2 Tone Top of the Pops

 

Here's something that I was looking to put together for a long time. The 2 Tone flame burned brightly and intensely... but only for a short time. But in those months across 1979 to 1981 it seemed that the world had turned monochrome, at least for a significant section of record buying teenagers.

This collection of appearances from the UK's long running chart related TV show, Top of the Pops, is not entirely complete. There were more than one appearance of some of the tracks e.g. 'Gangsters', some songs went beyond 1981.... The Beat's 'Can't Get Used To Losing You' and of course Special A.K.A.s 'Nelson Mandela'. Nevertheless, it is a good representation of the 2 Tone genre.

'We don't need no British Movement

Nor the Ku Klux Klan

Nor the National Front

It makes me an angry man'

DVD image: https://we.tl/t-fNhZZsQRCD

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-tx2AR7s55R

Terry says 'Ho Ho Ho!'

Life In The European Theatre Interview (New Musical Express 12th December 1981)

Not stictly Stranglers, but related. And apt for the uncertain times we are once again living through. In the early 1980's there was much talk of 'The Four Minute warning' - the time that it would take for an inter-continental ballistic nuclear missile launched from the Soviet Union to reach the UK. The Government of the day kindly put leaflets through our doors instructing us how to be have when the warning was sounded... it went by the name of 'Protect and Survive', and it didn't make for very encouraging reading. As the decade progressed an unexpected thaw occured in terms of East/West relations as Mikhail Gorbachev's 'Perestroika' and 'Glasnost' policies began to change the world. The Cold War that had dominated global politics for more than 40 years was at an end and with it the spectre of 'Mutually Assured Destruction' evaporated.

Within the last 12 months there had been more talk of the possibility of deployment of nuclear weapons by the Russians, and more recently, and equally alarmingly, by India and Pakistan, that there has been in the last 40 years. So, it seems fitting to put this interview up at this time.

In the early 1980's the New Musical Express made a conscious decision go beyond music and to be more engaged with the issues of the day that affected the lives of its adolescent readership. Articles concerning animal rights, spiralling unemployment, the rise of the far right and the arms race filled pages at this time. Of course, music was intertwinned to a greater or lesser extent with most of these issues.

In late 1981, a number of British bands contributed to a fund raising album called 'Life In The European Theatre', with the proceeds from sales going to a number of anti-nulear organisations. The Stranglers were one of the bands involved, offering up 'Nuclear Device' to the project. Hugh was heard to plug the album as the band touted the UK on the 'La Folie' tour.

New Musical Express (12th December 1981)

Record Mirror (12th December 1981)

Here is an interview with The Beat's Dave Wakeling and Paul, Bruce and Rick from The Jam talking about the album and the issue behind it's release.

New Musical Express (12th December 1981)

Two minutes to midnight actually. Dave Wakeling and The Jam explain why they've contributed to an anti-nuke LP to fight the lunatics running the asylum.

THERE’S A GREAT poster out now. It's done old movie-style, titled Gone With The Wind, and it shows Margaret (Scarlett O'Hara) Thatcher in a passionate clinch with cracked actor Ronald (Rhett Butler) Reagan. The caption reads something like: "She promised to follow him to the end of the earth ... He promised to organise it."

Brilliant. But let's forget the lunatics who've taken over the asylum, and look at some individuals doing their modest bit to organize the planet's survival-via music.

Survival Music, for it is they, have organised a compilation LP (see News Page) entitled 'Life In The European Theatre'. It features (mostly-well-known) tracks by one of the strongest line ups of British acts you could imagine, who've all donated their music free. Proceeds from the album go to four causes: CND, Friends Of The Earth, Anti Nuclear Campaign and European Nuclear Disarmament (END) - and then 50% to a fund set up jointly by the four campaigns, plus the musicians, plus Survival Music.

A young guy called Chas Mervyn is the driving force behind Survival Music. It was when he was working as tour manager for The Beat that the idea of an album came up- one that would raise funds, get some sort of message across, and demonstrate the strength of feeling on the nuclear issue among musicians of this generation.

Chas left The Beat to work full-time on the project. Months of planning, negotiation and arm-twisting later, the record's ready - to be put out world-wide, through WEA, with sleeve-notes by E.P. Thompson (the great writer / campaigner) and musical contributions from such as The Undertones, the Bunnymen, Stranglers, Au Pairs, Clash, XTC, Dury and Gabriel. Their record companies all co-operated, in the end, but the groups' enthusiasm was total. (Linx were keen too, but found out just too late).

So I met Chas Mervyn to talk about it all. Madness, Terry Hall of The Specials / Fun Boy Three, and Bad Manners - who are all on the LP - hoped to come.along but TOTP commitments wouldn't allow. But The Jam ~ Rick Buckler, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton were there, taking a breather from recording, and so was The Beat's Dave Wakeling (fresh off the Birmingham Inter-City and a married man of just 24 hours' standing).

So… this is what we sat round and said. Except that my bits have been re-written to make me seem witty, pithy and articulate.

CHAS MERVYN: ALL along it's been the groups pushing. If they hadn't been so keen it would never have happened, because we're asking people to give away something for free. The bands' response has amazed me right from the start.

Paul Du Noyer: The Beat were in on the idea at the beginning, weren't they Dave?

Dave Wakeling: Yeah, we met people from the various organisations when we did 'Stand Down Margaret' (proceeds of which went to the anti-nuclear movement). When they saw there was money to be shared out, they lost their differences, whereas before they never trusted each other. So we thought it'd be a good idea to extend it.

PDN: Chas, how did you decide who to approach?

CM: It was obvious that certain groups were concerned, just by the material they were writing,

and then musicians would suggest others.

DW: There was hardly anyone who said 'No'.

Paul Weller (sharply): Who was the ones that did? Give us the names.

CM (diplomatically): Later.

PDN: What was The Jam's reaction, Paul?

PW: We'd obviously do it. It-was the first time we'd got involved with anything like this – not because we're lazy, but. dunno, it was only the other week that I actually even sent off for a CND membership. There must be thousands of people who are against it but don't know now to get involved. Same with us.

DW: It's a fear of joining organisations. As soon as they get well-organised they end up in-fighting, over who's gonna be social secretary or something. But here, the thing we're talking about is so important, even if that bickering does go on, it's still worth taking a chance on it.

