Ska actually originated in Jamaica in the 1960s, before reggae. You could try reacting to some of the early ska acts like The Skatalites, The Ethiopians ('Train to Skaville' is a good one), Prince Buster (his song 'Madness' was the inspiration for the UK band of that name), etc.
Yep...original Jamaican Ska is the direct "ancestor" of Reggae...slowed down and less percussion and it transitioned into Rocksteady...which became more political and spiritual and by id 70s Reggae was the name replacing Rocksteady.
@@JayveeTV Definitely do that one. I've been a massive fan of The Specials and all of the 2Tone/Ska musics of the late 70s and early 80s. There are plenty of great songs from that time. "Ghost Town" is anothet great Specials song. Probably their best known and biggest seller. It reached number one at time when there were riots in the streets and there was a general feeling of despair at the government. High unemployment, racial discrimination and just feeling of the youth neing left behind. That's what makes the song so poignant
@@TheZumph seconded I still remember that blasting out of every teenage bedroom window walking home from school - goosebumps every time I hear that intro and I’m transported to the -Hell and hopes of escape - that was my childhood (i escaped - apparently you just have to live long enough 🤪)
The line 'Don't call me scarface' ... is from a Prince Buster song (one of the ska originators) , the song is "Al Capone' and is well worth a listen .... Jerry Dammers (known as 'The General') was influenced by it when writing this. Ska doesn't have a 'Reggae' sound ... Reggae has a SKA sound (Ska preceded reggae by a number of years ... Bob Marley's band The Wailers... was originally just The Wailers and a three piece with Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer (d2020) and Peter Tosh (d1987). Peter Tosh was the inspiration behind the 2 Tone cartoon Icon of 'Walt Jabsco' (drawn by Dammers). Coventry was indeed a rough town back in the late 70s / early 80s (with vans of riot cops patrolling the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights) It was a car making city and Industry was closing down at an alarming rate. (Think Detroit without guns). Coventry was (and still is ) a very multicultural place... and mixed ethnicity bands were very rare, The Specials made it their business to stand against racism and bigotry... through the blending of Punk attitude and Ska rhythm... the tag line printed on their early releases was ... "If you don't dance to this ... You don't dance" ... I'm 58 and still Dancing.
Terence Edward Hall (19 March 1959 - 18 December 2022) was an English musician and the lead singer of the Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas.
They're definitely the best two-tone band! If you would like to check out a female fronted SKA band The Selector had a hit with On My Radio in the 80s. They also made a recording of a cover of Amy Winehouse Back To Black which although it wasn't a big hit you may find interesting. Terry Hall sang with several bands with a wide variety of styles The Fun Boy Three was with the other 2 singers but was a step away from SKA I'd suggest Our Lips Are Sealed or Tunnel Of Love which was produced by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. They also collaborated with Bananarama on It Ain't WhatvYou Do (It'sThe Way That You Do It) Hall then went on to The Colourfield I'd recommend Thinking Of You He then teamed up with an actress and a jeweller to form Terry, Blair and Anouchka ‐ they released 2 singles which failed to gather much chart success but are worth a listen Missing and Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme Hall next teamed up with Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics to form Vegas and released Possessed and a cover of a song from the 70s by French Singer Charles Aznevour called She He has also appeared as a guest vocalist on The Gorillaz track 911. D12 raps the verses and Hall joins Damon Albarn to sing the chorus ‐ but I don’t think you would guess it's him if you weren't told!
@@eclark3849 The Specials signed to Two Tone Records. Two Tone Records was set-up, ran and owned by Jerry Dammers. Jerry Dammers was one of the Founders, Keyboard Player & Songwriters in The Specials. The Specials break-up was due to fractions and musical differences/ directions within the band. And Stimulates... .
they are from coventry which was a very rough area in the 80s, most of their songs are political and to the point. They are the best ska group ever, watch The Specials live at Glastonbury it was their 1st concert since reforming i was there it was awesome.
@@bluegblueg I was at Hereward College in Coventry in the early 80’s, and although Tiffany’s was completely wheelchair inaccessible we still made it - you may have carried my wheelchair up the steps! Good times, great music.
