There were six of them, boisterous and laughing, coming down the road towards us. Cocky little skinheads in Harrington jackets and Levi's rolled up over the ankles of their DMs. They were going to see The Specials at The Pavilion. Their leader had a snub nose and bad teeth. "You goin’ to the concert?" he asked Dammers. *S'pose so”, said Dammers, as he turned to walk back with them to Hemel Hempstead. “Where you from?" they asked him. “Coventry, Dammers replied. “You come all this way down from Coventry for the gig then?", they asked, amused. *Sort of’, said Dammers. “Why?", they asked. “I'm in the group", he said. "The Specials?", they asked, excited now. *S'right", said Dammers. "Who are you then?", they asked. “Orace?” "I'm Jerry’, said Dammers. “Jerry who?" they asked, laughing; a little suspicious. "| don't remember you on Top Of The Pops’, said the young skinhead with the snub nose and the bad teeth. "| was probably hiding", he said. Allan Jones - Melody MakerThis book is dedicated to my Mum, my family and my wife, Rhona. The Two Tone Story (pbk) © Copyright 1990, 1997, George Marshall ISBN 0 9518497 35 Published by S.T. Publishing, Scotland. Printed by Victoria Press, England, All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief passages. I'd like to thank everyone who made this book possible, with special thanks going to Jerry Dammers and all who sailed in the good ship 2 Tone for giving me some of the best years of my life. John Bradbury, Horace Panter and Lynval Golding particularly deserve my gratitude for their help with the book as do Helen English and Roy Eldridge at Chrysalis for their time and trouble. It just goes to show that the majors can still help the little people. Thanks too go to Alan Sinclair who saved my neck at the last moment, as did Paul Williams. Quotes in this book come from a variety of sources including a boxful of cuttings | collected over the years. Unfortunately, | did not note where the cuttings came from at the time, but would like to acknowledge New Musical Express, Sounds, The Face, Smash Hits and Melody Maker for their unintentional help with this book and for contributing so much to yet another misspent youth. Thanks also to Barry Plummer and Mathias Poledna in Austria for the cuttings. Of course this book wouldn't have been possible without the support of the readers of Zoot! (RIP), Skinhead Times (RIP) and One Eyed Jack. And finally, |'d just like to say hello to anyone who. sported a crop and a Specials badge during those dance crazy 2 Tone days. This book's for you. S.T. Publishing P.O. Box 12, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. DG11 3BW. Scotland. 2