Original subtitles

these are the stories of how history's

most important music seeds influenced

our culture and change the way we live

under the influence

back in 1655 the Sun never set on the

British Empire that year the British

Navy kicked the Spanish out of Jamaica

and claimed a large Caribbean island in

the name of the mother country england's

colonies from Asia to Africa and

throughout the Western Hemisphere helped

make it one of the wealthiest most

influential empires of world has ever

seen

the 19th century saw England's

industrial revolution blossom the rich

got richer and the way to working-class

Works changed forever or it is the

Empire which encodes one quarter of all

the land and of all the peoples of the

world that gives to Britain its position

as a first-class power then came the

wars by the time World War two ended

eating was badly bruised looking to its

far-flung colonial population to help

rebuild by the time of the 1970s the

influx of immigrants with brown skin led

to unprecedented racial tension with

economic downturn and energy crisis

putting the country in a state of

emergency the government had put a cap

on wages while inflation spiked out of

control workers went our strike power

outages were the routine power lines are

being drawn along race and class like

never before

post Empire Great Britain was locked in

a struggle to define itself I mean it

was kicking off here man

you know we had riots in the late 70s

talking massive unemployment three day

weeks rise the National Front the

popular music at the time was like a

million miles removed from the feeling

on the street the cultural climate was

pretty dread me and the brothers we had

a soundtrack to ease our pain we had

reggae but my white mates weren't so

lucky

so my white mates said about creating a

soundtrack that was relevant to their

situation some of the people for the

people by the people

London was the center of the punk-rock

universe the Roxy turned out to be the

very first live pop rock venue in the UK

it was so early in the whole punk rock

scene that there weren't any UK Punk

records to play so what am I gonna do

I'm gonna play some highlights on

playing hardcore dub reggae and this all

really came out of the fact that all

these white kids grew up with black

people living next door

we weren't alien we weren't exotic we

were their mates so there are some

serious cultural exchange going on man

went to tone broke it hit big time they

had a magic combination of danceable

music with style and attitude but the

art is being able to slip ideas in

underneath all of that I mean you know

they're singing about unemployment

they're singing about racism they're

singing about teenage pregnancy the band

directly multiracial and they signposted

the way that UK culture was heading that

it was the people that got behind

multiculturalism that would make England

great again and out of that came this

whole 2-tone movement

The Specials and they were the most

politicized of all the bands ghost town

perfectly captured the atmosphere of the

time and the mood of the country I mean

that's why we're number one this job

if England was a 45 rpm record Coventry

would be the hole in the middle floors

Luton industrial city Coventry was the

Detroit of England lots of car factories

lot of Industry a large immigrant

population my Rousseff in Jamaica my

parents come from Jamaica my father

moved the company because of work to

rebuild England after the last World War

you know just before I left Jamaica the

big Sun was like sort of ask ask ask and

this dance like that

Jamaica ask people is old and as a

little kid you know

I got the music world you know and it

was through scar obviously two-tone

black and white it's a melting pot you

got the register side we got the pump

size I'm more aggressive and you put all

those people together it was a perfect

marriage in England it was essentially a

working-class movement in the Midlands

where most are two terms started there

was an interesting industrial

integration if you're working on a

factory track next to somebody it don't

really matter what color e is after five

or six years you get the idea that

you've got way more in common than your

differences all over the Empire but

particularly in the Caribbean people

were invited come over for three years

help rebuild the mother country or make

a fortune people ended having kids in

England before they had enough money to

buy the castle in Jamaica and you know

Jim English like Thank You Roger

we would live in in times where there

was high unemployment there was a lot of

racism and out came all these different

bands who were trying to merge different

types of music together and the beat

happened to be one of them

around that time I was 16 17 and I was a

punk-rocker

and I got a lot of abuse from people

just for being a punk being what I

wanted to be and the punks love me so I

knew there wasn't racism within the

