{{Short description|British popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s}} {{not to be confused|Reggae punk|Twelve-tone music}} {{for multi|the record label|2 Tone Records|other uses|Two-tone (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Use British English|date=March 2013}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Two-tone | other_names = {{hlist|2 tone|ska-rock|ska revival}} | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Ska]]|[[rocksteady]]|[[reggae]]|[[punk rock]]|[[new wave music|new wave]]<ref name="AllM Revival">{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/style/ska-revival-ma0000002403 |title=Ska Revival |work=AllMusic}}</ref>}} | cultural_origins = Late 1970s, [[Coventry]], England | derivatives = {{hlist|[[Ska punk]]|new tone<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.goldminemag.com/artist-news/mighty-mighty-bosstones-joe-gittleman-thrives-on-new-lp-with-ska-newcomers |title= Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Joe Gittleman thrives on new LP with ska newcomers |date=26 May 2023 |website=GoldmineMag.com |access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref>}} | subgenres = | fusiongenres = | other_topics = * [[2 Tone Records]] * [[reggae rock]] }}
'''Two-tone''', or '''2 tone''', also known as '''ska revival''',<ref name="AllM Revival" /> is a genre of British popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s that fused traditional [[Jamaica]]n [[ska]], [[rocksteady]], and [[reggae]] music with elements of [[punk rock]] and [[new wave music|new wave]] music.<ref name="AllM Revival" /> Its name derives from [[2 Tone Records]], a record label founded in 1979 by [[Jerry Dammers]] of [[the Specials]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-specials-mn0000482334/biography |title=The Specials |first=Chris |last=Woodstra |work=AllMusic}}</ref> and references a desire to transcend and defuse racial tensions in [[Premiership of Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher-era Britain]]: many two-tone groups, such as [[the Specials]], [[the Selecter]] and [[The Beat (British band)|the Beat]], featured a mix of [[black people|black]], [[white people|white]], and [[multiracial people]].
Originating in [[Coventry]] in the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] of [[England]] in the late 1970s, it was part of the second wave of ska music. It followed on from the first ska music that developed in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s, infused with [[punk rock|punk]] and [[new wave music|new wave]] textures.
Although two-tone's mainstream commercial appeal was largely limited to the UK, it influenced the [[ska punk]] movement that developed in the US in the late 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/a-brief-history-of-ska-3221107.php |title=A brief history of ska |date=23 March 2008 |last=Selvin |first=Joel |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/style/third-wave-ska-revival-ma0000012129 |title=Third Wave Ska Revival |work=AllMusic}}</ref>
==History== The two-tone sound originated among young musicians in [[Coventry]] in the West Midlands of England, who grew up listening to 1960s [[Jamaican music]].<ref>[http://2-tone.info/artists/the_specials.html "Jerry Dammers interview by Alexis Petrides"], ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'', Jan 2002. Accessed on 2-tone.info 18 October 2007</ref> They combined influences from [[ska]], [[reggae]] and [[rocksteady]] with elements of [[punk rock]] and [[New wave music|new wave]]. Bands considered part of the genre include [[the Specials]], [[the Selecter]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[The Beat (British band)|the Beat]], [[Bad Manners]], [[The Bodysnatchers (band)|the Bodysnatchers]] and [[Akrylykz]].
