The Skunks were a third wave ska band formed in 1988 by a group of high school friends from suburban Maryland. They recorded three albums, performed extensively in the Washington, DC/Baltimore, Maryland area, and toured the United States. History Founding In August 1988, Matt Earl and James McDonald, who had been members of Boy Scout Troop 214 in University Park, Maryland, encountered Joe Hottel and Erick Morgan at a skateboarding hangout in Riverdale Park, Maryland. From this association, came the idea of starting The Skunks. Soon, the newly formed band, augmented by Anthony Foronda, Jake Hughes and Brent Washburn, began to play at events and parties in suburban Maryland. In December 1988, the Skunks performed their first paid show at DC Space in Washington. This was followed, in April 1989, by a show on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, and in September, by a performance at the 9:30 Club. These were the first of their many appearances at these venues. Soon, the increasing popularity of the Skunks led them to recruit Tony Albano, Andy Hayleck, Reggie Romain, Dave Rudolph, Dave Smallwood and Scott Treude. To enhance their appeal to commercial venues, the Skunks created a cassette, which was copyrighted on September 29, 1990, but never released. However, James Joyce, an archivist of underground music, singled out this tape as one of his "most prized recordings". Chaos In Skaville The demo tape was followed by a cassette, Chaos in Skaville. It was copyrighted on May 5, 1991, and released by PU Records, which was a company created by the Skunks. It also released a 7 inch vinyl single, "Piñata", in 1992. After these releases, the band's schedule became more active, with many shows in local venues and occasional performances on the road. In 1992, during an appearance at Hennessey's bar in Georgetown, the Skunks invited The Pietasters to perform with them. This was the first of many occasions when the two bands played together. They also shared a record label. Moon Ska Records Even before Chaos in Skaville, the Skunks had attracted the attention of Robert "Bucket" Hingley, who was recruiting for his label Moon Ska Records. To confirm his interest, Hingley invited them to go on tour with his band The Toasters. During the summer of 1992, The Skunks performed with Hingley's band, as well as several other ska acts, at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia,