Album: Specials
Out of the primordial soup of punk's bile a more joyous, multicultural new genre was born, 2 Tone. One of the brains behind this ska revival was Jerry Dammers, the bonkers impresario who set up the 2 Tone label in Coventry, where the Specials formed at the end of the 70s. Along with singer Terry Hall and the rest of the Specials, Dammers created a punk reggae party feel that is perfectly distilled on the album's opening track, A Message To You Rudy. Thanks to good exposure from appearances on the Peel Sessions for the Specials, the Beat, Madness and Selecter, this mutant English form of rocksteady took off almost instantly in 1979 and fast became more popular than punk. 2 Tone was also a powerful antidote to the emerging punk subgenre, Oi!, which was attracting racist skinheads and became tied up with football violence when bands like the Cockney Rebels appeared on Top of the Pops wearing West Ham shirts. Though these far-right elements also infiltrated Specials gigs, songs like It Doesn't Make It Alright made clear the group's philosophy ("just because you're a black boy / just because you're a white / it doesn't mean you've got to hate him / it doesn't mean you've got to fight"). A simple message that resonated powerfully in Thatcher's Britain.
2 Tone is not just a reference to racial equality, but also reflects the light and dark moods of the Specials album. Along with joyous covers of ska and reggae classics like Toots & the Maytals' Monkey Man (which, like most of the album, sounds like a live recording), there are also bleaker moments, notably the songs written by Dammers about unemployment, teenage pregnancy and racism. Too Much Too Young became a UK No.1 in February 1980, likely the first hit single about contraception ever to chart. A reworking of Lloyd Charmer's 1970 reggae record, Birth Control, Too Much Too Young is a scathing attack on young mothers (that borders on nastiness) but hides behind an upbeat sound. The hard to decipher chorus is notable for using the word pickney (Jamican slang for children that also appears on The Congos record). On Concrete Jungle (written by Specials' lead guitarist Roddy Radiation), the lyrics explore inner-city violence in a direct homage to Bob Marley's Catch A Fire, while on Nite Klub producer Elvis Costello really captures the energy of the band's live performances as Terry Hall explores the bleak prospects of being young in Tory Britain. Though this is the band's defining statement, two of the best Specials singles, Gangsters and Ghost Town, don't appear on it. Inspired by the poverty that Dammers saw on the streets of Glasgow and his home town Coventry, Ghost Town is probably the most damning indictment of Thatcher's politics ever put on record.
P.S. Just a small footnote but looking back through music history, 2 Tone and the ska revival really was the biggest musical gift that the Midlands ever gave to the world. Both the Beat and UB40 (whose early albums were great, honestly) were from Birmingham, as were Dexys Midnight Runners. Sadly though, while Terry Hall went off in a new direction with Fun Boy Three, UB40, Bad Manners and Madness all ended up as populist fairground acts. Just like the first time round, ska was a brief but brilliant passing phase in British music.
Artist: The Specials
Born: Coventry, West Midlands
Released: October 1979
Genre: 2 Tone
Influenced: Tricky, Blur, Massive Attack, The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Out of the primordial soup of punk's bile a more joyous, multicultural new genre was born, 2 Tone. One of the brains behind this ska revival was Jerry Dammers, the bonkers impresario who set up the 2 Tone label in Coventry, where the Specials formed at the end of the 70s. Along with singer Terry Hall and the rest of the Specials, Dammers created a punk reggae party feel that is perfectly distilled on the album's opening track, A Message To You Rudy. Thanks to good exposure from appearances on the Peel Sessions for the Specials, the Beat, Madness and Selecter, this mutant English form of rocksteady took off almost instantly in 1979 and fast became more popular than punk. 2 Tone was also a powerful antidote to the emerging punk subgenre, Oi!, which was attracting racist skinheads and became tied up with football violence when bands like the Cockney Rebels appeared on Top of the Pops wearing West Ham shirts. Though these far-right elements also infiltrated Specials gigs, songs like It Doesn't Make It Alright made clear the group's philosophy ("just because you're a black boy / just because you're a white / it doesn't mean you've got to hate him / it doesn't mean you've got to fight"). A simple message that resonated powerfully in Thatcher's Britain.
2 Tone is not just a reference to racial equality, but also reflects the light and dark moods of the Specials album. Along with joyous covers of ska and reggae classics like Toots & the Maytals' Monkey Man (which, like most of the album, sounds like a live recording), there are also bleaker moments, notably the songs written by Dammers about unemployment, teenage pregnancy and racism. Too Much Too Young became a UK No.1 in February 1980, likely the first hit single about contraception ever to chart. A reworking of Lloyd Charmer's 1970 reggae record, Birth Control, Too Much Too Young is a scathing attack on young mothers (that borders on nastiness) but hides behind an upbeat sound. The hard to decipher chorus is notable for using the word pickney (Jamican slang for children that also appears on The Congos record). On Concrete Jungle (written by Specials' lead guitarist Roddy Radiation), the lyrics explore inner-city violence in a direct homage to Bob Marley's Catch A Fire, while on Nite Klub producer Elvis Costello really captures the energy of the band's live performances as Terry Hall explores the bleak prospects of being young in Tory Britain. Though this is the band's defining statement, two of the best Specials singles, Gangsters and Ghost Town, don't appear on it. Inspired by the poverty that Dammers saw on the streets of Glasgow and his home town Coventry, Ghost Town is probably the most damning indictment of Thatcher's politics ever put on record.
P.S. Just a small footnote but looking back through music history, 2 Tone and the ska revival really was the biggest musical gift that the Midlands ever gave to the world. Both the Beat and UB40 (whose early albums were great, honestly) were from Birmingham, as were Dexys Midnight Runners. Sadly though, while Terry Hall went off in a new direction with Fun Boy Three, UB40, Bad Manners and Madness all ended up as populist fairground acts. Just like the first time round, ska was a brief but brilliant passing phase in British music.
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