The migrants who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean in the 1950s and ‘60s brought with them music from their homeland, including reggae and ska. This was often played on homemade sound systems at house parties and clubs. In Coventry the Police Ballroom and the Railway Club at Holbrooks became popular venues for Caribbean music events. The music soon became popular with British music fans, especially mods and skinheads. Evans: We’d driven around the country crammed in a van for two years before anyone had taken notice. Madness formed in London and were originally known as the North London Invaders. Their ska inspired sound led Jerry Dammers to invite Madness to sign with 2 Tone. Only their first single, The Prince, was released on the label. Madness went on to enjoy chart success, reaching number 1 in 1982 with House of Fun.

Jerry Dammers interview by Alexis Petrides", Mojo, Jan 2002. Accessed on 2-tone.info 18 October 2007The remarkable story of the rise and rise of 2-Tone music right here in Coventry is being told in a new BBC documentary. Tim Smith-Laing for the Apollo Magazine “Pork pie hats and politics: Coventry pays tribute to 2 Tone legacy… Although two-tone's mainstream commercial appeal was largely limited to the UK, it influenced the ska punk movement that developed in the US in the late 1980s and 1990s. [4] [5] History [ edit ] Tone’s message of solidarity continues to be heard as incarnations of The Specials, The Beat and The Selecter appear on stages all over the world. It’s for another reason, though, that the timing of the re-release is particularly poignant. Hall died last December of pancreatic cancer aged 63. Panter feels “uncomfortable” when I suggest that Dance Craze stands as a fitting tribute to him. “It makes me feel a bit uneasy to use that as a selling point,” he tells me.

CHS TTS1 The Apollinaires — "Envy the Love" / "Give It Up" / "Tear the Whole Thing Down" / "Y Lang, Y Lang" 12" (White label promo only, split with Higsons)Dammers says: “When we signed the label to Chrysalis, we retained artistic control. I just wanted to give like-minded bands a break and thought if we worked together instead of competing, we could build a ska movement up to support each other. Chrysalis was the only company who agreed to let us have the facility to release other bands through 2 Tone.” Jerry Dammers of the ska revival band the Specials started the record label in 1979. [1] [2] Chrysalis had wanted to sign the Specials, but Dammers arranged a label deal, for Chrysalis to fund 15 singles a year and release at least ten of those. [3] One day, Jerry asked me to his house to discuss a few ideas that he had. I was really into soul and reggae, but it was the time of punk and its anyone-can-play attitude – I think we were a more advanced group of musicians.”“To be honest, I was a bit frustrated with what was going on in Coventry,” continues Jerry. “I wanted to do something really original, so I decided to form a punk-reggae band. I was inspired as much by what wasn’t happening in Coventry, as by what was.

I grew up in Santa Cruz, California, a beachy surf town in the northern part of the state. My first interaction with anything ska happened watching the movie 16 Candles. A scene in the film blasts The Specials’ Little Bitch. What was this music? I had no idea. I did what any tween in the ‘80s did; I took to my banana seat bike, rode down to the ‘edgy’ neighbourhood and began haunting record stores in search of this magical, alien sound. In November 1979, six months after Gangsters reached the top 10, the Selecter, the Specials and Madness all appeared on the same episode of TOTP (with On My Radio, A Message to You Rudy and One Step Beyond) and took turns in headlining a frantic tour – captured in the film Dance Craze. Similarly, Golding has reconvened with Terry Hall and Horace Panter for Encore (Island/UMC), the stunning new Specials album that landed universal critical acclaim and reflects on the band’s opinions on 2019. Minus Jerry, Neville, Roddy and Brad, the latter who died in 2015, the album topped the UK chart in February. The scene starts to fall apart amid band squabbles and music scene shifts, but a legacy has been built that stretches from generations of global ska-punk bands to the end of apartheid.CHS TT12 19 Rico Rodriguez & The Special AKA — "Jungle Music" / "Rasta Call You" / "Easter Island" 12" It was a strange time in Birmingham,” Roger told us, shortly before his death in March. “Everyone was in a band or wanted to be in a band. It was a time of high unemployment and music offered a way out.” Audiences are going nuts’ ... 2 Tone fans, at a gig at Friars, Aylesbury, in 1980. Photograph: Toni Tye