Your Local Arena: The Rise and Rise of 2 Tone

Born in Coventry, rooted in ska, punk, and reggae, 2 Tone was a British multiracial musical phenomenon led by the Specials, the Selecter, Madness and the Beat. As part of the British Library’s Beyond the Bassline season, Your Local Arena screens Rudies Come Back, the energetic 1980 BBC Arena documentary filmed just as 2 Tone was exploding out of the Midlands and becoming a national phenomenon.  The film is followed by a panel discussion with special guests including Rhoda Dakar (The Bodysnatchers/The Specials). The event will be chaired by award-winning and best-selling author Daniel Rachel and finishes with a new poem inspired by the film. It promises to be an unforgettable evening highlighting Britain’s foremost multiracial music genre.

Rhoda Dakar began her musical career in 1979 as lead vocalist with all-female 2-Tone band, The Bodysnatchers. She went on to record with The Specials, The Special AKA and Madness, along with her solo work. As a collaborator, Rhoda has worked on singles with the Dub Pistols and The Interrupters, alongside Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. As a respected DJ she has toured with UB40, The Selecter and The Specials. She is also a writer of sleeve notes, most recently for Trojan Records. At the end of May, Rhoda released an album called Version Girl on Sunday Best Records.

Birmingham-born Daniel Rachel is a former musician-turned-award-winning and bestselling author whose previous works include: Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters (a Guardian and NME Book of the Year), Walls Come Tumbling Down: the music & politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge and co-writer of Ranking Roger's autobiography I Just Can't Stop It: My Life in The Beat. In 2021, Daniel was a guest curator of 2 Tone Lives & Legacies exhibition as part of Coventry Cultural City 2021 and curated the anniversary edition of the Selecter’s debut album Too Much Pressure. His latest book, Too Much Too Young: the 2 Tone Records Story was a Times / Sunday Times Book of the Year. 

Your Local Arena is a unique project featuring iconic films from the archives of BBC TV’s Arena, the pioneering cultural documentary series. It includes new poems inspired by the Arena films and panel talks to explore the continuing relevance of the Arena archives today. The Your Local Arena concept was developed by Lucy Hannah and Speaking Volumes, with Arena’s award-winning director/editor Anthony Wall as creative consultant, and funded by Arts Council England.

Produced in association with Speaking Volumes as part of Your Local Arena.



Explore the full events programme for the British Library exhibition Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music (26 April – 26 August). 

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