@@bluegblueg It seemed the few times we went the lift was always dodgy, and had a habit of breaking down. TBH most times it was easier for us to go to the NEC in Birmingham.
I saw a documentary about the specials. At one gig people were jumping around so much that the floor of the venue collapsed into the cellar! This song wasn't about organised crime so much as street gangs of youths. Apparently one of the band was set upon and beaten up on his way home from rehearsal so they wrote this song about it.
Not sure where you heard that, maybe you're thinking of Concrete Jungle, but the song is actually about an incident that happened to the band while on tour with the Clash in France in 1977. They were accused of causing damage in a hotel that another English band, the Dammed, had caused. The hotel manager recorded their phone calls and took some of their guitars as collateral. The Specials refused to pay and so the hotel called the French police who backed the hotel manager. The band found themselves caught in a 'catch 22' as they couldn't continue with their tour without their guitars if they didn't pay up. So The Specials ended up paying for the damages but said felt like being robbed by gangsters who were aided by the police. It's all there in the lyrics.
My gateway to Two Tone ska was when a friend loaned me the live album “Dance Craze.” It has all the greats: The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. My brain literally exploded the first time I put that on my turntable.
I’m constantly impressed by your music knowledge and how open you are to developing your catalogue! Long live The Specials. I love their sharp suits and that indelible ska style.
It's a song about Bernie Rhodes who was briefly their manager. Supposedly about an incident at a hotel in France. The tune is based on Al Capone by Prince Buster hence the line about Scarface.
Exactly. And Bernie Rhodes always used to tell them not to argue with him, so this is partly a mish mash of things, including exaggerating the threat or discomfort caused by what they thought were Bernie Rhodes authoritarian methods.
My top three Specials songs are probably ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’, ‘Man at C&A’ and ‘It Doesn’t Make It Alright’ and I would love for you to give any of them a listen.
Dude anything off of trojan is a must!! In that time frame is beyond good but even the later stuff is all sooooooo good!!! Even Elvis Costello had a release on trojan
@@JasonSmith-mo3vy 100% Agreed,, I would also add this must hear early & classic track,, Desmond Dekker & The Aces "Fu Manchu" .. One Love For true,, Forward Jah Jah Children,, Rastafari 🙏 🇯🇲 ❤️
Saw them at The Fillmore in San Francisco in the 90’s. The first song they played was Guns of Navarone. Let’s Go Bowling was the opening band. Awesome show.
O.M.F.G YASSSSSS!!! I've been waiting for them!!!This & Little Bitch, Too Much Too Young, Message to Rudy, Concrete Jungle! Fuck I love/loved my Ska! 2 Tone! Please do some English Beat!!! I could list songs forever 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 The Selector On my Radio Damn I miss my youth! Still wear my Docs tho 😆
This was based on a song by prince buster called AL Capone which was recorded in 1964 and charted in the U.K. in 1967 this song gangsters launched the two- tone label in 1979 and heralded the second mod revival in the U.K.
I well remember the first time I heard Gangsters. 1979.., I was round the front driveway of my houseshare, messing around with my car, when the song came on the radio. Halted everything I was doing, never heard anything like it before. The Specials still one of my favourite bands. Noticed the ELO t-shirt this chap here is wearing..., must get out my vinyl of '10538 Overture'
So many great Ska bands from this period in the UK,also please check out The Selector (On my Radio)Bad Manners(Just a Feeling)The Beat (Mirror in the Bathroom)All brilliant Thanks 🙂👍
First heard this on a jukebox in my local pub back in 79. Loved the 2Tone era, and going to see the Specials in June. Jayvee, if you ever get to England make sure to check out the Coventry Music Museum, it’s pretty much two houses knocked into one and turned into a shrine to all things two tone.
It's a song inspired by Prince Buster's, 'Al Capone' which was released in 1964. Prince Buster was singing about the infamous Italian New York gangster, Al Capone (AKA Scarface) who made millions selling illegal alcohol (among other things) during the prohibition era in the 1920s. So yeah, thanks to prohibition in the 1920s there were a lot of gangsters, usually with roots in the Italian mafia.
