The English Beat: Wha'ppen? (Sire); The Specials: 'Ghost Town' (EP)

TWO TONE is not merely the introduction of a black sensibility in British pop for the first time, it's a true melding of the interracial musical spirit that has produced so much of the greatest music of the past two decades — Stax/ Volt, Little Feat, Miles Davis, the Butterfield Blues band, etc., etc. The collective spirit of a hot interracial band somehow captures the very essence of post World War II popular music. The Beat and Specials are just two of the groups countering the dead weight styles of postpunk Oi bands and spiritually bankrupt new romantic thrillseekers.