During the short but sweet 2-Tone era, The Beat clocked up half a dozen hit singles of which Mirror In The Bathroom, which reached No.4 in 1980, was arguably the best. 

Last night I stumbled upon the 1981 film Dance Craze on Netflix, an American-made documentary about the 2-Tone phenomenon.

Like all the best music docs, it eschewed talking heads spouting “analysis” for straight-up no-holds-barred live footage of all the bands – The Specials, The Beat, Madness, The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers and Bad Manners.

I loved all those groups at one time or another, saw them all live, and still play them occasionally (though I’ll admit I don’t listen to Buster Bloodvessel singing Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu very often*).

If you had asked me before last night I would probably have put The Specials at the ones with the longest lasting legacy (and Madness as the ones with the most hits).

But watching them all live again, I have to say it’s The Bodysnatchers who came over as the most underrated – were there any other all-female seven-piece bands before that?

And it’s The Beat who came across as having the best songs; especially this one.

*at all