No-one needs me to tell them how great The Specials were, the spearhead of the 2 Tone and ska revival, led by Jerry Dammers vision and organ playing, Terry hall's downcast vocals and presence, Neville Staples energy... in fact they seemed like a band with anything up to seven leaders. Which maybe is they they burned so brightly but so briefly.
Too Hot (live in Chicago 1980)
You might be right Adam. One of the greatest bands of the early 80s and they mean a lot to me.
ReplyDeleteClassic stuff from a truly great band.
ReplyDeleteI must say, SA, that I enjoy this Ska - series mightily! I did a very nice mix of Jamaican Ska + Rocksteady originals the other evening, soon to be found on Sexyloser ... that's if you're interested ...
ReplyDeleteA big playlist fave on my ipod this year is my reggae/2 tone list - tons of trojan, dub, The Specials The Beat and Madness. Seems so so long ago.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I always think of Weatherall and Basement Jaxx and Massive Attack as the descendents of all of that.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best bands of all time, first band I really got into. Great pic of them to accompany today's post.
ReplyDeleteDirk- looking forward to that mix.
ReplyDeleteSimon- agree. The Basement Jaxx song that samples The Selector might find its way here.
Everyone else- thanks.
Keep 'em coming Adam
ReplyDeleteIt is a good pic, they look far more contemporary than I'd have expected. Ska is always cool, but they don't look particularly Ska here.
ReplyDelete