Browse Sections

• Education
• Special reports

Two Tones in pink as band plays it again

29/ 1/2001

IT WAS 20 years ago today... well almost ... that a Salford band who skanked their way to the top in the early eighties have hit the road again - for one gig at least.

Two Tone Pinks, sharp-suited kings of the ska scene, are returning for what they have called the Last Nail In The Coffin Tour.

They will re-live the old days with a performance at the Butcher's Arms, Swinton, next month, but say if it is a success will play more venues and may even travel to Japan where there has been a fresh interest in their music.

The band, who were formed in 1979, played gigs throughout the country but were well-known for plying their trade at Pinky's Club, based at the old Rialto in Higher Broughton, where they used to rub shoulders with Joy Division and Salford svengali Anthony H Wilson.

After sessions supporting bands such as The Selector and The Vapours, Two Tone Pinks released a single before splitting in 1981.

The story could have ended there, but after a quick look on the internet, some of the band's members were astounded to discover they still had fans in some unexpected places, particularly in the land of the rising sun.

They decided to get back together and will share the February 9 gig with Fast Cars, another Salford band from the same era who were featured in The Advertiser last year after they reformed and made the trip to Japan.

Two Tone Pinks' Mark Harris said: "After 20 years I got a phone call to meet up with the rest of the guys. I was astounded that people were still interested in us. The Japanese are really into the late 70s sound. If we do get some interest we'll try to get over there. "