THE CURATOR of Coventry Music Museum, Pete Chambers BEM, writes for the Observer.
The years go by as quickly as you wink
May the 4th may conjure up Star Wars, but it’s also the date when 2-Tone officially became an entity back in 1979.
Now 45 years on, we are marking that this special anniversary at the Coventry Music Museum at the 2-Tone Village.
If 1979 took you by surprise then 2024 must be something of an epiphany to realise that the musical phenomenon we call 2-Tone is not only still a thing, but continues to have a huge resonance and legitimacy in these often worrying times.
The history of this infectious sound that copies from Ska and steals from Punk has been well documented down the ages, if you are reading this you will no doubt be well acquainted with bands like The Specials, The Selecter, Madness and The Beat. They all had a hand in changing our lives, they taught us to dance (or at least try to) they gave us a beat that was ours and they oh so gently worked their sociopolitical views on us to make us better people.
The male skinhead hairstyle is no longer an option to us elders, just a way of life now, but the Walt Jabsco tattoos remain a totem to a sweet indulgence that has and will always remain a life choice. They may have faded over the years like the leather on those cherry red DM’s, but we can all recall where and when they were first created and what the musical soundtrack was at the time.
For over ten years the 2-Tone Village and the Coventry Music Museum have been actively celebrating local music in all its forms, of course as we reach forty-five years of 2-Tone as a major musical genre and a beautiful way of life you can best believe we will be here to tell our visitors all about it and as part of this, we have created a short trail that begins in the Museum and ends at Knights Venue and tells the story of 2-Tone in ten objects.
Guests can check out our 45 years of 2-Tone in 10 objects in a short trail around the museum that ends at Knights with a very special display of the actual custom stage placards as seen famously at the Coventry Cathedral gig. Here you can also submit your own top ten selection and enjoy some sounds and some visuals. Start in the museum and look for the ten iconic objects we have specially selected to tell the story of 2-Tone at 45. The last item of the trail is located in Knights Venue and takes us up to the latter set of live gigs of the Specials that included Coventry Cathedral.
Our selection looks like this: 1. Gangsters Vs Selecter Single, 2. Jerry Dammers’ suit, 3. Mantovani /Swinging Cats Single, 4. BBC official No 1 award/Specials/Encore, 5. The Ghost Town Organ, 6. Ranking Roger’s hat, 7. Madness skinny tie, 8. Selecter hand written lyrics to “On My Radio”, 9. Pauline Black’s sheepskin coat and 10. Specials concert placards. Now what are your top ten?
On Sunday, May 5, there is a Sounding Off special this time with Pete Shells, former Specials road crew from midday to 1.00pm, normal museum admission applies; there will also be a chance to win a very special signed T-Shirt.
