Hey You Rude Boy! It's the Two Tone and related thread (release by release).

Next release is the second single by The Beat. Now signed to Arista, on their own Go-Feet imprint.
FEET 1 is Hands Off She's Mine backed by Twist and Crawl. There was a lot of discussion on what should be the A side, with Andy Cox especially, thinking that Twist and Crawl should have been. In the end it was released as a double A side, even though Hands Off She's Mine is the one that most people remember.


I liked the Go-Feet label design as much as Two Tone, and always loved it when there was a design with Beat Girl dancing with Walt Jabsco.


The record entered the charts on Feb 23 getting into the top 10 at no.9. It also stayed on the charts for 9 weeks.

 

I always found The Beat to be the danceable of the groups so far. They must have thought the same because they released their single in 12" form with extended mixes of both sides.
This is the extended mix of Twist and Crawl.

 

And here is the extended mix of Hands Off She's Mine.

 

Next up is a group that was never signed to Two Tone, but was very much linked to the movement and cannot be ignored. I always found them to be a bit of a novelty act and as time went on that side of them grew. However they did produce a few good tracks, although I don't necessarily think their début single was that great.
We are of course talking about Bad Manners led by the irrepressible Buster Bloodvessel.

Their first single was NE-NE-NA-NA-NA-NA-NU-NU backed with Holidays which entered the charts on 1 mar 80, got to no. 28 and managed to stay on the charts for an impressive 14wks.

Bad Manners were signed to Magnet records and this single was Mag 164.

 

The Beat are playing in the O2 in Liverpool this June

 

How timely! I've just played their debut album once again.. It seemed like the perfect album for a lovely sunny day - even if some of the subject matter isn't really jolly - a common theme with at least one other band we have spoke of in this thread...

The single though - wish I could go back in time and see my reaction to seeing this new label and company sleeve to match. I remember sort of hoping that the other Two Tone bands would follow suit and have their own unique brands and designs too. If the music was this good, then I wouldn't be too sad at them not staying with Two Tone Records.. I do have the 12" as well and would have realised at the time that they were going for a cool 60s style effect.

 

Glad these are on You Tube and a very good move to post them in case others haven't heard them.

 

Aha - I'm pleased that you did think these worthy of adding into the thread... It is '..And Related...' after all and they did appear on Dance Craze etc. So even though at the time, I was initially looking in vain for a mention of Two Tone somewhere on the sleeve and labels of the first singles I had, they did appear on the label just the once.

I can't say that this one excited me much at the time - I didn't get a copy for how long after (years and years is all I can think to answer) and I must have thought they were taking the proverbial a little, when first seeing them on Top Of The Pops. I mean, the frontman who I thought his first name actually was Buster Bloodvessel.. for a start, what was he on?? And Madness were supposed to be 'The Nutty Boys"?

It wasn't too long before I did start to use my ears and like what they were doing - considered a few of the singles to hold up as well as almost anything else I was listening to. They could look totally potty at first glance but they showed there was more to them than the novelty songs they were mostly recognised for, early on.

Not a bad track but no, nowhere near their best. Ok for getting them in the public eye and it did the trick fine.

 

Are you going?

 

For the sake of the good tracks they did, I had to, they are however almost one step beyond where my taste lays.

 

I wont be able to make it, i only found out about it today and i am working a late on the first of june

 

So we come to the last of the Ska bands which we will be featuring, they were the "girl group" of Two Tone, although their lead singer would feature heavily with The Specials until pretty much the end of their Two Tone run.
I am of course referring to The Bodysnatchers, and their CHS TT9 single, Let's Do Rockstedy/Ruder Than You.

