The Specials
Specials
Engineer: Dave Jordan
Chrysalis Records (USA), 2002
1 CD
Catalogue #: 37697
EAN: 0724353769703
UPC: 724353769703
You save: 20%
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
The Specials: Terry Hall, Neville Staples (vocals); Lynval Golding, Roddy Radiation (guitar); Jerry Dammers (organ); Horace Gentleman (bass); John "Brad" Bradbury (drums).
Additional personnel: Rico Rodriguez, Dick Cuthell (horns).
Producers: Elvis Costello, The Specials.
Reissue producers: Nigel Reeve, Rob Owen.
Includes liner notes by Adrian Thrill.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Produced by Elvis Costello, this self-titled 1979 debut quickly became gospel to the wave of ska then sweeping England. Infusing the catchy, jumpy music developed by artists like the Skatalites and Prince Buster a generation before them with punk's youthful disenfranchisement, bands like the Specials, the Selecter and Madness gave birth to a movement, one which strove for such noble goals as racial unity (then a particularly sore issue in Britain) and non-violence. THE SPECIALS states these ideals magnificently, wrapping them in tunes bursting with energy--tight, sincere and masterful.
Ska's musical style is an easy one to discern--syncopated rhythm guitar, infectious rhythms, horn sections a-go-go; vocals often reach the level of a rant, and the lyrics are usually of utmost import. The album's opener and by far its most recognized tune "A Message To You Rudy" spoke frankly and directly to those youngsters tempted towards the gangster life. "Do the Dog" is more outright social statement--an earnest appeal not to fall into life's easy, safe categories, be they military or social. Societal issues of every stripe are attacked--from "Stupid Marriage" to "Concrete Jungle."
Tracklist
Specials
Leaders of ska music's second wave in England during the late 1970s and early '80s, the Specials founded the 2 Tone record label, and added like-minded bands such as the Selecter, the English Beat, and Madness to the roster. Combining socially conscious messages with jaunty, danceable melodies, the Specials (later known as the Special AKA) toured with the Clash, had their first album produced by Elvis Costello, and topped the British singles charts with ska anthems "Gangsters" and "Rudi, A Message to You." At the peak of their success in 1981, internal tensions led to the group fragmenting, with members departing to form the Fun Boy Three and, later, the Special Beat.
