Dance Craze (DVD + Blu-ray)

Product Information

Directed by Joe Massot ( The Song Remains the Same) and filmed by Bafta award-winning cinematographer Joe Dunton, it showcases the very best of the British Ska phenomenon, with exclusive live performances from The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. Alongside the Blu-ray/DVD release, Chrysalis Records are releasing the soundtrack in a remastered audio 3LP and 3CD set on 24 March. Sadly the film sticks to concert footage and there are no backstage interviews with the bands, this was a real opportunity missed as a documentary style film would have been a wonderful document of the 2-Tone movement.

And as well as black and white musicians up on stage together, there were powerful women performers among the skanking men, which signalled a revolutionary moment in the UK music industry.

Rudies Come Back (1980, 34 mins): in this episode of the long-running BBC series Arena, music journalist Adrian Thrills explores the rise of 2Tone.

There are surviving 35mm prints but in much worse shape than Dunton's 70mm print (which the featurette refers to as "rare" rather than "only"). Joe Massot's acclaimed concert film featuring the best of British 2 Tone, newly remastered and available on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time.The release will feature a brand new Dolby Atmos sound mix supervised by Jerry Dammers and Dermot James (Chrysalis Records). When released in 1981, Dance Craze was distributed on both regular 35mm, with standard Dolby Stereo optical audio, and 70mm, with a glorious magnetic 6-track stereo sound mix (effectively three front speakers and one rear speaker). The Specials’ Too Much Too Young is as thrilling as ever, and as ambiguously angry and contemptuous: “You’re married with a KID/When you could be having FUN WITH ME,” they snarl, adding the despairing Alf Garnett insult: “I’d hate to have the same name as you/You silly moo.