White Rabbit Books: ‘Too Much, Too Young’ – Two-Tone Music with Daniel Rachel and Pauline Black

This event is 15.00-16.00 followed by book signing.

Join best selling British author Daniel Rachel, author of ‘Too Much, Too Young. The 2 Tone Record Story: Rude boys, Racism and The Soundtrack of a Generation’, with special guest,  iconic front woman of The Selecter, Pauline Black.

Daniel and Pauline will be in conversation with Lyle Bignon.

In 1979, 2 Tone exploded into the national consciousness as records by The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born. 2 Tone was black and white: a multi-racial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues, racism, class and gender struggles.

Birmingham-born Daniel Rachel is a former musician-turned-award-winning and bestselling author whose previous works include: Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters (a Guardian and NME Book of the Year), Walls Come Tumbling Down: the music & politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge (winner of the Penderyn Music Book prize), Don’t Look Back in Anger: the Rise & Fall of Cool Britannia (An Evening Standard and Metro Book of the Year), The Lost Album of The Beatles: What if the Beatles hadn’t Split Up? (Guardian Book of the Day and Amazon No. 1 Bestseller), One For The Road (The Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene) Oasis: Knebworth: Two Nights That Will Live Forever (with Jill Furmanovsky – A Sunday Times Bestseller), When Ziggy Played the Marquee by Terry O’Neill (editor) and co-writer of Ranking Roger’s autobiography, I Just Can’t Stop It: My Life in The Beat (a Vive Le Rock Book of the Year). In 2021, Daniel was a guest curator of 2 Tone Lives & Legacies exhibition as part of Coventry Cultural City 2021 and curated the anniversary edition of The Selecter’s debut album Too Much Pressure.Performer, singer, artist, band leader and songwriter, Pauline Black has dedicated four decades to the music scene and is an undisputed icon of British music. Supporting and campaigning for racial equality throughout her work, she describes herself as first and foremost, a singer. Pauline was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours and received an Honorary Degree from the University of Warwick in the same year.

A lifelong love of music inspired by punk and reggae artists from the 1970s led Pauline to join The Selecter and a career that has seen her travel across the world to share her passion and artistry with hundreds of thousands of fans. The Selecter went on to become a platinum-selling band and one of the most influential within the 2 Tone music scene, alongside others including The Beat, The Specials and Madness. Pauline Black is one of very few women in the 2-Tone scene – she is often referred to as the Queen of Ska.

From childhood to fame, from singing to acting and broadcaster to writer, from adoption to her search for her birth parents, Pauline shared her story of music, race, family and roots in her critically acclaimed memoir ‘Black By Design.’

She celebrated her 70th birthday in 2023 and is still performing live with The Selecter and recording new music. The Selecter is co-fronted by original member Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson with original drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge.Lyle Bignon is a UK and European music, media, and PR consultant; music writer, and Night Time Economy Ambassador for Birmingham. A champion of all things music and NTE in his home city, Lyle works with artists, bands, bars, clubs, communities, DJs, labels, organisations, producers and venues. He has delivered hundreds of launches, premieres, projects, and tours spanning opera to grime, Qawwali to sludge metal, and folktronica to punk rock, and worked with some of the biggest names and brands in music over the past 20 years.

Lyle has written for or broken stories across international media including Arte, BBC, CBS, Channel 4, Classic FM, CNN, The Guardian, ITV, Metro, Mixmag, Music Week, NBC, NME, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times.

His lobbying and campaign work alongside policymakers, academics, business leaders, and industry continues to highlight and address issues affecting music and the NTE at a local and national level.

This event is part of ‘The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival’  which is supported using public funding by National Lottery through Arts Council England.