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1979-Punk was dead. The nation needed another musical fix of some sort.That came with the advent of 2Tone and the dawning of a new era in the UK. 2Tone Records was a midlands based record label that released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtones and changed the face of British music.Jerry Dammers of the band The Specials started the record label in 1979 with the aim of making 2Tone the UK equivalent of Motown. He, with the assistance of bassist Horace Panter, created artwork that was to become central to 2 one Records. The Walt Jabsco logo portrays a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafers. The fictional character was based on a photograph of Peter Tosh, a former member of The Wailers.It spawned the 2 Tone music and cultural movement, which saw youth cults like skinheads and rude boys flourish and the music was enjoyed by these as well as your general herberts. 2 Tone Records signed The Selecter, Madness ,The Beat, The Bodysnatchers,Rico Rodriguez and The Swinging Cats.The Specials and The Selecter were the main 2Tone artists to use the label with Madness leaving after one single "The Prince" and joining Stiff Records wheer they endured a long prosperous career and The Beat left after releasing "Tears Of A Clown" to sign to Arista records and formed their own Go Feet label,not too disimilar to the idea of 2Tone. Other artists such as Dexys Midnight Runners and UB40 almost made in onto 2Tone as did Elvis Costello who was set to release "I cant stand up for falling down" as a single before legalities set in to prevent its release.Bad Manners from London only appeared on 2Tone via the soundtrack to the "Dance Craze" album but were still accepted as part of the 2Tone movement.The nation spent 3 years under the chequered flag musically which saw hits galore and the more serious point of playing music with a message.The Selecter split in late 1980,as did The Bodysnatchers (reborn as the pop group Belle Stars),and The Specials split at their height in 1981.Although 2 Tone Records was closely identified with the 70s ska revival, efforts were made to broaden the label's musical output after the original Specials split, with Jerry Dammers carrying on with The Special AKA ( a band consisting of Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers and former Selecter auditionist Stan Campbell on vocals) and also putting out material on the label by funk outfits The Apollinaires and The Higsons as well as releasing a single for ex-Specials drummer John Bradbury's band JB Allstars,which was the last official 45 issued on the label.1985 saw the end of the label in its present form.LINKS!!!THE SPECIALS RODDY RADIATION JERRY DAMMERS MADNESS THE SELECTER THE BEAT NEW ENGLISH BEAT THE BODYSNATCHERS RHODA DAKAR