Writing about the Coventry's 2-Tone era was joyful, says author

The author of a new book on the Coventry 2-Tone music scene said it was "sensational" to meet the musicians behind the influential era.

Daniel Rachel, from Birmingham, said he interviewed between 90 to 100 people for Too Much Too Young, published on Thursday.

The scene started in the 70s, named after the 2-Tone record label founded by Jerry Dammers of The Specials.

Writing his book was "joyful", Mr Rachel told BBC CWR.

The story of 2-Tone was incredible and the music still reverberated today, he added.

"It burned brightly for a brief amount of time but... it's sold records in the hundreds of thousands and eclipsed punk and we're left now with a legacy of incredible records," he said.

Jerry Dammers had a vision of a "Coventry Motown" by creating a production line of records, of which he had independent control, with bands like Madness and The Beat also able to "move freely" onto other projects, Mr Rachel said.

Many music genres of the time like disco, rock and punk influenced the scene, he said, as well as providing an "incredible social and political back drop to late 70s and early 80s".

The Rock Against Racism concert in London in 1978 influenced Jerry Dammers, he added.

"The idea of black and white musicians playing together on the same stage, which we now take so much for granted, was a really revolutionary act born out of the influence of Rock Against Racism," Mr Rachel added.

"Jerry wanted a musical statement that reflected the influence of what he had seen Rock Against Racism do, which was new in itself."

Among the people he interviewed were musicians, record label staff and the 2-Tone fan club secretary.

"As a schoolboy fan of 2-Tone... to meet these people and to sit down and just talk about the records and their experiences, it was sensational and so exciting," he said.

"I'm still influenced by the clothes and the records and to get to write the book and attempt to do an definitive version of what the label is is joyful."

The death of The Specials' frontman Terry Hall in December was a great loss as he was "the popstar we grew up with".

"It makes it all the more important to us that the voices of this generation are captured," he added.

"It's a movement that has to be defined and I think Coventry should be very proud of itself for always allowing 2-Tone to exist and be there."

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