punks and even a lot of the skin is raw

rice once you've got to talk to them

there were anti-nazi skins and there was

Nazi skins and then it was very hard to

tell the difference unless they shook

around or knotted you could scoot and

they said oh I like that but black Jesus

or what Jesus will stage together oh

I'll have a bit of that but we mainly it

went well that's why we do this of

course we thought you'd like it thanks

mate one of the first students mirror in

the bathroom I heard this Punk rhythm

going up and I heard this drummer

playing reggae but he says to me lights

are on he thought he was playing punk

all he knew was to hit him hard

this is ever at Morton new wave mixture

of reggae mixed we saw there was Calypso

there was punk there was putt there was

everything mixed into it and we don't

know what time it comes from we all just

kind of meld it together

there were not that many mixed race

women that you would find either in the

media on television on radio people were

very surprised I think to find black

people and white people being in the

same band and making music together and

that was the whole point at the end of

Britain's industrial age all grieve was

a confrontation from the Middle Ages

Margaret Thatcher had just come to power

so we have a Conservative government in

power there was a lot of youth

unemployment around there were also laws

on the streets called anti softs laws

which meant that if you were black and

you were young you could be picked up

and interrogated for no real reason at

all rather than you just happen to be

hanging around

The Specials and gangsters went top 10

and then they brought I think it was

madness at Nicks and that went top 2 and

then the selector that went up 10 and

that's when we came along and opened up

for the selector we were the fourth

release one to toll that went top ten

within nine months of the ban forming

we're already on top of the pups by the

time we got to New York It was as though

we'd set up this mobile sociology class

that just had music in the back to

listen to who are you discuss race

relations in order to be anything in the

late 70s early eighties you had to

actually be saying something we came out

with a song called stand down Margaret

which all the women at Green and common

at the time I mean I remember hearing

them on the news singing stand her

Margaret which was our song and the

miners who were on strike that was

ground roots working-class music

I thought we bring out standard air

Margaret and it would cause such an

uproar she go you know you're right

you've called me honest

sorry I'm out no everything that been

the longest serving Prime Minister in

British history and all my fault it's

about that was intense

specials keyboards a two-pump founder

Jerry Dammers the mastermind of the

whole movement began to doubt the whole

thing in New York when a limo showed up

to take the specials to her Center at

live performance Dammers refused

arriving at Rockefeller Center in the

equipment van not a limo a sign of

things to come was in a few short years

most two-tone bands had broke up and

moved on but two-tone as an idea

survived the message the music and the

style were here to stay

two-tone is in my estimation subculture

but it's like an umbrella for a whole

load of subcultures they all have their

own individual styles of dress but one

thing I think you can say about all

two-tone style is it is rooted in

working-class youth skin ants were cut

off Levi's how many holes you have in

your boots is absolutely paramount what

color your laces are all of those kind

of thing and certainly the whole mod

style that was always you wore your best

stuff because you want to look good at

the weekend you don't want to look like

a hippie

I sort of deliberately drew the fists

quite big because it's will symbolized

the the aggression we have here the

actual artwork that I did all those

years ago yeah that's the that's the

original artwork that I drew and that

was to become the the 7-inch single bag

and also the 12-inch he was christened

walk James go and check this out

tutto founder Jerry Dammers marled the

actual two-tone guy after the image at

Peter Tosh during pure Tosh's Rudeboy

era look closely

that's Peter Tosh I'm getting Minnie

Mouse from Mexico and Singapore to say

you know when you're going to show all

this artwork from where is this hard

work you know love it was either lying

under my bed or in my mum's shed got it

all together and we had a great

exhibition I met up with a Chinese

delegation that come over to some mare

from some water city in China I said

then you have a scar event that's it yes

that's right how do you know about that

it's all sky is really big in China it's

us really and and that's how that's how

it spreads throughout the world it this

sleeve summed it all up

when the movie dance craze played our

local cinema in the East Bay Northern

California I remember seeing it with my

crew and we're so overwhelmed by the

