Two-tone (music genre)

Not to be confused with Reggae punk.
For the record label, see 2 Tone Records. For other uses, see Two-tone (disambiguation).

Two-tone
Other names
  • 2 tone
  • ska-rock
  • ska revival
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1970s, Coventry, England
Derivative forms
Other topics

Two-tone or 2 tone, also known as ska-rock[citation needed] and ska revival,[1] is a genre of British popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s that fused traditional Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae music with elements of punk rock and new wave music.[1] Its name derives from 2 Tone Records, a record label founded in 1979 by Jerry Dammers of the Specials,[3] and references a desire to transcend and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher-era Britain: many two-tone groups, such as the Specials, the Selecter and the Beat, featured a mix of black, white, and multiracial people.

Originating in Coventry in the 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 and 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.[4][5]

  1. ^ a b c "Ska Revival". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Joe Gittleman thrives on new LP with ska newcomers". GoldmineMag.com. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. ^ Woodstra, Chris. "The Specials". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Selvin, Joel (23 March 2008). "A brief history of ska". San Francisco Chronicle.
  5. ^ "Third Wave Ska Revival". AllMusic.