If Two Tone was a peculiarly British movement, The Specials were its defining group. A vivid snapshot of what it meant to be trapped in a post-industrial Midlands town at the dawn of the eighties, Jerry Dammers sardonic, wholly contemporary lyrics voiced in a bored, post punk monotone by Terry Hall, encompassed tales of teenage pregnancy, piss stinking clubs and racist violence, tapping into the mood of a divided, disillusioned, grey nation that had just elected Thatcher.
The stylistic motif for Two Tone was a black and white check design that symbolised the idea of racial harmony and musical hybrids. If one moment marked the breakdown of late seventies fascism it was when ‘Gangsters’ crashed into the top ten. The skinhead element had always struggled with loving Jamaican music while hating Jamaicans but with Two Tone they struggled to sustain that odd philosophy despite some of the more pathologically Neanderthal sticking with it. Virtually all punk related gigs at that time involved taking your chances and hoping you could outnumber or outrun the skins. And none more so than those by Two Tone’s most visible standard bearers.
Like The Specials, The Beats concept was punk meets reggae although in their hands it was more like fast skank than ska. I always thought there was something a little too morally impeccable about The Beat. They weren’t dull but they were definitely worthy. That’s something that could never be said about Madness. Initially, the North London seven piece appeared as pure comic relief next to the sombre Specials. And yet behind the off putting ‘nuttiness’ was an intelligence and melancholy that gradually came to the fore as they morphed into a bastardised cross between The Kinks and Ian Dury. Madness attracted the largest skinhead following of the lot, undoubtedly because they were the only ska group with no black members at all. Initially reluctant to dismiss the bootboy element they eventually conceded but it’s still slightly depressing that the only all white Two Tone associated group should have the greatest long term success. On the other hand The Selecter, all black except one, were the first to fade away.
The rise of Two Tone encompassed two other groups who went on to massive success but could never be called ska revivalists. Both UB40 and Dexys Midnight Runners were wanted for Two Tone by Jerry Dammers, both with completely different yet valid connections to the movement through reggae and soul respectively. Inevitably, as the momentum increased, a vast exploitation industry sprang up, churning out shoddy black and white suits, pork pie hats and badges. Clone ska groups swarmed across the nation. They were all shit and disappeared just as quickly all except the unashamedly dumb Bad Manners, adored by ten year old skinheads and their grannies alike.
In the end it was left to Jerry Dammers to fool all the kids and the clones with the release of More Specials. With its full colour cover announcing the end of the black and white aesthetic with its full colour cover, the music’s uneasy, kitschedelic mix of movie scores and muzak left The Specials pork pie hatted audience completely bewildered. The group too appeared uneasy, confused and dejected as they continued to drown in a wave of tribal violence at every show albeit that their finest hour was yet to come, finally arriving in June 1981 with ‘Ghost Town’. Equally inspired by a trip to Jamaica and the effect of Thatcher’s policies on Coventry’s economy and nightlife, the song sketched a chillingly cinematic sonic portrait of de-industrialization. The most politically timely and momentous release since ‘God Save The Queen’ it effectively killed The Specials and Two Tone stone dead.
Somewhere between a movement and a fad, the ska revival had lasted just a couple of years. And yet it still stands as one of the few examples in pop history of a revival that was actually better than the original, more musically expansive, more resonant and ultimately more defining of its own epoch. It is certainly the one best remembered by those entering pensionable age who can’t help but go all misty eyed with nostalgia at the thought of it.
01. SPECIAL AKA ‘Gangsters’ (AA Side July 1979)
02. MADNESS ‘The Prince’ (A Side August 1979)
03. THE SPECIALS ‘Stupid Marriage’ (The Specials LP October 1979)
04. THE SELECTER ‘On My Radio’ (A Side October 1979)
05. MADNESS ‘Razorblade Alley’ (One Step Beyond LP October 1979)
06. DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS ‘Dance Stance’ (A Side November 1979)
07. THE BEAT ‘Ranking Full Stop’ (AA Side December 1979)
08. SPECIAL AKA ‘Too Much Too Young’ (Live EP January 1980)
09. UB40 ‘Food For Thought’ (A Side January 1980)
10. BAD MANNERS ‘Inner London Violence’ (Ska’n’B LP January 1980)
11. THE BEAT ‘Hands Off She’s Mine’ (A Side February 1980)
12. MADNESS ‘The Young And The Old’ (Work Rest And Play EP March 1980)
13. THE BODYSNATCHERS ‘Let’s Do Rock Steady’ (AA Side March 1980)
14. THE BEAT ‘Whine And Grine / Stand Down Margaret’ (I Just Can’t Stop It LP May 1980)
15. THE SPECIALS ‘Stereotype’ (A Side September 1980)
16. MADNESS ‘Not Home Today’ (Absolutely LP September 1980)
17. THE SPECIALS ‘Do Nothing’ (More Specials LP September 1980)
18. THE BEAT ‘Too Nice To Talk To’ (A Side December 1980)
19. MADNESS ‘Grey Day’ (A Side April 1981)
20. THE SPECIALS / ‘Ghost Town’ [12” Version] (A Side June 1981)