''The Specials'' is the debut album by British
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 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, Lynval ...
. Released on 19 October 1979 on
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials (also known as The Special A.K.A.) and later The Spatial AKA Orche ...
'
2 Tone
Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to:
Audio and sound
* Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement
* Two-tone attention signal
* Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell
* Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...
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
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 ...
's 1973 album ''
Catch a Fire
''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had sta ...
''—used to describe the grim, violent
inner cities
The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...
of 1970s Britain. The album features a mixture of original material and several covers of classic Jamaican ska tracks.
A live version of "
Too Much Too Young" was later released on a five-track EP, ''
The Special AKA Live!
''Too Much Too Young - The Special A.K.A. Live!'' is a live EP by The Specials with Rico Rodriguez, released on 11 January 1980. On the original release, the front cover credited the performers as ''The Special A.K.A. featuring Rico'', while the ...
'', which went to number one on the UK charts. "'A Message to You, Rudy" was also released as a single. A digitally remastered edition also featuring promotional videos to "
Gangsters
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
" and "Too Much Too Young" as enhanced content was released by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
in 2002. In 2013, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' ranked it at number 260 on its list of "
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
".
Composition
Musically, ''The Specials'' encapsulates the first wave of British ska, greatly reworking the original sound of 1960s Jamaican ska. The music shares the infectious energy and humour of the original sound, but injects new-found anger and
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
sensibility. The resulting sound is considerably less laid-back and "Caribbean" sounding than original ska, and dispensed with much of the percussion and the larger horn sections used in the older variety. The Specials also brought guitar to the front of the mix; it had often been a secondary instrument in Jamaican ska.
Several of the album's songs are covers of older Jamaican songs. "Monkey Man" had been a hit for
Toots & the Maytals
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.
...
in 1969, "Too Hot" was a
Prince Buster original from 1966, and the opening track, "
A Message to You, Rudy" was a
Dandy Livingstone
Dandy Livingstone (born Robert Livingstone Thompson, 14 December 1943, Kingston, Jamaica) is a British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae musician and producer, best known for his 1972 hit, "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and for his song, ...
single in 1967. "You're Wondering Now" was originally performed by duo Andy & Joey and later covered by
The Skatalites
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...
; the vocal version was recorded by Andy & Joey in 1964. Other tracks are reworkings of Jamaican originals: "Too Much Too Young" was based on
Lloyd Charmers
Lloyd Charmers (born Lloyd Tyrell, 1938 – 27 December 2012, also known as Lloyd Chalmers, Lloyd Terell, or Lloyd Terrell)Ruddock, George (2012), '' Jamaica Gleaner'', 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012 was a Jamaican ska and reggae ...
' "Birth Control" and "Stupid Marriage" draws heavily on the
Prince Buster hit "Judge 400 Years" (also known as "Judge Dread").
Trombonist
Rico Rodriguez, who performed on many '50s and '60s Jamaican recordings before moving to London in 1962, played on the band's version of "A Message to You, Rudy", as he had on the original recording 15 years previously. Rodriguez's appearance on the album considerably added to the album's credentials.
Critical reception
Reviews of the album in the UK music press were mixed. ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' praised the album, saying, "Although the predominant musical influence is black (
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 ...
, bluebeat,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
and
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
), it's wrapped in ferocious
rock'n'roll: the kind of hybrid that so many other British bands have tried to contrive but, in comparison, failed to make convincing ... This album embraces two decades of black and white music, gives it perspective and then goes on to reflect the modern rock'n'roll culture ... It's the kind of album that's musically fathomless and it will probably establish The Specials as true hopes for the '80s. At the very least this debut is essential for anybody who wants to know what's going on in rock'n'roll today".
''
Smash Hits'' was also positive, saying it had "some excellent original touches" and that the lyrics were "very strong". The reviewer went on to praise Costello's "first rate production" and finished his review by saying that the album was a "very promising debut and highly recommended".
On the other hand,
Vivien Goldman
Vivien Goldman (born 1952) is a British journalist, writer and musician.
Early life and education
Goldman was born in London in 1952, the child of two German-Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. She studied English and American literature at th ...
in ''
Melody Maker'' was disappointed, observing that "this album's drawbacks are exposed all the more vividly in the light of its missed potential ... producer Elvis Costello seems incapable of producing a rhythm—by that I mean
pop, as well as reggae". The review expanded upon this comment, saying, "A key word is pace. The Specials—a great band to party to—can't sustain the shock of having the speed of certain numbers halved. When the pace on record doubles—as in 'Too Much Too Young'—The Specials suddenly make sense". Goldman also criticised the lack of understanding of a female point of view in certain songs, but concluded on a positive note: "Perhaps I'm extra critical, because I (still) have great hopes for the future of The Specials".
''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' agreed that the album had not fulfilled its potential, saying, "There are no rough edges to upset you, nothing new to shock you ... The Specials seem to have lost the attacking, forward-looking, forward moving, almost militant momentum that was witnessed and promised from the beginning".
''The Specials'' was ranked among the top ten albums of the year for 1979 by ''NME''.
Legacy
In a retrospective review,
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
described the record as "a perfect moment in time captured on vinyl forever... It was an utter revelation—except for anyone who had seen the band on-stage, for the album was at its core a
studio recording The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.
Studio cast recordings
In the case of Broadway mu ...
of their
live set
Live-set refers to any performance of electronic music that is generated live out of a bank of equipment or a laptop rather than a DJ mix, which is played from a pre-recorded medium, such as vinyl and CD with turntables or audio files with DJ soft ...
