2 Tone Records

2 Tone Records was a British label founded around 1979 by musician Jerry Dammers. Its name was shared with the 2 Tone musical and visual movement that it helped define. Based in the Coventry scene, the label focused on music combining Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae influences with elements of British punk and new wave. It was closely associated with The Specials and with the broader British ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The label’s influence extended beyond record releases into concert culture, clothing and youth subculture, supported by a distinctive black-and-white checkerboard identity. Although it later ceased to operate as an active label, 2 Tone remains a widely used term for the movement and its associated recordings.

2 Tone Records emerged around 1979 from the Coventry music scene in Britain and was founded by Jerry Dammers, a member of The Specials. The name referred both to the record label and to a wider musical and cultural movement that combined British musicians’ interpretations of Jamaican traditions with punk and new-wave energy. The label’s most important early association was The Specials. Releases connected with the label brought the Coventry scene to a wider British audience and turned “2 Tone” into a recognizable youth-culture identity. Checkerboard graphics, black-and-white imagery and consistent design across record sleeves, posters and merchandise gave the label a distinctive visual system. The imagery also came to represent the meeting of different musical traditions and communities in British urban culture. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, 2 Tone Records helped drive the British ska revival. The label was closely connected with artists including The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat, although the contractual and release arrangements differed between artists and recordings. As musical tastes changed, key bands’ activities shifted and the label’s operating model evolved, 2 Tone Records ceased to function as a continuously active independent label. Its legacy remains significant in ska, post-punk, British independent music and youth-culture history.

1. 1979Label founded

   Jerry Dammers founded 2 Tone Records in the Coventry music scene, and the label began promoting music that blended ska, reggae, and punk elements.
2. Driving the UK ska revival

   Through releases by the label and its associated artists, 2 Tone became a key name in the UK ska revival and developed a distinctive black-and-white checkerboard visual identity.

An independent music label within the UK ska revival and post-punk context.

• The Specials recordingsMusic releases1979

  Among the label’s most representative early releases and associations, these recordings reflected The Specials’ combination of Jamaican ska and reggae with British punk and new wave, helping bring the label to a broader audience.

• 2 Tone compilationsCompilation albums

  Compilations centered on 2 Tone artists or recordings gathered the sound and culture of the British ska revival and became an important way to represent the movement.