''Too Much Too Young - The Special A.K.A. Live!'' is a live EP 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 ...

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 back cover mentions and the labels credited only The Specials. Renowned for their live shows, the Specials released a five-track live EP in January 1980 as the third single by the band. The EP featured "Too Much Too Young" (originally recorded on the album ''

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 ...

'') with " Guns of Navarone" recorded live in London; and "Skinhead Symphony" - a medley of "Long Shot Kick De Bucket", " The Liquidator" and " Skinhead Moonstomp" - which was recorded at Tiffany's in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. Lead track "Too Much Too Young" was based on the 1969 song "Birth Control" by Lloyd Charmers. Contrary to what is sometimes stated, "Too Much Too Young" was not banned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

due to mentions of contraception in the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

. However, when the song's promotional

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

was featured 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 ...

'', it was cut off just before the final line, ''"try wearing a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

"''. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1980. It became only the second EP to top the chart after " The Roussos Phenomenon EP" in 1976, and was also the first live recording to top the chart since Billy Connolly's " D.I.V.O.R.C.E." in 1975. At 2:04, it was the shortest song to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in the 1980s. Rodriguez played

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 ...

on "Guns of Navarone" and "Long Shot Kick De Bucket", and

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 ...

played

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

on "Guns of Navarone".

Track listing

;Side A # "Too Much Too Young" (

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 Orch ...

, acknowledgment to Lloyd Chalmers) - 2:04 # " Guns of Navarone" ( Dimitri Tiomkin, Webster) - 2:25 ;Side B - ''Skinhead Symphony'' # "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" ( George Agard, Sydney Crooks, Jackie Robinson) - 3:10 # " The Liquidator" ( Harry Johnson) - 1:15 # " Skinhead Moonstomp" ( Roy Ellis, Monty Naysmith) - 2:11

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control UK singles chart number-one singles 1980 debut EPs 1980 live albums Live EPs 2 Tone Records singles 2 Tone Records albums The Specials albums

Track listing

Charts

See also

References

External links