An Homage to You Rudy
January 20, 2018 6:53 AM Subscribe
Two Tone was both a record label and movement that combined imported Jamaican Ska with homegrown British punk to form a uniquely British multi-racial, multi-ethnic musical (and sartorial) style that has gone on to have a worldwide impact. They also had complicated relationship with another UK youth culture at the time: skinheads.
Bonus link: Dance Craze: The Movie
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 6:59 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 6:59 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wow. I’d kind of (ashamedly?) forgotten about Two Tone, but, yeah, that definitely part of my soundtrack just getting out of college. Great stuff.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:44 AM on January 20, 2018
posted by Thorzdad at 7:44 AM on January 20, 2018
This suburban white kid discovered Two Tone by way of the English Beat, by way of Sting wearing a Beat t-shirt in the "Don't Stand So Close To Me" music video.
Turns out that there was a deeper story behind that t-shirt. The Beat (and Two Tone) were promoting a message that the Police were too afraid to say.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:46 AM on January 20, 2018 [18 favorites]
Turns out that there was a deeper story behind that t-shirt. The Beat (and Two Tone) were promoting a message that the Police were too afraid to say.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:46 AM on January 20, 2018 [18 favorites]
All of my Two Tone records were lost when my little brother was robbed, because for some reason I thought they were safer at his house. Back in the day, records were valuables that would get stolen. Luckily, I somehow still have my Sun City album, which has given me endless cred among local artists.
I felt very alone with my music taste back in the late 70's early 80's, and it was hard to find records outside of Britain. Concerts rarely happened.
Anyway, thanks for this, I'm going to send the links to my daughter who needs to know how her dad and I met in the first place
posted by mumimor at 8:10 AM on January 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I felt very alone with my music taste back in the late 70's early 80's, and it was hard to find records outside of Britain. Concerts rarely happened.
Anyway, thanks for this, I'm going to send the links to my daughter who needs to know how her dad and I met in the first place
posted by mumimor at 8:10 AM on January 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
“Welcome to Skanecticutt” - oh man, that brings me back. The Tune Inn. Pearl Street. Toads Place. Spring Heeled Jack, Sgt. Skagnetti, Big D and the Kids Table. Sub-sub culture existence was so weird pre-widespread internet adoption (aka the 90s). I remember when The Dropkick Murphys (original line up with just a seven inch out) played the New England Ska Fest (!!!) and I almost got killed by a rampaging skinhead wall of death (!!!) until a friendly, giant skin picked me up and tossed me clear of the pit my that 14 y/o self had wandered into. How the DMs (at that point a legit hardcore band) came to play at a Ska Festival I’ll never understand but it definitely blew my ignorant suburban teenage mind wide open.
posted by youthenrage at 8:19 AM on January 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by youthenrage at 8:19 AM on January 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Related: How we got a MAN IN A BUSINESS SUIT LEVITATING emoji.
posted by jonnay at 8:36 AM on January 20, 2018 [26 favorites]
posted by jonnay at 8:36 AM on January 20, 2018 [26 favorites]
Always loved this music.
One of my sons is 13 and plays guitar. He loves Chet Atkins, but also Madness (we hear “A Town called Malice” all the damn time) and is happy when I put on the Engkish Beat or the Specials.
The kids, IOW, are all right.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:42 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
One of my sons is 13 and plays guitar. He loves Chet Atkins, but also Madness (we hear “A Town called Malice” all the damn time) and is happy when I put on the Engkish Beat or the Specials.
The kids, IOW, are all right.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:42 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
“… it's still too exotic for mass acceptance.”
There's a kid along the road who has the best skin look: gloss 1919s, drainpipe Wranglers rolled short, MA-1. Was a little worried when he first started sporting it, but the recent addition of a Crass patch and FTF badge dispelled that.
posted by scruss at 9:15 AM on January 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
There's a kid along the road who has the best skin look: gloss 1919s, drainpipe Wranglers rolled short, MA-1. Was a little worried when he first started sporting it, but the recent addition of a Crass patch and FTF badge dispelled that.
posted by scruss at 9:15 AM on January 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Count me as someone who discovered the Specials due to Two Tone in high school. So good.
posted by Kitteh at 9:24 AM on January 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 9:24 AM on January 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ah those hazy college days. Up here in the PNWet we had the Crazy 8's working the college circuit. I would beg borrow and steal to get into their shows.