, and at times even masquerades as a gig". It felt the album captured the feeling of "Britain in late 1979, an unhappy island about to explode", and that "The Specials managed to distill all the anger, disenchantment, and bitterness of the day straight into their music".
In 2008,
BBC Music
BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...
agreed that the economic and political conditions of the day had heightened the record's impact, saying, "To understand the impact of this spearhead of the ska revival on early
Thatcherite
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
Britain you have to imagine something so left field and yet so apt occurring today. It was as if
depression-era
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
dustbowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
ballads suddenly became hip again in this era of global economic meltdown. Hardly anyone would have predicted that a musical form so tied to its
Afro-Caribbean heritage (as well as its less cool
skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
connections) could, almost overnight, become the trendiest thing across the nation". It concluded that ''The Specials'' "was a classic example of a band making an almost perfect first album, acting as both a
mission statement
A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...
(the rise of right wing groups opposed by the message of Two Tone equality) and as an alternative way to have fun without having to
pogo or spit ...''The Specials'' remains a snapshot of a bleaker time, and a wrily comical antidote to political and cultural indifference anywhere".
However, ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
''s David Hutcheon, reviewing the reissue, felt that "''Specials'' doesn't feel quite as exciting as it did 23 years ago".
In June 2000, ''
Q'' placed ''The Specials'' at number 38 on its list of the 100 greatest British albums ever. ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' featured ''The Specials'' at number 42 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' listed the album at number 68 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s, as the album was not released in the US until 1980. In 2013, ''NME'' ranked ''The Specials'' at number 260 on its list of "
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
".
Track listing
;Side one
# "
A Message to You, Rudy" (
Dandy Livingstone
Dandy Livingstone (born Robert Livingstone Thompson, 14 December 1943, Kingston, Jamaica) is a British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae musician and producer, best known for his 1972 hit, "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and for his song, ...
) – 2:53
# "Do the Dog" (
Rufus Thomas;
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
by
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials (also known as The Special A.K.A.) and later The Spatial AKA Orche ...
) – 2:09
# "It's Up to You" (Dammers,
The Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are 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, Lynval ...
) – 3:25
# "Nite Klub" (Dammers, The Specials) – 3:22
# "Doesn't Make It Alright" (Dammers, Dave Goldberg, Mark Harrison) – 3:26
# "Concrete Jungle" (
Roddy Byers
Roddy Radiation (born Roderick James Byers, 5 May 1955 in Keresley, Coventry, England) is an English musician who played lead guitar for The Specials, as well as many rockabilly bands such as the Bonediggers and the Tearjerkers. He wrote the S ...
) – 3:18
# "Too Hot" (
Cecil Campbell) – 3:09
;Side two
# "
Monkey Man
Monkey Man may refer to:
Fiction
*Monkey Man (film), ''Monkey Man'' (film), a film starring and directed by Dev Patel
* Axwell Tiberius, the eponymous simian character in the 1993–1999 comic book series ''Monkeyman and O'Brien''
Songs
*Monkey M ...
" (
Toots Hibbert
Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert, (8 December 1942 – 11 September 2020), better known as Toots Hibbert, was a Jamaican singer and songwriter who was the lead vocalist for the reggae and ska band Toots and the Maytals. A reggae pioneer, he perfor ...
) – 2:45
# "(Dawning of A) New Era" (Dammers) – 2:24
# "Blank Expression" (Dammers, The Specials) – 2:43
# "Stupid Marriage" (Dammers, Mark Harrison,
Neville Staple
Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also pe ...
,
Cecil Campbell) – 3:49
# "Too Much Too Young" (Dammers,
acknowledgment to
Lloyd Charmers
Lloyd Charmers (born Lloyd Tyrell, 1938 – 27 December 2012, also known as Lloyd Chalmers, Lloyd Terell, or Lloyd Terrell)Ruddock, George (2012), '' Jamaica Gleaner'', 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012 was a Jamaican ska and reggae ...
) – 6:06*
# "Little Bitch" (Dammers)† – 2:31
# "You're Wondering Now" (
Clement Seymour) – 2:36
* Canadian and some US pressings of the album have a shorter, 2:16 version of this song.
† On some US releases, the song "Gangsters" (Dammers,
Cecil Campbell) appears between "Too Much Too Young" and "Little Bitch". In Australia and New Zealand, "Gangsters" was included between "Do the Dog" and "It's Up to You".
Personnel
;The Specials
*
Terry Hall – vocals
*
Neville Staple
Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also pe ...
– vocals
*
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 ...
– rhythm guitar, vocals
*
Roddy Radiation
Roddy Radiation (born Roderick James Byers, 5 May 1955 in Keresley, Coventry, England) is an English musician who played lead guitar for The Specials, as well as many rockabilly bands such as the Bonediggers and the Tearjerkers. He wrote the S ...
(Roderick Byers) – lead guitar, vocals (6)
*
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 i ...
– bass guitar
*
John Bradbury – drums
*
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials (also known as The Special A.K.A.) and later The Spatial AKA Orche ...
– keyboards
;Guest musicians
*
Rico Rodriguez –
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
*
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, ...
–
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
*
Chrissie Hynde – vocals on "Nite Klub"
;Technical
*Dave Jordan - engineer
*Carol Starr, Chalkie Davies - sleeve design
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Specials, The
1979 debut albums
The Specials albums
Albums produced by Elvis Costello
2 Tone Records albums