Cultural, Social and Historical background of the music and video

• Released during the riots in Britain – Brixton, Toxteth
• Can be seen as the soundtrack to the unbelievable civil unrest
• It was as if they were singing about the way Britain was at the time
• They were addressing the current social issues surrounding the riots
• The band formed a few months after Margret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister and the style of music they created was slightly rebellious but not in an obvious way
• Two-tone made music that was relating to politics but in a neutral way.
• There were huge unemployment issues in the UK in 1981
• The Brixton riots were fuelled by the police stopping and searching black people much more than white people. This was seen as discrimination and understandably, people became angry, therefore riots began.