Books

"The Duff Guide to 2 Tone" features over 70 reviews of reissues of essential 2 Tone albums from The Specials & The Special AKA, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness, The Bodysnatchers, and Bad Manners, as well as write-ups of their more recent records, gigs, books, and movies—which no self-respecting fan of 2 Tone should miss! (This guide also features reviews of 2 Tone-adjacent releases that you need to know about.) Ska music writer Stephen Shafer was Moon Ska Records “director of propaganda” during the 1990s and played a significant, behind-the-scenes role in making the so-called American “Third Wave” of ska happen. With a foreword by Gaz Mayall (The Trojans, Gaz's Rockin' Records, Gaz's Rockin' Blues, and co-writer of The Bodysnatchers' "Ruder Than You"), "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone" draws from over 12 years of Shafer’s reviews from his Duff Guide to Ska blog—and this collection not only provides a critical overview of 2 Tone’s ever-growing body of work, it also documents the continuing and largely unwritten history of these bands, as well as 2 Tone’s lasting impact well into the 21st century.

“Born In A Car Crash” is a guide to 1950s and 60s rhythm and blues 45s - artifacts of an incredibly fertile period of black American music and a time of signifi cant cultural upheaval. R&B was a constant thread through the complex tapestry of racial segregation, international confl ict, and the civil rights movement. The universal appeal of 1950s and 60s R&B continues to bring disparate groups of society together during incredibly divisive political times. “Born In A Car Crash” highlights essential tracks from an era of profound creativity, entrepreneurship, and inspiration. It aims to shine a light on the musicians, producers, and labels that leveraged everything they had to create music for the people.

The book is a bit of a guide, just like Never Grow Old/Downbeat Special, but with obscure releases only, with plenty of label scans and liner notes, in full color with 42 pages