FESTIVAL BAN ANTI-FASCIST TALK I was invited to talk about my new book at GuilFest. The place was withdrawn when festival organiser, Tony Scott decided This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll would be ‘too political’. When offered an alternative - to talk about my book on the history of 2 Tone - that suggestion was also [...]
Daniel Rachel – This Ain’t Rock ’n’ Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika and the Third Reich White Rabbit Signed copies. From Bowie and punk to contemporary provocation. Daniel Rachel examines the uneasy intersection between pop culture and fascist imagery. Deeply researched and provocative, it asks why artists flirt with dangerous symbols and what that says about society’s memory. This is history, [...]
'The dark side of David Bowie - Pop's enduring obsession with the Nazis'' An explosive double-page cover story is the Times Saturday Review by Will Hodgkinson It features an edited extract from THIS AINT ROCK 'N' ROLL and an interview with Daniel Rachel Pre-order THIS AIN'T ROCK 'N' ROLL https://geni.us/ThisAintRockNRoll
A shocking and absorbing chronological account of pop music's complicated history with fascism and the imagery surrounding it PRE-ORDER NOW - COMING 30 OCTOBER 2025 THIS AIN'T ROCK 'N' ROLL, is a meticulously researched and sensitively told history of pop music’s enduring and problematic fascination with fascism. Introduction by Billy Bragg.
PAULINE BLACK: A 2-TONE STORY Pauline Black, lead singer of 2-Tone hit band The Selecter, tells her extraordinary life story in the same frank manner that helped shape her as an iconic, era-defining female musician. Pauline had a difficult upbringing and joining the 2-Tone music movement in 1979 was the perfect catalyst; enabling her to [...]
Books of the Year 2024 | Rough Trade US Daniel Rachel - Too Much Too Young, The 2 Tone Records Story A Celebration of Bold Voices and Unforgettable Stories At Rough Trade, books and music are intertwined, each telling stories that resonate with our emotions and shape our understanding of the world. Our Books of The Year list for [...]
**2 TONE OVER AMERICA** I'm super excited to announce a 12-date 2 Tone Tour of the US featuring Lynval Golding Sarah-Jane SunJay Owen & Pauline Black Los Angeles San Francisco Las Vegas Tempe AZ Denver Chicago Cleveland Saugerties New York Jersey City Washington DC Hampton, VA TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG: THE 2 TONE RECORDS STORY [...]
Too Much Too Young: the 2 Tone Records Story is now published across north America From the Publisher Editorial Reviews Review "It started in the English Midlands city of Coventry. Madness, the Selecter, the Beat, UB40, the Specials―these were just some of the biggest names in the 1970s and 1980s movement of punk-influenced ska [...]
Now in paperback... TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG: The 2 Tone Records Story 'This feels like the definitive story of 2 Tone. Masterful' BILLY BRAGG 'A scintillating read' PETE PAPHIDES 'Essential' MOJO https://geni.us/TooMuchTooYoung
BREAKING NEWS - SKA GOES SKY! Daniel talks to Anna Jones on Sky News about 2 Tone & Too Much Too Young: the 2 Tone Records Story with lots of great footage of The Specials and The Beat
The Specials & The Selecter on the BBC News including Horace Panter & Daniel Rachel talking about the publication of 'Too Much Too Young: the 2 Tone Records Story (An Uncut & Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year) Filmed at the Brewhouse Birmingham 1 December 2023
Too Much Too Young has been named a Times/Sunday Times Books of the Year. 'Jerry Dammers set out with a goal: to unite black & white, male & female, in punky ska that would serve as a riposte to the privations of Britain in the 1970s' Too Much Too Young: The Story of 2 Tone [...]
How The Specials and 2 Tone empowered a generation to believe in a multicultural future Against a backdrop of division and despair, disaffected youth united through The Specials and 2 Tone to challenge the Thatcherite status quo DANIEL RACHEL 11 Nov 2023 The Specials played the Hope & Anchor in 1980. Photo: Justin Thomas Within [...]
Sandwiched between Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, Uncut magazine name Too Much Too Young No. 2 Book of the Year 'The energy and idealism of Jerry Dammers' label is brought brilliantly to life'
‘Richard Branson was shrieking: has anyone signed them yet?’ The invasion of all-female ska band the Bodysnatchers In an extract from a new book documenting the 2 Tone ska scene of late 70s and early 80s Britain, members of its key girl group relive their bright, brief and often brutal career Daniel Rachel Wed 11 [...]
The Lost Album of the Beatles is the Guardian / Observer Book of the Day 'Daniel Rachel imagines what the next Beatles album might have been like, with painstaking detail and great stories,' writes David Hepworth, 'excellent stimulus material for a night down the pub....' The Lost Album of the Beatles is also an Amazon [...]
Calling all fans! Brand new #documentary charting the birth, the rise and the fall of the music culture movement that put the focus on Britishness, looking at the intertwining fortunes and rivalries of #Blur, #Oasis, #Suede and #Elastica. #Britpop: The Music That Changed Britain, Sundays at 9pm Daniel is a guest co9ntributor across he 4 [...]
◀︎ TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT ► 5 Nights with Simon Fowler (Ocean Colour Scene) Birmingham • Liverpool • Edinburgh • London In conversation with award-winning author Daniel Rachel, Simon will discuss his life as the lead singer of Ocean Colour, play a live acoustic set and meet / sign copie sof his new memor, One For The [...]
Singer/Songwriter and Ocean Colour Scene frontman Simon Fowler goes head to head with author longtime friend and collaborator Daniel Rachel, in a war of the words! They talk about collaborating on their new book, their friendship, lost songs, how great the 1990s were and what they have been reading and enjoying recently. The Book Off [...]
Listen again as Simon Fowler (Ocean Colour Scene) talks to Chris Evans about his new memoir and plays three exclusive live acousitc songs. Listen here. Simon plays at 2hrs. Watch Ocean Colour Scene’s Simon Fowler on The Stool Of Rock - featuring a touching Joni Mitchell cover Virgin Radio 8 Dec 2022, 16:11 Ocean Colour [...]
Episode 124 features a great interview with Simon Fowler (Ocean Colour Scene) sharing stories about #paulweller, #oceancolourscene and how copying other singers compares to Sebastian Coe running the mile....! Listen and then read all about it: One For The Road: the Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene - published next week [...]
Strictly limited edition coffee table book with rare & exclusive 7” single Pre-order ONE FOR THE ROAD today at: www.ourfavourite.shop ‘When you find that things are getting wild don’t you want books like these…’ ONE FOR THE ROAD The Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene. The new limited edition, fully illustrated [...]