PW: It's the thought of having a card as well it's like joining the Boy Scouts. But it's what it achieves in the end, that's what really counts... The follow-on from all this would be getting people like Sheena Easton and The Nolans involved.

DW: Yeah, MOR Against The Bomb. Probably the majority of people who like groups on this LP already hold that view anyway ... The Nolans were quite into doing it, but I don't know if they'd be allowed to.

CM: It's not as if it's a political issue, it's something that affects everyone's lives. It's just immoral to kill millions of people.

PW: It's a question of your future. At the root of it everyone's interested in their own future, so that'll get across to most people.

DW: It's funny, I think it is having an effect, cos I don't usually think that pop music does have any effect. But the fact that groups are involved has something to do with so many young people being willing to protest in England. Whereas before it used to be just Europe where they'd have big demonstrations and England'd be apathetic.

Rick Buckler: Young people have put it out of their mind in this country for a long time.

PW: But that applies to Britain politically anyway. Whereas you talk to people in Italy or France they've got definite political views.

PDN : Also they don't have this long-standing, complex emotional tangle that we have with America.

PW: But I think that feeling is changing in England now, that we're only like America's sub-let.

DW: We're just the fender on the front of the car: not an ally at all, just a cushion. One danger, though, now that people are thinking differently about America, you could easily fall into the trap of thinking Brezhnev's great- and he's just as uncaring as Reagan.

PW: That's what I liked in Tony Benn's speech at the rally, that you've got to resist American generals and Russian generals.

DW: Yeah, he did a good speech, really good.

PDN: This is the stigma, isn't it, that you're playing into the Russians' hands, that the Kremlin is rubbing its hands with glee at the demos in Western Europe.

DW: That you're not even consciously communist, that you're being duped. But every time America stands up for South Africa or whatever, the Kremlin rubs its hands with glee. They don't need a marketing budget of their own, just keep letting America make mistakes for them ...

Trouble is, neither system is working at the moment. Anyone in power can think, if they can expand that’ll make it look better: all of a sudden you've got plenty of coal, plenty of steel, plenty of uniforms. Put half the unemployed in an army and get them killed, put the other half in factories making weapons.

It's a quick, simple answer. Everyone can get a flag out and feel proud ‘cos they've got something to fight for again . ... We have to pretend that all the kids on the other side of the line really hate us, so we've got to get them or they'll get us first.

RB: As soon as the level of understanding comes up the better. And obviously one way of doing it is through the youth.

DW: The main way of communication among young people is music at the moment. There ain't a newspaper you can buy every day and find out what's happening. A lot of young people rely on music, not just as a way of forming opinions, but of keeping their spirits up ... We're trying to organise a festival in Austria next year -three day event, 50,000 people - half from the East and half from the West, with some bands from the East as well. That'd be good: just to sit in a field for three days with somebody from Poland. A real education.

PW: That is the only barrier, propaganda. It's not even language, you can always overcome that.

(Chas Mervyn explains how the LP's sleeve notes will be translated for each country of release, and all the vital contact addresses will also vary. Both Weller and Wakeling emphasise how travelling in groups has made them aware of what's happening around the world, and of how much we all have in common.)

PDN: This LP contrasts with the American 'No Nukes' release. This is directly political, and specifically anti-war, where that one was more narrowly environmental, rich West Coast dodos, an extension of Me Generation politics.

DW: We definitely learned some lessons from that. It made the whole thing really respectable and comfortable, something to stick on your coffee table and you don't have to think about it any more. In the end there was loads of American groups just dashing to get on that LP, when their record companies were saying, Do you realise your two biggest competitors are on this record?

CM: But I think all the bands who've been involved with this have made it very clear from the beginning how they feel. And instead of being some limp LP that happens to have its proceeds going to a cause, it has some points to make, with a real strength of feeling.

DW: Probably the best way to sell it in America would be the idea that if there's a nuclear war, record sales would plummet …

INTERLUDE

A BAD MANNERED phone-call from Louis Alphonso.

Direct from the Top Of The Pops studio, Bad Manners' guitarist Louis rang me to explain their involvement (namely offering the album's one previously-unreleased cut, 'Psychedelic Eric'). When they were approached, he said, they accepted.right away.

Although 'Eric' itself is not especially anti-nuclear in content, the move's a bit surprising from a group that likes to avoid politics.

"We have basic political beliefs," Louis replies. "But we don't like to preach them."

Much as he respects groups like The Clash and Specials, Bad Manners just don't feel it's them to get too serious in song. That said, they'll use an opportunity like this LP to make a gesture of support for something important.

And then the pips went.

PAUL WELLER: The biggest enemy is the media, especially the daily papers. Like the Right To Work march from Liverpool, that was put down in the papers as more communist infiltration and all this crap.

DW: I think this cause is good, because it's harder to discredit. You don't have to make a huge political decision to decide you don't want to be blown up. It's fairly common sense. . But yeah, it is dangerous when the media have a vested interest in the news and what people are meant to think. As the situation becomes more extreme then music becomes more and more important as means of communication.

PW: Well at the present time it's the only form of media without some sort of censorship.

DW: Yes,’cos the people in control think it's all a bleeding racket anyway. So you can get away with some fairly serious things in your songs and they pass totally un-noticed.

PW: Music is a communication system for young people, but for people in general it's the daily papers. Whatever you see splashed on the front page of the Sun, that's your topic for the day.

DW: And even if they don't totally believe it all, it's still depriving them of real information, so it works just as well. A lot of people go, Nay, I don't believe what I read in the papers, but it's what they don't read there as well.

PW: At the root of it, what I find the most frustrating is that it's the same thing it's always been: the majority, which is us, is ruled by a minority.

CM: And yet that minority are the only ones who are safe if there is a nuclear war.

DW:'I do sometimes think that it's a whole con, and the Americans and Russians know what the plan is for the next ten years, and they need to keep their populations in a state of fear to maintain their respective positions. And if it is that, then it's an even bigger waste of money ...

It's important that the LP's music is fairly different,’cos it's dangerous to have a fashion thing where it's 'in' this week to wear a CND badge. Then all of a sudden, if that type of group goes out of fashion, the people don't want to wear a CND badge because it's musically what was happening last week. It's important to show the issue as being bigger than its constituent parts. In a lot of ways it's a fairly fickle situation, the pop world. And stuff like wanting to survive should be more important …

It is embarrassing to think that we could destroy ourselves, y'know what I mean? You just feel a prat, for being part of a system that can 't do any better than that.

