Coventry’s heritage as the home of 2-Tone has been firmly stamped with a tour and series of plaques to guide fans through a 30-year history of the unique record label and scene across the city. Celebrating 3 decades in 2009 The Specials cultural and historical impact from when they first exploded onto the scene in their hometown is now officially recognized.

The 11 locations across Coventry first originated from Pete Chambers book’s 2-Tone, and the later titled 2-Tone-2. Initially the DIY tour comprised of 20 major sites in and around Coventry until the music Historian and author secured funding for an initial eight plaques around the city. However, after the unveiling of the first eight, and the linked events around them, a further three plaques were funded.

“2-Tone is an important part of our culture and heritage as far as Coventry is concerned, and is something which should be preserved”, comments Pete. “Coventry now has a new tourist attraction in the 2-Tone trail, which is something for the fans to enjoy. In music form, 2-Tone was a record label and a movement, and often a declaration of a right to exist regardless of your creed or colour. I am so proud that it started in Coventry and that it’s able to continue with its message”.

The 2 Tone scene helped break down racial barriers with their Caribbean influence and multi-racial music in a multi-cultural city, while in the past 30 years it has helped tackle racism from its input in ‘Rock Against Racism’ through to its modern equivalent ‘Love Music, Hate Racism’ in which The Beat and Jerry Dammers both played this year.

The plaques have been unveiled one at a time by ska pioneers, starting way back in January 2009 at the Canal Basin by Roddy Bryers and Horace Panter of The Specials. The run down area was used for a photo shoot by The Specials in 1979, with the image taken by photographer Chalkie Davies going on to become the iconic front and rear cover of The Specials debut album, and also the rear of the More Specials LP.

The 11 locations of the Trail

1: Coventry University
Jerry Dammers, Horace Panter, and Pauline Black all attended the then Polytechnic and it was also the location for the Rat Race video.

2: The Hand and Heart Pub
Home to emerging 2-Tone bands including Hardtop 22 (later forming Selecter) and The Coventry Automatics (later returning as The Specials).

3: The Binley Oak
Prime rehearsal location for Coventry’s 2-Tone bands. It’s where Pauline Black first became a member of Selecter.

4: The Canal Basin
The location for The Specials’ first album cover.

5: The Birthplace of 2-Tone
Jerry Dammers flat which doubled up as the HQ for 2-Tone Records.

6: Horizon Studios / The Rocket
The studios, which no longer stand, were where most of 2-Tone was recorded.

7: Holyhead Road Youth Club
Neville Staple first met The Specials here and was also resident DJ.

8: Mr George Nightclub
The Automatics played a four-month Monday night residency here at the famous Ska venue.

9: Tiffany’s Nightclub
Now a library the once major ska venue is where Chuck Berry also recorded his only number one hit (My Ding-A-Ling).

10: Virgin Records / Soul Hole
The base for Pete Waterman before becoming a global phenomenon.

11: The Heath Hotel
The venue which hosted The Specials first ever gig.

The 2-Tone Trail takes around three hours to complete. More information can be found at www.2-Toneat30.info

Words: James Drakeford

All the drama seemed to be happening down in Chelmsford, what with Amy Winehouse cameo-ing with the Specials and a last-minute cancellation from headliners Oasis. There weren’t as many surprises at Stafford’s Weston Park site, the days running as smoothly as you would expect from such a slick, pop-polished juggernaut. I’d set my hopes low this year, my motive being to have a fun weekend with friends rather than catching hot musical talents such as Alesha Dixon, the Saturdays and N-Dubz (oh my!). Guess what? It’s probably the best V I’ve been to.

Day One: Saturday 22 August

Following a chilled-out Friday spent in the indie disco and basking in the sun (yes, you heard that right: it was sunny at V), the time for live music – and the first hangover – soon rolled around. The Saturday sunshine saw revellers eager to start using up those precious bar tokens, and early anthems from Ocean Colour Scene were a fitting soundtrack. Next up was Mark Ronson protégé Daniel Merriweather, who dropped a cred-baiting cover of the White Stripes ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ partway through a set of vocally impressive retro-soul hits.

The chart-friendly vibe continued in the form of Natalie Imbruglia, who took me back to being 12 years old all over again. Although she may have missed a trick by performing ‘Torn’ three songs in, promptly inspiring a mass exodus, I stuck around for the Alanis-esque ‘Big Mistake’ and ‘Wishing I Was There’, songs I thought were the epitome of rock-chick cool back in ’98. New material was more reminiscent of electro-edged Ladyhawke, who ripped her way through a hit-packed set while looking as flippantly cool as ever.

I’d like to say that it was feminine wiles that charmed me over to the 4Music stage for pop tart Katy Perry, but it was actually a begrudging promise to a friend. Despite an ill-advised cover of Queen student fave ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, it’s not everyday you get to see a gal wearing strawberries on her bosoms – plus, as tedious as it may sound on radio, karaoke pop like ‘Waking Up In Vegas’ and (of course) ‘I Kissed a Girl’ does the trick under a blazing sun with two ciders in hand. My rep took a further hit after I somehow turned into a 14 year-old girl and muscled to the front bar for Paolo Nutini (!), who nevertheless tore it up and erased all memory of sappy ballads with Sax-inspired tracks from his new album.

