The Specials Album: “Specials”

This is clearly the best Ska record ever made. Their debut album (the BBC had just aired The Specials John Peel Sessions, but it was not yet for sale. Also, their true debut was a 45rpm single of Gangsters whose B-side was titled The Selector and credited to The Selector, but in reality, The Selector was Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury, both from The Specials, and two of their roommates. I think it is the best song The Selector ever did).

If you listen to earlier versions of these songs available elsewhere, you can see how much they honed everything. The Specials had toured the U.K. supporting The Clash, and as a result you can hear more Clash-like-Grit on this album, and you can also see The Specials influence on Clash songs like Pressure Drop, very Ska.

I like everything about this album, every song. I still remember my high school English tutor in the 9th grade (I was really bad in school) who was more interested in shaping my musical tastes, and my sister, English was third on his list. He made me a tape of this album with the This Are Two Tone compilation on the second side. I listened to that tape for years, before they had tape-players that would flip the tape for you. I remember one time I accidentally hit "Record", so to this day I am surprised there is no gap at the beginning of "Concrete Jungle".

Not too long ago, I was invited to several Specials shows. My friend had gone to school with Mark Addams (keyboards) in Coventry and whenever they'd come to San Francisco my friend rob would arrange to have us on the list. They have altered the band since 1980 (when this album came out), a few new members, but they still have Neville Staples(who looks even cooler today), Horace Panter, Roddy Radiation, and Lynval Golding. They preformed these songs in a dizzying frenzy. After each show we'd go backstage with them (once to the Green-Room of the legendary Fillmore Auditorium!) and one time on their tour bus somewhere in Santa Cruz. My friends wife was blind, so she had a seeing-eye-Doberman with her. We were on this crowded bus, with the band, this huge dog and scattered other people. They were playing some old sixties Ska on the bus stereo, and Lynval Golding (guitarist) danced with the seeing-eye-dog, and I cracked a corny joke, which I began to regret as I was saying it. I said to Mr. Golding, "Do The Dog!" (referring to their song by the same name) then my ears began to turn red. He thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard and slapped his leg as he laughed. He put his rude-boy hat on my head, which was pathetically loose, and laughed his way to the ice-chest and he fetched two beers and brought one to me as his laughter died down. The joke seemed rather obvious to me. He took his hat back as he gave me the beer. It was all very weird.

Anyway, this is the album to have. I have many Specials albums, and would choose this one over all the rest, or any other Ska band, there is No Doubt about that. If you have never heard this album but are considering it, then trust the instincts that brought you this far and get it, if you remember this album from your youth but haven't gotten around to getting it on CD I suggest you drop everything and get it, and get Led Zeppelin IV another time. This album has aged very well.

When this album came out most punx I knew were totally into it. I know I was. There'd been that music scene of the B 52's, BLONDIE, ELVIS COSTELLO, JOE JACKSON and TALKING HEADS. Punk had exploded onto the scene as well, of course, The SEX PISTOLS, The CLASH, The DEAD KENNEDYS, BLACK FLAG, CIRCLE JERKS, BAD BRAINS. Punk had always had some sorta connection to reggae, BAD BRAINS being the quintessinal creator of sublime punk as well as non-sleepy reggae songs.

A whole new form of music came smashing into existance, that nutty Two-Tone sound. MADNESS, The SELECTOR, The SPECIALS and The ENGLISH BEAT. There was no equivilent in the U.S. It was a pure UK import. In the UK there'd been musical movements in modern rock including Mods and other stuff that never fully translated to the U.S. But the SPECIALS' first album here sure did. It hit us smack in the face. This is one of those albums that's perfect. There's no weak song. You could listen to a MADNESS album and find maybe 2 great songs. i was never particularly fond of The SELECTOR. The ENGLISH BEAT's first album was also a pure delight. However, this SPECIALS' album was a stunner. It was so good that it immediately took its place as the premier Two-Tone release, as far as everybody I knew in the punk scene was concerned. We could tell this wasn't New Wave, it wasn't some big music business over produced musical Frankenstein meant to appeal to the masses. This was honest, high energy cousin of reggae and we knew it when we saw/heard it.

