As mentioned in a previous post in this blog, the Punk and New Wave years unleashed a whole new group of Do It Yourself record companies. '2 Tone' were just one of those labels.
'2 Tone' was the creation of Jerry Dammers, the founder member of the Coventry based ska revival band best known as The Specials.
"Gangsters" was the first single on the '2 Tone' record label and was released in March of 1979, getting to number 6 in the UK charts.
As you can see from the photo above, the band were credited as 'The Special A.K.A' at this time. But, they had changed their name to the more widely known 'The Specials' by the time of their second single release, "A Message To You, Rudy", which was also released in 1979.
The release of "Gangsters" had a big impact on UK music at the time of its release and sparked off a whole revival of Ska music, a genre often referred to as 'Two Tone'. It also helped to kickstart the formation of many other UK based Ska bands such as Madness, The Selecter and The Beat, all of whose first singles were released on the '2 Tone' label.
The song "Gangsters" is often thought to be at least partly about 'The Specials' early manager and also manager of The Clash, Bernie Rhodes. The song starts with the lyrics, "Why must you record my phone calls? Are you planning a bootleg LP?"
The Specials, who originally formed in 1977 at the height of the Punk era, were given their first big break by Joe Strummer. Who, in typical Joe Strummer fashion, invited the band to open for The Clash on one of their UK tours. Hence the brief association with The Clash's manager.
As was the case with many of the early Two Tone era releases, "Gangsters" was a reworking of an old Jamaican ska tune, this time Prince Buster's "Al Capone".
The B Side of the single was not credited to The Special A.K.A, or even The Specials. It is instead a track called "The Selecter" by The Selecter. The song is credited to John Bradbury, the drummer with The Specials and Noel Davis.
"The Selecter" is even credited as being the second '2 Tone' release, having the serial number 'TT2' on the record itself. "Gangsters" is 'TT1'.
Confusing isn't it?
The complete single is in fact basically a Double A Side. Effectively splitting the record between The Special A.K.A and The Selecter. It's just that "Gangsters" was always the most popular track and the one that got all of the attention and radio play, at the time.
After the success of the single, Noel Davis then formed the previously mentioned band, The Selecter. They went on to have several hit singles in their own right over the coming years, many of them on the '2 Tone' label.
The "Gangsters" single featured the first outing of a fictional character called 'Walt Jabsco', who can be seen in the artwork gracing the records label itself. The design of 'Walt Jabsco' was loosely based on an old image of Peter Tosh, an early member of Bob Marley's band The Wailers.
'Walt' was to feature on many of the record sleeves and labels of the '2 Tone' record releases, as well as appearing on countless t.shirts, posters etc.
The 'Walt Jabsco' character fitted in perfectly with the whole ethos of '2 Tone' records. The black and white colouring and '2 Tone' name was meant to signify the bands aim of bringing people of different colours together, peacefully and through music.
This was at a time when the whole Rock Against Racism movement was very active in the UK. A cause that The Specials were very supportive of.
As if to emphasise this, in 1984 The Specials released a single called "Free Nelson Mandela". That song became something of an unofficial anthem for all those people across the world, campaigning for the release of Nelson Mandela.
The Specials split up, or were effectively dissolved by founder member Jerry Dammers, in 1984, not long after the "Free Nelson Mandela" single. They have since reformed, minus Jerry Dammers himself, and are still touring to much acclaim in 2012.
The influence of The Specials and of the '2 Tone' record label is still felt today and not just because the band are still touring either. Their music stands the test of time, both lyrically and musically, even after 30 years.
Their 1981 chart topping single "Ghost Town" regularly features in lists of the best UK singles ever. Something that i certainly wouldn't disagree with.
I loved the music of the Two Tone movement and bought many of the singles and albums of the bands from that era. I still have most of those vinyl singles, especially those by The Specials, who along with The Beat were probably my favourite of the bands to emerge at that time.
I'm sure many young people in the late 1970's were introduced and exposed to Ska music for the very first time because of bands like The Specials. That cannot be a bad thing.
Although i can remember reggae and ska music from the old Trojan record label, back in the late 1960's. I was still a bit too young to really appreciate it fully and certainly too young to buy any of the records at the time.
The 'Two Tone' movement that The Specials helped to start and the whole ethos that went with it, all those years ago, is still very relevant today.
The '2 Tone' record label itself has also influenced musicians and music makers, from that day to this, by showing them that they can bypass those major record labels and just do it themselves.
The fact that i've chosen to talk about the band and their music here and also to end up writing far more than i ever anticipated, maybe goes to prove that?
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