Why 2 TONE ska is my favourite music genre

Why 2 TONE ska is my favourite music genre

This is an article written for the #julyinleo writing prompt series with today being Day 22.... and a thank you to @deraaa as I read her Rap Takes The Crown! this morning and had not realised what a fun prompt today is!

Today's topic could quite aptly be described as ANOTHER Happy Topic!

Catch the original announcement in this thread

Day 22 What's your favorite music genre? Share it with us in the community Afri-Tunes! With some dope recommendations!
👇🏼

Brilliant topic ... I love music ...

I have an advantage over most of you as I am an old man thank you she who shall remain nameless, that advantage being that I have listened to a hell of a lot of music genres.

I love lots of genres and subgenres but I am going to talk about one genre which is easily my favourite and has a few of my favourite bands in as well, so I don't need to pick one band as my favourite band, as I find that nigh on impossible.

The genre is easy the tunes aren't fluff me I could write and write about them.

So fluff it, let's dive in and get you kids into the time machine because we are going back not to the last decade, actually going back to the last millennium!

2 tone ska

Bam I said, my favourite genre is 2 tone ska. I think some of you might recognise some of the tunes as I tend to mention some from time to time.

2 tone as you might guess and I am sure you would from the black and white chequered background was all about getting whites and blacks mixing.

I grew up and was in a boarding school at aged ten in Edinburgh Scotland, So in my dorm you had me the Northern Irish white boy as I had not lost my Belfast accent, you have Hostie a black boy from Sierra Leone in Africa, Stephen a British/Hong Kong asian boy, David a white boy from South Africa and Dalip a hindi from India.

Yeah we were like the United Nations, we had different skin colour and different religions. Yet we just boys, we had no concept of racism. We were all equal and that is how I am today.

Unfortunately my travels found that more often than not we more viscious against our own skin colour, I am think of the many African civil wars I got caught up in and look now with Russia and Ukraine.

Tengo ... Stop just waffling and play some fluffing tunes while you waffle...

Ok this is special and you will find out why in a minute

The Specials - Gangsters

This just has to be played because it was released in May 1979 and is the very first single from the 2 tone ska genre.

This first release on 2 Tone record label was a story of how The Specials were touring with punk Gods the Clash.

It was a hit and 2 Tone took off.

2 Tone ska ~ The origin

When the UK invited Caribbean immigrants to come and help rebuild the UK after war between the 1940s and probably 1970s many of them settled in cities in the Est Midlands such as Coventry.

It meant you had youngsters raised on a diet of ska, reggae and rocksteady - all music of Caribbean origin that was given a new spark of life by a generation that was raised on punk and new wave.

This uptempo ska genre was officially named when The Specials' Jerry Dammers with support from major label Chrysalis in 1979 founded 2 Tone records and the name was used to describe this genre.

The Beat ~ Tears of a Clown

Part of the ethos of 2 Tone was to transcend and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher's Britain at the time.

This was why the label incorporated a black and white chequered motif. Most of the bands were multicultural typified by The Beat who were fronted by the white Dave Wakeling and the black Ranking Roger Saxophonist Saxa was considerably older than the rest of the band, but brought an authentic Jamaican vibe to The Beat's take on ska.

Fun fact about The Beat and this song which was a charged up remake of the Smokey Robinson Motown hit.
Dave Wakeling the singer of The Beat was born 19 February 1956 and Smokey Robinson born same day just years later on 19 February 1940

Sharp dressers!

Unlike the punks, the 2-Tone crowd dressed sharply and created an energetic sound that immediately appealed to single buyers around the country. Remember vinylwas all we had when I was growing up so singles and album covers could get a sale even if people were swithering about the music.

2 Tone was mostly lads often in sharp suits but they were a few girls in there too. The wonderful Pauline Black fronted The Selecter and who could forget the iconic On The Radio tune.

But I shall include a tune from an all-female group.

The Bodysnatchers - What's This

The Bodysnatchers were fronted by the awesome Rhoda Dakar and toured with The Specials, The Selecter and Madness.

Some members went on to form The Belle Stars who enjoyed a brief chart run in the mid 80s.

Why do I like 2 Tone ska

I love the uptempo beat. I loved punk and ska so 2 Tone was a natural blend. I have always loved the sax and trumpet so the whole sound just makes you want to dance and be happy.

Dr Marten's boots were in my punk phase and then the black shoes in my 2 Tone phase as you could were them to school! I even wore them to work for many years with my whistle and flutes down in London!

Other bands in the 2 Tone ska genre

I said I could go on and on about 2 Tone music, I have not mentioned the Nutty Boys themselves Madness who are probably my all time favourite band. Actually this prompt has motivated me into posting a ttt tomorrow on Madness.

The Selector, JB's Allstars, Bad Madness and even Elvis Costello released songs on 2 Tone at one point.

In total there were 15 bands to release material on 2 Tone record label.

A tribute for Afri-tunes

I thought it would be fitting to close out this post on 2 Tone ska music to give a tribute to one of the greatest Africans that ever lived ...

Here is ....

The Special AKA - Nelson Mandela

Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple left to form Fun Boy Three. Jerry Dammers kept The Specials aka The Special AKA going with an ever-changing line-up. Dammers' finest moment in this post Terry Hall ineup was Free Nelson Mandela, a protest song about the imprisonment of Mandela by the South African government. Making the UK Top 10 in 1984, the song highlighted Mandela's name and brought the apartheid policies of South Africa to a wider audience. Mandela was freed from prison in 1990.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about 2 Tone ska my favourite genre of music!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week ahead.

Sources and Reference documents

This article is an entry for this month's Inleo writing initiative #julyinleo

You can find all the details in this thread

Today's prompt is Day 22 What's your favorite music genre?

DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND DO IT OFTEN

Haste Ye Back!

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