Johnny Q
Law and Order
Nervous in Suburbia
Scratch and Claw
posted by calamari kid at 9:49 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Johnny Q
Law and Order
Nervous in Suburbia
Scratch and Claw
posted by calamari kid at 9:49 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
What a lot one learns on MeFi. Sting silenced by Miles C (although perhaps not entirely - Invisible Sun got banned by the BBC because Norn Irn) and there's an emoji that can be traced back to Peter Tosh.
2-Tone was HUGE for a brief period in the UK. One Top Of The Pops in 1979 was known as the 2-Tone TOTP because it had The Specials, Madness and The Selecter (it doesn't get repeated due Jimmy Savile). That was unheard of for a small label, and goodness only knows how long the afterparty went on for. When I left the provinces a handful of years later and made some new and far more savvy friends in London, I was astonished to find that so many of those songs were covers. The originals and the Dread Broadcasting Company took up quite a lot of my time (and hearing) thereafter.
Madness sank some of their first-flush cash into a 1981 biopic, Take It Or Leave It, which is more of a home movie of the band's rise to fame. If you want to visit a bunch of dodgy, talented lads getting up to no good in Camden Town, this is the one for you. Ah, the Dublin Castle. (Another bit of Camden pop pub history not a couple of hundred yards away, The Good Mixer, closed a couple of weeks ago, which is a great shame.)
Oh btw, A Town Called Malice was The Jam, rather than Madness. But Paul Weller is a different story...
posted by Devonian at 10:57 AM on January 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
2-Tone was HUGE for a brief period in the UK. One Top Of The Pops in 1979 was known as the 2-Tone TOTP because it had The Specials, Madness and The Selecter (it doesn't get repeated due Jimmy Savile). That was unheard of for a small label, and goodness only knows how long the afterparty went on for. When I left the provinces a handful of years later and made some new and far more savvy friends in London, I was astonished to find that so many of those songs were covers. The originals and the Dread Broadcasting Company took up quite a lot of my time (and hearing) thereafter.
Madness sank some of their first-flush cash into a 1981 biopic, Take It Or Leave It, which is more of a home movie of the band's rise to fame. If you want to visit a bunch of dodgy, talented lads getting up to no good in Camden Town, this is the one for you. Ah, the Dublin Castle. (Another bit of Camden pop pub history not a couple of hundred yards away, The Good Mixer, closed a couple of weeks ago, which is a great shame.)
Oh btw, A Town Called Malice was The Jam, rather than Madness. But Paul Weller is a different story...
posted by Devonian at 10:57 AM on January 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
Sting silenced by Miles C (although perhaps not entirely - Invisible Sun got banned by the BBC because Norn Irn)
Seems like one could generate a whole FPP just on the Copeland family itself.
Besides Stewart's percussion work and his brother's band management and record label work, you had their father Miles Copeland, Jr., who was involved in the US intelligence community, was there at the start of the CIA, and was heavily involved in the 1953 coup d'état against the Prime Minister of Iran.
KICK OUT THE STYLE BRING BACK THE JAM
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:08 AM on January 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
Seems like one could generate a whole FPP just on the Copeland family itself.
Besides Stewart's percussion work and his brother's band management and record label work, you had their father Miles Copeland, Jr., who was involved in the US intelligence community, was there at the start of the CIA, and was heavily involved in the 1953 coup d'état against the Prime Minister of Iran.
KICK OUT THE STYLE BRING BACK THE JAM
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:08 AM on January 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
One of the things that has come to light these days is the racism of Eric Clapton. Now he has admitted it and apologized, but when I was a teen and said he was racist in the school cafeteria, I was ridiculed. That's how far away I was from everything
posted by mumimor at 11:09 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mumimor at 11:09 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh, that is Kathy Burke in the Sid and Nancy clip.
Saw the Selector when I was a long-haired hippyish undergraduate in Portsmouth. Half the audience were skins but they were a perfectly reasonable crowd, any aggro was between themselves. Sailors on shore leave were quite another matter.
posted by epo at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Saw the Selector when I was a long-haired hippyish undergraduate in Portsmouth. Half the audience were skins but they were a perfectly reasonable crowd, any aggro was between themselves. Sailors on shore leave were quite another matter.
posted by epo at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
The music reached all the way to Southern California, where I grew up. In the early 80's there was a small clique of kids who wore turtlenecks, trenchcoats, polished shoes and drove around on motor scooters. One of those kids was a friend of mine and he just came over one day and dumped all these astounding records on us.
