Specials

The Specials are still the heavyweight champions of both waves of ska revivals (in the UK and later in the USA). I saw the Specials just before this album was released in 1979 at a Rock Against Racism concert in London's Hyde Park. I was warned by my two British hosts that the Specials would "blow my mind."... but nothing could have prepared me for the inspired anarchy of this young racially mixed Brits playing music that sounded like reggae on steroids. The two manic singers Terry Hall and Neville Staples bounced around the stage and banged their heads together in time to the music. The entire band had buzz cut hairdos and dressed like thrift shop refugees complete with Sinatra type fedoras, skinny ties and ill fitting suits. By the end of the show the entire stage was filled with frantically pogoing audience members and the Specials played on, as if the audience and the band were the same thing. Everything I learned about ska music started with that Specials concert in 1979.The reason why the Specials were so...errr...special was that they were first rate musicians who not dilletantes when it came to knowledge of the early Jamaican ska and rocksteady music. Jerry Dammers was raised on the music of Prince Buster, the Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Byron Lee and the stable of ska musicians that were part of Duke Reid's venerable British label, Trojan Records. In the UK, Trojan Records had a steady stream of bestselling ska records in the UK in the mid-Sixties. Even the godfather of punk, John Lydon, who was notorious for ridiculing any kind of popular music once professed that reggae and ska were the only music he cared about. Meanwhile, in the USA, our only knowledge of ska was 1965's infectious hit by Millie Small, "My Boy Lollipop." In the Sixties, there was little room on American radio playlists for obscure Jamaican musicians playing gimmicky West Indian pop. If anyone raised the profile of ska music in America, it was the Specials.The songs of this album represent a fusion the anarchy of punk with the frenetic riddims of ska. It is a snapshot of a near-perfect moment in music. Elvis Costello's "ragged but right" production style resembled that of his own producer, Nick Lowe who earned the nickname "Basher" for his rough-hewn sound. "Doesn't Make It Alright" is the Special's anti-racism anthem that was a response to the National Front's campaign to bash forgien nationals from the West Indies and Pakistan who were new immigrants to London during that period. Terry Hall as the prosecuter and Neville Staples as "Judge Dread" engage in a hilarious satire of a kangaroo court in the song "Stupid Marriage." The ribald humor of "Stupid Marriage" was actually a Jamican ska reworking of Shorty Long's late Sixties R&B hit "Here Comes the Judge." "Blank Expression" was a cry against apathy and ignorance. The covers of ska classics like "A Message To Rudy" and Prince Buster's classic "Too Hot" showcase the muscular playing of the band. The cover of the Maytal's classic "Monkey Man" fires a hilarious shot from the hip at the Thatcher enthusiasts in the pompous chambers of the House of Lords, comparing the Britian's nobility to inbred baboons. The addition of trombonist Rico Rodriquez, who was a transplanted Jamaican with an involvment in the ska's early Sixties roots lent the Specials an authenticity that few of their peers could claim. Drummer John Bradbury and bassist Horace Gentleman punched up the ska sound with a heavy drum n' bass sound that appealed to the younger generation accustomed to the hard charging punk rock sound.By the mid-Eighties the ska music revival had ebbed all too early in the UK. I always felt that the 2 Tone Records bands like the dubwise Beat (aka the English Beat), the hyper-manic Madness and the ultra-cool stylists, the Selector were among the best things about the post-punk movement. There was a second wave revival of ska music in the United States in the Nineties, but none of the stateside ska bands posessed the talent, imagination or authenticity of their UK counterparts. The Specials were the flagship of the ska revival and their magnificent but short lived career brought the joy of ska music to a lot of people who otherwise would have never heard it. I don't deejay much these days, but in the early Eighties no party or dance was complete until the floor was filled with estatic dancers slamming to the riddims of "Concrete Jungle." Those were the days, my friend.

