The Specials

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The Specials

Background information
Origin Coventry, England
Genre(s) 2 tone, Ska, New Wave
Years active 1977-1981
1994-1999
Label(s) 2 Tone, Chrysalis
Members
Jerry Dammers
Terry Hall
Neville Staple
Sir Horace Gentleman
Roddy Radiation
Lynval Golding
John Bradbury

The Specials (known at certain points as The Special AKA) were an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry.

They had chart-topping hits in the United Kingdom, and their music was featured in soundtracks for the movies. The group disbanded in 1981, after scoring seven consecutive hit singles in the United Kingdom, between 1979 - 1981. The Specials have been cited as major influences by the likes of Blur, Gwen Stefani, The Ordinary Boys and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and have often been labelled as the ' greatest ever ska band '[attribution needed].

Contents

After being formed in 1977 by Dammers, Golding, and Panter, the band was first called The Automatics, and then The Coventry Automatics.[1] Terry Hall and Roddy Radiation joined the band the following year, and the band changed its name to The Special AKA The Coventry Automatics, and then to The Special AKA. Joe Strummer of The Clash had attended one of their concerts, and invited The Special AKA to open for his band in their On Parole UK Tour. This performance gave The Special AKA a new level of national exposure, and they briefly shared the Clash's management. In 1979, Dammers decided to form his own record label, and 2 Tone Records was born. On this label, the band released their 7" debut, "Gangsters", which became a Top Ten hit in 1979.

The band had begun wearing mod/rude boy/skinhead-style two-tone tonic suits, along with other elements of late 1960s teen fashions. Changing their name to The Specials, they recorded their debut LP Specials in 1979, produced by Elvis Costello. In a nod to classic Ska, the album lead off with Dandy Livingstone's "A Message to You Rudy" and also had covers of Prince Buster and Toots and the Maytals songs from the late 1960s. In 1980, the EP "Too Much Too Young" (credited to The Special AKA) was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart, despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which reference teen pregnancy and promote condom use.

Reverting once again to the moniker The Specials, the band's second album, More Specials was not as commercially successful or plainly ska-influenced as previous recordings. The album featured a more experimental approach; including influences from pop music, new wave, and muzak. The band also experimented with what could be described as dark, almost psychedelic reggae. Notable female backing singers on the Specials first two studio albums included: Chrissie Hynde, Rhoda Dakar (Then of The Bodysnatchers and later of The Special AKA), Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey (of The Go-Gos). "Ghost Town", a non-LP Specials single, hit number one in 1981, However, shortly afterwards, Staple, Golding and Hall left the band to form Fun Boy Three.

Dammers then drastically revised the line-up of the band, adding vocalists Stan Campbell and Rhoda Dakar, and began working again under the group name The Special AKA. The resulting album from the new line-up, In the Studio, was not very commercially successful, although the songs "Racist Friend" and "Nelson Mandela" were hits. The latter contributed to making Mandela a cause célèbre in the United Kingdom, and became popular with anti-Apartheid activists in South Africa. Dammers then dissolved the band and pursued political activism.

Since the breakup of the original line-up, various members of the band have performed in other bands and have reformed several times to tour and record in Specials-related projects. However, there has never been a complete reunion of the original band. In the 1980s, Hall, Staple and Golding founded the pop band Fun Boy Three and enjoyed commercial success with hits such as "Tunnel of Love", "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" from 1981 to 1983. From 1984 until 1987, Hall fronted The Colourfield, with some commercial success. After they disbanded, Hall pursued a solo career, working mostly in the New Wave genre and co-wrote a number of early Lightning Seeds releases. He also did some vocal work on a Dub Pistols' album.

In the early 1990s, members of The Beat teamed up with members of The Specials to form the band Special Beat. The band toured and released some live albums. In 1996, with ska enjoying a surge in mainstream popularity on North American radio and MTV, several members of The Specials reunited to record Today's Specials, a studio album mostly of reggae and ska covers. This was followed in 1998 with an album of originals, Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent, featuring guest vocals by Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid. The band toured heavily in support of both releases. Notably absent from these records and tours were Hall and Dammers.

