Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story + LIVE BAND + DOCUMENATRY + IN-CONVERSATION

Join us for an evening of 2-Tone deep diving as Daniel Rachel, author of Too Much, Too Young: The 2 Tone Story, discusses his book and the wider questions of music, culture, and anti-racism in conversation with Bristol Poet and educator at Cargo, Lawrence Hoo, and Publisher, Sociologist, and Musician, Pete Webb of PC-Press and UWE.

The music of 2 Tone was exuberant: white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae, crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid. The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry, masterminded by a middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label’s first record featured ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials, backed by an instrumental track by the, as yet, unformed, Selecter. Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts. Dammers signed Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation. However, soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination. Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone entered a new phase. Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 1979-1981 incarnation, the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning end-piece finale in ‘(Free) Nelson Mandela’. Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.

We will also be hosting a 2-Tone film screening plus live music. Check back here soon for more info and further updates!