1979. Punk was dead and the nation craved another musical direction and energy. It came in the form of 2-Tone music: the dawning of a new era in the UK's musical and cultural heritage.
2-Tone Records was founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials in 1979. His aim was to create a British record label equivalent to Mowtown. Based in Coventry, 2-Tone released ska and reggae-influenced music with punk rock and pop music overtones. It changed the face of British music. With the assistance of bassist Horace Panter, Jerry created artwork that was to make 2-Tone Records immediately identifiable. The famed black and white check and the "Walt Jabsco" logo became iconic. The logo portrayed a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafer shoes. It was based on a photograph of Peter Tosh, a former member of reggae legend Bob Marley's band The Wailers. The logo was named Walt Jabsco after the name on a bowling shirt owned by Jerry Dammers at the time. The images became as famous as the bands and their music.
The Specials and their record label unleashed the 2-Tone music and cultural movement, which swept the UK with an unprecedented fervour. 2-Tone Records also signed other like minded bands; The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers and The Swinging Cats. The Specials and The Selecter, both from Coventry, were the main 2-Tone artists on the label. Other midlands artists such as Dexys Midnight Runners and UB40 flirted with joining the 2-Tone label. Bad Manners, another ska n blues band, were asked to sign to 2-Tone but eventually only appeared on 2-Tone via the soundtrack to the "Dance Craze" album.
For 3 years the nation danced under the chequered flag and enjoyed many 2-Tone hits. The label also had a serious message, the whole black and white theme, with its anti-racist ideology, gave the youth a voice to listen to. Songs included tales of tolerance and harmony and at a time when the UK's political arena had seen the rise of the far right groups on a national scale. 2-Tone spoke to the nation's youth.
Although The Selecter split in late 1980 and The Specials split at their height in 1981, efforts were made to broaden the label's musical output, with Jerry Dammers carrying on with The Special AKA and also putting out material on the label by funk outfits The Apollinaires and The Higsons as well as releasing a single for ex-Specials drummer John Bradbury's band JB Allstars, which was the last official 45 issued on the label. 1985 saw the end of the label in its present form. but 2-Tone's appeal did not wane. The label influenced a new generation of artists to form their own bands and continue to spread the racial harmony message of 2-tone.
The recent reformation of 2-Tone's founding band The Specials in 2008 came at a time, almost 30 years exactly to the date that the band first shot to fame. In the 21st century, little had changed. Racism was still rearing its ugly head, knife crime was on the increase, unemployment almost mirrored 1979, social exclusion and decay were endemic across the nation and economic problems were starting to effect society across the board. 2-Tone's message is as important now as it was then.
