The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. The band wore mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits ". Their music combines the danceable rhythms of ska and rocksteady with the energy and attitude of punk. Lyrically, their work presented overt political and social commentary.
More Specials is the second album by English ska band the Specials, released by 2 Tone Records in September 1980. After the success of the band's debut album, band member Jerry Dammers assumed the role as the band's leader and stirred them into expanding their 2 Tone sound into other genres of music, most prominently a lounge music and easy listening style inspired by Muzak. Several band members disagreed with Dammers' vision and brought their own influences to the album, including from northern soul and rockabilly, contributing to an eclectic sound palette. The relations between band members continued to sour into the album's accompanying tour and most of the band departed in 1981.
Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band the Specials and later the Spatial AKA Orchestra. Through his foundation of the record label Two Tone, his work blending political lyrics and punk with Jamaican music, and his incorporation of 1960s retro clothing, Dammers is a pivotal figure of the ska revival. He has also been acknowledged in his work for racial unity.
Terence Edward Hall was a British musician who came to prominence as the lead singer of the 2-tone band the Specials, and later recorded with groups such as Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and Vegas.
Neville Eugenton Staple, sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2-tone ska band the Specials, the pop group Fun Boy Three, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also performed with Ranking Roger in the supergroup Special Beat.
Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band the Specials. Released on 19 October 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2 Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene. Produced by Elvis Costello, the album captures the disaffection and anger felt by the youth of the UK's "concrete jungle"—a phrase borrowed from Bob Marley's 1973 album Catch a Fire—used to describe the grim, violent inner cities of 1970s Britain. The album features a mixture of original material and several covers of classic Jamaican ska tracks.
Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seven UK top 20 hits.
"Ghost Town" is a song by the British two-tone band the Specials, released on 12 June 1981. The song spent three weeks at number one and 11 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
In the Studio is the third studio album by British ska revival band the Specials. It was released under the name the Special AKA in June 1984, their only album under that name. The album took over two years to produce before finally seeing release, by which time the original Specials had long since disbanded.
Guilty 'til Proved Innocent! is a 1998 album by The Specials. It is the first studio album of new songs by the group since 1984, with songs written by both original and new group members. As in their previous album and tours during this era, the line-up featured original band members Neville Staple, Roddy Byers, Lynval Golding, and Horace Panter joined by new members Mark Adams, Adam Birch, and Jon Read. The album also featured drummer Charley Harrington Bembridge, who had been absent from Today's Specials but had been playing live with the group since 1994. While inevitably suffering comparisons to the music released by the classic 1979-1981 line up, Guilty... received far more favourable reviews than the reunited band's previous studio effort, the covers album Today's Specials, and was generally heralded as a return to form.
Skinhead Girl is a cover album by the Specials Released in 2000. After a project backing ska legend Desmond Dekker on his 1993 album King of Kings, producer Roger Lomas brought the band back into the studio to record covers of popular Trojan Records songs. Band member Lynval Golding left two weeks before the sessions, and was replaced by former Selecter guitarist Neol Davies on rhythm guitar.
Archive is a compilation album by The Specials, released in 2001. It consists of old Specials songs and ones by the new line-up, mostly covers.
Dawning of a New Era is an album credited to "The Coventry Automatics AKA The Specials", first released in 1993. The album is a collection of demo recordings from 1978, when the band was still known as "The Automatics". They would shortly rename themselves "The Coventry Automatics" before eventually becoming "The Specials". The release is notable for featuring an early lineup of the band, featuring original drummer Silverton Hutchinson and before the addition of toaster Neville Staple. It was also the first release of recordings of three songs not otherwise recorded by the band, "Wake Up", "Look But Don't Touch" and "Jay Walker". "Rock & Roll Nightmare" was retitled "Pearl's Cafe" and appeared on the "More Specials" album.
John "Brad" Bradbury was an English drummer and record producer. He is best known for having been the drummer in the English ska group the Specials.
Rhoda Dakar is an English singer and musician, best known as the lead singer of The Bodysnatchers, who were signed to the 2 Tone record label. She also worked with The Specials/Special AKA, and also other 2-Tone artists.
Nikolaj Torp Larsen is a Danish musician. He is also a producer, film composer and writer, who has played keyboards, piano and Hammond with numerous artists on tour and on many successful records, including Adele's "Skyfall" which won the Brit Award for Best British Single at the 2013 Brit Awards, as well as a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award.
"Gangsters" is the first single by the English ska group the Specials.
"Rat Race" is a song by ska/2-Tone band the Specials, released on 16 May 1980 by 2 Tone Records as a double A-side single with "Rude Buoys Outa Jail". The single wasn't included on the UK release of the More Specials album, but was included on the US version, released by Chrysalis Records. The song peaked at no. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and also charted on the US Dance Chart.
Protest Songs 1924–2012 is the ninth and final studio album by the English ska revival band the Specials. It is the second Specials album led by the trio of Lynval Golding, Terry Hall and Horace Panter. The album entered at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart after its first week of release and spent two weeks on the chart.