I veered away from the Smash Hits! route for a short but sweet set from a dapper-looking Mystery Jets, whose chipper ‘Two Doors Down’ proved to be a highlight of the festival. It was back to pop with a capital P soon after, as a jammed tent became disgruntled at the late entrance of Lady Gaga. Although her tardiness forced her to pull ‘Poker Face’ from the setlist (false move much?), she was soon entertaining fans and hecklers alike with her raunchy, racy and ridiculous spectacle – I can only imagine the scale of her stage show in five years’ time. By the time MGMT came around, I was sucker-punched and only managed to last three songs before heading back to the campsite, Kids be damned (and Oasis be damned even more).

Day Two: Sunday 23 August

Although I woke up to angry-looking clouds, creating an ambience in keeping with my pounding head, the skies soon cleared and the sunglasses came out. Opting out of the aural insult of McFly’s opening slot, day two officially landed when sprawled atop the grass to the sound of Noisettes. I miss their brasher punk of old but ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’ couldn’t have suited the weather better, and Shinga’s sparkle made up for the ready meal rock of a crash-landing Jet.

A few more bevvies under Mr Blue Sky prepared us for VV Brown, who carried off her doo-wop/pop-rock mash with some panache in the Virgin Media Union. The obligatory cover is Kings of Leon’s ‘Use Somebody’ but a reggae reworking of ‘Crying Blood’ was the set’s crowning moment. Ducking out before the finale saw us caught in the rush to Dizzee Rascal, who wass obviously saving all his best songs for last and inspired my friends to move along.

It wasn’t too regrettable a decision though, as Lily Allen can always be relied upon to bring the fun. ‘LDN’s chorus line ‘Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?’ sums it up pretty succinctly, as she worked the main stage wearing a revealing black top and Bat For Lashes bob-wig. She enquired about the Ashes, got told off for lighting up, and dissed Chelmsford, proving as titillating when not singing as when delivering much-loved singles like ‘Smile’ and ‘The Fear’.

As dusk approached, a change of pace was in order and I traipsed alone – accompanied by wafts of The Specials’ set – to the darkened tent where Howling Bells rang. Frontwoman Juanita Stein was as charismatic as ever, and I can forgive them for being so ridiculously good-looking simply because their moody rock is, for want of a better term, The Shit. I was on such a buzz afterwards that I briefly twisted my melon, man, when meeting up with friends over at Happy Mondays’ set.

Following a couple of cocktails from the Bacardi B-Live Tent, the weekend’s happy-go-lucky vibe was topped off with a poptastic performance from Alphabeat. Their choruses are so primary-coloured as to make your ears hurt but the energy in the tent was infectious and their sing-a-longs got lips and feet moving. My dancing shoes (yup, no wellies this year!) were in want of another chance to bust a groove after the bout of Swedish pop, and so I bypassed the headlining slot from The Killers in favour of pulsating beats from Kissy Sell Out spilling out of the Bowtime Bar. It was the perfect nightcap, and rounded off one of the best weekends I’ve spent in Weston Park in some time.

Words: Luke McNaneny
Photos: Bianca Barret

Coventry’s finest are returning in 2009. Ska legends The Specials have been hailed as one of the most important bands in the history of popular music and recognised as one of the greatest live bands the world has ever seen.

Despite a brief career, the Coventry band lit up the late 70’s like a comet, their melding of punk and ska creating the 2-tone sound that is still today held up as an influence by bands across the world. Now, thirty years since the release of their debut single, ‘Gangsters’, The Specials will take to the road for a UK tour starting in April.

“Over two studio albums, The Specials scored eight top ten singles, including two number ones for the ‘Too Much Too Young’ live EP and the era defining ‘Ghost Town’, two Top 5 albums and spawned a retrospective list of compilation and live albums from official releases to much sought after bootlegs. The band were rightly regarded as the starting point of the ska scene that swept the UK through 1978 and, in many ways, were emblematic of their times, their songs dealing with the confusion of a country in industrial decline whilst struggling to come to terms with multi-culturalism and a new creed which became known as Thatcherism. Their re-emergence into a Britain teetering on the edge of recession and still plagued by the same divisions and problems that they so memorably highlighted in ‘Ghost Town’ could not seem more apt, the songs from ‘The Specials’ and ‘More Specials’ seeming as relevant today as they did 30 years ago.”

Live in 2009
22 April / NEWCASTLE, Academy / 0844 477 2000
23 April / SHEFFIELD, Academy / 0844 477 2000
25 April / BIRMINGHAM, Academy / 0844 477 2000
26 April / BIRMINGHAM, Academy / 0844 477 2000
28 April / GLASGOW, Academy / 08444 999 990
3 May / MANCHESTER, Apollo / 08444 777 677
6 May / LONDON, Brixton Academy / 0844 477 2000
7 May / LONDON, Brixton Academy / 0844 477 2000

Tickets go on sale 9am Thursday 11th December priced £32.50 in advance except London £35.
24 hr CC Hotline: 0871 2200 26

*EXTRA DATES ADDED*

29 April GLASGOW, Academy – 08444 999 990 – NEW DATE
11 May LONDON, Brixton Academy – 0844 477 2000 – NEW DATE
12 May LONDON, Brixton Academy – 0844 477 2000 – NEW DATE

*Image by of Terry Hall DJ’ing for Fused by Steve Gerrard