RB: It's like knowing something's gonna fall on you, and not bothering to get out the way.

DW: We certainly feel capable of more than that. Anyonee you talk to in a pub feels infinitely capable of better than that. And this nonsense of, Give us a future, they don't own your future : it's your future, just take it. The question is, are we responsible enough to take our own futures?

(A pregnant pause. We slurp our tea. Paul Weller criticises the insensitivity of all centralised authority. Chas Mervyn relates the year's riots to that same dogmatic lack of official imagination.)

DW: That's the problem with the system at the moment. They're trying to make this early 1950s suit fit somebody who's living in the 1980s. So they keep having to put tucks in it, and hems and darts to make it fit, rather than saying perhaps we should have a new jacket for the '80s. I think Margaret Thatcher was genuinely shocked when the riots happened, really surprised that people were that angry. I used to think she was dead callous, but I think she's just dead out of touch as well! Not a clue, and yet she's making decisions on our behalf.

PDN: It must have been embarrassing for her, if nothing else, when she meets all the other heads of state. Like going to a posh party when.Your own kids have just crapped on the front lawn ...

MEANWHILE, THE absurdities mount up. I mentioned the case of the man' - who spent thousands on a nuclear shelter for his back garden. When he went out to check it, it was flooded : it was letting the rain in.

"Sounds like an Irish bomb shelter," said Bruce Foxton. "One with a sun roof."

"Great!" laughed Dave Wakeling. '''Bomb Shelter With A Sun-Roof'. If you lot don't use that for a lyric then we will"

And, given The Beat' s dedication to this album project since the word go, maybe it's right the last word should go to Dave … Dave?

"Yeah, well, if it all goes wrong, could we just say it was The Jam's idea?"

The Beat Emerald City Cherry Hill New Jersey 8th October 1980

 

To round off the posts related to The Specials and The Beat in Dublin in 1981, here are The Beat recorded in New Jersey in October 1980. As with The Specials, the Dublin gig of January 1981 isn't around... or if it is it is hiding in someone's collection unloved... or perhaps not. Anyway, this US gig is a great recording of a band at the peak of their powers.

MP3: https://we.tl/t-tUGSsNrC9t

Artwork: In download folder.

The Specials and The Beat Stardust Ballroom Dublin 15th January 1981 - Reviews

Once again looking through old music press, specifically from January 1981 I saw once again reviews of a gig that as they say I would have given my eye teeth to have been at... or perhaps not given what transpired.

The reviews coupled with my own reading arould this gig lead to a darker more tragic place. Please read on.

A three date gaunt over to Ireland which would see a double billing of The Specials and The Beat was announced in the 3rd january issue of the new Musical Express. The band were to play Belfast, Dublin and Galway over the 14th to 16th January 1981, with proceeds from the gigs being split between various welfare and anti-nulear charities. On paper it sounds like a dream gig (mine at least) but this was the very early 1980's, a time when gigs could be highly unpredictable (or depressingly predictable, depending upon which way you want to view it).

Two contemporary reviews follow, coupled with some more recent online articles that appeared in the Irish Press at the time of Terry Hall's death in December 2022.

New Musical Express 24th January 1981.

"2-Tone isn't this year's thing, which is really good. It's very easy to go from absolutely nothing to being the future of rock'n'roll in the space of a few months these days. It's a very different thing sustaining it. If you're still there a year later, then that's good going." - Sir Horace Gentleman, The Specials.

“If a year ago, everyone was saying we were ska before you were ska! Now they're all

saying that they've never had anything to do with it!" - David Steele, The Beat.

THEY MIGHT have raised a few eyebrows with occasional jolly japes like when they cheekily
switched bass players to liven up an otherwise-uninspiring new year Top Of The Pops, but The Beat and The Specials have surprisingly never toured together before.

Yet the two groups have plenty in common, not least that both have practically stood alone in broadening the musical base of punky-reggae, developing rather than re-hashing the new ska that prospered in the slipstream of 2-Tone's initial outbreak two years ago.

Hence this low-key Emerald Isle engagement, the first ever joint Go-Feet/2-Tone revue, hastily put together following a chance meeting between the two groups for the benefit of various local charities.

The gig at Ulster Hall in Belfast alone raised over £2,000 for an inter-denominational HELP set-up who arrange holidays for both Catholic and Protestant children in the west of Ireland. Proceeds from the Dublin Starlight show, on the other hand, are earmarked for a group of local anti-nuke activists.

"More bands should play places like Belfast. The audience is great, probably better than most of the audiences we've played to in England!" – Ranking Roger.

"Just look at The Beat. They're really bubbling, even before they go onstage. Watching them makes me feel like a real old campaigner!" - Sir Horace Gentleman.

THE BEAT bound around a stage with so much naked enthusiasm and fresh-faced spirit, you would be forgiven for assuming that every gig was their first. They are still absorbed by the thrill of it all, just being there, and reflect that ebulliance in two sets that reverberate with upful, positive sound.

Feeding off the fervour of an over-appreciative crowd the Belfast audience in particular - The Beat's insatiable verve more than ' compensates for some live musical shortcomings. Only sedate saxophonist Saxa - more incongruous than ever in a pair of ludicrously patterned canvas baggies topped by trendy Johnson's T-shirt - and drummer Everett Morton are exceptional musicians, but the crosscut rhythms of guitarists Andy Cox and Dave Wakeling give everything a melodic edge and resonance that characterises the group's sound.

David 'Shuffle’ Steele, meanwhile, stands in the great British tradition of the physically stylised bassist (Matlock, Simon on, Hook, Gentleman ...), his shuffling and pirouetting at the back of the stage confirming my deep-seated suspicion that most bassmen are far bigger posers than guitarists can ever hope to be.

But the visual focus, as always, is the irrepressible man in black, Ranking Roger, prince of the freeze-frame skank and ongoing grin. With The Beat instrumentalists - including for the Irish gigs new organist Blockhead - concentrating their attention on musical detail, the onus falls heavily on Roger to project the group, which he does in fine style, eventually becoming so carried away that he forsakes his jacket, shirt and even that sacred stove-pipe hat by the end of the set.

