2 Tone Records Explained

2 Tone Records
Parent:Chrysalis Records (Blue Raincoat Music)
Founded:1979
Founder:Jerry Dammers
Distributor:Reservoir Media Management
Genre:Two-tone
Country:England
Location:51, Albany Road, Earlsdon, Coventry, England

2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records.

History

Jerry Dammers of the ska revival band the Specials started the record label in 1979.[1] [2] Chrysalis had wanted to sign the Specials, but Dammers arranged a label deal, for Chrysalis to fund 15 singles a year and release at least ten of those.[3]

The label spawned the 2 Tone music and cultural movement, which was popular among skinheads, rudies and some mod revivalists. The label stopped operating in 1986, though "2 Tone" is still used as an imprint for back catalogue issues. 2 Tone Records signed the Selecter, Madness and The Beat, but they all left within two years. 2 Tone Records acts signed a contract that allowed them to leave the label after releasing just one single, which was unusual in the record industry. Madness and The Beat both took advantage of this clause; the former to sign to Stiff Records, and the latter to start their own label, Go Feet Records.

Although 2 Tone Records was closely identified with the ska revival, efforts were made to broaden the label's musical output, releasing recordings by artists such as singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and the funk-punk band the Higsons.

Dammers, with the assistance of Horace Panter and graphic designers John "Teflon" Sims and David Storey, created artwork that was to become central to 2 Tone Records. The logo portrays a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafers. Named "Walt Jabsco", the fictional character was based on a photograph of Peter Tosh, a former member of the Wailers.[4] Walt got his name from an old American bowling shirt that Dammers owned.[5] He influenced the design of an emoji (originally meant to depict a suited man doing the pogo): .[6]

Artists

Discography

Albums

Singles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ian King. Appetite for Definition: An A-Z Guide to Rock Genres. 6 November 2018. Harper Perennial. 978-0-06-268889-7. 28–.
  2. Book: Raymond A. Patton. Punk Crisis: The Global Punk Rock Revolution. 4 September 2018. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-087237-3. 105–.
  3. Book: Reynolds , Simon . Chapter 14: Ghost Dance: 2-Tone and the ska resurrection. Simon Reynolds. February 2006. . paperback. Penguin Books. US. 1-4295-2667-X.
  4. Panter, Horace:Ska'd For Life Sidgwick & Jackson, 2007
  5. Web site: The 2 Tone Label . 17 June 2019.
  6. Web site: Veix. Joe. The secret history of the 'Man in Business Suit Levitating' emoji. Newsweek. 2 December 2016. 30 March 2016.
  7. Book: David Horn. Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 11: Genres: Europe. 5 October 2017. Bloomsbury Academic. 978-1-5013-2610-3. 719–.

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