For other uses, see Specials (disambiguation).
| 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 Staples
Sir Horace Gentleman
Roddy Radiation
Lynval Golding
John Bradbury |
The Specials (also known as 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 Sixteen
Candles, SLC Punk,
Snatch, Shaun
of the Dead, Grosse
Pointe Blank and An Extremely Goofy Movie.
Their music has also appeared in the TV series Father Ted
and the video
game Dance Dance Revolution.
|
Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 Line-up
- 3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Live
albums
- 3.3 Compilations
- 3.4 Singles
- 4 Footnotes
- 5 References
- 6 External
links
|
Career
After being formed in 1977 by Dammers, Golding, and Panter,
the band was first called The Automatics, and then The Coventry
Automatics.
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 "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. Their
debut LP
was Specials, produced
by Elvis Costello. "Too Much
Too Young" was a number
one hit in the UK Singles Chart, despite
controversy over the song's lyrics, which promote contraception.
Their second album, More Specials
was not as commercially successful or 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).
After "Ghost Town" hit number one in 1981, Staple, Golding and
Hall left the band. Dammers added Stan Campbell, to begin working again
under the group's previous name Special AKA. The resulting album, 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.
Later developments
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 formed 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, most 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. The band toured heavily in support of
both releases. Notably absent from these records and tours were Hall
and Dammers. The latter album included guest vocals by Tim
Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid.
In 2007 Hall teamed up with Golding, for the first time in
around 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".
Line-up
Discography
Albums
- 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)
- Today's Specials (1996)
- Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent! (1998)
- Skinhead Girl (2000)
- Conquering Ruler (2001)
Live albums
- CHR TT 5011 Live at The
Moonlight Club (1997)
- Peel Sessions (1987)
- Blue Plate Specials (1999)
- Ghost Town: Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival 1995
(1999)
Compilations
- The
Singles Collection (1991)
- 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)
Singles
- "Gangsters" (1979, 2 Tone, TT1/TT2) UK #6 - billed as The
Special A.K.A.
- "A Message To You Rudy"(1979, 2 Tone, CHS TT5) UK #10
- "The Special A.K.A. Live!" - ("Too Much Too Young"/"Guns Of
Navarone"/"Long Shot Kick De Bucket"/"Liquidator"/"Skinhead Moonstomp")
(1980) UK #1 - EP
- "Rat Race" (1980, 2 Tone, CHS TT11) UK #5
- "Stereotype" (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) - UK # 66
- "Pressure Drop" (1996)
Footnotes
References
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
- Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN
0-85112-072-5
- The Great Rock Discography - 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3
- The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
External links