"We've got really interested in dancing over the last year and looking at the effects that dancing has at a gig. It can make for a really optimistic feel without having to preach, help people go away feeling a bit stronger." - Dave Wakeling.

WITH A SECOND LP, tentatively titled 'Dance Yourself Stupid' due to be cut soonish, The Beat previewed a brace of new unrecorded songs: the bouncy and repetitive 'All Out To Get You', continuing in the racey vein of the sublime 'Too Nice To Talk To' hit; and the rockier 'I Am Your Flag', inspired by party political adverts the group saw on American TV during the recent election campaign.

The Beat are still at their best on record however, the studio giving them the extra time and space to breathe and indulge their more inventive instincts. Live, they might still lack the impressive upfront dynamism of The Specials, but they are coming on well.

It's great watching them learn.

"These gigs are probably the last time we are doing some of the older songs. The thing is it's a very young audience and probably the first time most of them are seeing us, so it's basically a greatest hits set." - Jerry Dammers.

SOME MIGHT maintain they have never fallen from grace since the golden beginnings of 2-Tone, but The Specials have 'never forgotten what made them great in the first place - the energy and vitality of their stage show plus the incisive wit and morality of their lyrics.

Starting both shows with a twin-pronged opening shot of 'Concrete Jungle' and 'Gangsters', The Specials immediately put their hatred of violence and corruption on the line. But it's the newer stuff that really catches the ear: while bassist Horace might be slightly off the mark in a claim that 'International Jet Set' is the best thing the group have ever done, it certainly does stand out as a uniquely disconcerting track. Like much of the 'More Specials' LP, its risks and musical maturity are becoming more apparent with hindsight.

But while The Specials have been either credited or lambasted for "going muzak" on their second LP, the fuller integration of the Rico/Dick ' Cuthell horn section into their sonic maelstrom has been practically ignored. That horn section - plus the' occasional addition of Paul Heskath on sax - has given the group's uptempo skank an added carnival stridency. 

Singer Terry Hall, too, has come on tremendously as a frontman and focal point of the band. Time was when he was more or less submerged by the lunacy of Dammers, Staples and Golding that surrounded him. Now he is the unfussy vortex of the group's newly refined attack.

When a few pissed-up lunkheads threaten to overrun the Dublin date, to the disgruntlement of the rest of the crowd, Hall deals with a potentially nightmarish situation with sensible aplomb, his calming sarcasm making a mockery of his recent conviction by Cambridge's answer to Judge Rougneck.

The disruptions, however, do destroy any continuity The Specials' set might have had and it ends amid an ugly stage invasion, the sort of thing that should have gone out with gobbing.

But at the heart of things, The Specials are keeping their hand in. Sometimes musical tensions and the strain of touring seem to be on the verge of pulling them apart; sometimes they look

distinctly jaded as they plough through the likes of 'Too Much Too Young' one more time; sometimes The Specials myth seems to be an albatross of Clash City proportions around their necks, but the spirit lives on all the same. Don't Hargue!

"But we're just being a bit more realistic about things: let's try talking about things and maybe doing something rather than just ignoring it, cause it won't go away by just ignoring it." - Sir Horace Gentleman.

And remember. It's good to be wise when you're young.

Adrian Thrills may have downplayed the violence that marred the Dublin gig but he was insightful regarding the tensions that were starting to show within The Specials' ranks. The band would be no more within six months or so of these Irish dates.

Record Mirror 24th January 1981.

I still struggle with the idea that 2 Tone music, which is generally so positive (the music that is, not necessarily the lyrics!) brought with it so much violence.

As suggested ealier on in this post, the Stardust Ballroom in Dublin was to hit the headlines again for very different reasons. Sadly, whilst 99 out of 100 times a gathering of people in a venue for a gig or event is a joyous thing, but occasionally the unexpected happens. Thinks of the fate of the Clutha in Glasgow or more recently the fatality that occured in the Brixton Academy, just such a tragedy was to visit the Stardust kust a few weeks after The Specials and The Beat played there.

Totally Dublin 16^th January 2019

Brian McMahon

“The kids who burst through the doors at opening time at this down at heel ballroom were all set to have a real good time, a riot. Which is exactly what happened.” So said English pop magazine Record Mirror in its review of the Specials at Dublin’s Stardust ballroom in January 1981. The review continued, “All the pent-up frustration and boredom of living in Dublin’s roughest suburb was beginning to explode. It’s difficult to persuade bands to play gigs in Dublin and after tonight I can see why.”

Trouble started during support act The Beat who, also, had to contend with some “morons at the front with their stiff-armed salutes.” Concerned for everyone’s safety, The Specials threatened not to perform. But they did, and after just two minutes, “the blockheads at the front started to beat seven bales of shit out of one another as the band were forced to stop for the first of many interruptions.” Lead singer Terry Hall pleaded, “No violence, we hate violence,” as the mob invaded the stage twice, causing mayhem and stealing microphones and other sound equipment. When a stack of PA speakers came crashing down on stage for the second time that night, the Specials gave up and walked off.

Despite the chaos, violence and poor organisation, the gig (a charity event to raise funds to take children from Northern Ireland on holiday to the West of Ireland) was memorable for many. For 16-year-old Paul Heller, the music and performance was so inspirational that he is a lifelong fan and became friends with some of The Specials. Paul has “bad memories of the violence but the gig was electric. My parents didn’t want me to go – even they predicted trouble – but I sneaked out the bathroom window and jumped onto the flat roof of our kitchen.” Paul lived in nearby Beaumont so it took only five minutes to get to the Stardust where he joined the long queue and “saw a black man, for the first time in real life.” This wasn’t unusual back then. Even Record Mirror noted that “the black guys in the bands were the only coloured people I saw the whole time I was in Dublin.”

The striking young man Paul had seen was actually another Dubliner; Jeff Keogh a 15-year-old from Dundrum. Wearing Doc Martens, a red Harrington jacket and a pork pie hat borrowed from his father (Ray Keogh, the first black footballer to play in the League of Ireland!), Jeff looked the part. He remembers queuing outside from lunchtime and when “someone mistook and called me Ranking Roger, a doorman looked at me and let me squeeze in the side door because he thought I was with the band. I ended up coming out on the side of the stage and got a roar from the crowd.”

