Unafraid to speak up against injustice, the best protest songs take on the issues of their day, but transcend their eras to speak to future generations.
An introduction to just a few of the incredible songs the genre has to offer.
Emerging in the aftermath of punk, 2 Tone fused Jamaican ska with punk and made stars of bands such as The Specials and Madness.
Guitarist and songwriter Charlotte Caffey talks getting candid on-screen and her role in the revelatory new Showtime documentary, ‘The Go-Go’s’.
Whether fighting for the legalisation of cannabis or battling dark forces in politics, the best reggae protest songs spoke to their times yet continue to resonate today.
The station’s 22 presenters each chose their favourite releases of the year to compile the list.
Titles by artists including PiL, Arctic Monkeys, The Specials, T-Rex and Coldplay will also be going under the hammer.
Big sellers during the mid-1990s, these legend-enshrining albums were also spawned a succession of highly-acclaimed UK Top 10 hits.
Thanks to the release of Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody' biopic, sales of the band’s 'Greatest Hits', which was first released in 1981, have soared.
On that day there will be an official commemorative certificate presentation at City Hall, with The Specials’ founding members Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter in attendance.
Reacting to the news, the band said: "A real thanks to the fans who have stayed with us for all this time. We all share in this, thank you.”
Their first album of new material in over a decade, ‘Encore’ finds The Specials adding to their legacy, “trying to make people aware of what’s going on”.
The 2-Tone icons' new album is available through UMC/ Island on 1 February.
2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Specials and the legendary Two-Tone label in Coventry in 1979.
The new release marks the 2-Tone legends' first release with original vocalist Terry Hall since 1981.