Ska'd for Life: Coventry, the home of 2 Tone

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 14 Apr 2022

Ska'd for Life is a mosaic mural by Carrie Reichardt placed on Pool Meadow bus station as part of the UK City of Culture events in Coventry in 2021. A collage of images derived from record covers, photos and other artwork associated with the 2 Tone ska music scene of Coventry in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this work evokes a creative but edgy period in Coventry's recent history. The children of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants to the UK were reaching adulthood at a time of economic crisis and mass unemployment, when the Coventry motor industry was closing factories, leading to the 'Ghost Town' of the Specials' song Image Young black and white people were mixing socially and sharing common tastes in music, including Jamaican reggae and ska, but there was also racism and violence; 1981, the year of 'Ghost Town', also saw two racist murders in the city and the formation of Coventry against Racism. The 2 Tone scene, which originated in Coventry with Jerry Dammers and the Specials, drew together elements of ska and punk and its name alludes not only to a clothing style but to young black and white people coming together in a shared subculture. See Paul Gallagher at Dangerous Minds on 'An experiment waiting to happen', Pauline Black's description of 2 Tone https://dangerousminds.net/comments/an_experiment_waiting_to_happen_a_brief_history_of_two_tone_britain , also Wikipedia on 2 Tone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-tone_(music_genre) . Carrie Reichardt's site is here https://carriereichardt.com/ .

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