Four weeks later, in the early hours of the 14th February, the sirens of the emergency services woke Paul Heller in his Beaumont bedroom. Worried and not knowing what was happening, Paul’s father did a head count check of his children. All were safe and at home. But outside, they heard the news of the horror happening at the nearby Stardust and of the fatal fire which killed 48 young people.

The Irish Times 30^th December 2022

‘No violence – we hate violence,’ Terry Hall pleaded the night The Specials played Dublin.

Two songs in and already the bottles were flying. “No violence – we hate violence,” Terry Hall, the lead singer of The Specials, pleaded. But the crowd crammed into the Stardust wasn’t listening. Minutes later came the first stage invasion. Punches flew. Mics were knocked over.

The English ska band, from the hard-knock city of Coventry, had never seen anything comparable to the anarchy at the 1,400-capacity nightclub – housed in a former jam factory in Artane, in north Dublin – that night of Thursday, January 15th, 1981. Not that they hung around to take it all in: Hall, the Specials songwriter Jerry Dammers, and their bandmates were soon barricaded in the dressing room, praying for the madness to subside. It never really did.

“All the pent-up frustration and boredom of living in Dublin’s roughest suburb was beginning to explode,” the reviewer wrote in Record Mirror, the British music weekly. “It’s difficult to persuade bands to play gigs in Dublin and after tonight I can see why.”

Hall’s death, on December 18th, at the age of 63, has prompted an outpouring of emotion. As the Specials frontman he was the voice of such bruised classics as Too Much Too Young and Ghost Town, a howl of anguish for a Britain riven with racist tensions and about to be plunged into the economic nuclear winter of Thatcherism.

Ghost Town went to number one in Britain, and to number three in Ireland, in the summer of 1981, six months after The Specials’ notorious Irish tour. Of the three shows, Dublin was the undoubted lowlight. Violence erupted almost the moment the band went on stage, and the performance was finally abandoned. Accounts from people in the crowd suggest the gig was somewhere between a fracas and a fascist rally, the trouble spearheaded by shaven-headed thugs in the front row.

The violence also had an air of desperation. North Dublin was a backwater of a backwater in 1981. Any opportunity for mayhem was to be seized by the lapels. “The kids who burst through the doors at opening time at this down-at-heel ballroom were all set to have a riot,” Simon Ludgate wrote in Record Mirror. “Which is exactly what happened.”

Ironically, The Specials expected Dublin to be the calm after the storm, having kicked off their tour in Belfast, at that point more war zone than city. But Dublin would be worse – a concert that dissolved into chaos. (A month later, on February 14th, the Stardust was engulfed by a blaze in which 48 people died and more than 200 were injured. The Republic’s worst fire disaster, it has entered the Irish psyche as a byword for tragedy, of young lives cruelly snatched away. An inquest is due to open in 2023.)

The Specials hadn’t expected a smooth ride in Ireland, which they toured with their fellow ska act The Beat as support. With conflict raging in the North, British artists were generally reluctant to cross the Irish Sea. But Dammers had founded The Specials with the explicit goal of uniting divided British communities. Taking that message to Ireland seemed the logical next step.

The first gig, at the Ulster Hall, in Belfast, on Wednesday, January 14th, had been tense. National Front skinheads had taunted the audience queuing outside. (They were rebuked by punters who chanted: “Skinhead, skinhead over there / what’s it like to have no hair?” 

That afternoon two sets of skinheads came in. They told us they were ever so pleased we’d come to Belfast. They appreciated it so much that one set would stay downstairs and the other up on the balcony, so there was no fighting

“We were nervous – of course we were,” Dave Wakeling, The Beat’s lead singer, would later tell me. “That afternoon two sets of skinheads came in – clearly different sets, because they wore different uniforms.” The Beat feared the worst. But the message was that they had nothing to worry about. “They told us they were ever so pleased we’d come to Belfast, as a lot of people weren’t. They appreciated it so much that one set of them would stay downstairs and the other up on the balcony, so there was no fighting.”

He recalls feeling hugely relieved. “It was fantastic until the encore – you look up and there is a line of people standing on the balcony [urinating] over the edge.”

“I’m very proud of the fact that The Specials, along with The Beat, played in Ireland,” Horace Panter, the group’s bassist, told the Irish Examiner last year. “We played in Belfast when nobody else would.”

With Belfast behind them, The Specials and The Beat concluded that the difficult bit was over. Crossing the Border, they were off to Dublin and then Cork. What could go wrong? Lots, they realised as they took to the stage at the Stardust and were greeted by a row of skinheads who, according to Record Mirror, were giving “stiff-armed salutes”.

“We were driving to Dublin, and everyone was bright and cheery: ‘Oh, it will be dead easy now.’ It wasn’t,” Wakeling said. “Lots of skinheads got up on stage while The Specials were playing, and a fight broke out – beer was being thrown all over the place.”

The Beat were in the dressing room when The Specials came hurtling in, followed by a hail of bottles. “The band did a runner, and the fight carried over backstage. There was blood on the walls and broken glass on the floor. We noticed all the exits at the back were chained up and padlocked,” Wakeling said. “There was no way out. So we went back into the dressing room and put up a sofa against the door until they had finished bottling each other. Later we read about the fire.”

What struck Simon Ludgate was the resentment that seethed from the audience. “Irish kids ... seem to hate everything and everyone in a big way ... An English accent was reason enough to get beaten up outside. The black guys in the bands were the only coloured people I saw the whole time I was in Dublin ... It’s not hard to be unacceptable in Ireland.”

He said Ireland but perhaps meant the capital. The gig in Cork, on January 17th, could not have been more different, according to Wakeling. When they performed at the Arcadia Ballroom – a venue, near Kent Station, that also hosted The Cure, XTC and U2, among others – the vibe was mellow and welcoming.

“In Cork there were a lot of people singing and dancing. We were very pleased,” Wakeling told me, his voice still full of relief all those years later. “It had been an odd tour.”

Fan photo from the Stardust gig (Roddy, Horace and Lynval look on disapprovingly at trouble at the front).

Irish Mirror 22^nd December 2022

The night the Specials and The Beat got trapped playing Stardust nightclub - weeks before fatal fire.

The late Specials frontman Terry Hall had close ties to Ireland.

Hall and The Specials performed at the Stardust nightclub back in 1981 – a month before the tragic fire at the Artane venue.

The band played what was described as a “chaotic” concert at the Stardust on January 15, 1981, and told of their fears at trying to flee the venue from a riot – but all the exit doors had been locked.