The Specials' keyboard player [[Jerry Dammers]] coined the term "two-tone". Dammers, with the assistance of [[Horace Panter]] and graphic designer John "Teflon" Sims, developed the iconic ''Walt Jabsco'' logo (a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, [[pork pie hat]], white socks and black [[loafers]]) to represent the two-tone genre. The logo, based on an early album-cover photo of [[Peter Tosh]], included an added black-and-white [[Check (pattern)|check pattern]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Horace |last=Panter |author-link=Horace Panter |title=Ska'd for Life |publisher=[[Sidgwick & Jackson]] |date=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Neville Staple |last=Staple |first=Neville |title=[[Original Rude Boy]] |publisher=[[Aurum Press]] |date=2009 |isbn=9781845134808}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=British ska legends The Specials |url= http://www.thespecials2.com/history2.php |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190322150011/http://www.thespecials2.com/history2.php |archive-date=22 March 2019 |access-date=28 June 2014 |work=TheSpecials2.com}}</ref>
Most of the bands considered to be part of the two-tone genre were signed to [[2 Tone Records]] (operative 1979–1985) at some point. Other record labels associated with the two-tone sound were [[Stiff Records]] and [[Go Feet Records]]. The music was especially popular among [[skinhead]]s, [[Rude Boy|rudies]] and [[mod revival]]ists.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
===Museum=== On 1 October 2010, the 2-Tone Central museum, cafe and venue opened in the [[Coventry University Students' Union]] building, and by August 2011 it had moved to the 2-Tone Village in [[Stoke, Coventry]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.2tonecentral.co.uk/ |title=[Homepage] |publisher=2-Tone Central: The 2-Tone Museum, Cafe and Venue |location=Coventry |work=2ToneCentral.co.uk |access-date=28 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140630053200/http://www.2tonecentral.co.uk/ |archive-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> It includes exhibition space and the Coventry Music Wall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/lifestyle-news/coventry-history/backbeat-coventry/2011/10/20/music-legends-to-be-honoured-on-coventry-s-wall-of-fame-92746-29629067/ |title=Music Legends Honoured on Coventry's Wall of Fame |last=Chambers |first=Pete |work=[[Coventry Evening Telegraph]] |date=20 October 2011 |access-date=23 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130804062826/http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/|archive-date=4 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2011/11/24/story-Three-more-names-on-Coventry-Music-Wall-of-Fame-23455.html |title=Three more names on Coventry Music Wall of Fame |last=Carpenter |first=Steve |work=Coventry Observer |date=22 November 2011 |access-date=24 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130927112753/http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/2011/11/24/story-Three-more-names-on-Coventry-Music-Wall-of-Fame-23455.html |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/themusicabyss/2011/12/wall-of-fame-honours-more-star-1.html |title=Wall of Fame honours more stars who put Coventry on the music map |last=Manger |first=Warren |work=[[Coventry Evening Telegraph]] |date=6 December 2011 |access-date=8 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2011/12/06/coventry-music-heroes-honoured-in-wall-of-fame-92746-29900595/ |title=Coventry music heroes honoured in Wall of Fame |last=Bagot |first=Martin |work=[[Coventry Evening Telegraph]] |date=6 December 2011 |access-date=8 December 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Chambers |first=Pete |title=Coventry Market in a Round About Way |publisher=Tencton Planet Publications |date=2009 |isbn=9780954412579}} * {{cite book |last=Chambers |first=Pete |title=The 2-Tone Trail: The Roots of Two-tone Music |publisher=Tencton Planet Publications |date=2005 |isbn=9780954412531}} * {{cite book |last=Marshall |first=George |title=The Two Tone Story |publisher=ST Publishing |date=1992 |isbn=0951849735}} * {{cite book |author-link=Dave Thompson (author) |last=Thompson |first=Dave |title=Wheels Out of Gear: 2-Tone, The Specials and a World in Flame |publisher=Soundcheck Books |date=2011 |isbn=9780956642028}} * {{cite book |author-link=Paul Williams (English author) |last=Williams |first=Paul |title=You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=2009 |isbn=9781901447514}}
==External links== * [http://www.2-tone.info/ 2 Tone Information] – 2 Tone Records, collectors information
{{Ska}} {{Punk rock}} {{New wave and post-punk}} {{Reggae}} {{Pop rock}} [[Category:2 tone| ]] [[Category:20th-century music genres]] [[Category:Rock music genres]] [[Category:English styles of music]] [[Category:Fusion music genres]] [[Category:New wave music]] [[Category:Punk rock genres]] [[Category:Reggae genres]] [[Category:Ska genres]] [[Category:Skinhead]]