The Specials Biography
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 This ska-influenced band from Coventry, England, was formed in the summer of 1977 as the Special AKA, with a line-up comprising Jerry Dammers (Gerald Dankin, 22 May 1954, India; keyboards), Terry Hall (b. 19 March 1959, Coventry, England; vocals), Neville Staple(s) (vocals/percussion), Lynval Golding (b. 24 July 1951, Coventry, England; guitar), Roddy Radiation (b. Rodney Byers; guitar), Sir Horace Gentleman (b. Horace Panter; bass) and John Bradbury (drums). After touring with the Clash, they set up their own multiracial 2-Tone label and issued the Prince Buster -inspired ‘Gangsters’, which reached the UK Top 10. After signing their label over to Chrysalis Records, the band abbreviated their name to the Specials. Their Elvis Costello -produced debut album was a refreshing, exuberant effort which included the Top 10 single ‘A Message To You, Rudi’. The band spearheaded what became the 2-Tone movement and their label enjoyed an array of sparkling hits from Madness, the Beat and the Selecter. In January 1980 the Specials were at their peak following the release of their live EP The Special AKA Live. The pro-contraceptive title track, ‘Too Much Too Young’, propelled them to number 1 in the UK charts. Further Top 10 hits with ‘Rat Race’, ‘Stereotype’ and ‘Do Nothing’ followed. The Specials’ ability to ‘capture the moment’ in pop was most persuasively felt with ‘Ghost Town’, which topped the charts during the summer of 1981 while Britain was enduring inner-city riots.
At this new peak of success, the band fragmented. Staple, Hall and Golding went on to form the intriguing Fun Boy Three, leaving Dammers to continue with a new line-up, which reverted to the old name, the Special AKA. After the minor success of ‘Racist Friend’ and the Top 10 hit ‘Nelson Mandela’, Dammers became more politically active with Artists Against Apartheid. He was also a major force behind the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Party concert at London’s Wembley Stadium on 11 June 1988. The retitled ‘Free Nelson Mandela (70th Birthday Remake)’ was issued to coincide with the show. However, Dammers was reluctant to record again owing to outstanding debts over the In The Studio album, which had to be cleared before he was free of contract. In 1993, with the 2-Tone revival in evidence, Desmond Dekker joined Staple, Golding, Radiation and Gentleman on King Of Kings, released on the Trojan Records label. Dammers, meanwhile, had a new band, Jazz Odyssey, but he was forced to retire to DJing and studio projects after developing tinnitus. In 1995 it was announced that the band was re-forming. Sadly, Hall was busy promoting his solo career, and the first output from the resurrected outfit was a lacklustre cover version of Bob Marley’s ‘Hypocrite’. True to their former political idealism, the song title was written over a cover picture of British prime minister John Major. The band attended that year’s Labour Party Conference and MPs including Tony Banks and Ian McCartney were photographed wearing T-shirts of the same design. An album followed, again with the accent heavily on cover versions of Toots And The Maytals, the Clash and the Monkees. Panter later teamed up with Neol Davies (Selecter) and Anthony Harty (ex-Style Council) in Box Of Blues. The flexible line-up of the Specials at the end of the century featured Staple, Radiation, Panter, Davies, Anthony Harty (drums), Justin Dodsworth (keyboards), Leigh Malin (saxophone), Steve Holdway (trombone) and Paul Daleman (trumpet).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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This ska-influenced band from Coventry, England, was formed in the summer of 1977 as the Special AKA, with a line-up comprising Jerry Dammers (Gerald Dankin, 22 May 1954, India; keyboards), Terry Hall (b. 19 March 1959, Coventry, England; vocals), Neville Staple(s) (vocals/percussion), Lynval Golding (b. 24 July 1951, Coventry, England; guitar), Roddy Radiation (b. Rodney Byers; guitar), Sir Horace Gentleman (b. Horace Panter; bass) and John Bradbury (drums). After touring with the Clash, they set up their own multiracial 2-Tone label and issued the Prince Buster -inspired ‘Gangsters’, which reached the UK Top 10. After signing their label over to Chrysalis Records, the band abbreviated their name to the Specials. Their Elvis Costello -produced debut album was a refreshing, exuberant effort which included the Top 10 single ‘A Message To You, Rudi’. The band spearheaded what became the 2-Tone movement and their label enjoyed an array of sparkling hits from Madness, the Beat and the Selecter. In January 1980 the Specials were at their peak following the release of their live EP The Special AKA Live. The pro-contraceptive title track, ‘Too Much Too Young’, propelled them to number 1 in the UK charts. Further Top 10 hits with ‘Rat Race’, ‘Stereotype’ and ‘Do Nothing’ followed. The Specials’ ability to ‘capture the moment’ in pop was most persuasively felt with ‘Ghost Town’, which topped the charts during the summer of 1981 while Britain was enduring inner-city riots.