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Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge . By Daniel Rachel . London : Picador , 2017. 560 pp. ISBN 978-1-4472-7268-7
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For anyone interested in the relationship between music and politics in general, or music and politics in the UK specifically, this book is a repository of fascinating and valuable insights. It offers an oral history of three music-led - but very different - interventions into British politics: Rock Against Racism (RAR), 2 Tone and Red Wedge. The first, begun in 1976, was the movement forged between musicians and left political activists to combat the rise of the racist National Front; the second was the multiracial record label founded in Coventry in the 1970s by Jerry Dammers of the Specials; and the last was the 1985 alliance of the Labour Party and sympathetic musicians, poets and comedians.
Drawing on more than 100 interviews with politicians, activists, musicians and journalists, among others, Rachel records the detailed memories of those who were at the heart of RAR, 2 Tone and Red Wedge. The book is a tribute to the many people - the stars and the unsung - who believed in the power of music and musicians to make a difference. It is also a tribute to Rachel's skills as an interviewer and editor. Apart from a brief introduction, the author is present only as the unseen and unheard facilitator, and as...