1980: The SPECIALS, The SELECTER and 2 TONE | Arena | Classic BBC Music | BBC Archive

Adrian Thrills (NME cub reporter) pays a visit to Coventry, the nerve centre of the fastest growing independent label in the country - 2 Tone. 2 Tone is home to an exciting crop of young midlands bands like The Selecter and The Specials who blend traditional Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae, blues, funk and punk. Thrills meets The Selecter during a recording session for Three Minute Hero, where bassist Charley Anderson and vocalist Pauline Black chat to him about how their interpretation of ska differs from trad ska, and the politics powering the music. Then it’s on to 2 Tone HQ, to meet label founder Jerry Dammers and the rest of The Specials - Neville Staple, Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, Roddy Radiation, John Bradbury and Horace Panter - for a chat about their influences and the day-to-day running of the label. This clip is taken from Arena, originally broadcast 12 March, 1980. You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age