For this latest installment of our Vintage Video series, we honor the life and music of The Beat’s Ranking Roger — who died Monday — with the single best document of the 2 Tone era, the criminally out-of-print concert film “Dance Craze: The Best of British Ska… Live!”
The Joe Massot-directed concert movie, released in 1981, has never officially been issued on DVD, nor is it on any streaming platforms (that we’re aware of). The 85-minute film captures frenetic performances by U.K. ska acts The Specials, The Beat, Bad Manners, The Selecter, Madness and more.
Watch the full film — and see the list of performances — below.
Performances in “Dance Craze”
1. “Nite Klub” – The Specials
2. “The Prince” – Madness
3. “Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu” – Bad Manners
4. “007 (Shanty Town)” – The Bodysnatchers
5. “Three Minute Hero” – The Selecter
6. “Ranking Full Stop” – The Beat
7. “Big Shot” – The Beat
8. “Concrete Jungle” – The Specials
9. “Swan Lake” – Madness
10. “Razor Blade Alley” – Madness
11. “Missing Words” – The Selecter
12. “Let’s Do the Rock Steady” – The Bodysnatchers
13. “Lip Up Fatty” – Bad Manners
14. “Madness” – Madness
15. “Too Much Too Young” – The Specials
16. “On My Radio” – The Selecter
17. “Easy Life” – The Bodysnatchers
18. “Rough Rider” – The Beat
19. “Man at C&A” – The Specials
20. “Inner London Violence” – Bad Manners
21. “Night Boat to Cairo” – Madness
22. “Twist and Crawl” – The Beat
23. “Wooly Bully” – Bad Manners
24. “Too Much Pressure” – The Selecter
25. “Mirror in the Bathroom” – The Beat
26. “One Step Beyond” – Madness
27. “Nite Klub” – The Specials
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Vintage Video: Mighty Lemon Drops unearth lost footage of 1988 show at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro
- Vintage Video: Julian Cope thrills in hour-long ‘MTV Saturday Night Concert’ set from 1987
- Vintage Video: Love and Rockets’ amazing low-budget TV commercial for ‘Express’
- Vintage Video: 10,000 Maniacs open a Grateful Dead stadium show on July 4, 1989
This is great – thanks for posting, especially in light of losing Ranking Roger. Spotify playlist to follow?
2 tone forever!
I saw this on cinema release.The support film was a strange effort featuring futurist types wandering around a fairground.John Foxx’s No One Driving was part of the soundtrack.I have no idea what it was called and have never found any trace of it
who would know that if you were not here RIP R/R and thank you S U E
The Best!! Lived it, love it still. 2 Tone !!!
RIP Roger
I wrote a little review of the film inspired by your post. Thanks for finding this and sharing it!
https://patricksmusic.blogspot.com/2019/04/dance-craze-1981.html
Insane this isn’t out on DVD
Listen to your Dark Wave show on First Wave Sirius. Love it! —Matt