Ahhhh school boy memories bangin' two-tone out on the stereo.Two tone brought the black and white kids of the day together at a time of great upheaval financial stress race riots job insecurity etc. This was a special time in the UK. Gotta give the specials Too much Too Young a go🇦🇺🏴
The Specials takes me back to the 70s and early 80s great band, I always liked “Friday Night, Saturday Morning” , ”Rat Race” and “Do Nothing” are another couple of great tunes
It was great to grow up I'm London during I'm this boom of great music. Mix of British kids and first generation west indians children born in Britain. It's fantastic 😍
I purchased my first LP (with a record voucher) at Virgin Records Coventry on December 31st 1977 John "Brad" Bradbury served me (It was Elton johns "Don't Shoot Me..." ) I later purchased the first Specials Album in 1979....from the same store.
I should be getting their track 'Ghost Town' today from Amazon :D (ordered the 12" Vinyl version the other day) I really do regret not buying it when it first came out :( & i missed out on getting some amazing Records in the 70's/80's. Oh well. EXCELLENT track anyway ;)
"Why are you recording my calls?" was actually aimed at their former manager Bernie Rhodes. Hence the opening line "Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue.." This song was really about their dispute with him.
Yes the Special Aka as they were known on their first release, the B side was an instrumental called the Selecter which went on to be a full band a few months later.
That song has so many musical references of Prince Buster´s song "Al Capone" which is an instrumental Ska track from the 60ties...also the line "Don´t call me Scarface" is taken from that song.
"HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK" by Ian Drury and The Blockheads. Ian Drury is typically a dash of Ska, a splash of Punk and a whole Lotta pure Ian Drury.
*Gangsters* is a cover of *Al Capone* by *Prince Buster* The Specials updated it, gave it new lyrics, and made it relevant for a late 70s British youth.
I read somewhere, the song was based on a night the band stayed at a hotel in France. The hotel received complaints either from guests or that the hotel owners themselves thought they were gangsters and wasn't happy with them staying there. It was something like that. The French police might have been involved, I can't remember the story.
'Rat Race' is a favorite. Some interesting reggae songs by non-Jamaicans are 'Mother and Child Reunion' by Paul Simon, and 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello. Very catchy! (Not cover songs.)
This song is about a tour in France where The Specials were held responsible for damage in a hotel that another English band caused. The hotel manager even took one of their guitars as a deposit. The Specials had to pay the damage, and the situation escalated when the French police came around. Guitarist Lynval Golding explained: "The songs intro 'Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue' is for Bernie [their former manager], and the 'Can't interrupt while I'm talking, Or they'll confiscate all your guitars' comes from the hotel incident. My line in the song was 'They use the law to commit crime.' Everything in Gangsters was about that trip, and it was a brilliant trip in the end because it gave us our first hit record - can't complain about that."
Love the Specials, inextricably bound up with my 80s. Used to gig with a band called the Two-Tones in 1980-81 Toronto. Great guys, great stuff. There was a strong ska scene in Toronto and Montreal at the time, all through the 80s really. Fun wasn't just job #1, it was job-perk #1. ;>D
We used to call that jumping about dance they did - skanking. The Specials are from Coventry and there are gangs there. You.should listen to The English Beat as The Beat were known in the USA - Mirror in the Bathroom was a good hit, another band is The Selector and their hit On My Radio.
The song came about after they were conned following a gig.This was their first UK hit. The gangsters were the venue management who also threatened to confiscate all their gutars. Later, genius keyboardist Jerry Dammers formed the Specials AKA and raised world political awareness of South African apartheid with the song FREE NELSON MANDELLA. Please review this song that accelerated the release of the subsequent South African President
So sad we won't get to see the Specials perform live again. However, Neville the toaster here, is about to start a UK tour with his band doing the old classics with Roddy Radiation's band as support. Look up 'From the Specials- Neville Staple' for dates.
I'm from the midlands they were from Coventry a tough part of the west midlands they were a great Ska band and had a massive following truly up there with madness, bad manners etc... Just search british Ska music 🇬🇧👍
The song is about an incident that happened to the band while on tour in France with the Clash. They were held responsible for damage in a hotel that another English band (rumoured to be The Damned) had caused, and the hotel manager held one of their guitars as collateral. The situation escalated when the hotel called the local police, and ended with the Specials paying for the damage. The Specials were the band of my misspent Youth and this song will be at my funeral!
