''Protest Songs 1924–2012'' is the ninth studio album by the English

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

revival band

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 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 (singer), Terr ...

. It is the second Specials album led by the trio of

Lynval Golding Lynval Golding (born 24 July 1951) is a Jamaican-born British musician. His family moved from Jamaica to Gloucester, before moving to Coventry when he was eighteen. He is currently living in Gig Harbor, Washington. He is best known as a rhythm g ...

, Terry Hall and

Horace Panter Horace Panter (born Stephen Graham Panter, 30 August 1953) also known as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the British 2 Tone ska band The Specials. Early life Panter was born in Croydon, Surrey and spent most of his formative years in ...

. The album entered at number 2 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

after its first week of release and spent two weeks on the chart. The album is the last to feature Hall as lead vocalist prior to his death in December 2022 at age 63.

Track listing

# "Freedom Highway" (

Pops Staples Pops may refer to: Name or nickname * Pops, an informal term of address for a father or elder * Pops (nickname), a list of people * Pops (Muppet), a Muppets character * Pops (Johnny Bravo), a character from the Cartoon Network animated televisio ...

) – 3:24 # " Everybody Knows" (

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

, Sharon Robinson) – 5:23 # "I Don't Mind Failing in This World" (

Malvina Reynolds Malvina Reynolds (August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978) was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Morningtown ...

) – 4:40 # "Black, Brown and White" (

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

) – 2:57 # " Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around" (Traditional/Clarence Carter White) – 3:46 # "Fuck All the Perfect People" (

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". Early life Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of a ...

) – 4:05 # "My Next Door Neighbor" (

Jerry McCain Jerry McCain, often billed as Jerry "Boogie" McCain (June 18, 1930 – March 28, 2012), was an American electric blues musician, best known as a harmonica player. Biography Born near Gadsden, Alabama, United States, he was one of five childr ...

) – 2:33 # " Trouble Every Day" (

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

) – 5:04 # "Listening Wind" (

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

) – 4:05 # "I Live in a City" (Malvina Reynolds) – 2:20 # "Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes" (

Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen (; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range ...

) – 2:51 # "

Get Up, Stand Up "Get Up, Stand Up" is a song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. It originally appeared on The Wailers' 1973 album '' Burnin. It was recorded and played live in numerous versions by Bob Marley and the Wailers, along with solo versions by P ...

" (

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

) – 4:07 LP bonus 7" vinyl # "Vote for Me" (Live at Coventry Cathedral) (Hall, Panter, Golding, Larsen) – 4:01 # "Blam Blam Fever" (Live at Coventry Cathedral) (Earl Grant, V. E. Grant) – 5:40

Personnel

The Specials

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals * Terry Hall – vocals *

– bass guitar, stand-up bass

Additional musicians

* Steve Cradock – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals *Hannah Hu – guest vocals *Jim Hunt – saxophone *Pablo Mendelssohn – flugelhorn *Michael "Bami" Rose – repeater drum *Kenrick Rowe – drums, percussion *Tim Smart – trombone *

Nikolaj Torp Larsen Nikolaj Torp Larsen (born 1973) is a Danish musician (also credited as Nikolaj Torp, Nick Torp, Nik Torp). He is also a producer, film composer and writer, who has played keyboards, piano and Hammond with numerous artists on tour and on many succe ...

– keyboards, harmonica, guitar, accordion, vocals *Tony Uter – bass drum

Technical

*Horace Panter, Lynval Golding, Nikolaj Torp Larsen, Terry Hall – producer, arrangements *George Murphy – engineer *Liam Larkin – assistant engineer *

Cenzo Townshend Vincenzo Capellini Townshend (born 28 October 1963) is an English record producer, mixer, and audio engineer, and has worked with artists and bands including the Rolling Stones, a-ha, Kaiser Chiefs, U2, Snow Patrol, Florence and the Machin ...

– mixing *Camden Clarke, Robert Sellens – mixing assistant *Shane O'Neill – photography *De Facto – graphic design

Charts

References

The Specials albums 2021 albums Island Records albums {{DEFAULTSORT:Protest Songs 1924-2012