STILL AS SPECIAL AS EVER

PROFILE: The Specials

words: Martyn Young

The past couple of years has seen countless bands reunite in an effort to recapture their past glories, The Verve, Blur, Faith No More and an endless list of others have all jumped on the reunion bandwagon, however this year has seen a band reunite that are perhaps even more relevant and needed now more than ever.

The original line up of the Specials have not played together for almost 30 years, disintegrating under a cloud of animosity in the distinctly unglamorous setting of the BBC canteen after performing their only number one single “Ghost Town” on Top Of The Pops in 1981. Now to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the bands “Gangsters” EP Terry Hall, Neville Staples, Lynval Golding, Horace Panter, John Bradbury and Roddy Radiation have reformed however studio visionary and principal songwriter Jerry Dammers is mysteriously missing, either unwilling to take part or simply uninvited and unwelcome. It seems time does not heal all wounds.

The Specials are one of Britain’s most iconic bands, in their late seventies; early eighties prime their radical fusion of ska and reggae with punk’s energy and attitude made one of the UK’s most popular and exciting live bands with legendary live shows.

Unlike many of their post-punk contemporaries The Specials music was not about dread and despair in the style of Joy Division or Public Image Ltd. Their music was all about getting people up and dancing. They spawned the highly successful 2-tone movement, named after their record label, which featured like-minded ska acts The Beat, Madness and The Selecter. The 2-tone movement was a highly stylised and youth centred, sharing many similarities to Mod, the Specials were always impeccably attired with a striking visual image. The 2-tone bands played real dance music eschewing the trend for new fancy synths and up to date recording techniques in favour of the raw high-energy black sounds of the sixties and seventies.

The multicultural aspect of the Specials was hugely important, the two West Indian members Staple and Golding provided the link between the white working class punks and the reggae loving “Rude Boys” The Specials wanted both these groups of fans to coexist in harmony yet despite their pleas for tolerance and peace their gigs where marred with racial violence.

The original Specials as an active recording band only left behind two full albums yet they are both wonderful records, vastly different and perfect artefacts of the social and political environment they were made in. The debut album “The Specials” produced by Elvis Costello is a great example of punk power and pop accessibility. The follow up “More Specials” is even better, the ebullient ska of the debut is retained but added to this is everything from roots reggae to Latin and Middle Eastern roots music. It is one of the most subversive and inventive pop records you will ever hear and is a testament to Jerry Dammers extraordinary studio skills as he creates such aq polyphony of sounds.

The Specials music is of course timeless but the reason why they are so relevant and important in 2009 is that for a band who were so socially and politically literate and stood for so much is today – to quote the words of their hit “Do Nothing” “Nothing Ever Changed”

In a recession hit Britain “Ghost Town” the bands masterpiece sounds like a chilling prophecy. The Specials can be seen as a direct precursor to the social commentary of bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Enemy. Their songs described the bleakness of the working class living in the “Concrete Jungle” of everyday UK towns and cities. “Too Much Too Young” berates a teenage girl for becoming pregnant and wasting her life away. The workers who barely make enough money to stay above the poverty line piss their wages away on beer in “Nite Klub” and “Concrete Jungle” tells of the dangers of being a young boy on the violent streets of Seventies England. In 2009 these songs are all eerily relevant and sound like they could have been written today.

While the 2009 incarnation of The Specials may be a little older, chunkier and greyer but their message of unity and tolerance is as important as ever, they provided inspiration to countless kids in the seventies and now that they have reformed they can now do the same to a whole new generation.

mp3: The Specials – Gangsters [alt]

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