In a lot of ways its a re tread of the Prince Buster tack "Al Capone". Apparently they got "busted" for damage to a hotel... Though they say that it was one of the bands on the tour, so the hotel called the police on them and with held their guitars until they payed up and this lyrics is kind of about that..
🇬🇧 Late 70s was two tone Ska 👍🏼 Yes gangsters were still around in the East End, South London & the outer suburbs 🇬🇧 but it felt safer then than it is now 🤷🏻♀️
The Specials and The Beat were 2 of my favourite two tone bands back in the day.
I really miss the 80s. 💕
Yeah…me too🫶🏻😎
I miss some of the 80s... there was a lot of music in the charts that I didn't like... culture club , Duran Duran, tiffany...
Don't forget about the selecter.
Ska actually originated in Jamaica in the 1960s, before reggae. You could try reacting to some of the early ska acts like The Skatalites, The Ethiopians ('Train to Skaville' is a good one), Prince Buster (his song 'Madness' was the inspiration for the UK band of that name), etc.
Yeah, the comment about reggae influence had me rolling. 🤣 Try the other way around.
Personally, I’d suggest your intro to roots be, “Toots & the Maytals”. Cheers to all
Yep...original Jamaican Ska is the direct "ancestor" of Reggae...slowed down and less percussion and it transitioned into Rocksteady...which became more political and spiritual and by id 70s Reggae was the name replacing Rocksteady.
RIP🙏Terry Hall.Such an underrated frontman.
@@derekharrison1582 He wasn't underrated.
I fucking love The Specials. Have you done Too Much Too Young yet?
Spot on most p would say this was their best song its the one i would tell p to check out first
Ghost town is
Not yet
@@JayveeTV Definitely do that one. I've been a massive fan of The Specials and all of the 2Tone/Ska musics of the late 70s and early 80s. There are plenty of great songs from that time. "Ghost Town" is anothet great Specials song. Probably their best known and biggest seller. It reached number one at time when there were riots in the streets and there was a general feeling of despair at the government. High unemployment, racial discrimination and just feeling of the youth neing left behind. That's what makes the song so poignant
@@TheZumph seconded I still remember that blasting out of every teenage bedroom window walking home from school - goosebumps every time I hear that intro and I’m transported to the -Hell and hopes of escape - that was my childhood (i escaped - apparently you just have to live long enough 🤪)
RIP Terry Hall the lead singer of The Specials
Love their "Nite Klub" and "A Message To You Rudy"
The line 'Don't call me scarface' ... is from a Prince Buster song (one of the ska originators) , the song is "Al Capone' and is well worth a listen .... Jerry Dammers (known as 'The General') was influenced by it when writing this.
Ska doesn't have a 'Reggae' sound ... Reggae has a SKA sound (Ska preceded reggae by a number of years ... Bob Marley's band The Wailers... was originally just The Wailers and a three piece with Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer (d2020) and Peter Tosh (d1987).
Peter Tosh was the inspiration behind the 2 Tone cartoon Icon of 'Walt Jabsco' (drawn by Dammers).
Coventry was indeed a rough town back in the late 70s / early 80s (with vans of riot cops patrolling the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights) It was a car making city and Industry was closing down at an alarming rate. (Think Detroit without guns).
Coventry was (and still is ) a very multicultural place... and mixed ethnicity bands were very rare, The Specials made it their business to stand against racism and bigotry... through the blending of Punk attitude and Ska rhythm... the tag line printed on their early releases was ... "If you don't dance to this ... You don't dance" ... I'm 58 and still Dancing.
Was not Multicultural before the fifties
Hence now it is crime ridden like all multicultural cities in the UK
wonder why that is
I have seen them live in Cambridge England when I was 15. They was brilliant. They caused a riot with the crowd, it was crazy lol. The good old days.
Terence Edward Hall (19 March 1959 - 18 December 2022) was an English musician and the lead singer of the Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas.
