"A Message to You Rudy" is a 1967

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

song by

Dandy Livingstone Dandy Livingstone (born Robert Livingstone Thompson, 14 December 1943) is a British Jamaican, British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae musician and record producer, best known for his 1972 hit record, hit "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and fo ...

. Originally titled "Rudy a Message to You", the song later achieved broader success when, in 1979, a cover version by

the Specials 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, J ...

reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

Composition and recording

Livingstone came up with the idea of the song in about 10 minutes and recorded it a day or two later in about 20 minutes at Maximum Sounds Studio on

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcel ...

with engineer Vic Keary. Livingstone has said that he "had a very bad cold" on the day of recording and so it was suggested that he record the song as a guide vocal and then go over the vocals another day. However, everybody liked what Livingstone had done, so he didn't bother going back to sing over it. Whilst recording the song, Livingstone decided he wanted a

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

to feature in the song, so about a week after the recording session, he got trombonist Rico Rodriguez to play the intro melody. At the same time, he got a tenor saxophonist called Pepsi to play the same intro riff and "alternate the solo differently".

Afterwards

"Rudy a Message to You" did have some success commercially, selling 30,000 units. It also peaked at number 9 on '' Record Mirror's'' Top R&B Singles chart in August 1967, in which it was listed as "Rudie Take a Message". The lyrics warn a "rudy" ( rude boy) to think of his future and change his ways, otherwise he will end up in prison. However, the reception was not what was intended and it was received as glorifying the rude boy culture. Livingstone noticed that by 1969, there were three cover versions of "Rudy a Message to You", the first of which was by the Locomotive. He only found out about the Specials' version after seeing their performance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', after which he made inquiries about the publishing. He found out Carlin Music was the publisher and they had been trying to find Livingstone's whereabouts. Livingstone was also contacted by

Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...

, who wanted to be the publisher of the song and gave him £250 in advance. However, Livingstone turned down the offer and signed with Carlin. After the success of the Specials' version, Livingstone's version was re-released in December 1979 on

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

, with the song

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed by Clem Bushay.

The Specials version

English 2-tone/ new wave band

released their version in 1979 which also featured trombone by Rico Rodriguez with

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with the SpecialsStrong, M ...

on trumpet. The recording was produced by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

. It was a top 10 hit in the UK in November 1979, and also reached the top 30 in several other countries in Europe and in Australia and New Zealand in 1980. The Specials' version was sampled by Sublime in their song "DJ's".

Charts

Certifications

In popular culture

The song was featured prominently in the 1997 action/comedy ''Grosse Pointe Blank'', the 2014 comedy-drama film ''

Chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

'' and the 2019 sci-fi film ''

Vivarium A vivarium (; or vivariums) is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Water-based vivaria may have open tops providing they are not connected to other water bodies. An animal enclosur ...

''. The song was featured in the post-credits scene of the 2019 film '' Spider-Man: Far From Home''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Message To You, Rudy 1967 songs 1967 singles 1979 singles The Specials songs 2 Tone Records singles Chrysalis Records singles Song recordings produced by Elvis Costello Rocksteady