In 2007 Hall teamed up with Golding, for the first time in about twenty five years, on two occasions to play Specials songs at festivals. At Glastonbury Festival they appeared on the Pyramid Stage with Lily Allen to perform "Gangsters", and later the same day played on The Park Stage (with a beatboxer providing rhythm, and Damon Albarn of Blur on piano) to perform "A Message To You Rudy". At GuilFest, Golding joined the Dub Pistols featuring Terry Hall to again perform "Gangsters".

In December 2007, Terry Hall posted a bulletin on his Official MySpace that simply read "The Specials - Brixton Academy - June 2008 - Watch This Space

  • Specials (1979, 2 Tone, CDL TT 5001) - UK # 4
  • More Specials (1980, 2 Tone, CHR TT 5003) - UK # 5
  • In the Studio (1984, 2 Tone, CHR TT 6008) - UK # 34
  • Today's Specials (1996)
  • Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent! (1998)
  • Skinhead Girl (2000)
  • Conquering Ruler (2001)

  • CHR TT 5011 Live at The Moonlight Club (1997)
  • Peel Sessions (1987)
  • Live at the Palace (1994)
  • Blue Plate Specials (1999)
  • Ghost Town: Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival 1995 (1999)

  • The Singles Collection (1991) - UK # 10
  • Coventry Automatics Aka the Specials: Dawning of a New Era (1994)
  • Too Much Too Young: The Gold Collection (1996)
  • Concrete Jungle (1998)
  • Best of The Specials (1999)
  • Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy Three (2000)
  • Ghost Town (2004)
  • Stereo-Typical: A's, B's and Rarities (2005)
  • Greatest Hits (2006)

  • The Specials Live EP - 7" 45 rpm EP (1980, 2 Tone, CHS TT7) ("Too Much Too Young" & "Guns Of Navarone" b/w "Longshot Kick the Bucket", "Liquidator" & "Skinhead Moonstomp") UK #1

  • "Gangsters" (The Special A.K.A.) UK # 6
  • "A Message To You Rudy" / "Nite Club" (1979, 2 Tone, CHS TT5) UK # 10
  • "Too Much Too Young" (1979, 2 Tone, CHS TT6) UK # 1
  • "Rat Race" (1980, 2 Tone, CHS TT11) UK # 5
  • "Stereotype" / "International Jet Set" (1980, 2 Tone, CHS TT13) UK # 6
  • "Do Nothing" (1980, 2 Tone, CHS TT16) UK # 4
  • "Ghost Town" (1981, 2 Tone, CHS TT17) UK # 1
  • "Hypocrite" ( 1996 Kuff Records ) UK # 66
  • "Pressure Drop" ( 1996 Kuff Records )

As The Special A.K.A.

  • "The Boiler" (1982, 2 Tone, CHS TT18) (with Rhoda Dakar) UK # 35
  • "Jungle Music" (1982, 2 Tone, CHS TT18) (with Rico Rodriguez)
  • "War Crimes" (1982, 2 Tone, CHS TT23)
  • "Racist Friend" / "Bright Lights" (1983, 2 Tone, CHS TT25) UK # 60
  • "Nelson Mandela" (1984, 2 Tone, CHS TT26) UK # 9
  • "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" (1984, 2 Tone, CHS TT27) UK # 51

  • "The Special AKA on Film" (198x VHS & Laserdisc) All the videos from Gangsters up to Nelson Mandela.

NOTE: This list may be partial or incomplete.

  • Father Ted - Episode - Good Luck, Father Ted - song - "Ghost Town"[2]

  1. ^ http://www.thespecials.com/history.php
  2. ^ McDonald, Shane (2005). Father Ted Useless Information (Web). shanemcdonald.com. Retrieved on 5 September 2007.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Specials"
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