One step beyond! Janette Beckman on her era-defining 2 Tone and ska images – in pictures
The Specials, Southend, 1980
Janette Beckman photographed the musicians and movements shaping British culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s, from the 2 Tone sounds of the Specials to the energy of Britain’s punk and new wave scenes. Her photographs feature in Beyond the Streets, a landmark exhibition exploring six decades of graffiti, music, fashion, film and street culture. Beyond the Streets is at Saatchi Gallery, London, from 11 November to 5 May. Janette Beckman: Music, Style, Attitude (1976-1983) will be published by Beyond the Streets in 2027. All photographs: Janette Beckman
Misty in Roots, Rock Against Racism Concert, London, 1978
Janette Beckman: ‘In the late 1970s the National Front was on the rise, and tensions between communities were being fired up by the right-wing press. In response, Rock Against Racism organised free concerts with multiracial line-ups. Reggae bands like Misty in Roots, Aswad and Steel Pulse played with punk bands like Elvis Costello, the Clash and Generation X. I shot this photo of Misty in Roots playing to a crowd of over 150,000 people at the RAR concert in Brockwell Park’
Paul Weller, Woking, 1981
‘Paul was in Woking, his hometown, on a video shoot. It was a Melody Maker cover story entitled “On Location with the Jam in the Teenage Wasteland”. I was a huge Jam fan, and this was my second Paul Weller Melody Maker cover; in 1980 I had photographed Paul with Pete Townshend outside the Marquee Club for a cover story called “The Punk and the Godfather”’
Sade, New York City, 1983
‘The British band Pride were playing in New York. They were staying in a sketchy neighbourhood on the Lower East Side. I wanted to take a photo that really said New York City and, walking around the neighbourhood with their young singer, we spotted the NYPD car. It was perfect: Sade leaning casually against a New York cop car. You could tell, even back then, Sade was going to become a legend. Three years later she had a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall’
Shane MacGowan, Pogues, London, 1981
‘Shane MacGowan was infamous; he’d been “drunk and bloodied” in virtually every pub in London. On a drizzly London day we were walking around the streets behind Leicester Square looking for a perfect place to take a photo when we spotted this graffiti: “Burnt Out Stars.” Shane jumped up on the wall to pose; just then the old lady walked by. The photo seemed to perfectly epitomise dreary England at the time and Shane’s “don’t give a fuck” attitude’
2 Tone Fan, London, 1981
‘The band Madness were getting an award; they arrived at the London venue dressed in suits and bow ties. The street was jam-packed with press and fans when I spotted this kid with his classic style: Ben Sherman button-down shirt and 2 Tone badges’
Ska Girls, Coventry, 1980
‘On the way to a festival in Coventry I ran into this group of girls. We started chatting and I told them I was working for the Face magazine. The girls were 2 Tone fans; they jumped into this classic “Madness pose”, styled just right in their braces, Loakes and Fred Perry shirts. Madness posed like this for their One Step Beyond record cover’
UB40 Soho, London, 1981
‘My small darkroom was in Covent Garden, a couple of minutes’ walk from Soho, so I arranged to meet the band on Old Compton Street. We were walking past a strip club and decided to take a couple of shots there. It’s always tough to get a great photo of a band with eight people. They were joking around and, miraculously, I caught this crazy moment’
Terry Hall, Coventry, 1980
‘I loved the new music scene and started working for Melody Maker, a weekly music paper, shooting two or three bands a week. I photographed Paul Weller and Pete Townshend in Soho outside the Marquee club, the Specials on a rainy day on the Seaside Tour, Johnny Rotten at home in Ladbroke Grove, the Clash backstage in Milan, Boy George sitting on the street in Notting Hill Gate, the Raincoats rehearsing in their bathroom and more. This shot of Terry was taken backstage at a festival in the Specials’ home town of Coventry’
Jerry Dammers, Southend, 1980
‘On assignment for Melody Maker to photograph one of my all-time favourite bands, the Specials, on their Seaside Tour. We were staying in a bed and breakfast on the seafront. In the afternoon I heard music coming from the dining room and there was Jerry Dammers playing the organ. I sneaked a few photos before he noticed me. One ran on the cover of the magazine; the story was called “The Pressure of Being Someone Special: On the Road with Jerry Dammers”’
The Beat, Birmingham, 1980
‘Melody Maker’s chief photographer got all the big rock band shoots like Led Zeppelin, which meant I got to photograph all the new up-and-coming punk bands. There was no art direction as such. I knew I had to get a group shot, individuals, backstage and live shots and a colour shot in case the story made the cover. The Beat were playing at the Civic Centre in Birmingham. They were on their way to soundcheck, no roadie, just a shopping trolley to carry their gear. Brilliant!’
The Selecter, London, 1980
‘This photo of 2 Tone ska band the Selecter with their lead singer Pauline Black was taken for Melody Maker. There were no rules back then. We were making it up as we went along. There was a feeling we were all part of making something brand new: this do it yourself culture that was going to change our world – and it did!’
Fans at a festival in Loch Lomond, 1980
‘I was working for the new start-up magazine the Face. I suggested a story on the fans at the two-day Loch Lomond festival. I loved documenting fans as well as the bands, and the Face loved street style. It had been raining, and this group of skinheads, mods and 2 Tone fans were waiting for Bad Manners and the Jam to play’KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.