Coventry, from Ghost Town to City of Culture

As it starts its reign as UK City of Culture, two new exhibitions celebrate the groundbreaking multicultural music born in the Midlands that became the soundtrack for a generation

One of the showcase events of Coventry’s reign as the UK City of Culture is 2 Tone: Lives & Legacies exhibition at Coventry’s Herbert Gallery & Museum, which opens today and bills itself as “the first-ever major exhibition in the UK devoted to the 2 Tone music sensation”. A statement that must have raised a few eyebrows over at the volunteer-run Coventry Music Museum, which has been flying the 2 Tone flag for nearly a decade, and has just opened its own exhibition, from Ghost Town to Host Town, celebrating the Specials number one hit and most famous song ever to come out of the city.

2 Tone was the Coventry record label and music movement started by Jerry Dammers in the late 70s that combined upbeat Jamaican ska and its rude boy look with the energy of punk, and launched local multiracial bands the Specials and the Selecter, as well as Madness and the Beat.