Various Artists ?– This Are Two Tone Vinyl L.P (The Specials etc)

£ 37

$ 49

£ 37 Sold For

Mar 22, 2014 Sold Date

Mar 12, 2014 Start Date

15 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

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Description

VariousAtists ?– This Are Two Tone

Label:Two-ToneRecords ?– CHR TT 5007

Format:Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Pink Cover

Country:UK

Released:1983

Genre:Rock, Reggae

Style:New Wave, Ska

2 Tone records was created in Coventry, UK in 1978 by Jerry Dammers whoapart from being the songwriter and music director for bands ‘The Specials’ and‘The Special A.K.A’ was also the Chief Executive of the label and responsiblefor signing artists such as Madness, The Selecter, The Beat and TheBodysnatchers.

Dammersgrew up in The Midlands area of The UK during the late 1960s/early 70s andbecame influenced with the sounds of Jamaican Ska Music that was now beingheard in the UK mainly as a direct result of the Government policy at that timewhich saw big cultural changes in the area as a whole due to the influx ofimmigration in cities such as Birmingham and Coventry. Virtually all the 2 Toneartists were from the area; the one exception being ‘Madness’ who are fromNorth London.

Thelabel started things off with the classic ‘Gangsters’ shortly followed byMadness’ ‘The Prince’ (a tribute to Prince Buster and the Jamaican Ska scene ingeneral) and The Selectors’ ‘On My Radio’ Other classics which followedincluded ‘Too Much Too Young’ and The most famous 2 Tone release of them all;‘Ghost Town’. Despite popular belief the single Ghost Town was not criticism ofRacial tension on a national scale; mainly a broadside at the thuggery thatexisted within Coventry. Infact many of the Specials songs were about life inCoventry. 'Concrete Jungle', 'Dawning Of A New Era', 'Stereotypes' etc.

Theearly label signings such as Madness and The Beat released just one record on 2Tone before signing for Stiff Records and Go Feet respectively, however TheSpecials released a successful self-titled LP in 1979 and became thefigureheads for 2 Tone Records and the UK Ska scene. The follow up ‘MoreSpecials' was, at the time, considered disappointing but in truth had a hardtask following up the first album and was possibly released too late - afterthe success of 2 Tone was beginning to recede.

Culturalchanges within the music industry and British society not least helped by inhouse squabbling from artists signed to 2 Tone led to the collapse of the labelin 1982. A revised version of The Special A.K.A enjoyed a brief comeback in1984 with the single ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ plus one or two other recordings.

Althoughit has been revived several times since then for "best of" releasesand a singles box-set, The label is now defunct.

–Special A.K.A., The

Gangsters

–Madness

Madness

–Selecter, The

On My Radio

–Beat, The

Tears Of A Clown

–Specials, The

Rudi, A Messsage To You

–Selecter, The

Too Much Pressure