Love 2-Tone. More Specials by The Specials is just a genius album. For me, stuff like 'Stereotype' and 'International Jetset' were like nothing I had ever heard before. It still is today one of my favorite albums.
The Selecter was great dance music set to dark lyrics. 'On my Radio' being a favorite of mine. My brother still pops on an English Beat record every now and then. The music was hugely influential.
posted by vacapinta at 11:13 AM on January 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Love 2-Tone. More Specials by The Specials is just a genius album. For me, stuff like 'Stereotype' and 'International Jetset' were like nothing I had ever heard before. It still is today one of my favorite albums.
The Selecter was great dance music set to dark lyrics. 'On my Radio' being a favorite of mine. My brother still pops on an English Beat record every now and then. The music was hugely influential.
posted by vacapinta at 11:13 AM on January 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
wenestvedt, Madness were awesome but “A Town Called Malice” is by the Jam.
posted by nicwolff at 11:22 AM on January 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by nicwolff at 11:22 AM on January 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
You're going home in a fucking ambulance because you are gonna get your fucking heads kicked in.
2-Tone because it was black and white playing together when that could and would get your head kicked in by National Front skinheads.
The Specials were the most openly political 2-Tone band, if only in their line up, but kooky English eccentrics Madness also had songs about mixed race marriage and first time buying condoms.
I also had a soft spot for The Selecter, Pauline Black on vocals.
The Beat were okay, but they only had one decent song anyway.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:33 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
2-Tone because it was black and white playing together when that could and would get your head kicked in by National Front skinheads.
The Specials were the most openly political 2-Tone band, if only in their line up, but kooky English eccentrics Madness also had songs about mixed race marriage and first time buying condoms.
I also had a soft spot for The Selecter, Pauline Black on vocals.
The Beat were okay, but they only had one decent song anyway.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:33 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Dick Clark learning about Ska.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 12:41 PM on January 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Grumpy old geek at 12:41 PM on January 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
The Beat were okay, but they only had one decent song anyway.
Fighting words, sir.
posted by N-stoff at 1:16 PM on January 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Fighting words, sir.
posted by N-stoff at 1:16 PM on January 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
The Beat were okay, but
Heh heh heh... that's funny.
Also, did anyone mention 'Town called Malice' is by the Jam, not ...
posted by From Bklyn at 2:22 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Heh heh heh... that's funny.
Also, did anyone mention 'Town called Malice' is by the Jam, not ...
posted by From Bklyn at 2:22 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I see no joy, I see only sorrow.
I see no chance of your great again tomorrow,
so stand down Donald, stand down please.
Stand down Donald.
posted by Edward L at 3:26 PM on January 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
I see no chance of your great again tomorrow,
so stand down Donald, stand down please.
Stand down Donald.
posted by Edward L at 3:26 PM on January 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Bruce Springsteen performing “Free Nelson Mandela” in Cape Town.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:37 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:37 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Maybe I heard a super-rare, colored-vinyl import 12” from Japan that.... ah, forget it, you’re all right, and I was on a 6AM conference call in my basement when I wrote that.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:13 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:13 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Even though Dave's voice is basically shot now The Beat were def one of the best things on this years Hootenanny. And yes that is Trombone Shorty bobbing around in the background. Also Ed Sheeran refusing to join in at the end, the big wanker.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:08 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:08 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Though not strictly speaking a 2 Tone band and also a bit of a comedy/joke band the Bad Manners gig I went to back in the day was one of the best live acts I've seen. The whole place went mental.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:10 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:10 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh and dont' forget the amazing all-girl group The Bodysnatches with Rhoda Dakar on lead vocals who went on to release the disturbing anti-rape song 'The Boiler' and later joined The Specials for 'Free Nelson Mandela'
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:21 AM on January 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:21 AM on January 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Long ago, I was in the Tower Records on the Rockville Pike. I was looking for a ska record put out by the Smithsonian. The young clerk picked up "This are 2-Tone" and said "You want this". I explained that I wanted the original ska. He insisted no, I wanted this. So I bought it. Thank you, clerk.
posted by acrasis at 1:43 PM on January 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by acrasis at 1:43 PM on January 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Rhoda Dakar appears on More Specials, along with the Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, and Jane Wiedlin, as well as Lee Thompson from Madness.
posted by parki at 2:46 PM on January 21, 2018
posted by parki at 2:46 PM on January 21, 2018
Rhoda Dakar appears on More Specials, along with the Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, and Jane Wiedlin
I love the little connection from the Specials to the Go-Go's. Besides opening for the Specials on their American tour in the 1980s, Terry Hall (Specials, later Fun Boy Three) and Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go's) cowrote "Our Lips Are Sealed".
