The specials
| The specials | |
|---|---|
 The Specials in May 2009 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Coventry , England |
| Genre (s) | 2-tone , ska , reggae , new wave |
| founding | 1977, 1996, 2008 |
| resolution | 1984, 2001 |
| Website | http://www.thespecials.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Lynval Golding | |
| Horace Panter | |
| Terry Hall | |
| Roddy Radiation (from 1978) | |
| John Bradbury († 2015) (from 1979 and 2008) | |
| Jon Read (1996-2001, from 2008) | |
| Tim Smart (from 2008) | |
| Nik Torp (from 2008) | |
The Specials is a British ska band .
history
The group was founded in 1977 under the name "The (Coventry) Automatics" before renaming itself in 1978. The band's singers were Terry Hall and Neville Staple . In a Great Britain marked by unemployment and racist tension, they played a mixture of ska and reggae , consisting of black and white band members .
Her music was released by band member Jerry Dammers on the record label 2 Tone Records . The label later signed other ska bands such as The Selecter , Madness and The Beat . His trademark were black and white checkerboard patterns, which should document the anti-racist attitude.
Like hardly any other ska band, The Specials represent the exuberant joie de vivre of the second British ska wave (Dawning of a New Era) as well as the disenchantment that gradually sets in with increasingly right-wing, violent skinheads (Ghosttown) .
The band split in 1981. Terry Hall formed the band Fun Boy Three with Neville Staple and later appeared as a solo artist. Jerry Dammers renamed the specials "The Special AKA", which landed another worldwide hit with Nelson Mandela .
Parts of the band still perform under the name "The Specials", but the only albums The Specials (1979) and More Specials (1980) should count as pure Specials works , as well as the last single Ghost Town , which was number 1 in Great Britain reached.
Between April and May 2009 concerts were held to mark the 30th anniversary of the band's founding.
The album Encore will be released on Island Records in February 2019 . It was recorded by founding members Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter together with the Danish producer Torp Larsen. The album reached number 1 in the British charts , so the band was able to place an album with a top position in the British album charts for the first time since 1980.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1979 | Special offers | - | - |
UK4th  (48 weeks)UK |
US84 (21 weeks) US |
|
| 1980 | More specials | - | - |
UK5 (20 weeks)UK |
US98 (5 weeks) US |
|
| 1984 | In the studio | - | - |
UK34 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
as The Special AKA
|
| 2015 | The specials | - | - |
UK94 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2019 | Encore |
DE20 (3 weeks) DE |
- |
UK1  (9 weeks)UK |
- | |
More albums
- 1993: King of Kings (with Desmond Dekker )
- 1996: Today's Specials
- 1998: Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent!
- 2000: Skinhead Girl
- 2001: The Conquering Ruler
- 2008: Ghost Town
Live albums
- 1992: Live - Too Much Too Young
- 1992: Live at the Moonlight Club
- 1992: BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (with The Selecter )
- 1998: BBC Sessions
- 1999: Ghost Town 'Live'
- 1999: Live Too Much Too Young
- 2001: Greatest Hits Live
- 2009: 30th Anniversary Tour Live (Promo, as a free supplement to The Sunday Times )
- 2011: Aug 27th - Nov 3rd 2011 Paradiso Grote Zaal Amsterdam September 14, 2011 (2 CDs, limited)
- 2011: Aug 27th - Nov 3rd 2011 Munich Backstage September 21, 2011 (2 CDs, limited)
- 2011: Aug 27th - Nov 3rd 2011 Ricoh Arena Coventry October 29, 2011 (2 CDs, limited)
- 2012: More… or Less. - The Specials Live
- 2014: Live 2014: The Tour Edition
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AT
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1991 | The Specials Singles | - |
UK10 (9 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 2008 | The best of | - |
UK26 (10 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2009 | Singles - Best Of | - |