That two tone piece of having black guys and white guys in the band was just another delight. There were very few black or brown guys (I may have been one of 5 brown guys in the San Diego punk scene in the late 70's, early 80's till I stumbled across the Tijuana punk scene, plenty 'o brown punx there. A delightful scene). The good news was, I never picked up a hint of racism amongst the mainly white, mainly male punk scene in San Diego or L.A. Of course, that doesn't count the skin heads. And some of them were into the ska thing and not particularly racist.

What's the true test of a classic, a masterpiece? It's what does it sound like 10, 20, 30 years later. Give this slab 'o vinyl (er, cd) a listen. You can tell each song is a hit. Beautifully crafted fun, high energy, creative musical gems. Did you see them on their Saturday Night Live set? Musta been about 1980. Whew, I don't remember a single other band, before or since, on that show, that was as full on energetic and jumpin' around and firing on all pistons as the SPECIALS were.

As you may know, this was their peak. Everything they did after this, well, one album really and several singles and a great 12" (Ghost Town) were all they could muster before they broke up, transforming into SPECIALS AKA and splintering into other groups, never to recapture or continue to create songs as fully realized as the ones on this record although it's way worth getting that 12".

Aside from the first two ENGLISH BEAT albums, this album is, by far, the premier late 70's, early 80's two tone ska album. It takes no effort to buy this baby. No trust. Just get it if you don't have it. Heck, I might get it just to see those 2 videos on this enhanced cd. I am partial to vinyl records with one proviso, ok, two, pops and cracks inevitably show up and they aren't nearly as portable as cds. But their size is a great advantage for albums with good album covers. When a bunch of other reviewers reach concensus, listen to them. It's a winner. If there's any negative reviews here, then the person must not be into high quality ska. It's as simple as that. chrisbct@hotmail.com

Even the absence of "Gangsters" can't deflate my joy in listening to this cd. (I can't say the same for the missing "Tears of a Clown" and "Ranking Full Stop" on the English Beat cd.)

I'll never forget when The Specials appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1981. They performed a searing, blistering "Gangsters" as they slam danced with the air around them. When they were through, the usually savvy New York audience was stunned. Dead silence. And I don't think it was because they were impressed: they just didn't know what they had just heard. But this Brooklyn boy was on his feet at home, jumping, and scrambling for pen and paper to remember this band's name so I could buy the album, which I did the next day.

I was in for more than I'd expected. Half this album's tunes are pure energy, the other half were more subtle reggae tunes. I thought The Specials were a tight, no-holds-barred, musically frenzied band. But there's something else: their songs carry incredibly intelligent, socially aware lyrics. Some songs are of the utmost seriousness. "It Doesn't Make It Alright" is a powerful indictment of racism. On the other hand, "Too Much Too Young" is a more witty, sarcastic look at teen pregnancy. There are strong messages in several songs, and this is an added plus. It is ska that is unafraid to approach any topic. It's fun, it's serious, it's damned good music.

Have you bought this cd yet?

When I originally purchased this album in 1981 I had no idea that many of the cuts were covers of much older songs. It wasn't until the "Third Wave" of the mid-nineties that I discovered the originals. To me the Specials ARE the definition of Ska. The suits, the pork-pie hats, the shades and the frenetic dancing to cuts like Gangsters, Monkey Man and Too Much Too Young defined the Rude Boy culture for me. If you're a third wave ska fan who hasn't heard this CD, get it. If you have heard some ska and are curious, this is the one ska CD you should have in your collection.

I first heard The Specials in 1980 and was hooked. Brilliant musicians creating biting satire, a clear crisp sound and an infectious beat is a rare combination. My best friend and I collected all the second-wave ska coming out of the UK that we could find like Bad Manners, The Selecter, Madness and The (English) Beat but The Specials were the best of all of them. I still have the LP but this CD is an excellent remaster. Just hearing the beginning of the first track "Do The Dog" always picks me up.