Product Description
Too Much Too Young
by Steve Piper
November 1979. The lines are clear. Things so black and white, at least to the eyes and ears of Britain’s youth. The ragged edges of punk rock had been smoothed in to the sound of new wave and inner city housing estates had yet to decompose in to the crumbling and neglected smack and crack saturated slums of the ‘90s. Britain’s tribes were defined by differences in attitude, attire, musical allegiance, philosophies, territories and behaviour. Mods were mods, punks were punks. The Labour party was the Labour party and the Conservatives, Conservatives. The workers kept working and the bosses planned their retirement.
That November on BBC’s ‘Top of the Pops’ three bands performed. Conceived by different mothers; the Midlands of England and its capital, and yet intrinsically linked by the same sire; ska music imported from the West Indies, they signal in a new era and the arrival of the 2 Tone records gravy train.
Championing a stable of fresh fledgling upstarts pumping out a punchy hybrid of ska-punk tunes, 2 Tone records grabbed the pop charts by the throat. The nation tired and tested after two terms of turbulent Labour government voted in a Conservative administration; at its head Britain’s first ever female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
And she was out to spoil the party…
Now in its 5th Edition!
Additional information
| Paperback | Standard UK Paperback in English |
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1 review for Too Much Too Young
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What can I say, the book, Too Much Too Young is fantastic. It’s well written and a good insight of a time in late 70s/early 80s UK youth culture. I am only two chapters in but loving it. This book involves a movement that has not had the same amount of coverage as it’s counterparts, thankfully. Despite not receiving the exposure that it deserved over the years I was always secretly concerned that had this been different it might have been totally rinsed out, boring me to tears like another movement that springs to mind. The UK Rudeboy culture, which was so short lived is brought to life with an ample balance of good taste. (It’s based in the Chingford/Walthamstow area of London so I might sound biased), Sure we were all aware of the 2Tone scene and the iconic bands and maybe we were even described as just little 2Tone kids. Being a Rudeboy aged 12/13 was my impetus, the start of a long journey ahead, buying good clothes and collecting vinyl. Something I still love doing today. I actually loved the Rudie scene moreso than anything else I have been involved in. There was a thin line and a code of clothing that determined you different from a Mod or a skin. I wasn’t interested in either of these two groups back then, I had experienced grief from both. Slight differences spelt out to others your allegiance, Red socks or white, Brogues, Frank Wrights or Hush puppies. You would check and look down at the feet and would know!
Well done Steve, Good stuff. Now where was I.