Lee Morris - 2 Tone - Before, During & After BOOK

Books are signed by the author!

Description:
In 1979, 2 Tone Records was founded by Jerry Dammers, the founder and keyboard player in The Special AKA. He had a vision and wanted to create the British version of Motown, the similarities with his hometown of Coventry were already there. He’d already put his own band of black and white musicians together and they hit the charts with the release of Gangsters in 1979. 2 Tone then went on to sign and release records by other bands, Madness, The Selecter and The Beat, all of whom fused punk, ska and reggae and dragged it into the present.

The record label had no fewer than 15 Top 40 singles and they continued the trend, signing The Swinging Cats, Rico and even released a single by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, or did they?As time moved on, the label branched out to accommodate the funk era and signed a number of non-ska bands with The Higsons, The Apollinaires, The Friday Club and JB’s Allstars all releasing singles on the label in the 1980s. However, 2 Tone’s light had faded and by 1986 it had been closed down permanently. The story of these particular bands has never been covered in great detail in print before, until now! 2 Tone: Before, During & After tells the story, before, during & after of each band that appeared on the label and also updates the story on each member with a full Where Are They Now? section, covering every single musician that ever appeared on the label.
Format: Half size
Year of publication: 2020
Number of pages: 204