News

A new box set next month will anthologize most of the output of influential ska/punk label 2 Tone Records.

2 Tone: The Albums will collect eight major long-playing albums issued by the British label between 1979 and 1984: The Specials’ Specials (1979), More Specials (1980) and In The Studio (1984, issued under a revised line-up and new name, The Special AKA); The Selecter’s Too Much Pressure (1980); Cuban-born Rico Rodriguez’s That Man Is Forward (1981) and Jama Rico (1982); and two compilations: Dance Craze, the soundtrack to the 1981 documentary of the same name covering the 2 Tone label and cultural movement, and 1983’s This Are Two-Tone, which collected non-LP and one-off singles from the label as recorded by The Specials, Madness, The English Beat, The Bodysnatchers and more.

Founded by Specials keyboardist Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone represented the convergence of a “second wave” of ska and reggae music as exported from Jamaica to Europe during the ’60s with the late ’70s punk rock explosion across the United Kingdom. With racial tensions running high in Margaret Thatcher’s England, 2 Tone sought to connect and celebrate the multiracial disciples of reggae culture, and did with comparatively fair music business practices. (Artist contracts required only one single release, after which an artist was free to record elsewhere, garnering exposure for revivalists like Madness and The English Beat early on.)

The movement crossed over into the pop charts with Top 10 singles like The Specials’ “A Message To You Rudy” and chart-toppers “Too Much Too Young” and “Ghost Town,” The Selecter’s “On My Radio” and The Beat’s cover of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ “Tears Of a Clown.” Though the label shuttered in 1985, the music influenced a third wave of ska in America during the mid-’90s, and the iconic label design (featuring the fictional black-and-white character Walt Jabsco) has a surprising influence on a specific character in the font Webdings and a resultant emoji of a levitating man in a business suit.

2 Tone: The Albums is due on September 4.  It features all eight discs in mini-LP reproductions of their original sleeves, enclosed in a lidded rigid box with a 24-page booklet that features new liner notes for each album. Pre-order it at the links below.

2 Tone: The Albums (Chrysalis, 2020)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: The Specials, Specials (originally released as 2 Tone CDLTT 5001, 1979)

1. A Message To You Rudy
2. Do The Dog
3. It’s Up To You
4. Nite Klub
5. Doesn’t Make It Alright
6. Concrete Jungle
7. Too Hot
8. Monkey Man
9. (Dawning Of a) New Era
10. Blank Expression
11. Stupid Marriage
12. Too Much Too Young
13. Little Bitch
14. You’re Wondering Now

Disc 2: The Selecter, Too Much Pressure (originally released as 2 Tone CDLTT 5002, 1980)

1. Three Minute Hero
2. Everyday
3. They Make Me Mad
4. Missing Words
5. Danger
6. Street Feeling
7. My Collie (Not a Dog)
8. Too Much Pressure
9. Murder
10. Out On The Streets
11. Carry Go Bring Come
12. Black and Blue
13. James Bond

Disc 3: The Specials, More Specials (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5003, 1980)

1. Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)
2. Man At C&A
3. Hey, Little Rich Girl
4. Do Nothing
5. Pearl’s Café
6. Sock It To ‘Em J.B.
7. Stereotypes Pt 1
8. Stereotypes Pt 2
9. Holiday Fortnight
10. I Can’t Stand It
11. International Jet Set
12. Enjoy Yourself (Reprise)

Disc 4: Various Artists, Dance Craze (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5004, 1981)

1. Concrete Jungle – The Specials
2. Mirror In The Bathroom – The Beat
3. Lip Up Fatty – Bad Manners
4. Razor Blade Alley – Madness
5. Three Minute Hero – The Selecter
6. Easy Life – The Bodysnatchers
7. Big Shot – The Beat
8. One Step Beyond – Madness
9. Ranking Full Stop – The Beat
10. Man At C&A – The Specials
11. Missing Words – The Selecter
12. Inner London Violence – Bad Manners
13. Night Boat To Cairo – Madness
14. Too Much Pressure – The Selecter
15. Nite Klub – The Specials

All tracks recorded live

Disc 5: Rico, That Man Is Forward (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5005, 1981)

1. Easy Snappin’
2. Fiesta
3. Chang Kai Shek
4. Stay Out Late
5. Red Top
6. X
7. Ganja
8. That Man Is Forward

Disc 6: Rico, Jama Rico (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5006, 1982)

1. Destroy Them
2. We Want Peace
3. Jam Rock
4. Some Day
5. Distant Drums
6. Love and Justice
7. Java
8. Do The Reload
9. Easter Island

Disc 7: Various Artists, This Are Two-Tone (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5007, 1983)

1. Gangsters – The Special AKA
2. Madness – Madness
3. On My Radio – The Selecter
4. The Tears Of a Clown – The Beat
5. A Message To You Rudy – The Specials
6. Too Much Pressure – The Selecter
7. Too Experienced – The Bodysnatchers
8. Ranking Full Stop – The Beat
9. Too Much Too Young (Live) – The Selecter
10. The Selecter – The Selecter
11. Stereotype – The Specials
12. Mantovani – The Swinging Cats
13. Do Nothing – The Specials
14. Jungle Music – Rico & The Special AKA
15. The Boiler – Rhoda Dakar & The Special AKA
16. Ghost Town – The Specials

Tracks 1 and 10 released as 2 Tone single TT1/2, 1979
Track 2 released on 2 Tone single TT3, 1979
Tracks 3 and 6 released on 2 Tone single TT4, 1979
Tracks 4 and 8 released on 2 Tone single TT6, 1979
Track 5 released on 2 Tone single TT5, 1979
Track 7 released on 2 Tone single TT12, 1980
Track 9 released on 2 Tone single TT7, 1980
Track 11 released on 2 Tone single TT13, 1980
Track 12 released on 2 Tone single TT14, 1980
Track 13 released on 2 Tone single TT16, 1980
Track 14 released on 2 Tone single TT19, 1982
Track 15 released on 2 Tone single TT18, 1982
Track 16 released on 2 Tone single TT17, 1981

Disc 8: The Special AKA, In The Studio (originally released as 2 Tone CHRTT 5008, 1984)

1. Bright Lights
2. The Lonely Crowd
3. What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend
4. Housebound
5. Night On The Tiles
6. Nelson Mandela
7. War Crimes (The Crime Is Still The Same)
8. Racist Friend
9. Alcohol
10. Break Down The Door