Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation [Hardcover]

It started in the English Midlands city of Coventry. Madness, the Selecter, the Beat, UB40, the Specialsthese were just some of the biggest names in the 1970s and 1980s movement of punk-influenced ska and reggae-based songs, antiracist and antisexist at heart, on the airwaves. British music writer Rachel presents a rich and vibrant history of that era and of the bands and record companies that made it happen, with a special focus on 2 Tone Records founder, Jerry Dammers . . . The records that 2 Tone released, says Rachel, were a hip form of protest music. Its a big fat book about an important, if sometimes neglected, part of cultural music history . . . when music of the African diaspora was heard and embraced around the world. We lived in Britain, a country that had benefited from immigration, but had an innate antipathy to ideas of multiculturalism. Daniel Rachel has managed to capture the essence of that contradiction in those Margaret Thatcher years, with this comprehensive, cautionary, and celebratory saga of 2 Tone. Brilliant . . . nothing is left out of this definitive book. Music historian Rachel presents a meticulous profile of the British record label that helped popularize post-punk ska music in the late 1970s and early 80s . . . Rachel effectively balances his enthusiasm about the label and what it stood for with a clear-eyed assessment of how a movement intended for good can go up in flames. In? Disputatious, colorful, and rife with contradictions. An exceptional portrait of Britain at a crucial time. Daniel Rachel has managed to talk to all the significant players and the story he tells is one that shines a light on the challenges of mixing pop with politics. This feels like the definitive story of 2 Tone. Masterful. Daniel Rachel has bagged the whirlwind of 2 Tone with joy, honesty, and compassion to create the definitive account of one of Britain's finest youth movements. Any fan of pop history and music in general will love? A brilliant, lS&