Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story Audiobook Libro.fm

2 UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

In 1979 2 Tone exploded into the national consciousness as records by The Specials The Selecter Madness The Beat and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born

2 Tone was black and white a multiracial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues racism class and gender struggles It spoke of injustices in society and took fight against right wing extremism

The music of 2 Tone was exuberant white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae and crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry masterminded by a middleclass art student raised in the church Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown Borrowing 700 the labels first record featured Gangsters by The Specials backed by an instrumental track by the as yet unformed Selecter Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts Dammers signed Madness The Beat and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation However soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination

Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers 2 Tone entered in a new phase Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 19791981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning endpiece finale in Free Nelson Mandela

Told in three parts Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief bright burning moment shaped British culture