As if by some magical alignment of the planets, the  Specials, Madness and the Beat were all listening to the same music and developing the same look at precisely the same time, though completely unaware of each other. And when they started releasing records, the 10 year-old Daniel Rachel was transfixed. What happen next is recorded in his hectic and engrossing book, Too Much Too Young: the 2-Tone Records Story, the huge characters, the daily dramas, “the dance sensation that’s sweeping the nation”, a period whose white heat really only lasted 18 months but had a massive cultural impact at the time (indeed its crucible, Coventry, now has a 2-Tone Village!). And the movement’s main architect, Jerry Dammers, was a middle-class, ex-hippie art student raised in the church. All sorts of points come up in this engaging pod, among them …

… the pivotal meeting between Suggs and Dammers at the Hope & Anchor.

… the significance of Walt Jabsco and the 2-Tone merchandise – “when the rag trade gets hold of you, you’re made”.

… the crossover between violence at gigs and football matches in the late ‘70s and the right-wing factions that attached themselves to Madness.

… how the music press adored 2-Tone then brutally turned the tables.

… Rico, Saxa and the revolutionary twin-generational line-ups of the Specials and the Beat.

.… why the Bodysnatchers only lasted 11 months.

… why 2-Tone failed in America until the Dance Craze movie arrived.

… how each member of the Specials thought they were in a different band.

… why there were so many “2-Tone casualties”.

… and the brief window between punk and electronic pop that helped 2-Tone take off.

Order ‘Too Much Too Young: the 2-Tone Records’ story here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Too-Much-Young-Soundtrack-Generation/dp/1399607480

Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxi

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