music that we started dancing right

there in front of the screen

who the hell does that in 1987 Berkeley

California opened up a punk rock club

run by the punks for the punks called

Gilmer Street man it all started to

happen quickly Operation Ivy formed

right after the club opened up and we

start to play our version of punk rock

and sky there are other American ska

bands going on at the same time as

Operation Ivy not a lot but they were

out there fishbone on the west coast

toasters and the box tones on the East

Coast we didn't know it at the time but

we'd become known as members of the

third wave of sky

yo gabba gabba is a punk rock like it's

a punk rock show in the way that we did

it ourselves just like we did Aquabats

records growing up in the 80s in

Southern California I never got a pure

ska experience the mutant bands that

played ska here it was more Punk

so Operation Ivy was really on an island

of their owns 86 87 there was no one

else doing that it was kind of like a

here today gone tomorrow and all those

bands that came in to start the third

wave of ska were directly affected by

Operation Ivy bands like no doubt and

supply listen Jake real be fish skank

and pickle hepcat and then you have the

Aquabats we used to say all the time

that the Aquabats was The Specials meets

Devo so you had a lot of bands in

Southern California you know heavy

Latino Vietnamese and Chinese like this

big melting pot whereas Punk seemed like

it was a white kid thing and then rap

became you know that black kids think

Scott it really said whoever just come

on in when we first started the Aquabats

we didn't take ourselves super seriously

in a scene that wasn't taking itself

seriously we pushed even further into

the ridiculousness of it this is an old

Aquabats shirt right here this pink one

the Scott sound for a second everyone

thought was gonna be the next big thing

and no doubt broke and so all the record

companies went out and started picking

up all the bands that were playing Scott

cuz Orange County ska was like okay this

is it and he even had bands that were

totally Punk and they just switched to

ska and they were like suspenders in

suits and stuff just to get signed when

it really came down to it the mainstream

is not gonna accept the ska it just it

was never gonna happen

hello everybody I think it's time for

the super music

so I wanted to shift gears a little bit

and I was watching TV with my daughter

some of these shows that are like what

why does his kids TV have to be so lame

and that's where yo gabba gabba was born

we won an Emmy for Best stunts and a

kids show and then that's next to the

BAFTA here so I started playing music

for my kids and the stuff that they

really liked was the Scott kids we're

bouncing around to it those upbeats

means it's okay have fun and we've been

able to put a lot of ska on yo gabba

we had agra lights on without hep cat on

the aquabats of course and you know a

couple of the characters on Gabba wear

Aquabats monsters that we fight on stage

this is where we keep the battletram

this is the Aquabats battle vehicle

dun dun dun this is a monster we built

for Aquabats

my son designed this monster this is a

badass car as it gets right here pick it

up pick it up

mas that became ground zero for racial

intolerance everybody that created

policy at that time seemed to have my

skin color but not my best interest in

mind

kids and young people don't really want

to get caught up in the [ __ ] of

their parents and sort of what was being

handed down like hey [ __ ] this we feel

good when I went inside the English be

ranking Roger [ __ ] went for you know

and that's what I was looking for party

with with the political attitude and

from from there I never looked back

when we were 18 years old he went down

to New York City to see madness perform

on Saturday life Suggs was a huge

airline and and you know my first band

it was you know my hair was exactly like

Suggs cutting the flag car up in the

round glasses and overcoats you know in

an effort to label ourselves after years

of saying we don't want to be labeled we

named a record sky core the devil and

more

it's a sky band with a guitar player

that rips and a singer that can't sing I

toured so much and I really needed to

rest it coincided with Jimi starting his

TV show and I knew him because he was a

longtime radio guy and he said once you

try announcing for this show and I said

oh that'll never work

yeah I'm the announcer and I still do a

certain amount of shows with the Mighty

Mighty Bosstones every year and I credit

and I thanked every day you know the

music that I got into the music that I

fell in love with in the records that

changed my life and said hey you know

we're here for you

in the realm of pop music the third wave

did crash but the classic mix of

Jamaican dance music and punk now known

throughout the world of ska spread

throughout the empire of popular culture

