When I was at university I got turned on to a lot of 2 Tone British Ska like The Specials and The English Beat...later, when I co-fronted that reggae/funk-rock band, Full Stop I got to hook up with phat local acts like the Skunks, Tweed Sneakers and Boy O Boy (now Defying Gravity) but the ska scene in the US had lulled, though there were still a handful of bands who were still into it fast forward a few years later...I remember watching the resurgence of the genre in Orange County but something wasn't the same...these acts were missing something that I couldn't put my finger on...though I did like the Skatalite-tinged opening to "Spider Web" I've always felt that No Doubt lacked an intangible part of the ska formula and the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, I'm sorry fans, just can't hold a porkpie hat to Pauline Black and the Selecter...they just don't, and that's word, son...there's a feel to that British 2 Tone that I just haven't found anywhere else, I don't know if it was in the bangers 'n mash or the fish 'n chips but there was something intrinsic to the groups who trekked out of London and onto American shores...check this rude boy classic by the Specials called "Gangsters":
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That was fun stuff, I was into all that in high school. Still pull out those albums now & again for kicks.
Sock it to 'em, J.B.!
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Some friends of mine were support act to The Selecter a couple of years ago. They're still a tight live act. I never understood how the Beat became the most popular of the 2-Tone acts in the U.S. They were probably the poorest, musically and lyrically. Along with Jerry Dammers of The Specials Pauline Black was and is still today the most talented of the movement. Btw the 2-Tone movement didn't come out of London, the majority of the acts were from Coventry in the Midlands, the main exception being Madness.
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Look up the Kray Brothers, they were a pair of twin Gangsters in London during the 50-60's... That is who this song may be about.
k
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Yep, they were called the Coventry Automatics...and then the Specials (look in my music list), you're right on w/ that Pauline Black respect (even Angelo Moore from Fishbone emulated her singing style in the early days )...thanks for the shout, good to know it's still going strong...it's one of the first scenes I'm planning to check when I get over there, yo...
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We ditched school and drove to Hollywood to eat at Pinks, shop at FLIP and Vinyl Fetish and Dance in the movie theater to the film DANCE CRAZE! THE BEAT mirror in the bathroom THE SELECTOR on my radio THE SPECIALS concrete jungle BAD MANNERS MADNESS one step beyond BODYSNATCHERS We all danced in the movie theater! That period of musical history is pretty unique, it was brief, too! Specials singer Terry Hall wrote "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the GO GO's! Then Fun Boy Three and then I moved on!
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Probably the right decision to move on, Tony. Terry Hall formed the Colourfield next, who I like to define as the musical equivalent of rigar mortis. If it wasn't for 2-Tone I wouldn't of gone back to the roots of ska/reggae and discovered the delights of the Trojan, Studio One, and Blue Beat Ska labels.
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I've read that "Gangsters" was the group screaming on the record label thugs who were jacking them for dough...and Yeah, Sureshot, there's a grip of stuff from the yardies over in Jamaica too...that Christine Keeler, Dekkar, Alphonso, Skatalite stuff (which I got a plethora of from mail order on Trojan, one of the great catalogue labels)...
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You're right. The second- and third-generation ska doesn't have the same depth as the first Selecter or Specials records. I think it may be because the Two-Tone bands were still pretty connected to the Jamaican roots of the music. They were taking their cues from Prince Buster, Alton Ellis, et al. The next time ska came around, those bands were taking their cues from the Specials and the Selecter. Somewhere along the way, ska lost its connection to black music. That's when it started to become two-dimensional and dull. (To my way of thinking, anyhow.)
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Nice put Ivylander! Al Capone don't argue!...Prince Buster was quite nice and, although a lot of Jamaicans got tucked up by the managers there, Coxsone Dodd studios shite really rocked...even when the recording themselves stank to high heaven...the post 2 Tone stuff was more "Punky" than "Yardie"...and, if you get a chance to check American Hardcore, you'll see -- punk withered on the vine rather quickly...
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Just compare Prince Buster's "Whine and Grine" to the Beat's. Now, I'm not pissing on the Beat or nothin', but there's no comparison....
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There is none, Buster grew up in the cradle of the whole scene and the Beat sped up and watered down that cut...when I was younger it worked for me but now...the old grey horse ain't what he used to be, so to speak...but all wasn't lost, I've heard a live version of "Rough Rider" by the Selecter that blew the doors off of the Beat...not to pick on them again...
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Nice Crash, the 2-Tone ska era kicked my butt good. Ivylander hit it on the head, that the 2-Tone bands were still grooving on Jamaican ska and reggae when they weren't listening to UK punk. That same influence also informed The Clash, in songs like "Guns of Brixton", and later post-punk bands like the Slits and the Ruts. I don't see any of the uninitiated here, but if there are, check out the "This Are 2-Tone" compilation, it's a great entry point.
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...and don't forget the Clash's version of Police and Thieves (ooh yeah-ah!)...yeah, I got that "This Are Two Tone" a while back...adding more insult to an insult, as I type this (I swear) there's a Maxwell House coffee commercial on spoofin' Madness' "Our House" tune...oooh the inhumanity of it all, yo!
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I know ... Madison Avenue is already way busy getting their hooks into my children, and now they're ruining my teenage years.
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...it was all over for me when Bob Marley's "One Love" was co-opted for the JA travel board commercials...but what're ya gonna do? (lookit my icon)...truth is, the shite that was once sneered upon by the suits (which was what made it appealing) is being mined by people our age...who have now BECOME the very thing they railed against in their youth (somewhere, Elton John's singing "The Circle of Life")...
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2-Tone and jamaican ska are still both staples of the UK scooter rally scene. There's nothing better than a scooterist/mod weekender. Northern Soul, 2-Tone and Trojan spun all night long under one roof. These days they often have a separate room for indie and punk also. It's a scene well worth experiencing if you're ever in the UK.
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when the fugg is that? What week in the year? LMK SureShot...
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There's about 8 per year. The main ones are held on holiday weekends, usually in coastal resort towns. None during winter though as they're camping events.
Think Quadrophenia without the pitched battles with rockers :)
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that's cool, I'll look 'em up when I get closer to that time...thanks Shotty...
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HEY i ain't never hear that,that is too kool.i DIG it
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One thing that always bugged the Specials was that they where a multi-racial band preaching class solidarity who where followed by a large skinhead fanbase who hated blacks. Skinheads could just not see the argument that you can't hate blacks and love reggae and ska. As for Terry Hall, he was in a band called The Funboy Three after the Specials who had quite a lot of success in the UK writing 'Our Lips are Sealed' which was a big hit for some girl band in the States. After that the Specials released possible the most harrowing single ever; The Boiler.
http://www.lyricsdir.com/the-specials-the-boiler-lyrics.html
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i completely forgot about them
going to download