UK73 (2 weeks)UK |
- | |
More compilations
- 1991: The Singles Collection
- 1995: The Best of Ska Live (with The Selecter and Special Beat)
- 1996: Too Much Too Young
- 1996: Best Of
- 1996: Gold Collection (UK:gold)
- 1998: Concrete Jungle (as Coventry Automatics AKA the Specials, with Desmond Dekker and Special Beat)
- 1999: A Special Collection
- 1999: The Specials and Co (with The Coventry Automatics and Special Beat)
- 2000: Stereo-Typical (A's, B's & Rarities) (3 CDs, UK:silver)
- 2001: Archive Series
- 2003: The Best of the Specials
- 2005: The Ultra Selection
- 2006: Greatest Hits
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AT
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1979 | Gangsters specials |
- |
UK6th (12 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: March 30, 1979
as The Special AKA |
| A Message to You Rudy / Nite Klub Specials |
AT7 (8 weeks) AT |
UK10 (14 weeks)UK |
- |
First release: October 1979
feat. Rico |
|
| 1980 | Too Much Too Young Specials |
- |
UK1 (10 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: January 18, 1980
as The Specials AKA, Live EP |
| Rat Race / Rude Boys Outa Jail Specials |
- |
UK5 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: May 1980
|
|
| Stereotypes / International Jet Set More Specials |
- |
UK6 (8 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 1980
|
|
| Do Nothing / Maggie's Farm More Specials |
- |
UK4th (11 weeks)UK |
- |
First release: December 1980
feat. Rico with The Ice Rink String Sounds |
|
| 1981 | Ghost Town Singles |
- |
UK1 (14 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: June 1981
|
| 1982 | The Boiler Stereo-Typical (A's, B's & Rarities) |
- |
UK35 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: January 1982
Rhoda with The Special AKA |
| 1983 | War Crimes (The Crime Remains the Same) Singles |
- |
UK84 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: November 1982
|
| Racist Friend / Bright Lights Singles / Complete John Peel Sessions |
- |
UK60 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: August 1983
as The Special AKA |
|
| 1984 |
Nelson Mandela singles |
- |
UK9 (13 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: February 1984
as The Special AKA |
| What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend Singles |
- |
UK51 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: August 1984
as The Special AKA |
|
| 1993 | The 2 Tone EP |
- |
UK30 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1996 | Hypocrite Today’s Specials |
- |
UK66 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Pressure Drop Today’s Specials |
- |
UK100 (1 week) UK |
- |
First release: March 1996
feat. Sheena Staple and Kendell |
|
More singles
- 1980: Sock It to Them JB
- 1980: Hey, Little Rich Girl
- 1980: Braggin '& Tryin' Not to Lie (Roddy Radiation and The Specials feat. Paul Heskett; released: August 1980)
- 1981: Concrete Jungle
- 1987: The Peel Sessions
- 1991: Ghost Town Revisited (release: September)
- 1993: Jamaica Ska (with Desmond Dekker )
- 1996: A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You
- 1998: It's You
- 2012: The Specials EP Live! (Release: April 21)
- 2014: Sock It to 'Em JB (Dub) / Rat Race (Dub) (release: April 19th)
Video albums
- 1989: Specials
- 2010: 30th Anniversary Tour - Special Edition
Audios
- British band The Specials Never Tired Ska Activists , by Marcel Anders, Deutschlandfunk July 21, 2019
- The Specials - "Encore" Back on the chessboards that mean the world of ska , by Amy Zayed, Deutschlandfunk February 9, 2019
Web links
- Official website (English)
- The Specials at Allmusic (English)
- The Specials at Discogs (English)
- 2-Tone Biography (English)
- The Specials - Ghost Town on YouTube (1981).
swell
- ^ The Guardian: John Bradbury of the Specials dies aged 62
- ↑ Announcement of the tour on the official homepage ( Memento of the original dated February 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Specials secure first Number 1 album with Encore . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE Singles Albums UK US
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
