Two-tone (music genre)

Two-tone or 2 tone is a genre of British popular music of the early 1980s that fused traditional Jamaican ska music with elements of punk rock and new wave music.[1] Its name derives from 2 Tone Records, a record label founded in 1979 by Jerry Dammers of The Specials,[2] and references a desire to transcend and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher-era Britain; many two-tone groups, such as The Specials, The Selecter, and The Beat featured a mix of black, white, and multiracial people.

For the record label, see 2 Tone Records. For other uses, see Two-tone (disambiguation).

Two-tone
Other names2 Tone
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1970s, Coventry, United Kingdom
Typical instruments
Derivative forms
Other topics

Originating in the Midlands city of Coventry in England in the late 1970s, it was part of the second wave of ska music, following on from the first ska music that developed in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s, and infused it with punk and new wave textures.

Although two-tone's mainstream commercial appeal was largely limited to the UK, it influenced the third wave ska and ska punk movements that developed in the US in the late 1980s and 1990s.[3][4]

History

The two-tone sound originated among young musicians in Coventry in the West Midlands of England, who grew up listening to 1960s Jamaican music.[5] They combined influences from ska, reggae and rocksteady with elements of punk rock and new wave. Bands considered part of the genre include The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, Bad Manners, The Bodysnatchers and Akrylykz.

The Specials' keyboard player Jerry Dammers coined the term "two-tone". Dammers, with the assistance of Horace Panter and graphic designer John "Teflon" Sims, developed the iconic Walt Jabsco logo (a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafers) to represent the two-tone genre. The logo, based on an early album-cover photo of Peter Tosh, included an added black-and-white check pattern.[6][7][8]

Most of the bands considered to be part of the two-tone genre were signed to 2 Tone Records (operative 1979–1985) at some point. Other record labels associated with the two-tone sound were Stiff Records and Go Feet Records. The music was especially popular among skinheads, rudies and mod revivalists.

Museum

On 1 October 2010 the 2-Tone Central museum, cafe and venue opened in the Coventry University Students' Union building, and by August 2011 it had moved to the 2-Tone Village in Stoke, Coventry.[9] It includes exhibition space and the Coventry Music Wall of Fame.[10][11][12][13]

gollark: It is in fact ramblings.
gollark: They basically perform dark rituals.
gollark: We'll move LyricLy into GTech™ perfect simulation of reality 20928996.
gollark: Macron is to be placed under Level ψ containment.
gollark: `(x.y) < z or (x.y) > z`

References
  1. "Ska Revival". AllMusic.
  2. Chris Woodstra. "The Specials". AllMusic.
  3. Selvin, Joel (23 March 2008). "A brief history of ska". San Francisco Chronicle.
  4. "Third Wave Ska Revival". AllMusic.
  5. "Jerry Dammers interview by Alexis Petrides", Mojo, Jan. 2002. Accessed on 2-tone.info 18 October 2007
  6. Horace Panter (2007). Ska'd For Life. Sidgwick & Jackson.
  7. Staple, Neville. Original Rude Boy. Aurum Press, 2009
  8. "British ska legends The Specials. History, lyrics, MP3, 2 Tone, two tone, ska, Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall, Neville Staple, Roddy Byers, Lynval Golding, Horace Panter, John Brad Bradbury". TheSpecials2.com. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  9. "2-TONE CENTRAL-The 2-Tone Museum, Cafe and Venue, Coventry". 2tonecentral.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  10. Chambers, Pete (20 October 2011). "Music Legends Honoured on Coventry's Wall of Fame". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  11. Carpenter, Steve (22 November 2011). "Three more names on Coventry Music Wall of Fame". Coventry Observer. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  12. Manger, Warren (6 December 2011). "Wall of Fame honours more stars who put Coventry on the music map". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  13. Bagot, Martin (6 December 2011). "Coventry music heroes honoured in Wall of Fame". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

Sources

Further reading
  • Williams, Paul You're Wondering Now – The Specials From Conception to Reunion (Cherry Red Books, 2009) ISBN 978-1-901447-51-4
  • Marshall, George, The Two Tone Story, ST Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-9518497-3-5
  • Chambers, Pete, Coventry Market in a Round About Way (Tencton Planet Publications, 2009) ISBN 978-0-9544125-7-9
  • Chambers, Pete, The 2-Tone Trail: The Roots of Two-tone Music (Tencton Planet Publications, 2005) ISBN 978-0-9544125-3-1
  • Thompson, Dave, Wheels Out Of Gear: 2-Tone, The Specials and a World In Flame (Soundcheck Books, 2011) ISBN 978-0-9566420-2-8
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.