Look through reviews for ska albums on Amazon and you'll see the phrase "Greatest ska album ever," a lot. Well, I won't debate what's the greatest ever since that is, to some extent, a matter of taste, but if you dig the Two Tone sound "Specials" is an album that you must have! This is the album that turned a lot of people on to ska in the early eighties. Is it the greatest ska album? Let's put it this way: it's a seminal album. This is the record that turned Punks into Rude Boys! If you could only buy one "second wave" ska album this is the one I would recommend, even over compilations that cover more artists and sounds. This are Two Tone! If you love ska you GOT to have this!This remastered reissue of the UK version is a real gem. I remember being envious of the few who could find the import version on vinyl (yeah, way back then before we had these new-fangled CD things). Now we can all get it on CD. Remastered, it sounds great, better than ever! Sure, it's missing "Gangsters," but you can find that on any number of compilations (I really think, though, they could have included "Gangsters" as a bonus track easily enough. They DO give you the video, but you can only watch it and listen to it on the computer).And do yourself a favor: after you have danced yourself to exhaustion the first few times you listen to "Specials" (you will, trust me), be sure to pop the disk in at a quiet moment when you can just sit and listen without distractions. This is a very musical, very well done and polished piece of art. The lyrics are thoughtful, and often hysterical, and the band is just so, so tight. All the layers come together perfectly.So, have you clicked the "buy" button yet? What? Well what are you waiting for? BUY IT!!!!

Review for 2015 reissue CD sold here. I give only 4 stars for the product and not the material. Enjoy it just as much as i did when i had the original US vinyl version. Gangsters omitted on this cd with extended 6:00 version of "too much too young" added. Although digipaks are very good for the environment, this copy has no booklet and looks stripped down and dull. Dammers half negative photo not included at all in packaging. Music is still relevant with a great message and fun vibe.

This is a review of the 2009 180 gram vinyl Capitol vaults version of the specials eponomous debut. Phew! Now that's out of the way let's get to the music. I'm not going to try and discect every song, rate them, or even compare them to each other, I will however attempt to describe this version of the band. On this album you find a band with two voices, one black, one decidedly white but both undoubtedly British and unhappy. Not that the music is unhappy it isn't, it's a pounding concoction of bluebeat, ska, roots reggae, rockabilly (Roddy's guitar) and punk rock. It's a euphoric combination of influences and instruments locked into place by the swirling keys of Jerry Dammers. So, with such a great pumping band why would the singers be so unhappy? Well, the answer is they lived in Thatcher's Britain and the themes of this existence are the core of what makes this the record it is. It's all small time crime, racism, teen pregnancy, drinking, night clubs, marriage, no prospects and political hopelessness. All sounds a bit drab but not when delivered with a healthy dose of humour and a thumping backbeat. This album catches the best version of the band in their prime and the re-issue has much better sound than the original 1980 LP (I have both). If you have a record player buy this version of the album, we all know records sound better, and this one has "Gangsters" on it too. I'm wondering now what to do .......... I'll play it again.

Of all the British Ska that came out of Britian at this time, for me, this album is hands down the best. There are other good bands, as well, but this album is a classic. Every song is excellent, no dogs.

I love this CD! Wore out one, needed to replace it.

liked the levels on the recording

Buen álbum producido por Elvis Costello y con Rico Rodriguez en el trombon, edición basada en la original sin algún extra, llego bien protegido.

👍🏽

This 40 anniversary package should have been parkage far better with a wide spread vinyl cover a booklet of sorts or a leaflet on the production of the album special photos of the group and inner views of band members..... It should have been similar to the beatles... Boxset or elbows greatest hits on a deluxe edition... Nevertheless it is worth pointing out there's a Japanese obi style strip so it's slightly different....... Its a bit strange and a massive shame that the record company didn't thought of this for the fans..... Personally the album is right up there with finest albums ever made and culturally very important I'm sure people would have paid extra if the above mentioned happened nevertheless it is worth saying that the vinyls are very well pressed an you can tell its definitely different from the original 33rpm if you are a fan of the group its a essential you get it and compare album's....... Three stars because of the parkageing

Great album. I bought it when it came out originally still a great album, but why go to all the trouble of making it into a double album and squeezing it into a single cover being to tight to put it in a double sleeve, great music crap product.

When you make your most profound statement with your first album how do you follow this up? Well 40 years later at Brixton Academy (May 2019) I got my answer. Timeless political and social statements as relevant today as they were in 1979. And you can dance to it all night. You done to much, much too young! Oh no I didn't. Five Stars.