Fun Boy Three's version | Go-Go's version.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:31 PM on January 21, 2018
I love the little connection from the Specials to the Go-Go's. Besides opening for the Specials on their American tour in the 1980s, Terry Hall (Specials, later Fun Boy Three) and Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go's) cowrote "Our Lips Are Sealed".
Fun Boy Three's version | Go-Go's version.
"The [Go-Go's] video was financed with unused funds from The Police's video budget." - Jane Wiedlin(Another Miles Copeland III connection!)
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:31 PM on January 21, 2018
Also Bananarama and fb3.
WLIR forever.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 12:13 AM on January 22, 2018
WLIR forever.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 12:13 AM on January 22, 2018
After the Specials broke up, of course many members pursued their own course and the bands combined and re-combined in many ways. Here's the legendary Rico Rodriguez. Here's General Public with Specials bassist Horace Panter. And so on...
posted by vacapinta at 2:36 AM on January 22, 2018
posted by vacapinta at 2:36 AM on January 22, 2018
"The [Go-Go's] video was financed with unused funds from The Police's video budget." - Jane Wiedlin
I just watched a bunch of The Police's videos vs the GoGos video for "Our Lips are Sealed". I'm pretty sure that GoGos video cost more than any particular Police video, as most of The Police videos are single sets, performance videos, or them just lip syncing/messing around on an empty set. The "Don't Stand So Close to Me" video probably cost the most for its time, as it had a cast and some costumes. This of course is way before "Every Breath You Take", which probably did cost a few bucks. They did have a lot of videos, but that's mostly because they released a lot of material in a short time. Even though they were becoming a big band, their videos were still pretty basic and cheap.
The GoGos are driving, have multiple public sets, are filming in a moving car, and then is interspersed with performance footage.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:15 PM on January 22, 2018
I just watched a bunch of The Police's videos vs the GoGos video for "Our Lips are Sealed". I'm pretty sure that GoGos video cost more than any particular Police video, as most of The Police videos are single sets, performance videos, or them just lip syncing/messing around on an empty set. The "Don't Stand So Close to Me" video probably cost the most for its time, as it had a cast and some costumes. This of course is way before "Every Breath You Take", which probably did cost a few bucks. They did have a lot of videos, but that's mostly because they released a lot of material in a short time. Even though they were becoming a big band, their videos were still pretty basic and cheap.
The GoGos are driving, have multiple public sets, are filming in a moving car, and then is interspersed with performance footage.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:15 PM on January 22, 2018
I think what Jane is joking at is that A&M had the resources to fund videos and the fledgling IRS Records did not, so Miles got creative with the parent label's cash.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:16 PM on January 22, 2018
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:16 PM on January 22, 2018
I think what Jane is joking at is that A&M had the resources to fund videos and the fledgling IRS Records did not, so Miles got creative with the parent label's cash.
You are probably right. I was just guessing why they had the extra cash.
posted by The_Vegetables at 6:52 AM on January 23, 2018
You are probably right. I was just guessing why they had the extra cash.
posted by The_Vegetables at 6:52 AM on January 23, 2018
> fearfulsymmetry:
"Even though Dave's voice is basically shot now The Beat were def one of the best things on this years Hootenanny . And yes that is Trombone Shorty bobbing around in the background. Also Ed Sheeran refusing to join in at the end, the big wanker."
I chair-skanked. Thank you for that.
posted by Samizdata at 2:14 AM on January 26, 2018
"Even though Dave's voice is basically shot now The Beat were def one of the best things on this years Hootenanny . And yes that is Trombone Shorty bobbing around in the background. Also Ed Sheeran refusing to join in at the end, the big wanker."
I chair-skanked. Thank you for that.
posted by Samizdata at 2:14 AM on January 26, 2018
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*boggle* Can anyone report on this recording?!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:58 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]