release date: Oct. 19, 1979
format: cd (1989 reissue) / cd (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Elvis Costello, The Specials
label: 2 Tone Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "A Message to You Rudy" - 2. "Do the Dog" - *[ 3. "Gangsters" ] - 4. "Nite Klub" - 5. "Doesn't Make It Alright" - 6. "Concrete Jungle" - 7. "Too Hot" - 8. "Monkey Man" (live on the Old Grey Whistle Test) - 9. "(Dawning of A) New Era" - 12. "Too Much Too Young"
*Bonus track on 1979 and '89 Chrysalis reissue (other tracks numbered according to org. 14 track release.
Studio album debut by ska revival and '2 tone' band The Specials, a septet consisting of Terry Hall (aka Terence hall) on lead vocals, Neville Staple on vocals and percussion, "Roddy Radiation" (aka Roderick James Byers) on lead guitar and vocals, Lynval Golding on rhythm guitar and vocals, Horace Panter (aka "Sir Horace Gentleman") on bass guitar, Jerry Dammers on keyboards and vocals, and with John Bradbury on drums. Before calling themselves The Specials they were the Automatics, then the Coventry Automatics before settling with The Special AKA for a period, which was shortened for the album release. Still in '79, a reissue was released with the single hit "Gangsters" as track #3 was issued on Chrysalis, which is also on many later versions, but the original album version excluded this track, thus containing 14 tracks in total.
Together with Madness, Selector, and The Beat, The Specials were enrolled at the Jerry Dammers founded 2 Tone Records, which was primarily dedicated to ska revival bands, who all founded their music on the original (Jamaican) ska and combined that with elements of contemporary punk rock and / or British working class pub rock. The name of the record label gave name to the style 2 tone - the 'special' combo of ska and punk rock with stylistic influences from mod revival.
The Specials mostly consists of punk rock arranged cover versions of 1960s rocksteady and ska recordings (six out of the fourteen songs are composed by Dammers and the band; however, some of the Dammers' compositions are reworks of original Jamaican ska songs, e.g. "Too Much Too Young" and "Stupid Marriage").
Track #1 became the song that will always be associated with The Specials, although, it's really a 1967 rocksteady composition by Dandy Livingstone. Also track #8 was a popular remake of a 1969 Jamaican ska Frederick "Toots" Hibbert song, originally recorded by The Maytals, but it was track #12, the song "Too Much Too Young" that became the band's #1 single hit in the UK. Also the album fared more than well peaking as high as number #4 on the UK albums chart list.
I recall my fascination for the music by the The Specials, although, I never purchased the album at the time, but together with Madness they were the very best of the ska revival period and as contrary to Madness, The Specials stayed more loyal to the original style of ska and rocksteady and where Madness nearly always commented on life's more serious aspects from a humorous perspective, The Specials were more of the working class band with a clear political critical opinion on life under Thatcher - and they weren't afraid of commenting on homophobia and discrimination of any kind. Despite the band covered many original 1960s Jamaican songs, track #5 is written by Jerry Dammers but later covered and made more famous by the North Irish punk rock band Stiff Little Fingers.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Uncut, Q Magazine 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5 stars ]
[clip about the band]
