The 7^th 2 Tone Trail Plaque

Friday’s unveiling proved a bit of a history lesson, some 33 years ago, the building that now houses Artspace was the Holyhead Youth Club and musical Workshop. This is really where 2 Tone began its global journey, where the key players would meet for the first time and create music.

The plaque was unveiled by High Commission for St Vincent & The Grenadines Mr. Cenio Lewis KCMG, Coventry’s Lord Mayor Councillor Jack Harrison, and 2 Tone catalyst Ray King who ran the youth club and Neol Davies who attended the youth club and went on to conquer the charts as the guitarist and songwriter in the Selecter. The High Commissioner spoke of 2 Tone’s role of binding a community together, and Neol and Ray gave us a glimpse of those heady days at the club. While Coventry’s Lord Mayor suggested a T-shirt be made of the plaque trail, to celebrate the city being the birth-place of this unique music.

At night at the West Indian Centre, 2 Tone expert Paul Williams launched his new book, a history of the Specials entitled You’re Wondering Now, and we were entertained by the new 2 Tone dudes on the block Ego Rocks, who in the spirit of the Holyhead youth Club played three brilliant 2 Tone covers. Specials guitarist Roddy Byers reckoned they sounded better than the Specials did, when they first began. DJ legend Cardboard took to the decks for some nostalgic ska. The night ended with the Allskas, Selecter, Ray King, Daddy Woody and Paul Heskett on stage with a blistering 2 Tone set that prompted a stage invasion come the encore.

Organiser Pete Chambers said, “These events just seem to get better and better, I would like to thank Laura Elliott at Artspace, Alph and Angela at The West Indian Centre and all our esteemed guests for coming along and celebrating a marvellous piece of Coventry history”.