evolving uniquely in each place in time

the freaks and weirdos

when we were 15 15 we decided to start a

bath

we are in Bergen in eCollege good in our

heads

this is called murder please I think

when we discovered to toe that culture

represented like toughness that I think

we're really related to everyone is

acting or being like really tough but

they're dressed really nice but in

Bergen if you're in a punk band you look

so dirty and [ __ ] disgusting

everything about the culture is really

appealing to us the the clothes the

musics and good vibes so you know for

sure skin had the adventure type of walk

on the mail tab watch another live

someone that was wrong so they're not

sure Joe Poonam gone male 2 position we

title yami-san whatever was there - oh

ho Thomas er well as the current AG

community generally they're on a whole

kikuchi you even know you know what some

can do that you may not remember it

somehow theater

yeah mm ah ba ba ba gua gua follow the

other steady men Jordan ago you did

Salman Khan sir

and is a boy I know you guys are working

class hopefully so cheers inaudible

working and Phoenicia contagious for me

understand I allergic to those overall

terracing citizen a pleasure sir you

have a true sir your opponent's tracker

you got killed on a terminal for

exposure

I remember someone had a special record

and we were play the [ __ ] out of it

that song ghost town to me was the

epitome of like how I felt at that time

period you know so sublime was like in

that scene too in a sense because they

were playing ska too you know they had a

ska band before that sloppy seconds I

grew up in Long Beach our cult gang was

made up of punker kids you know black

white Thai Cambodian you know you name

it I was 18 my mind was open and you

know I was just kind of trying to create

some imagery that I thought would tell a

story and that was like the first image

like the beginning of the Sun and I

think Brad walked in when I was like

finishing it up and he was like oh

that's cool what are you gonna do with

that I think he threw me 20 bucks

people still call me to this day from

New York Canada Japan all over there

they came to be in Cali I want to get a

sublime Sun I didn't think that I'd

still be tattooing it I used to think

these people don't deserve it

but I thought about it a lot and I was

like it means more you know to them than

I know I have to give it you know that's

weird like Brad's like this martyr you

know like he died for this drug

addiction thing you know and a lot of

people can relate with that they were

recording the self-titled album I think

that was like close to the last time I

saw him when I was done taking the

picture and I was like happy that's the

glorious moment of tattooing you can't

just give your all and not be affected

by it you know he [ __ ] spit his heart

and soul onto that album and that's what

we have

he's not like just a guitar player

singer you know he had like a musical

vision

how's that saying go if we don't know

our history we are doomed to repeat it

the lessons of 2-tone are as relevant

today as ever

any time we the people see something we

don't like in the world there's really

only one thing to do come together and

make some noise

you bring in your own influences to it I

was influenced by up IV rancid and the

specials and a bunch of other bands but

then I brought in my element alike or

maybe I'll sing this song in Spanish

tonight we got a show at South Bay

customs in El Segundo at a typical show

you have Punk's skins rude boys food

girls surfer types and skaters and it's

all a big melting part of every style

even some cholos to the South Bay is

about 30 minutes south of Los Angeles

next to South Central but by the Beach

area

it's a little rough it's kind of sketchy

but that's where you grew up you know

our first shows were like opening up for

DJ's and backyard keg parties to cholo

the backyard scene is equivalent to the

East Coast basement shows you get some

bands the clubs won't book you so you

kind of just throw your own party and

hopefully people show up to see your

band that's all you're trying to do try

and get people to see your band in a

back yard

that's how it starts for a lot of the

bands and that in itself has created its

own community and seeing where there's

no rules it'll be like a punk band

straight like two-tones band scar core

bands got punk a psychobilly band so you

get all that and one night tonight we

got a show with the the Voodoo gloss

schools which are the first Latino Scott

Punk or whatever I mean there are like

88 and I saw them climb they were on the

radio and these dudes are from like the

hood they're from Riverside like that

can happen

they're definitely the beginning of that

arrow for a lot of us it's a natural

connection between the SKA and like the

Latin American side because there's

horns

it's danceable music a lot of people

love the dance and there's very

working-class and it's about the

original kind of way it's just there