Decided to show the injection 2 Tone label this time, as unless you were lucky to get the singles quick, this is what you would probably get.
Let's Do Rock Steady, was an original Ska track from the 60s, although The Bodysnatchers added to it and gained a writing credit. Although it could be seen as a bit of a bandwagon jumping track, I feel that as they were signed to 2 Tone, Jerry Dammers must have believed them to be authentic and after all, Rhoda ended up being a member of the Specials later on, so she must have been doing something right.
Sadly this was the first single which didn't get in the top 20 peaking at number 22 and in the charts for 9 weeks after debuting on the 15th March 1980.



The Bodysnatchers only managed two singles before disbanding, with some of the group forming The Belle Starrs and having a admirable run of hits for a time in the early 80s.

 

B Side, Ruder Than You.

 

Dandy Livingstone's version of the song, (he also did Message to you Rudy).

 

And an interlude for you all. Part one of a retrospective in Record Collector from 1989, so the 10th anniversary of Two Tone.

 

That works on more than one level, methinks.

 

Shame - that happened to me last time the Specials played in two different parts of the country... first when I was visiting family and couldn't have got home after and then about a week following that, when I was already written on the rota to be there for a double shift. Big, big downer.

 

Yeah - that's right... I now remember that some went to The Belle Starrs - I'd forgotten all about this, so thanks for bringing that back to me! What I do recall though is that my brother had their single of Sign Of The Times and nearly drove me round the twist with it. I might have that actual copy of it (ha, he used to help himself to my stuff at one point as well .) I too played things loads, as I have said more than once in the thread but not without mixing it up a little, in a nice little pile of records!

Not a bad tune at all - liked it at the time and still do (yes, I have the single) and I think it did well considering it could be a bit lightweight compared to other, more 'serious' acts in this mode. I think there was room for some 'poppy' upbeat tunes in the Two Tone catalogue and this was a good first single to introduce them. Shame they were so shortlived but I think I saw them as not too dissimilar to The Selecter in sound at the time, with the female lead vocals.

 

Two tone was my gateway into forming my own music identity and buying my own records. Loved everything about two tone and coincidentally I've been listening to the back catalogue of all the key bands over the last few weeks. 1981 was a brilliant year for me and saw all the main bands live at the Royal Court. Brilliant gigs.

Still got loads of memories, remember travelling on a coach to a Rock Against Racism gig in Leeds where The Specials where headlining and the coach had to leave before the band played a note. Gutted. But managed to see them in Liverpool a couple of months later, which was their second to last ever gig, at least in the uk, with the original line up. All my mates bought into the whole thing, and one of them still plays with Bad Manners now.

 

Saw the Belle Stars support Madness on the 7 tour but never did see The Bodysnatchers. Apart from the two singles I don't think there's a whole lot of The Bodysnatchers "out there" even, I love their version of 007 from the Dance Craze soundtrack

 

Still sounds brilliant today...

 

I'd have said 'stuff it' and missed the coach on purpose! No, I'd have been too scared (as age 11) to have tried I trick like that. Great that you did get to see them and the other biggies as well. I know I'm repeating myself once again but these are the things we cannot forget about - and for very good reason. And a mate plays with Bad Manners... now that's cool!!

Someone told me that they were at a biker's festival (this was some 10-15 years ago) and Hawkwind were on one stage - with people falling asleep around them (incidentally, I do love a bit of Hawkwind and have a fair few albums) but BM were playing on another and they had the crowd going like crazy. Which really makes sense when you think about it - being a band people can jump around to and one of their best known songs is about a brand of very strong lager as well (something I only discovered in later years- and in more ways than one. ) Whereas Hawkwind could be more associated with the more *ahem* sedantry fan, perhaps...

 

THANK YOU for adding these into the thread - so much info and material to refer back to here, for now and the future.

 

I was only 15 at the time and it's a long walk back to Liverpool from Leeds . I saw my mate play with Bad Manners about two years ago, it was his "50th" so we all went the gig. As you can imagine it was amazing to watch your mate playing tunes you'd all loved since you were kids.

 

Yes, I was surprised we didn't see more of them after appearing on the album. Only having two singles, I'd really be interested in knowing what was on their live setlist.