The Specials "A Message To You Rudy",, "Monkey Man",, "Pressure Drop" & "Nelson Mandela"
They're definitely the best two-tone band! If you would like to check out a female fronted SKA band The Selector had a hit with On My Radio in the 80s. They also made a recording of a cover of Amy Winehouse Back To Black which although it wasn't a big hit you may find interesting.
Terry Hall sang with several bands with a wide variety of styles The Fun Boy Three was with the other 2 singers but was a step away from SKA I'd suggest Our Lips Are Sealed or Tunnel Of Love which was produced by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. They also collaborated with Bananarama on It Ain't WhatvYou Do (It'sThe Way That You Do It)
Hall then went on to The Colourfield I'd recommend Thinking Of You
He then teamed up with an actress and a jeweller to form Terry, Blair and Anouchka ‐ they released 2 singles which failed to gather much chart success but are worth a listen Missing and Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme
Hall next teamed up with Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics to form Vegas and released Possessed and a cover of a song from the 70s by French Singer Charles Aznevour called She
He has also appeared as a guest vocalist on The Gorillaz track 911. D12 raps the verses and Hall joins Damon Albarn to sing the chorus ‐ but I don’t think you would guess it's him if you weren't told!
And there's also the Tricky collaboration with Terry Hall. Check-out --
Nearly God ~ Poems
.
Great little band should have done more sad in those day record c took the money thats it
@@eclark3849
The Specials signed to Two Tone Records.
Two Tone Records was set-up, ran and owned by Jerry Dammers.
Jerry Dammers was one of the Founders, Keyboard Player & Songwriters in The Specials.
The Specials break-up was due to fractions and musical differences/ directions within the band. And Stimulates...
.
Selector somehow has been kept out of most mainstream outlets. It was so hard and deep music. Love ska.
Cool. Thanks.
Yes the specials are very special!
they are from coventry which was a very rough area in the 80s, most of their songs are political and to the point. They are the best ska group ever, watch The Specials live at Glastonbury it was their 1st concert since reforming i was there it was awesome.
I was from Coventry in that era. It could be rough but never at Specials gigs. We watched them play at Tiffany’s. Great gigs, such energy.
@@bluegblueg I was at Hereward College in Coventry in the early 80’s, and although Tiffany’s was completely wheelchair inaccessible we still made it - you may have carried my wheelchair up the steps! Good times, great music.
@@ythomitnellum It had a lift in the glass box in the precinct. Cant remember about steps inside
@@bluegblueg It seemed the few times we went the lift was always dodgy, and had a habit of breaking down. TBH most times it was easier for us to go to the NEC in Birmingham.
I saw a documentary about the specials. At one gig people were jumping around so much that the floor of the venue collapsed into the cellar! This song wasn't about organised crime so much as street gangs of youths. Apparently one of the band was set upon and beaten up on his way home from rehearsal so they wrote this song about it.
Not sure where you heard that, maybe you're thinking of Concrete Jungle, but the song is actually about an incident that happened to the band while on tour with the Clash in France in 1977. They were accused of causing damage in a hotel that another English band, the Dammed, had caused. The hotel manager recorded their phone calls and took some of their guitars as collateral. The Specials refused to pay and so the hotel called the French police who backed the hotel manager. The band found themselves caught in a 'catch 22' as they couldn't continue with their tour without their guitars if they didn't pay up. So The Specials ended up paying for the damages but said felt like being robbed by gangsters who were aided by the police. It's all there in the lyrics.
My gateway to Two Tone ska was when a friend loaned me the live album “Dance Craze.” It has all the greats: The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. My brain literally exploded the first time I put that on my turntable.
I remember that album!
@@Yorkyscott I got that album! Bought it back in '81!
Yep. You hear that and your mind is blown.
I remember this, was 18 at the time! They had some good songs and a great group!
The lyrics of this song originally referred to an incident in which the band was involved, but I find them strikingly relevant to our times.
True.
I saw these guys live at the Royal Albert Hall and they were amazing!
Love The Specials since I was 18 years old! I'm 60 now 😁
Blank Expression is a must 🇬🇧🇬🇧👍👍
The Specials, way ahead of their time. Brillaint lyrics and with such longevity.
They were a ska revival band so not really! Ska was a 60s Jamaican music form! Ahead of their time in terms of their lyrical content maybe!