they're only taking flavor and it's all

regionally from where they are

there's a huge scene in Mexico big bands

in their own right that just have a

completely different take on two-tone

maldita vecindad the shows are amazing

eight thousand plus people they're just

dancing

Ellen context todo esta musica mexicana

toda la musica mexicana Co a locker to a

mexicana es una cultura totalmente

mestiza to Sparano Soto's slls Kyra gets

first Solomon tune elemento mass a

combina a Peron elemento que nos

identificado or que por que los rudeboys

goes back to pseudos del ESCA Eireann

exactamente como los pachucos noon but

you kiss my tootin van comaat resultado

la mera mera maldita lucinda premier

b-school especial de la primera roll

their message to you Rudy

Nicole's cook Charlie Wow is this when I

come up abandon a Pueblo de Oaxaca could

make a con like t2 Punk la misma sincere

del barrio de la fiesta del barrio star

a little caper de la del Barrio miss

made empty that ambient contain iam

rudeboys him in Jamaica or tow alive

under the mean the working class in

grammar Italian laundress in Inglaterra

Agora Moses de Janeiro in oakum

bonanno's composes referencia noel mambo

la cumbia either choke me and said

afro-latino vamos a hablar de todo lo

que NOS venire todo para members do lo

que es la situación de River en mexico

siendo joven pero lo vamos hacer con a

Liriano lo vamos hacer para bailar no lo

vamos hacer para hacer la Qatar seized a

del Alegria no connect on Elemento

Festiva

Latin America like the Caribbean has its

own colonial legacy and storied history

of resistance and revolution long

referred to as a third world countries

like Chile are no stranger of social

upheaval dictatorship and outside

influence of global superpowers you see

these days the Empire has a different

name but two struggles the same this new

generation was not born during the death

of shape none of the friends so there

are very radical individuals take a

great artists like Anna Teague she

telling her own people story language

because I think music is like how you

see this in like the biography of your

life my parents are always has been

involved in politics my mother used to

being a punk man when I was young I

think my mother used to be protesting

whenever I was in the building I think

that was already my DNA at home we had a

dictatorship for 70 years

and in the 80s with another perspective

one reason a person arrow is like no

we're going to burn everything but

ironic action action action action in

the street action now and I think that

was a bomb for the youth in the 80s I

love when I see an artist that is honest

and not trying to be kind or nice I love

The Specials

form it was so so hip-hop like a mixture

between the England Jamaica or dust in

my ear like are they [ __ ] amazing I

love that one if you think about the

special if you think about Public Enemy

think about and obeah is a response of a

very specific moment of crisis political

social economic when the rage becomes

songs basically and that's not a magic

moment when we talk about colonization

is not only about the addition from

North America to loot Latin America I'm

talking about also colonization in

Africa

the file can be very similar in so many

way with Chilean fight when we talk

about human right and and humanity is

not only about Chileans a fight against

dictatorship in the world as artists we

got that mission always to be very aware

to not become logotype of our own

fighting it's just about to see what

happened in your neighborhood in your

community it's not a CEO it move from

generation to generation yeah because I

had no idea how popular the specials was

until you go on Facebook and Sonny

killer get all these messages like

Argentina Pizza I mean is incredible

tell me a little bit I put on to one

thing good music lyrical content that

makes sense that still means something

today

I consider that two-tone is an ongoing

conversation with the population in the

world because they don't wake up to the

fact that multiculturalism is the future

and the only way you're going to get rid

of racism is through miscegenation black

people and white people doing what they

should be doing with each other which is

making people who look like

we grew up immersed in the music that

was about helping you change your mind

not your [ __ ] sneakers it can't spend

your life on the dance floor man

eventually a musics gonna stop the

newness to go out and face reality once

you say okay I don't want to be on MTV

don't want to be on a red carpet

then the worlds are really exciting

place again and luckily I get to travel

and see that there are a lot of people

that still believe in music as a tool

for social change music that can help

you be all you can be

and 2-tone was part of that lineage that

heritage that tradition and long may it

live

The Specials madness The Selecter that

beat Body Snatchers and bad Mans

Buddha's truth time sky