2 tone records

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2 tone records
Active years Since 1979
founder Jerry Dammers
Seat United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Website 2-tone.info
Genre (s) Ska, reggae

2 Tone Records (also Two Tone Records or 2-Tone Records ) was a British music label , which from July 1979 to the mid-1980s mainly released ska and reggae- influenced music that was perceived in the context of punk rock and new wave . The label 2 Tone was the trigger and namesake of the 2-tone music and culture scene, which in the 1980s took up the ska tradition of the 1960s and expanded it to include elements of punk / new wave. His trademark were the two tones ("two tone") black and white, in particular as a silhouette of a person in the black and white color scheme of the label on the plates - demonstration of the multiracial background of the new Ska movement.

Label history

The label was founded in Coventry in 1979 by Jerry Dammers , the head of the English ska revival band The Specials . Actually, it was only supposed to be used to bring out your own records. When the Specials broke up in 1985, that was the end of the label; later some compilation albums were released.

In addition to the specials, the 2 Tone label also included the prominent ska bands The Selecter , Madness and The Beat in the first year, but all of them switched to other record companies within the first two years. The contracts with 2 Tone Records allowed any artist to leave the label even after releasing just one single (a practice not otherwise common in the music industry in the early 1980s). Both Madness and The Beat took advantage of this - Madness signed after the first hit with Stiff Records , The Beat founded their own label Go Feet Records . The Selecter switched to Chrysalis Records , who were also responsible for the distribution of 2 Tone Records .

The 2 Tone label was very successful; of the first 20 single releases, 16 were able to place in the British charts, two of which reached number one position; of the first ten LP releases, seven hit the charts.

2 Tone Records was closely associated with the ska revival of the early 1980s. When the wave subsided, Dammers still tried to reach the label's clientele with releases from funk punk band The Higsons or the jazz radio from The Apollinaires , but with little success.

Quote

“Strictly speaking, 2 Tone doesn't even exist as a record label. It's more of a parody of a record label - apart from the fact that it's more successful than all the real ones! ”Jerry Dammers, 1979

Artist on 2 Tone Records

Discography

Singles

the singles on 2 tones were:

  • 1979: TT1 / 2 The Special AKA - Gangsters / The Selecter - The Selecter ( UK - Charts No. 6)
  • 1979: TT3 Madness - The Prince / Madness (UK # 16)
  • 1979: TT4 The Selecter - Too Much Pressure / On My Radio (UK # 8)
  • 1979: TT5 The Specials featuring Rico + - A Message to You Rudy / Nite Klub (UK Charts # 10)
  • 1979: TT6 The Beat - Tears of a Clown / Ranking Full Stop (UK # 6)
  • 1980: TT7 (unpublished, but some copies were pressed) Elvis Costello & the Attractions - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down / Girls Talk
  • 1980: TT7 The Special aka live! featuring Rico (EP) - Too Much Too Young / Guns of Navarone // Skinhead Symphony (Longshot Kick the Bucket / Liquidator / Skinhead Moonstomp) ( UK # 1 )
  • 1980: TT8 The Selecter - Three Minute Hero / James Bond (UK # 16)
  • 1980: TT9 The Bodysnatchers - Let's Do Rock Steady / Ruder Than You (UK # 22) (first pressings of the single incorrectly give the title as People Do Rock Steady )
  • 1980: TT10 The Selecter - Missing Words / Carry Go Bring Come (UK # 23)
  • 1980: TT11 The Specials - Rat Race / Rude Buoys Outa Jail (UK # 5)
  • 1980: TT12 The Bodysnatchers - Easy Life / Too Experienced (UK # 50)
  • 1980: TT13 The Specials - Stereotype / International Jet Set (UK # 6)
  • 1980: TT14 The Swinging Cats - Away / Mantovani
  • 1980: TT15 Rico - Sea Cruise / Carolina
  • 1980: TT16 The Specials - Do Nothing / Maggie's Farm (UK # 4)
  • 1981: TT17 The Specials - Ghost Town // Why? / Friday Night, Saturday Morning ( UK # 1 )
  • 1982: TT18 Rhoda with the Special aka - The Boiler / Theme from the Boiler (UK # 35)
  • 1982: TT19 Rico and the Special AKA - Jungle Music / Rasta Call You
  • 1982: TT20 The Apollinaires - The Feeling's Gone / The Feeling's Back
  • 1982: TT21 The Higsons - Tear The Whole Thing Down / Ylang Ylang
  • 1982: TT22 The Apollinaires - Envy The Love / Give It Up
  • 1982: TT23 The Special AKA - War Crimes (The Crime Remains The Same) / Version
  • 1983: TT24 The Higsons - Run Me Down / Put The Punk Back Into Funk
  • 1983: TT25 The Special AKA - Racist Friend / Bright Lights ( UK - Charts # 60)
  • 1984: TT26 The Special AKA - Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door ( UK - Charts No. 9)
  • 1984: TT27 The Special AKA - What I Like Most About You Is Your Girl Friend / Can't Get A Break
  • 1985: TT28 The Friday Club - Window Shopping / Window Shopping (Instrumental)
  • 1986: TT29 JB's Allstars - The Alphabet Army / Al. poor
  • 1991: TT30 The Specials - Ghost Town (revisted) / Ghost Dub '91
  • 1993: TT31 Various - The 2 Tone EP (EP) - The Special AKA - Gangsters / Madness - The Prince // The Selecter - On my Radio / The Beat - Tears Of A Clown

Albums

The LPs on 2 tones were:

  • TT5001 The Specials - The Specials (1980, UK # 4)
  • TT5002 The Selecter - The Selecter (1980, UK # 5)
  • TT5003 The Specials - More Specials (1981, UK # 5)
  • TT5004 Various Artists - Dance Craze (1981, Soundtrack, UK # 5)
  • TT5005 Rico - That Man Is Forward (1981)
  • TT5006 Rico - Jama Rico (1982)
  • TT5007 Various Artists - This Are Two Tone (1983, compilation; UK # 51)
  • TT5008 The Special AKA - In the Studio (1984, UK # 34)
  • TT5009 Various Artists - The 2 Tone Story (1989, UK # 16)
  • TT5010 The Specials - The Specials Singles (compilation, 1991)
  • TT5011 The Specials - Live at the Moonlight Club 1979 (1992)
  • TT5012 Various Artists - The Best of 2 Tone
  • TT5013 Various Artists - The Compact 2 Tone Story

literature

  • Pete Chambers: The 2-Tone Trail (with a foreword by Neol Davies of The Selecter ). Tencton Planet, Coventry 2005

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Strictly speaking, it doesn't really exist as a record label. It's more like a piss take of a record label - except it's actually more successful than all the proper ones! " Quoted in the booklet for the CD The 2 Tone Story , 1989 BMG / Chrysalis 353 657