It was reported that the show was marred by anti-social behaviour by a minority of those attending, despite repeated appeals for calm by both bands.

Dave Wakeling, lead singer with The Beat, said in 2018: “We played the Stardust, which burned down about 10 days later. Lots of skinheads got up on stage while The Specials were playing and a fight broke out – beer was being thrown all over the place.

“The band did a runner and the fight carried over backstage. There was blood on the walls and broken glass on the floor. We noticed all the exits at the back were chained up and padlocked.

"There was no way out. So we went back into the dressing room and put up a sofa against the door until they had finished bottling each other. Later we read about the fire.”

Records also revealed that concerns over alleged overcrowding and other issues relating to the event were raised a number of days later by Dublin Corporation in a letter to the owners of the Stardust.

The venue, on Kilmore Road, was licenced to hold a maximum of 1,400 people but it’s believed more than 2,000 were at the concert that night.

In June of this year, Antoinette Keegan, chairperson of the Stardust Victims’ Committee, said she was determined to meet members of The Specials when they were due to visit Dublin’s Trinity College in July.

“This was one of the biggest concerts ever held in the Stardust and we would love to find out if anything stands out about that night in the original band members’ minds,” she said.

“Given that it happened just weeks before the fire, we are hoping they might remember something of significance that could assist us in our search for answers.”

In 1981, Hall left the band to start Fun Boy Three, his new wave project with Specials bandmates Lynval Golding and Neville Staple. They released their self-titled debut LP in 1982 and followed it up with 'Waiting' the following year before disbanding.

In 1984, Hall formed another band titled the Colourfield, which released two albums: 1985’s 'Virgins and Philistines' and 1987’s 'Deception.'

Additionally, Hall joined the bands Vegas and Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and released two solo albums. He would also go on to co-write the Go-Go’s 'Our Lips Are Sealed' and collaborate with a wide range of artists, including Sinéad O’Connor, Gorillaz, Tricky, M.I.A. and Lily Allen.

Hall also recorded Dana’s All Kinds of Everything with Sinead for the 1998 album "A Song For Eurotrash".

In 2008, Hall reunited with the Specials for a number of tours and concerts. They went on to record two new albums together: 2019’s 'Encore' and 2021’s 'Protest Songs 1924-2012'.

His death was announced by his family on Monday. He was 63.

Dublin Live 22^nd June 2022 Kim O’Leary.

Families of Stardust fire victims hoping to meet The Specials over 'sparks' at venue before tragedy.

The families of the 48 people who died in the Stardust fire are seeking a meeting with British ska band The Specials, who performed at the Artane venue just one month before the 1981 tragedy.

The legendary band, whose hits include Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle , will be in Dublin next month to play a sold-out gig at Trinity College on July 2. Speaking to Dublin Live, survivor Antoinette Keegan - who lost her sisters Mary, 19, and Martina, 16, in the Stardust fire - said that they are hopeful that they can get in contact with The Specials.

A number of people who were at the gig in 1981 later told gardai they saw “sparks” in the ceiling during the performance.

Ms Keegan said: "We want to see if they can remember anything at all from the night they were in the Stardust, even something at the thing they didn't think to be important could be significant to us in the lead up to what happened on February 13 and 14. My sister Lorraine wanted to go see The Specials the night they performed in the Stardust but my dad said no, and she is still a fan all these years later.

"We would really appreciate if they could contact us."

A number of people who were at the gig later told gardai they saw “sparks” in the ceiling during the The Specials performance the month before the tragedy. Antoinette said that the families are "hoping and praying" that The Specials will get in contact and agree to meet them.

There were 48 people killed and over 200 people injured in a fire at the Stardust nightclub on 14 February 1981. Ms Keegan said she is hopeful that the full inquest hearings into the tragedy will go ahead in September, with a preliminary hearing taking place on July 21.

She said: "On July 21 is the next preliminary hearing for the inquest, it'll be the first time me and my family won't be there because my mother is being presented with the Spirit of Mother Jones Award in Cork."

Her late mother, Christine Keegan, campaigned for many years to get an inquest into the deaths of her two daughters at the Stardust fire. She sadly passed away in 2020.

There was recently a breakthrough in a dispute between the Stardust families and the Department of Justice over payments for inquest jury members, with legislation brought in to pay the jurors for their service.

I do not know whether Antoinette Keegan did in fact meet with members of the special, but the an inquest into the fire did conclude in 2024, some 43 years after the event.

The Guardian 18^th April 2024

All 48 victims of 1981 Dublin nightclub fire unlawfully killed, inquest finds.

Survivors and relatives of those who died in Stardust club on Valentine’s Day in 1981 wept and thanked jury.

Forty-eight young people were unlawfully killed after an electrical fault started an inferno at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin in 1981, an inquest jury has found.

The jury delivered the verdict in a coroner’s court on Thursday more than four decades after a disaster considered one of the darkest moments in Ireland’s history.

Survivors and relatives of those who died applauded, wept and thanked the jury for a decision that appeared to deliver catharsis after a long quest for justice and accountability.

The conflagration in the north Dublin suburb of Artane on Valentine’s night killed 48 people, aged 16 to 27, injured 214, and left questions over how it started and why it claimed so many victims.

The jury concluded the fire stemmed from an electrical fault in the hot press in the bar of the Stardust Ballroom and that polyurethane foam seating and carpet tiles on the walls contributed to the fire’s spread.

Smoke, heat, lack of staff preparedness, ignorance of the building’s layout and emergency lighting failures impeded people’s ability to escape, the jury found. Asked if locked, chained or otherwise obstructed exits impeded the ability of any of the dead to escape, the jury foreman said “yes”.

After the verdicts relatives embraced and rose to applaud the jury, with one person shouting “thank you”. The inquest lasted 12 months.

Families said previous efforts, including a tribunal of inquiry, a victim compensation tribunal and two legislature-appointed reviews, were rushed, perfunctory or botched, reflecting official indifference to working-class communities.

The tribunal of inquiry that convened within three weeks of the fire found the “probable cause” was arson, outraging the families who said it smeared the dead and allowed the nightclub manager, Eamon Butterly, to claim £580,000 compensation for malicious damage.

The arson finding was removed from the public record in 2009 but families said only a fresh inquest could absolve those who died.

