A painstakingly comprehensive study of an enduring and deeply influential cultural phenomenon. By 1979, punk had grown up and smacked of an almost middle-aged respectability. Waiting in the wings, punk’s smarter, but no less snotty little brother - Two Tone - was about to emerge.

Within two lightening fast years, Two Tone had become the dominant music, fashion and dissenting voice of a disillusioned generation. It is a story rooted in the socio-economic climate of the late 1970s/early 1980s but also in Two Tone’s punk and ska predecessors. Eddington meticulously examines the pre-Two Tone lives of pivotal figures within this youth movement such as Jerry Dammers and the Specials, The Selector, Madness, The Beat, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Bad Manners et al.
The culmination of three years of exhaustive research, this book compellingly recounts for the very first time how a monochrome and embattled Britain was re-energised and coloured by Two Tone. With full Madness and Specials reunions, Two Tone is now as relevant as ever.