I’m constantly impressed by your music knowledge and how open you are to developing your catalogue! Long live The Specials. I love their sharp suits and that indelible ska style.
It's a song about Bernie Rhodes who was briefly their manager. Supposedly about an incident at a hotel in France. The tune is based on Al Capone by Prince Buster hence the line about Scarface.
Exactly. And Bernie Rhodes always used to tell them not to argue with him, so this is partly a mish mash of things, including exaggerating the threat or discomfort caused by what they thought were Bernie Rhodes authoritarian methods.
I still have their first LP from 1979. I'd forgotten about them until I saw this. Cheers...I'm off to listen to the whole thing again.
My top three Specials songs are probably ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’, ‘Man at C&A’ and ‘It Doesn’t Make It Alright’ and I would love for you to give any of them a listen.
Friday night, Saturday morning...my favorite Specials song too
Desperately trying to get a reaction to Althea and Donna's ' uptown top ranking' and appealing to all!! It needs to be listened to guys!! Much love ❤
Tune
Desmond Dekker & The Aces "The Israelites"
Yes that's a must!
Dude anything off of trojan is a must!! In that time frame is beyond good but even the later stuff is all sooooooo good!!! Even Elvis Costello had a release on trojan
@@JasonSmith-mo3vy 100% Agreed,, I would also add this must hear early & classic track,, Desmond Dekker & The Aces "Fu Manchu" .. One Love For true,, Forward Jah Jah Children,, Rastafari 🙏 🇯🇲 ❤️
Ah Jay this is my absolute favourite Specials song!
You should react to some Ian Dury & the Blockheads 😍 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Yes, yes, IAN DURY !
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, what a classic
Wow. Did we have a good time with the Ian Drury and the blockheads. Those were the good old days.
Definitely! Wake up and Make Love With Me is one of Durys best tracks. It’s ace!
Saw them at The Fillmore in San Francisco in the 90’s. The first song they played was Guns of Navarone. Let’s Go Bowling was the opening band. Awesome show.
O.M.F.G YASSSSSS!!! I've been waiting for them!!!This & Little Bitch, Too Much Too Young, Message to Rudy, Concrete Jungle! Fuck I love/loved my Ska! 2 Tone!
Please do some English Beat!!! I could list songs forever 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
The Selector On my Radio
Damn I miss my youth! Still wear my Docs tho 😆
Much to young is the song most would say check out first the best
@@eclark3849 Little Bitch is a personal fave 😊
Im middle youth these days
This was based on a song by prince buster called AL Capone which was recorded in 1964 and charted in the U.K. in 1967 this song gangsters launched the two- tone label in 1979 and heralded the second mod revival in the U.K.
I well remember the first time I heard Gangsters. 1979.., I was round the front driveway of my houseshare, messing around with my car, when the song came on the radio. Halted everything I was doing, never heard anything like it before. The Specials still one of my favourite bands. Noticed the ELO t-shirt this chap here is wearing..., must get out my vinyl of '10538 Overture'
I think must of us remember where we were when we first heard the Specials. Thanks John Peel!
Love this tune.... I used to be a Night club DJ in the early 80s and this always went down well along with some Selector, Squeeze, XTC and The Cure
Look at that band, all colours cultures together making great music. Man I miss the 80s.
Been listening to The Specials for the majority of my 50 years. Love them to pieces. Sending good vibes from the Gold Coast Australia
I loved The Specials in my teens. Terry Hall made an album called Home. It's completely different to his time with The Specials, but it is amazing.
Forever J ❤
@Jayvee Why is my reaction about the song Forever J on the album Home marked?
@@heerollie7797 🆈🅴🆂! Forever J is one of the very greatest songs of the 90s, and how it wasn't a massive hit will always baffle me.
Please react to the original, that was sampled here, Al Capone by Prince Buster. Real sixties ska. Love both.
So many great Ska bands from this period in the UK,also please check out The Selector (On my Radio)Bad Manners(Just a Feeling)The Beat (Mirror in the Bathroom)All brilliant Thanks 🙂👍
Back then England we stood up for OUR RIGHTS
The "gangsters" in this song are the record companies. This is about an incident they had while on tour.
