Welcome to the 2 Tone Collection,the largest personal collection of 2 Tone vinyl records on the web.
I'd been a big fan of the bands on the 2-Tone label ever since The Specials released Gangsters way back in 1979,singles from Madness,The Selecter,The Beat and The Bodysnatchers followed but unfortunately my record collection only grew as far as 1981's final release from The Specials Ghost Town,with the exception of Elvis Costello's I Cant Stand Up.
Other additions to my collection came from releases by The Swinging Cats,Rico & Rhoda Dakar but by '81 2-Tone was faltering,musical tastes where changing,Madness were now signed to Stiff,The Beat now with Go Feet and The Selecter left to sign a deal directly with Chryalis. Terry,Neville & Lynval left The Specials to form the Fun Boy 3 in 1982 and the remaining band members reverted back to The Special AKA.By now the record box ended up gathering dust in the wardrobe and the turntable binned in favour of the CD player.
2-Tone took on a totally new direction from the old ska roots and was now releasing more soul/funk singles by the likes of The Higsons and The Apollinaires.Beetween 1982-84 The Specials AKA released a few more singles as well as an album and kept the chequered flag flying for 2-Tone for a little while longer.The final release on the 2-Tone label came on the 2nd January 1996 with the release of JB's Allstars Alphabet Army,by now though the lights had been switched off and the door to the 2-Tone office had been firmly closed.
Fast forward 25 years and i finally stumble across the Costello single which had eluded me all these years,this now re-ignites my passion for 2-Tone and i set upon a task of collecting every single release on the label once and for all.Soon the Friday Club and JB's Allstars singles are added,then it's all the paper & plastic label pressings and so the collection is complete,or so i thought !
Foreign releases followed,as well as bootleg recordings,then promo's,white labels and test pressings.And so my collection grew,what started as a love of 2-Tone/ska has now turned into a labour of love,and so continues to grow...
A couple of years ago i decided the best way to catalouge my collection was to build a website and here it is,i dont claim to be an expert on 2-Tone,neither do i claim to be an expert on collecting vinyl,I'm just an ordinary guy who,in between work and family life,enjoys searching for the rare 2-Tone releases.
THIS WEBSITE IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE EDINBURGH RUDE
BOYS,SKINS & SCOOTERISTS 1979-83