Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation
£20.00£25.00 (-20%)
#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 multi-racial 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 middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label’s 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 1979-1981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning end-piece 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.
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Additional information
| Publisher | White Rabbit (19 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 544 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1399607480 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1399607483 |
| Dimensions | 16 x 4.8 x 23.8 cm |
by indomir
Although I proudly wore the badges and the look back in the day, wasn’t going to read this as flicking through it appeared a bit too gushing, bit to fanzine-y (if that’s a word). Did read it in the end on the recommendation of Pete Paphides on the cover (after checking the Acknowledgements that he wasn’t best man at the author’s wedding etc.) and I wasn’t disappointed. |it does start of a bit breathless but it develops in to a terrific read on all the main players even if close up, many were surprisingly unlikable or too curmudgeonly. Also not sure about the long term influence of the label / music, Meet the new boss etc etc. I could have done with some of minor groups (sorry Swinging Cats) stories on a website rather than in the book and a bit more on the socio-political background of the times but the author wrote the book he wanted to write not the one I wanted him to write,
by Amazon Customer
Brilliant well presented book
by Dust
Suggs from Madness says ‘it’s the definitive account’ of 2 Tone – I totally agree.
by Liz
An incredibly well researched, well balanced and addictively readable book. The wider context of the environment that spurred on the emergence of Two Tone was sobering. The fact that there was so much chaos, the clashing artistic differences, the strong personalities, all combining to tragic effect, is not shied away from. However, neither does the book simply use the conflicts to discredit individuals, however much various characters could still, in the present, be quite bitter in their recollections. It is written with a chance at each juncture, to get a wide range of perspectives. In that sense it is very fair, but not bland.
The stories are weaved together to give the reader a wonderful opportunity to journey through that tumultuous period of social change and racist struggles, without any kind of romanticism about the reality of a disparate group of creative musicians making magic. Jerry Dammers’ eccentricity and genius almost flies above the heads of the main players, and maybe we can only really appreciate it with the benefit of hindsight. Even if you know nothing about Two Tone and the music, it’s a good read about social history in Britain, and is a compelling page turner. I have the physical and audiobook version, and have had to mix and match depending on where I am because I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Daniel Rachel has done it again as one of the best music scene documenters. I totally recommend.