Dance Craze (DVD + Blu-ray)

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Originally he was going to make a film about the band but when his son informed him of the wonderful world of 2-Tone, Massot expanded his original plans to include the whole movement. And as well as black and white musicians up on stage together, there were powerful women performers among the skanking men, which signalled a revolutionary moment in the UK music industry. It was blown up to 70mm because at the time that was the best way of achieving true multichannel sound in a widely compatible format, as opposed to the comparative fudge of Dolby Stereo. The film now features remastered originalstereo and surroundmixes by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, as well as a new Dolby Atmos Mix.

Using a 35mm intermediate element from a 35mm OCN yields a slightly thicker visual aspect, but I wonder if the fact this is blownup to 70mm would offset using what remains a copy. This makes me wonder this general question : how would fare a 70mm blowup of a 35mm OCN as an element for a restoration vs the 35mm OCN itself ?The slapstick ska of Bad Manners’ Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu does veer towards the novelty song as does the version of Swan Lake by Madness, but they’re both great fun.

There are surviving 35mm prints but in much worse shape than Dunton's 70mm print (which the featurette refers to as "rare" rather than "only"). In an era when the National Front stirred up racial hatred, the 2-Tone philosophy was all about mixing up young people with a multicultural agenda – two-tone in every way. When released in 1981, Dance Craze was distributed on both regular 35mm, with standard Dolby Stereo optical audio, and 70mm, with a glorious magnetic 6-track stereo sound mix (effectively three front speakers and one rear speaker). Director Joe Massot, an American living in the UK, had part-directed a Led Zeppelin concert film and had worked with George Harrison, but it was his son’s passion for the 2-Tone bands that led him to film the series of concerts.Directed by Joe Massot (responsible for the Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains The Same) Dance Craze was originally released at a selection of cinemas across the UK, US and Australia and there was an album release at the same time (on cassette and vinyl).