The coroner, Myra Cullinane, paid tribute to the families’ persistence in obtaining a fresh inquest. “To the families, I acknowledge the deaths of these 48 young people is a source of ongoing grief to those who loved them and it remains the defining loss of their lives.

“However, I hope that family members will have taken some solace from the fact that these fresh inquests were held, that the facts surrounding the deaths were examined in detail, that moving testimony was heard from many of those involved in the events of the night and, most importantly, that you the families felt fully involved in proceedings, however difficult it was to hear all of the evidence.”

Families marched to the Garden of Remembrance carrying photographs of those who died and a black banner that said: “They never came home.” Some called for a state apology over flaws in the investigation of the blaze and what they termed callousness towards survivors and relatives.

President Michael D Higgins said the inquest findings were a result of tireless campaigning.

“I am very conscious that today will be a day of the deepest emotions for the loved ones of those who died,” he said.

“A day of vindication and of honour, but also a day of the deepest sadness and regret. I think in particular of those whose passing means this conclusion comes too late for them.”

The taoiseach, Simon Harris, said the families had carried the weight of the disaster with strength and dignity.

“The Stardust tragedy was one of the darkest moments in our history, a heartbreaking tragedy because of the lives that were lost, the families that were changed forever, and the long, drawn-out struggle for justice that followed.

“Their relentless pursuit of truth and accountability, their profound commitment to justice, even in the face of overwhelming challenges and setbacks, was not only a fight for their loved ones but a campaign to ensure that such a disaster never happens again.”

The government will consider the verdict and the jury’s recommendations, Harris said.

Memorial to the memory of the victims of the Stardust Ballroom fire

(Stardust Memorial Park, Dublin).

The English Beat Buffalo State University NY 14th April 1983 (TFTLTYTD#16)

 

This is a gem of a recording of The Beat, or The English Beat as they had to be known Stateside for legal reasons. There was just something about this band, their songs were a mixture political protest ('Get A Job', 'Stand Down Margaret' and 'Two Swords') and songs about relationships ('Too Nice To Talk To', 'Jeanette', 'Hands Off... She's Mine') all delivered with a high level of positivity. Both live and in the studio they played out their 'Peace, Love & Unity' mantra. It was a mixture of killer material, Roger's charm and who knows what else that made The Beat the band that bands wanted to tour with. They supported some of the biggest bands of the late '70's/early '80s, The Clash, The Police, oh and some bloke by the name of Bowie. They were supported by some big bands too on the rise. On this tour support was provided by REM. The exposure that the band enjoyed from touring with big name bands ensured some degree of success in United States that continued for a while with General Public, the band formed by Roger and Dave Wakeling after the demise of The English Beat.

Legendary Beat saxophonist, Saxa, died in 2017, Ranking Roger died in 2019, whilst original drummer Everett Morton died in 2021.

A truely great and inspirational band.

Many thanks to the original Dime uploader.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vwlqkXqueQ

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-6mbQ464k0s

The Beat Emerald City Cherry Hill New Jersey 5th October 1980

 OK, so Madness, The Bodysnatchers and Bad Manners were very much London bands, but few would dispute that overall 2 Tone belongs to the West Midlands. If Coventry was 2 Tone Central, then its big brother, Birmingham, England's second city, was its principal outpost. The Beat remained a founding member of the 2 Tone club having released a single on the label. However, two other Birmingham bands were very much linked with 2 Tone through a combination of geography and philosophy. UB40 released the great 'One in Ten', a reflection of the unemployment statistics of the time. The band's multiracial line up was very much akin with the bands in the 2 Tone camp, although UB40 were more influenced by reggae sounds. Another Birmingham outfit were Dexy's Midnight Runners who like the 2 Toners incorporated much brass into their Northern Soul tinged music. The also used to appear on the bill with the 2 Tone set.

Anyway, back to The Beat. For my money, along with The Specials, The Beat were the cream of the crop. Their songs ranged from angry and political ('Big Shot', 'Two Swords', 'Stand Down Margaret') to everyday, boy/girl challenges of youth ('Best Friend', 'Hands Off... She's Mine', 'Too Nice To Talk Too'). In Roger they also had a brilliant, engaging front man.

I believe that this is the gig that was recorded for use in the 'Dance Craze' film. This is the gig in it's entirety and it is stunning. Thanks to the 'Life in Monochrome' forum.

MP3: https://we.tl/t-3yaSlYdZAB

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GGNezB4sqO

Dance Craze - The Reception

 

Promo poster for the screening of the original film in New Zealand.

Record Mirror (7th February 1981)

THE PREMIERE of 'Dance Craze' , the Two - Tone movie, was an extra special event held on Saturday for several hundred under - 18s. Tickets were distributed via a Record Mirror competition and direct invitations to childrens' homes such as Dr Barnardo's. Our 14 year old correspondent Sean O'Donovan hot - footed it from Canvey Island to the Sundown in Charing Cross Road and sent us this report:

AT 4 PM the waiting crowd were at last let into the premiere of 'Dance Craze'. hailed as 'the best of British ska - live' and starring the Beat. Madness. The Bodysnatchers, Bad Manners, Selecter and the Specials. As the mass flocked in, the walls were stripped bare of all posters and LP covers. Down on the stage. Radio One's Richard Skinner was playing some of the aforementioned groups' hits, which got us up onto the dance floor for a moonstomp. At 4.20 the first of the groups' members entered - John Bradbury,  drummer of the Specials, came in rather unnoticed. Suggs. However  made a dramatic

entrance and was immediately mobbed by autograph hunters. I don't think anyone could not have noticed Madness because they were wearing black dress suits with red carnations and canes for the event.

Arriving later were Terry Hall, Rhoda of the Bodysnatchers, Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling of the Beat, Charley ex of Selecter and many others. They gathered in the Liggers' bar above the main hall, talking to fans and signing the posters and LP covers previously decorating the walls.

The music played for an hour, with records, T-shirts. posters (which were ripped to bits) and badges being distributed to the madding crowd. Five o'clock and the film was underway. The fans were not exactly ecstatic - no one danced! – but clearly enjoyed it nevertheless.

As the crowd filed out, the announcement came over the speakers that more merchandise was being given out at the door. This caused havoc, but luckily order was maintained.

