saying "Skankin' Pickle is a mixture of ska, punk, metal, reggae, rap, funk, speed metal, hip-hop, polka, and vaudeville. Six freaks have never had such a good time on stage."
The band was unique in that all of the members had sung lead vocals on at least one recording and the songwriting responsibilities were distributed throughout, though Mike Park was generally regarded as the front man.
Skankin' Pickle's lyrics range from silly, in songs such as "Fakin' Jamaican" and "Asian Man", to sociopolitical, in songs like "Racist World" and "Ice Cube, Korea Wants a Word With You". As a band, Skankin' Pickle promoted racial equality in the tradition of two-tone ska bands, such as The Specials, who did so in late 1970s England.
Park left the band after recording The Green Album and was replaced on saxophone for a short time by Mike Liu of the band Janitors Against Apartheid. Following their breakup in 1996, Knackstedt and Nylander started another skacore band called 78 RPMs.
Lynette Knackstedt passed away on Friday, December 7, 2007.
Mike Park released an album and toured with The Bruce Lee Band, a side project consisting of Park and members of Less Than Jake. Later, Park started an all-Asian ska band called The Chinkees who released three albums, and also recorded two solo albums. Lundquist went on to play trombone for Mu330.
Jay Vance built a band of musical robots, "Captured! By Robots", with whom he tours.
