It’s an absolute crime that 1981’s “Dance Craze: The Best of British Ska… Live!” isn’t available on DVD or Blu-ray, but at least we can share the full 85-minute concert film — featuring classic performances from 2 Tone-era acts The Specials, Madness, Bad Manners, The Beat, The Selecter and more — via the modern miracle of YouTube. If you haven’t seen it, check it out right here — and seek out the soundtrack, which itself serves as one of the best aural overviews available of that era.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:
- Madness books California, Las Vegas concerts between Coachella appearances
- The Specials announce 23-date tour of Europe, U.K. for next fall
- Terry Hall: The Specials to tour in 2011, play debut, ‘More Specials’ live
- The Specials cancel New York SummerStage concert, plan U.S. tour in 2011
- The Selecter celebrates 30th anniversary of ‘Too Much Pressure’ with London gig
Nice to see this posted. I have a 3rd generation NTSC VHS dub from a PAL VHS master. Haven’t watched it in years though.
I assume there are legal issues similar to what caused the US CD release to drop Madness. The US CD is out of print.
EMI needs to put this out on DVD along with the two Selecter albums on CD.
Got the soundtrack on vinyl!
not all the sons where on the lp but… :(
So awesome! Thanks for the headsup on this. I also have a several generations down version of this. Its always nice thought to see this document of music that means so much to me…a true tattood rude boy from back in the day when ska was ska and punk was punk.
Here’s an article about a screening in the UK from last year:
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2011/dance_craze/index.htm
working on imax from 70mm six track will be soon keep the faith
True To The SkinHead And OI Music And The Legion Of The Sprite Of 69(Richard Allen Books The SKA Will-Never Fade-Away