Saw the specials live a few months back.. Amazing
First heard this on a jukebox in my local pub back in 79. Loved the 2Tone era, and going to see the Specials in June.
Jayvee, if you ever get to England make sure to check out the Coventry Music Museum, it’s pretty much two houses knocked into one and turned into a shrine to all things two tone.
It's a song inspired by Prince Buster's, 'Al Capone' which was released in 1964.
Prince Buster was singing about the infamous Italian New York gangster, Al Capone (AKA Scarface) who made millions selling illegal alcohol (among other things) during the prohibition era in the 1920s.
So yeah, thanks to prohibition in the 1920s there were a lot of gangsters, usually with roots in the Italian mafia.
This is so good to hear. 💜 You’ve previously reacted to them with “Ghost Town” and “A Message to You, Rudy”. So great. . 💜💜💜
One of the best most technical live bands ever.
So happy you got round to this little masterpiece!
Ahhhh school boy memories bangin' two-tone out on the stereo.Two tone brought the black and white kids of the day together at a time of great upheaval financial stress race riots job insecurity etc. This was a special time in the UK. Gotta give the specials Too much Too Young a go🇦🇺🏴
I loved ska music still do ❤️👍❤️
I grew up in Coventry birthplace of 2 TONE and was a teenager into the music scene when the Specials began....
The Specials takes me back to the 70s and early 80s great band, I always liked “Friday Night, Saturday Morning” , ”Rat Race” and “Do Nothing” are another couple of great tunes
It was great to grow up I'm London during I'm this boom of great music. Mix of British kids and first generation west indians children born in Britain. It's fantastic 😍
My favourite band, still going today.
Just love The Specials
The Specials are a agreat band. One of my favourite songs of theirs is "Concrete Jungle." Check it out on here.
That track epitomised Coventry at the time. I remember having to run away from “animals” that were after me.
First group that I loved, remember being a kid when they burst on the scene and I still love them to this day. Love Monkey Man by them.
Always loved this music ....
I purchased my first LP (with a record voucher) at Virgin Records Coventry on December 31st 1977
John "Brad" Bradbury served me (It was Elton johns "Don't Shoot Me..." )
I later purchased the first Specials Album in 1979....from the same store.
I should be getting their track 'Ghost Town' today from Amazon :D (ordered the 12" Vinyl version the other day) I really do regret not buying it when it first came out :( & i missed out on getting some amazing Records in the 70's/80's. Oh well. EXCELLENT track anyway ;)
"Why are you recording my calls?" was actually aimed at their former manager Bernie Rhodes. Hence the opening line "Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue.." This song was really about their dispute with him.
Yes the Special Aka as they were known on their first release, the B side was an instrumental called the Selecter which went on to be a full band a few months later.
That song has so many musical references of Prince Buster´s song "Al Capone" which is an instrumental Ska track from the 60ties...also the line "Don´t call me Scarface" is taken from that song.
Great song. I recommended it to you a while back.
I used to collect the two tone badges as a kid ,love ska
The 2 Tone scene back in the day a lot of the tracks were covers from the original blue beat artists including Gangsters.
Hell of a great time musically in the UK to be a teenager between 1979 and 1981.
RIP TERRY HALL ❤️
"HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK" by Ian Drury and The Blockheads.
Ian Drury is typically a dash of Ska, a splash of Punk and a whole Lotta pure Ian Drury.
I’ve been listening to this since 79
The Specials were massive back in the day, check out their song Do Nothing 👍
*Gangsters* is a cover of *Al Capone* by *Prince Buster*
The Specials updated it, gave it new lyrics, and made it relevant for a late 70s British youth.
This is a song about the record company.
old school listener. your 100% right.
What a time to be young - Punk and Ska - Never to be repeated unfortunately
"Nothing beats that ska beat"
Truer words have never spoken
When you listen to madnesses and group bad manners and English beat ski music they start the two tone are in British music yes
I would LOVE to see you react to "Bad Case Of Loving You" by Robert Palmer. Your reactions are so fun and this one would be OFF THE CHARTS!!!!!!
I read somewhere, the song was based on a night the band stayed at a hotel in France. The hotel received complaints either from guests or that the hotel owners themselves thought they were gangsters and wasn't happy with them staying there. It was something like that. The French police might have been involved, I can't remember the story.
