2-tone

2-tone is a name for the music and culture of the second wave ska of the early 1980s. The name of the movement evolved from the name of the record label 2 Tone Records, on which the first representatives of this wave ( The Specials, The Beat, Madness) published their music.

Jerry Dammers produced in March 1979 under the name The Specials who recorded on their own single Gangsters ( on the back of The Selecter ), a remake of the good old ska. Since the record was released under the label 2 Tone Records was founded by Jerry, was the music that stormed the charts, sometimes referred to in the UK as well as "2- tone" or "two-tone ".

Only The Selecter and The Specials of the better known bands of the 2-tone played in the true sense by mixed classic ska elements with elements of new wave and punk. Although the era after also two -tone bands, to Madness and Bad Manners distinguished by the total absence of any harder style elements significantly from the typical two -tone sound.

No later than the reorientation of Madness away from ska and the separation of ideas ( 1981) round off the 2-tone era and with the advent of bands, which in turn take the 2-tone representative for model (eg, The Toasters or even in the UK the Loafers and The Hotknives and the other bands on the label Skank ), 2-tone is replaced by the so-called " Third Wave ".

In the style of bands that are explicitly based on the mentioned bands, such as the Beatbusters or Two Tone Club 2-tone lives on, at least as a concept of style.

The most important bands of the 2-tone era

• The Specials
• Madness
• The Selecter
• Bad Manners
• The Beat