The one question being asked at the end of the event by all the girls was about Suggs and Bette Bright. Is she really going out with him? SEAN O'DONOVAN

THE OPENING of the Two - Tone movie is a spoof of the old 'Look At Life' short films that used to precede the main feature at Odeons up and down the country, and though many of its audience won't remember such things, it's a nice witty way to start.

The Specials' 'Nite Klub' is first up, followed by Madness with 'The Prince'. A new technique has been used for the live footage of which the film largely consists, and very effective it is too. The hot, jumpy atmosphere of the various gigs is splendidly captured throughout.

The Bodysnatchers' cover of old fave '007' comes next, and it's a heartening sight to see the girls - girls! hooray! - keeping well up with the male musical competition. Pauline Black of the Selecter looks exceeding well, too, and I hope she' ll forgive a totally non - sexist comment here: the camera seems

reluctant to move away from her bottom (clad in white ski - pants) and I don't blame it a bit.

During Madness's ska 'Swan Lake ' there's some really tasty footage of loafers and Dr Martens slow - motion dancingl, and amusing cuts to a ballet company performing to 'Swan Lake' in its onginal form. I only wish there'd been more of this sort of thing; it would have broken the relentness flow of live

performance to good effect.

Ah well, on with the bands . .. Bad Manners don't come off too well I'm afraid. particularly when following the Bodysnatchers; they look so big and white and male. The Beat quite simply steal the show, with Ranking Roger in particular walking off with my personal Oscars for best dancing, best hat, most charm and totally infectious enthusiasm.

Halfway through we break for a section of Pathe News, hilarious stuff showing dance crazes of yesteryear. This would have been better cut up and shown in bursts throughout the film methinks,  but it's a good idea .

More stand - out bits: Madness's 'Razor Blade Alley ' and ' Night Boat to Cairo' . the staged fight during Selecter's 'Too Much Pressure ', the bottle of Lucozade on Jerry Dammers' piano and the closer - ' Nite Klub' again – with Terry Hall deadpanning beautifully throughout the scathing lyrics.

See it, dance to it, sing along and cheer for your laves. It's that kind of movie and I loved (almost) every minute of it. SUNIE.

Record Mirror (7th February 1981)

DANCE CRAZE (Soundtrack)

(CHR TT 5004)

By Sunie

YOU'VE FLOCKED to the gigs, you've thrilled to the hits, you'll soon be queueing for the movie - now hear the soundtrack! Let's skank through the tracks on this live monument to the Two-Tone story so far, before sitting back for some armchair analysis ...

Side One opens with the Specials' 'Concrete Jungle', followed by the Beat's 'Mirror in the Bathroom', the

latter surprisingly sounding more sinister here than on the studio version. Anti-stoutism's firmest

advocates Bad Manners are next with 'Lip Up Fatty', which is hearty enough but suffers rather from

foliowing the much more subtle Beat sound.

Absolute stand-out on this side is 'Razor Blade Alley' by Madness, a superb slice of finger-snapping

sleaze closer to Tom Waits than to Prince Buster, which tells of losing virginity and health in one brief

encounter. On to 'Three Minute Hero' by the Selecter after that brief change of tempo; I never reckoned

this song much, but that's just my grouse. The Bodysnatchers' sole contribution to the LP is 'Easy Life',

wrapping the liberation v procreation dilemma in delicious girly harmonies and what I imagine to be a rock-• steady rhythm; it sounds different from pure ska, anyway. The Beat reappear with 'Big Shot' and

Madness end the side with an insanely fast and saxy 'One Step Beyond' .

Side Two kicks off with the seat's 'Ranking Full Stop', a lively if unexceptional number brought up to

scratch by Ranking Roger's sheer exuberance. Specials next with 'Man at C&A'; then the Selecter's

'Missing Words', smashing melodic pop deftly performed. Bad Manners' 'Inner London Violence' is more of their razzy stomp, but with considerably more musical ' substance than their previous effort.

'Night Boat to Cairo' is the song that made me fall for Madness, and here it is in all its glory: I don't know

which I love more, Lee Thompson's marvellous sax or Suggs's inimitable vocal. Then we're back to the

Selecter for 'Too Much Pressure' , and the set ends at the 'Nite Klub', with brass ensemble Dick & Rico well to the fore of a steamy Specials sound.

Each group uses its own producer, and since the list of those gentlemen's names reads like a studio

'Who's  Who’, you may rest assured that the quality throughout is triff.

It's positively mind-boggling to consider that each of these bands owes their first taste of success, at

least in part, to J Dammers Esquire's vision, and trying to count the sum total of their hits brings me and my abacus out in a cold sweat. It's been said many times before, but it is a truly joyful thing that such groups as these are actively breaking down barriers of race, age, gender and musical style. More

power  to them. + + + +

Smash Hits (19th February 1981)

New York Times (25th April 1982)

The sloppy but cheerful ''Dance Craze,'' which opened Friday at the Eighth Street Playhouse, is a concert film devoted to the musical hybrid known variously as ska, or two-tone, or rock steady. The English bands featured here owe a lot to reggae - the best-known British band rockers playing anything of this sort are the Police, who do not appear in ''Dance Craze'' - but have added a thing or two of their own. Flat tops. Checked jackets. Persistent hopping, preferably from one foot to the other. An overall spirit of jubilation.

''Dance Craze,'' which was directed by Joe Massot, shows so little concern for the ordinary cinematic niceties that it never even identifies the bands on screen, except in the opening credits. These groups are the Specials, the Bodysnatchers, Madness, Bad Manners, the English Beat and the Selecter.

The personnel is racially mixed -which is part of why the music is nicknamed ''two-tone'' - and a couple of the lead singers are women. One lead singer, from Bad Manners, is a fat man in T-shirt, droopy pants and suspenders, wearing army boots and a skinhead's hairdo. No one can accuse these bands of lacking either enthusiasm or character.

''Dance Craze'' isn't anything more than a chance to watch these groups for an hour and a half, and to hear a very muddy version of their sound; the lyrics are almost indistinguishable throughout. For anyone interested in this happy, energetic music, that may be more than enough. Janet Maslin

The Cast

DANCE CRAZE, directed by Joe Massot; visual concept and photography by Joe Dunton; edited by Ben Rayner; music produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley; produced by Gav- rik Losey; released by Nu-Image. Running time: 86 minutes. This film has no rating. At the Eighth Street Playhouse, at the Avenue of the Americas.

Some were critical...

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