The Specials were amazing live.
This is the first single I ever bought. Classic tune.
R.I.P Terry Hall a legend and a wonderful man ❤️
'Rat Race' is a favorite. Some interesting reggae songs by non-Jamaicans are 'Mother and Child Reunion' by Paul Simon, and 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello. Very catchy! (Not cover songs.)
All great songs .. Don't know if I'd really call "Watching The Detectives" reggae, but it's brilliant regardless !
The Specials are a fun group. No Doubt and Gwen Stefani are big fans of them and Terry Hall appeared in their video for " Sunday Morning "
Coventry was rough then, and still is 😂 love them
Still have a few specials 7 inch vinyls including this one
Loved ska so much, too much to choose from, great era.
I Waz from Coventry at the Time man they got it absolutely perfect . midlands England . Yours Martin.
This song is about a tour in France where The Specials were held responsible for damage in a hotel that another English band caused. The hotel manager even took one of their guitars as a deposit. The Specials had to pay the damage, and the situation escalated when the French police came around. Guitarist Lynval Golding explained: "The songs intro 'Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue' is for Bernie [their former manager], and the 'Can't interrupt while I'm talking, Or they'll confiscate all your guitars' comes from the hotel incident. My line in the song was 'They use the law to commit crime.' Everything in Gangsters was about that trip, and it was a brilliant trip in the end because it gave us our first hit record - can't complain about that."
"Don't call me scarface" - This song was based on an even older single by Jamaican Prince Buster called Al Capone.
The Specials my second favourite band & your tshirt (ELO) is my favourite band
Love the Specials, inextricably bound up with my 80s. Used to gig with a band called the Two-Tones in 1980-81 Toronto. Great guys, great stuff. There was a strong ska scene in Toronto and Montreal at the time, all through the 80s really. Fun wasn't just job #1, it was job-perk #1. ;>D
One of my favs
A lot of this music is called tutone, I think because a lot of the bands had a mix of black and white members.
We used to call that jumping about dance they did - skanking. The Specials are from Coventry and there are gangs there.
You.should listen to The English Beat as The Beat were known in the USA - Mirror in the Bathroom was a good hit, another band is The Selector and their hit On My Radio.
The song came about after they were conned following a gig.This was their first UK hit. The gangsters were the venue management who also threatened to confiscate all their gutars.
Later, genius keyboardist Jerry Dammers formed the Specials AKA and raised world political awareness of South African apartheid with the song FREE NELSON MANDELLA. Please review this song that accelerated the release of the subsequent South African President
I've been trying to get people to react to that song for ages. It's a great song with a significant story🔥
So sad we won't get to see the Specials perform live again. However, Neville the toaster here, is about to start a UK tour with his band doing the old classics with Roddy Radiation's band as support. Look up 'From the Specials- Neville Staple' for dates.
I'm from the midlands they were from Coventry a tough part of the west midlands they were a great Ska band and had a massive following truly up there with madness, bad manners etc... Just search british Ska music 🇬🇧👍
Ghostown by the specials is amazing about growing up in broken England of the 1980s with rioting and unemployment
You need to look at 'the Selecter' 'Missing words' and 'On My radio' and most of the songs by the British band The Beat
The song is about an incident that happened to the band while on tour in France with the Clash. They were held responsible for damage in a hotel that another English band (rumoured to be The Damned) had caused, and the hotel manager held one of their guitars as collateral. The situation escalated when the hotel called the local police, and ended with the Specials paying for the damage. The Specials were the band of my misspent Youth and this song will be at my funeral!
In a lot of ways its a re tread of the Prince Buster tack "Al Capone".
Apparently they got "busted" for damage to a hotel... Though they say that it was one of the bands on the tour, so the hotel called the police on them and with held their guitars until they payed up and this lyrics is kind of about that..
Love the specials seen them over here Belfast Northern Ireland my favourite is Ruby and ghostown
🇬🇧 Late 70s was two tone Ska 👍🏼
Yes gangsters were still around in the East End, South London & the outer suburbs 🇬🇧 but it felt safer then than it is now 🤷🏻♀️