Dance Craze (DVD + Blu-ray)

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These rude girls, led by Rhoda Dakar, owned their right to perform with the same joyful authority as their male counterparts. While the gigs might have been lively, for many kids, they weren’t exactly on the doorstep, and Dance Craze was the ideal substitute. A consortium of bands reworked Jamaican ska, calypso and reggae beats and imbued them with punk energy and their own socially conscious lyrics. He also directed the Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains The Same a few years earlier, and following that, he planned to do a concert movie featuring Madness. One of these centred around Coventry in the West Midlands, a city perhaps best known for the relentless Luftwaffe bombing campaign it was forced to endure during WWII.

The disc will feature outtakes, a booklet featuring new writing on the film, plus other extras to be confirmed.Special features include the aforementioned Rudies Come Back (1980, 34 mins); Outtakes (1980, 17 mins): a collection of outtakes and alternative versions of songs left out of the final cut including a celebratory Enjoy Yourself by The Specials which I reckon should have ended Dance Craze; Restoration Demo (2023, 2 mins): a before and after look at the impressive restoration of the film and, with the first pressing only, a fully illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Johnny Mains, the film’s original press release and band biographies and rare promotional materials. It was thought lost for decades, but a 70mm print from 1981 belonging to cinematographer Joe Dunton has been given the 4K restoration treatment by the BFI and Chrysalis Records. Yet aside from a brief VHS release in 1988 and the odd screening over the years, it has rarely been seen since. For a short period of time at the turn of the 1980s, it seemed like the biggest thing on the planet. Watching the seven female musicians who made up The Bodysnatchers belt out Easy Life on stage, with no need for the hypersexualised posing that women artists seem obliged to deliver today, was a revelatory flash back.

Newly remastered in 4K from original film materials, Dance Craze looks better than ever and is presented here by the British Film Institute and Chrysalis Records on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time. Disc 3 will be taken from the original 1981 vinyl album release, which used different mixes to those on the actual film soundtrack, (in the case of The Selecter and Bad Manners, in fact originating from completely different gigs). Half way through the film there is a somewhat odd intermission, black and white footage featuring old dances such as the Locomotion, the Twist and so on appears, maybe fitting in with the films theme, but hardly appealing to the 2-Tone audience who would pay at the door. But seeing the potential for the whole 2 Tone movement rather than just the one band, he decided to cover the whole scene. Newly remastered in 4K from original film materials, DANCE CRAZE is presented here by the BFI and Chrysalis Records on Blu-ray and DVD (Dual Format Edition) for the first time, more than 40 years on from its theatrical release.There’s a whole lotta skanking goin’ on and a joyous mass stage invasion too during the film’s ‘encore’ of The Specials’ Nite Klub. Directed by Joe Massot (The Song Remains the Same) and filmed by BAFTA award-winning cinematographer Joe Dunton, it showcases the very best of the British Ska phenomenon, with exclusive live performances from The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers.