Duff Review: Victor Romero Evans "At the Club" b/w The Detonators "Lift Off" reissue

12" vinyl single
Special Request
1980 (2022 reissue)

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Remastered and reissued for the first time since 1980, the John Collins-produced/co-written 12" single featuring Victor Romero Evans' "At the Club" and The Detonators' "Lift Off" should be of interest to Specials' fans, as it's forever linked to their most brilliant release--the Ghost Town EP.

Back in the day, after the Evans/Detonators record was played on Radio One's "Roundtable" program and favorably reviewed (it also was #1 on Black Echoes' reggae chart at the time), Collins received a late-night call from Jerry Dammers asking him if he might be interested in producing The Specials' next recording. The band was very impressed with Collins' production (recorded on a four-track in the front room of his house and released on his own label) and, in the wake of More Specials' not completely welcome excursion into muzak/lounge and the hi-tech 24-track studio it had been recorded in (that offered Dammers too many choices!), The Specials wanted to capture a more authentic reggae sound for these new songs in a much simpler fashion. And they believed Collins was their man.

When The Specials' met John Collins, they didn't expect him to be white. Lynval Golding and Neville Staple told him, "We were expecting someone like Lee Perry; a wild rasta smoking ganja." Indeed, the seductive Lovers Rock of "At the Club" and mysterious outer space dub of "Lift Off" seem as if they could have come from the mixing desks of Dennis Bovell or Mad Professor, two of the top UK reggae producers back then--and now. (Trainspotters will be interested to know that Victor Romero Evans also played the part of Lover in Franco Rosso’s stellar 1980 film Babylon--an updated Thatcher-era The Harder They Come shot in South London, with a boss reggae soundtrack by Bovell, Yabby U, I-Roy, Cassandra, Aswad, Vin Gordon, and Michael Rose.)

Of these two tracks, the wonderful dub instrumental "Lift Off" is clearly the sonic blueprint for what Dammers wanted for "Ghost Town." It sports a clean, warm, roots reggae sound with electro percussion and trippy synth effects (shades of every B 1950s sci-fi film you've ever seen)--and features the same ghost synth that is later used to open and close "Ghost Town." (To these ears, John Bradbury's drumming on "Ghost Town" and "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" sounds like its programmed, even though it's not; but I think it's a combination of how Brad is drumming--reportedly influenced by Gregory Isaacs' "Night Nurse"--and how Collins recorded him.)

Specials' completists will want to snap up a copy of this (I ordered a copy through Juno.co.uk), but the Victor Romero Evans "At the Club"/Detonators "Lift Off" 12" is worth having in its own right. It's a fantastic slice of early '80s UK reggae that stands the test of time. 

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Duff Review: The Specials "Dub Mixes Exclusive"--"Gangsters ('Clangsters' Dub)" b/w "Too Much Too Young (Piano Instrumental)" and "Why (Dub)" Record Store Day 2020 Release!

2 Tone Records/Chrysalis

10" vinyl record with Walt Jabsco on the paper label and cardboard label sleeve
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

After years of re-issues upon re-issues--and only one 45 with previously unreleased mixes ("Sock It To 'Em J.B. (Dub)" b/w "Rat Race (Dub)"; read my review here)--2 Tone/Chrysalis have finally unearthed some truly remarkable Specials tracks from the vaults that have never before seen the light of day, giving Specials' fans a surprisingly satisfying treat. Issued for Record Store Day 2020 (Drop #3), The Specials' "Dub Mixes Exclusive" 10" EP--featuring "Gangsters ('Clangsters' Dub)" b/w "Too Much Too Young (Piano Instrumental)" and "Why (Dub)"--is a thing of beauty (kudos to all who were involved in putting this together; every detail is right!). All of these alternate versions were recorded and mixed contemporaneously to their originals (1979 and 1981, respectively), which, as my colleagues at 2-Tone.info already have pointed out, is proof positive that the band was interested in pushing the boundaries of their revved-up, trademark ska sound from the very start. 

Generally, when one mentions The Specials, you think of something like the fierce and seething "Nite Klub" not dub. Yet, their debut single yielded a fully realized dub mix. Perhaps it wasn't what the average 2 Tone fan wanted/expected in '79 or '80--their live set at the time, captured on the brilliant Live at the Moonlight Club was explosive--but in the ensuing years and decades our musical palates have certainly expanded. "Gangsters ('Clangsters' Dub)" begins with the familiar screeching tires borrowed from Prince Buster, but then everything veers off the expected route from there. A rapid, unrelenting percussive element--a wood block sound likely generated by a drum machine--runs that through the entire track, creating almost unbearable tension, and foreshadows Dammers' incorporation of muzak and more synthesized beats on parts of More Specials. The song's guitar skank drops in and out, and eerie, theremin-like B-movie sci-fi outer space sounds hover at various pitches over the rhythm track (2-Tone.info helpfully notes that 'Clangsters' is a reference to a UK kids TV show The Clangers who communicated via slide whistle sounds). Even in its deconstructed form, "Gangsters" retains its menace. 

"Too Much Too Young's" debt to Lloyd Charmers' "Birth Control" is all the more pronounced in this instrumental version's piano line (and Dammers' playful improvisation on the melody is fantastic), plus the subtle touches of organ help remind one of, and honor, the song's skinhead reggae roots. It's absolutely superb. 

"Why (Dub)" takes us far from the stripped down, horror show reggae of the original ("Why did you try to kill me?," wrote Lynval Golding after being viciously beaten and stabbed in a racist attack), prominently featuring Rico's plaintive trombone riff (with Dick Cuthell's cornet in there, too), along with Horace Panter's nimble bass work and John Bradbury's super precise percussion. It's a wonderfully inventive version that transforms the song into something strikingly new.

This EP is still available at very reasonable prices and should be snapped right up by Specials' fans, as these mixes are an essential addition to the band's core discography, and provide a fascinating glimpse into their creative process and willingness to experiment. Dare one ask if there's more? And, for Pete's sake, why weren't these mixes released before now?

Duff Review: The Specials "Encore"

Island Records/UMG
CD/2xCD/LP
2019

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Barely a day after fans had a chance to unwrap the cellophane from their CDs or LPs and social media was already afire, grinding out both brutal condemnations of and impassioned praise for the new Specials album Encore. (In contrast, in the music press, the album has generated mostly positive, if not glowing, reviews.)

What seems to be lost in the instantaneous rush to judgment is that after years of touring since their reunion in 2009, we finally have an album of new music from the current, if pared-down, version of The Specials (Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Horace Panter--joined by top collaborators Nikolaj Torp Larsen on keys, Kenrick Rowe on drums, and Steve Craddock on guitar) and they deserve fans' respect and support for doing so, full stop. This in itself it is momentous.

As for why The Specials have released this album now, one suspects that they didn't want to show up for the 40th anniversary of 2 Tone with nothing in hand. Their peers have been pretty busy moving forward of late (see Madness' Can't Touch Us Now, The Selecter's Daylight, Dave Wakeling's Here We Go Love, Ranking Roger's Public Confidential, and Rhoda Dakar's The Lotek Four, Volume II--all of which are great!), while The Specials have been mining their catalogue for their admittedly phenomenal live shows for years now (I just re-watched the video I shot of them playing "Nite Klub" on Pier 26 in NYC in 2013 and they're so good that the hair on the back of my neck was on end). So, fan expectations are high, probably impossibly so.

Perhaps the best way to approach The Specials' Encore is to attempt to put The Specials' late '70s/early '80s releases temporarily out of mind (these classics do loom large) and take a break from basking in the comforting and familiar nostalgia for all things 2 Tone (if you want The Specials of '79, break out their debut). All of the brilliant, youthful, creative tension generated by the original band members' various personalities, talents, egos, opinions, class, educational backgrounds, and drug choices (sped up or slowed down) was never going to be resurrected on this record. This is the middle-aged core of the band that's still standing and able to stand each other. You pined for new music from this decades-on version of The Specials and here it is. So, have at it. (Give it some spins on the turntable or CD player, and live with it for awhile before coming to conclusions.)

With expectations re-calibrated, you'll find that Encore is a thoughtful, well-crafted album with ace performances that picks up where the two camps of the band were heading during and after More Specials (less ska/reggae and a bit more of everything else) and is legitimately great, at times outright stellar, in its own right. The brilliance of the original Specials output (and of 2 Tone in general) was that the music and lyrics moved both your body and mind, and Encore is highly relevant--if generally downbeat--music for our dark and dystopian-seeming times. However, one senses that the music occasionally takes back seat to the very worthy messages contained within (there are three spoken word tracks on the album). Like The Special AKA's In the Studio (which I previously wrote was "a record that often found the world to be a terribly and disappointingly ugly, petty, predatory, and unjust place"), Encore needs its one moment of pure joy, its own "Nelson Mandela" (an impassioned anti-apartheid song about an unjustly jailed political prisoner/freedom fighter that also managed the trick of compelling you to sing along and dance) to counterbalance some of the gloom in the songs and the world around us.

The Specials' deep commitment to the anti-racist ethos of 2 Tone is emphatically and explicitly reaffirmed by Encore's first two tracks--an unexpected but right on cover of the interracial Equals' fantastic hard funk, anti-white supremacist 1971 UK top ten hit "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys" written by Eddy "Electric Avenue" Grant (which imagines a world of human beings free from socially constructed divisions: "They ain't got no country/They ain't got no creed/People won't be black or white/This world will be half-breed") and "B.L.M.," a spoken word piece by Lynval Golding (which musically quotes both "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys" and "Ghost Town") that recounts his father's experiences of racism as part of the Windrush generation, as well his own as an immigrant to both England and America ("In England they call me a black bastard/In America they call me a goddam n*gger/Boy, welcome to my world/But I'm not here to teach you.../Black lives matter"). Like his song "Why" (which recounted the horrific, racially-motivated knife attack he endured in 1980 outside the Moonlight Club for walking and talking with two white women), Golding's personal stories of encountering ubiquitous, everyday racism--whether, verbal, physical, or institutional--resonate powerfully.

Upon first listen, it's sort of a shock to hear the opening bars of "Vote For Me" musically quote a bit of "Ghost Town" and then settle into the moody, minor-key territory staked out by The Special AKA's In the Studio (think the reggae and jazz of "Racist Friend," "Alcohol," and "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend," plus a bit of Rico's Jama; there's also a wonderful, Madness-like bridge with strings in there, too!). On one hand, it makes sense for the remaining Specials to go this route--they're essentially time traveling to pick up where The Specials left off at their demise (and Hall, Golding, and Staple went on to form the Fun Boy Three). So, in one sense, "Vote For Me" is a safe move, reminding the listener of Specials' sounds and songs of old that are ingrained on fans' hearts and minds. Yet, it's also sort of audacious, given how The Specials' dissolution was driven in part by dissatisfaction with the musical direction Dammers had taken with More Specials (he was the band's primary--though by no means sole--songwriter and arranger), as well as his leadership style (his given nickname "The General" was not meant to be endearing). Whether intentional or not, with "Vote For Me" they've validated Dammers' vision for the evolution of The Specials' post-"Ghost Town" music that was realized through In the Studio. It's just a shame that Dammers, Staples, Radiation, and Bradbury and Rico (RIP) couldn't be back for the ride, as "Vote For Me" successfully keeps faith with The Specials' collective sound and mission.

Lyrically, "Vote For Me" is pointed commentary on the corruption, lies, self-dealing, and moral bankruptcy of political leaders in England and America during this dreadfully bleak age of Brexit and Trumpism ("You tore our families apart" has to refer to the absolutely horrific, repugnant, racist, and inhumane Trump policy of sometimes permanently separating migrant/asylum-seeking kids from their parents at the US-Mexico border)--it continues the kind of "government leaving the youth on the shelf"/should be serving the greater good and needs of the people criticism expressed back in '81. And it's fantastic how the chorus ("There are no rocks at Rockaway Beach/And all that glitters isn't gold") references Queens, NY's bruddah's The Ramones, William Shakespeare (and Bob Marley's nod to the bard in "Get Up, Stand Up"), and dings Trump's penchant for gaudiness to hammer home its point about political deception.

Their cover of their own/Fun Boy Three's "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum" (1981) and the new "Breaking Point" are cut from the same cloth. The former was about Reagan's itchy nuclear trigger and Thatcher's indifference to the poor and destitute and has now been revived for the utter madness of Trump and May. "Breaking Point"--a terrific Madness-y ska track!--is about trying to live in a seemingly out of control world ("Progress would be wonderful/If only it would stop") run by self-dealing and morally bankrupt leaders ("The sales pitch from door to door/Says feed the rich and hang the poor/Twinkle, twinkle little star/Point me to the nearest bar/I'll drown my sorrows with the rest") that is seemingly on the path to oblivion ("With the help of God and a few marines/We'll blow this place to smithereens/Here we are at the breaking point').

The Specials' wonderful version of The Valentines' "Blam Blam Fever" comes closest to being that moment of musical bliss on the album while decrying gun violence--and the band adds some lyrics to address America's insane love affair with guns, its outrageous tolerance of mass shootings of kids, concertgoers, you name it, and the very fact that weapons of war are readily available for commercial sale: "What we gonna do/About amendment number two/Gun fever is back/And we think it is obscene/You can buy AR-15/The gun fever is back/Every time you read the New York Times/Seventeen dead in a school crime...The simplest thing is rat, tat tat, tat tat/NRA how you deal with that?"

While "Ten Commandments" shares the same title as Prince Buster's song, it's not a cover with new lyrics. The Specials' version is a spoken-word answer record to Buster's original with a new instrumental track beneath it (that opens with a similar drum roll) and features Saffiyah Khan listing her version of the commandments from a feminist perspective. Khan, of course, became a potent symbol of progressive resistance when she was participating in a counter-demonstration against the racist, right-wing, and Islamophobic English Defence League in Birmingham on April 10, 2017 and was photographed smiling and relaxed as EDL leader Ian Crossland was angrily in her face after she intervened to stop a number of EDL goons from harassing a fellow counterprotester who was wearing a hijab. Khan's popularity rose even further in certain circles when photographs of her from different angles revealed she was wearing a Specials t-shirt to the counter-demonstration--which led to her being invited by the band to pen the lyrics for and perform on this recording.

This is not the first answer record to Buster's "Ten Commandments." Buster himself released “Ten Commandments (From Woman to Man)” featuring Princess Buster in 1967, which pushed back hard--for the 1960s and within the confines of marriage--against Buster's sexism ("Commandment One: Thou shall have no other woman but me. Two: Thou shall not provoke me to anger or thou will have no peace at night..."). Khan's commandments powerfully and unequivocally refute all of the limitations and expectations that our patriarchal and chauvinist society would impose on her body and volition, solely on the basis of her gender. Her assured declarations of independence and take no prisoners support for women's rights are thrilling to behold. Yet, it's incredibly depressing to realize how little has changed at a societal level--these same ugly and pernicious attitudes towards women were prevalent when The Specials debuted four decades ago (and they were not completely immune to them either; see "Little Bitch"). In fact, apart from the references to femi-nazis, femoids, the internet, and YouTube, these spoken word lyrics could have been written back in 1979.

The Specials back Khan with an orderly, brisk reggae skank that emphasizes the rock solid bass line (Khan says it's from Dawn Penn's "No No No"), but never distracts the listener's focus from her spoken word lyrics. But on the periphery of the entire song there are swirling, dubby synth effects and during interludes between the verses, there are descending, minor-key violin lines--all suggesting a lurking danger and barely contained chaos, like the bottom could fall out at any moment. It's as if Khan's thoughts, will, and voice keep the demons at bay; but in their absence, a terrible darkness seeks to fill the void.

After years of decrying the (eventually repealed) racist Sus laws (where the police could stop anyone merely on the suspicion that they might commit a crime and was used as an excuse to harass/abuse black youth in general) and playing Rock Against Racism gigs back in the day, The Specials' "Embarrassed By You" is a catchy, straight up ska track that calls out the perpetrators of knife violence and muggings by moped gangs for feeding into the pernicious stereotype of black Britons as nothing but low-life criminals preying on whites ("We never fought for freedom for nasty little brutes like you/To come undo the work we do...Shame on the footprints you're leaving behind").

"The Life and Times (of a Man Called Depression)" gives the listener heartbreaking insight as to what Terry Hall has endured for years while dealing with manic depression and schizophrenia (at first self-medicating and finally being treated with psychotropics): "The voices inside his head are playing/Chinese whispers/As all around him play hide and seek; But don't ask him to put a smile on his face or to cheer up." The really lovely jazzy, oddly metered backing instrumental track under Hall's words has horn and flute lines that wouldn't be out of place on In the Studio (or what Dammers has done recently with his Spatial AKA Orchestra). The album ends with the subdued orchestral pop gem "We Sell Hope," which is a plea for love and tolerance and a much needed reminder of what could be if we had a bit more empathy and compassion for each other: "Looked all around the world/Could be a beautiful place to live in...We've got to take care of each other/Do what you need to do/Without making others suffer." The 2 Tone message, version 2.0.

That Hall, Golding, Panter and company have delivered a great Specials album at this point in time is a true gift to the fans. (Take the time to fully appreciate it.)

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The Specials Preview "Vote For Me" From New Album "Encore"!

Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, Horace Panter (l-r)

(By Steve Shafer)

To help whet fans' appetites for the new Specials' album Encore (to be released on CD/LP on February 1, 2019 from UMC), the band is previewing their terrific song "Vote For Me" on their YouTube channel and FB page.

Upon first listen, it's sort of a shock to hear the opening bars of "Vote For Me" musically quote a bit of "Ghost Town" and then settle into the moody, minor-key territory staked out by The Special AKA's In the Studio (think the reggae and jazz of "Racist Friend," "Alcohol," and "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend," plus a bit of Rico's Jama; there's also a wonderful, Madness-like bridge with strings in there, too!). On one hand, it makes sense for the remaining Specials (Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Horace Panter--joined by top collaborators Nikolaj Torp Larsen on keys, Kenrick Rowe on drums, and Steve Craddock on guitar) to go this route--they're essentially time traveling to pick up where The Specials left off with More Specials and the Ghost Town EP--which is exactly what Jerry Dammers and John Bradbury did with The Special AKA after Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding left The Specials to form Fun Boy 3 (some of the songs that appeared on The Special AKA's In the Studio were written before the split for The Specials' then-planned third album; and it should be noted that Panter, Golding, and Radiation did guest perform on a few In the Studio tracks).

So, in some sense, "Vote For Me" is a safe move, reminding the listener of Specials' sounds and songs of old that are ingrained on fans' hearts and minds. Yet, it's also sort of audacious, given how The Specials' dissolution was driven in part by dissatisfaction with the musical direction Dammers had taken with More Specials (he was the band's primary--though by no means sole--songwriter and arranger), as well as his leadership style (his given nickname "The General" was not meant to be endearing). Whether intentional or not, with "Vote For Me" they've validated Dammers' vision for the evolution of The Specials' post-"Ghost Town" music that was realized through In the Studio. It's just a shame that Dammers, Staples, Radiation, and Bradbury (RIP) couldn't be back for the ride, as "Vote For Me" successfully keeps faith with The Specials' collective sound and mission.

Lyrically, "Vote For Me" is pointed commentary on the corruption, lies, self-dealing, and moral bankruptcy of political leaders in England and America during this dreadfully bleak age of Brexit and Trumpism ("You tore our families apart" has to refer to the absolutely horrific, repugnant, racist, and inhumane Trump policy of sometimes permanently separating migrant/asylum-seeking kids from their parents at the US-Mexico border)--it continues the kind of "government leaving the youth on the shelf"/should be serving the greater good and needs of the people criticism expressed back in '81. And it's fantastic how the chorus references Queens, NY's bruddah's The Ramones and William Shakespeare (and Bob Marley's nod to the bard in "Get Up, Stand Up") to hammer home its point about political deception.

Every vote for you, do you promise
To be upright, decent, and honest
To have our best interests at heart?

You understand why we don't believe you
You're way too easy to see through
Not the best places to start

There are no rocks at Rockaway Beach
And all that glitters isn't gold

You're all so drunk on money and power
Inside your ivory tower
Teaching us not to be smart

Making laws that serve to protect you
But we won't ever forget that
You tore our families apart

There are no rocks at Rockaway Beach
And all that glitters isn't gold

So, every vote for you, do you promise
To be upright, decent, and honest
To take away all of the fear?

You said you wait for us to elect you
But all we'll do is reject you
Your politics bore us to tears

There are no rocks at Rockaway Beach
And all that glitters isn't gold

"Vote For Me" is a powerful and more than credible opening salvo from The Specials' Encore. Based on this track, it seems like fans' expectations for the new album should be high.

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For more on the new Specials' album, check our "Everything We Know About The Specials' New Album Encore" post from earlier this fall.

In addition, you can read The Duff Guide to Ska's write-up of the reissue of The Special AKA's In the Studio from a few years ago.

Lastly, unlike the some of the stone-filled beaches I've seen in England, New York City's Rockaway Beach is pretty much all sand and you can take the A subway line to get there.

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"Music Is Our Weapon"

In an interview I just posted with Smiley and the Underclass, I asked band members Smiley and James about the power of music and how it can be used (for better or worse) to change societal individual attitudes and behaviors. All of this immediately made me think of a book that I've just started reading: Dave Randall's "Sound System: The Political Power of Music." Two ska-related passages cropped up within the first twenty pages of "Sound System" that are worth noting here:

"Politics may well have remained largely off my radar, were it not for one August night spent in a field in Northamptonshire. Some mates had invited me to a music festival called Greenbelt, run by left-wing Christians. In a packed marquee between bands, the DJ dropped a tune by The Special AKA: 'Free Nelson Mandela.' I had no idea who Nelson Mandela was, but I knew by the end of the first chorus I wanted him to be free. In that moment, surrounded by thousands of festival goers hollering the hook, I learned--instinctively felt--that the future is unwritten and ordinary people like me could have a say. Music, I realized, is our weapon."

Contrast this with...

"Seemingly innocuous pop songs can also accrue an aura of terror in times of turbulent upheaval. When Uganda's former President Idi Amin was tightening his grip on power, the state radio station played 'My Boy Lollipop' all day long, interspersing its sugary refrains with military men's threats and warnings of curfews. Writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, who experienced the coup and its brutal aftermath, told me that to this day she is unable to listen to that song."

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Here's what I wrote about "Nelson Mandela" and the rest of The Special AKA's magnificent In the Studio, back in October 2014.

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The Specials Honor John Bradbury and Rico Rodriguez at Nottingham Rock City Show

Earlier this week, the remaining Specials, who are on a tour of the UK at the moment, paid a moving tribute to their late comrades John Bradbury and Rico Rodriguez at their Nottingham Rock City concert by performing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (which Lynval sang at Bradbury's funeral) and "We Have All the Time in the World," which was written by John Barry and Hal David and originally performed by Louis Armstrong for the 1969 James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (and is what George Lazenby's Bond says as he holds his dying wife Tracy, played by Diana Rigg).





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MOJO Remembers Specials Drummer John Bradbury

From the February 2016 issue of Mojo Magazine.

In Remembrance: John "Brad" Bradbury of The Specials

(By Steve Shafer)

Since he appeared on both the label's first (The Special AKA "Gangsters" b/w The Selecter "The Selecter" in 1979) and last singles (the J.B's Allstars socialist view of/support for teachers and uniformly effective public education, "The Alphabet Army" in 1986), ska drummer, songwriter, and producer extraordinaire John "Prince Rimshot" Bradbury could be considered as the alpha and omega of 2 Tone--and he went on to keep the faith with ska music up to his very end, many decades after 2 Tone had closed up shop.

In the late 70s (read about his pre-Specials life in the Guardian's excellent obituary; take note that his mother was fiercely anti-racist and pro-immigrant), Bradbury traveled in the Coventry music circles of both Neol Davies and Jerry Dammers--he was the drummer for Davies' The Transposed Men (which contained another future Selecter, Desmond Brown) and was a housemate of Dammers'. When The Specials' first drummer Silverton Hutchinson quit the band, Dammers (who had some reservations that were overridden by Specials' rhythm guitarist Lynval Golding) recruited Bradbury to The Specials and they soon recorded their first song "Gangsters" with Bradbury behind the kit (along with early versions of "Nite Klub" and "Too Much Too Young" that the band didn't think were in any shape to be released). With their borrowed recording funds exhausted and without a flip side for "Gangsters," Dammers approached friend Neol Davies, who--months earlier--had recorded a demo instrumental track he had written with Bradbury (initially titled "Kingston Affair"), which had been produced by Roger Lomas with Bradbury on drums and Barry Jones on trombone. The track was renamed "The Selecter" (by a then non-existent band called The Selecter) and pressed up as part of the first double A-sided split single from the pre-Chrysalis 2 Tone Records--which ignited the feverish late 70s ska craze in the UK (and forced Davies to quickly assemble his new band).

Bradbury, of course, quickly settled in and served as the brilliant, crisply precise, and wonderfully versatile propulsive force--the heartbeat--that gave life to all of The Specials' incredible songs (for reminders of Bradbury's fantastic drumming skills, check out "Too Much Too Young," "Nite Klub," "Blank Expression," or "Man at C and A") on their two albums, related singles, and two EPs, which continue to captivate and inspire legions of ska fans and musicians worldwide to this very day. According to Specials' bassist Horace Panter in his book "Ska'd for Life," "Brad had the reggae groove down. With the exception of Jim Brown from UB40, I don't know of any other white drummer who could get that authentic feel. He didn't just play reggae, he could change tempo seamlessly from a 'one-drop' reggae beat to a 'four-on-the-floor' rock section, as can be heard on 'It's Up to You'..." (which Bradbury helped co-write, along with "Nite Klub" and "Blank Expression.") He set the bar very high for all 2 Tone-influenced drummers to come...

After The Specials disintegrated in 1981, Bradbury followed Dammers into the next iteration of the band--The Special AKA--and co-wrote several songs ("Bright Lights," "Housebound," and "Break Down the Door") on their amazing reggae/no-wave jazz/soul-filled In the Studio LP. During this period, Bradbury also explored his love of Northern Soul (previously revealed via The Specials' cover of "Sock It To 'Em, J.B!" on More Specials, which he produced) by forming his own soul group, J.B's Allstars that signed with RCA Victor and released four singles on that label--the final, fifth one on 2 Tone.

(In the early 80s, Bradbury also founded his own short-lived label, Race Records, which released five reggae and soul singles, including one from The People, which featured a post-Selecter Charley Anderson and Desmond Brown.)

As the first (white hot) post-2 Tone UK ska scene (The Trojans, Potato 5, Laurel Aitken, Bad Manners, The Deltones, The Hotknives, The Riffs, The Forest Hillbillies, etc.) emerged in the late 80s, Bradbury was drafted to produce key albums for The Loafers (Contagious) and Maroon Town (High and Dry).

In the early 90s, Bradbury was presuaded to assemble an all-star 2 Tone road band after an encounter with Ian Copeland (brother of Stewart of The Police and Miles of IRS Records), owner of Frontier Booking International. Copeland had told Bradbury how the US ska scene (particularly in Southern California) was on the verge of (finally) breaking big and that a touring 2 Tone act would be very enthusiastically received (much more than any of these bands had experienced during their challenging visits to the USA in the early 80s). The result was The Special Beat (comprised, at various points, of Bradbury, Horace Panter, Lynval Golding, Neville Staple, Ranking Roger, Saxa, The Loafers' Sean Flowerdew, and others), which performed--obviously--Specials and Beat hits and embarked on several massively successful tours of the US (including the groundbreaking 1993 Skavoovee Tour with The Skatalites, The Selecter, and The Toasters) and Japan. When the Special Beat had run its course, Bradbury drummed for a few years for a version of The Selecter (with Pauline Black, Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson, and Nick Welsh of Bad Manners and King Hammond fame), as well as Welsh's and Jennie (Belle Stars) Matthais's Big 5.

During the late 1990s and much of the 2000s--up until The Specials reformed with all members except Jerry Dammers in 2008 to perform at Bestival (billed as Terry Hall and Friends)--Bradbury worked on computers as an information technology (IT) specialist. The Bestival appearance (and their reception from the fans) convinced all involved to make a go of it again for a series of sold-out 30th anniversary reunion dates in 2009 in the UK, Japan, and Australia. Bradbury eagerly participated in every highly successful Specials reunion tour (that followed in 2011, 2013, and 2015), which brought the band to venues and festivals in the UK, US, Europe, Japan, Mexico, and Chile. At a recent BBC 6 Music songwriter's panel in Birmingham on December 7, 2016, Terry Hall was quoted as stating that The Specials were planning to tour the US and UK in 2016 with new material.

John Bradbury died of undisclosed causes on December 28, 2016.

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My sincere condolences go out to Bradbury's family, friends, and fans.

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(This post was greatly informed by selections from Paul "Willo" Williams' biography of The Specials, "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion." Thanks to the author for this invaluable resource on the band.)

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Specials Drummer John Bradbury Passes Away at Age 62

Absolutely devastating news comes today by way of the BBC, which is reporting that Specials drummer John Bradbury died last night (12/28/15) at age 62.

The band announced Bradbury's death via Twitter and has posted the following remembrance on The Specials' website:

"It is with deepest regret that we have to announce the very sad news that our much loved husband and father John "Brad" Bradbury passed away on Monday the 28th of December. Brad's drumming was the powerhouse behind The Specials and it was seen as a key part to the Two Tone sound.

He was much respected in the world of drumming and his style of reggae and ska was seen as genuinely ground breaking when The Specials first hit the charts in 1979. He was an integral part of The Specials reforming in 2008 and toured with them extensively up to the present day.

His contribution to the world of music can not be understated and he will much missed by family, friends and fans alike. It is the families sincerest wish that they are allowed the time to remember him privately."

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Our deepest condolences go out to Bradbury's family, friends, and fans.

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The Specials: This Year's Model

There was a minor freak out in the ska and new wave circles on the internet yesterday when it was announced that on March 30, 2015, 2 Tone Records/Warners Catalogue would be re-releasing remastered versions of The Specials' three albums proper with new, alternative covers; liner notes by Lois Wilson (music writer for Mojo Magazine and Record Collector); unseen photos of the band by punk/new wave-era NME photographer Chalkie Davies (who shot the original cover photos for all three albums); and bonus material (on the second CD of each release), some of it appearing on compact disc for the first time. All of this has Jerry Dammers' blessing. Both Uncut and Slicing Up Eyeballs have all the details.

As for the bonus material, I (and probably most long-time Specials' fans) have all of it on various releases/formats--with the exception of the recording of The Specials performing for the BBC in concert at the Paris Theatre on December 15, 1979. Still, these versions will be tempting for completists. A commenter on the Mojo website noted how nice it would have been to include the (amazing!) videos that comprised The Special AKA's "On Film" on the new In the Studio re-release, since this video collection was only released on VHS in the UK and Laserdisc in Japan way back in 1984.

For fans in North America, the more momentous news may be that The Specials are booked to perform their first concert in Mexico--in Mexico City's El Plaza Condesa on March 12, 2015 (without Jerry, Roddy, or Neville, I think). Hopefully, this means that dates in the U.S. are in the works, too (come back to NYC--your last show here on a pier on the Hudson River in 2013 was so good and so much fun!).

[Updated to reflect the fact that all of the material on these reissued CDs has been previously released. Thanks to Duff Guide to Ska reader Jon for pointing this out.]

The Last Reissue: The Special AKA's "In the Studio" Heavyweight Vinyl LP

Rhino/Parlophone
2014
Heavyweight vinyl LP

It appears that Rhino's and Parlophone's campaign to reissue all of The Specials' albums on heavyweight, 180 gram vinyl will soon be complete with the upcoming release of The Special AKA's remastered In the Studio album on October 27, 2014 in the UK and on November 17, 2014 in the USA. While used copies of this original LP are fairly easy to find, this will be the first time this record will be back in print since 1984.

According to Paul Williams' "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion," The Special AKA's In the Studio took two, very difficult years (during which Jerry Dammers nearly lost his sanity and nearly took John Bradbury, Rhoda Dakar, John Shipley, Gary McManus, Stan Campbell, Dick Cuthell, and Rico Rodriguez with him!) and almost half a million pounds to record, which swallowed up the budgets of the three additional albums that the band were contractually obligated to deliver afterwards. (The This Are Two Tone compilation was released in 1983 by Chrysalis in an attempt to recoup at least some of the money that was hemorrhaging in The Special AKA's never-ending recording sessions). Upon its release, In the Studio generated great reviews, but wasn't the hit Chrysalis or the band needed it to be (it only climbed to #51 on the UK charts)--though "Nelson Mandela" made it up to #9 on the UK singles chart and became a worldwide anti-apartheid anthem.

Back in 1984 when I was still in high school, I picked up In the Studio after hearing the incredible "Nelson Mandela" on WLIR, the awesome new wave/modern rock radio station on Long Island that broadcast to the New York City area. Even though it wasn't a ska album (by then I was used to my former 2 Tone heroes moving far beyond ska; Madness and The Beat had already led the way) and "Nelson Mandela" wasn't representative of anything else on the record, I completely loved it. In the Studio was a compelling, sophisticated, and meticulously crafted mix of no wave jazz, reggae, and soul that grew on you and didn't sound like anything else that was unleashed on the UK pop charts in 1984 (i.e., Wham, Duran Duran, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, etc.). The album was claustrophobic (see "Night on the Tiles" and the jab at "Housebound" agoraphobic Terry Hall), full of righteous outrage (see "War Crimes," which was about Israel's invasion of Lebanon), brutally uncompromising in its principles (see "Racist Friend," which urged you to completely disassociate yourself from anyone, friend or family, who held racist views), and yielded what may be the catchiest protest song ever written and recorded, the euphoric hit "Nelson Mandela" (pleading for the release of the ANC leader who had been jailed by the apartheid South African government for decades)--the one moment of pure joy on record that often found the world to be a terribly and disappointingly ugly, petty, predatory, and unjust place (see "Alcohol," "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend," "Bright Lights," "Lonely Crowd," and "Break Down the Door").

In the Studio wasn't the hit pop album that the Chrysalis execs pined for (while facing down all of that red ink on their spreadsheets) or the ska album that Specials fans were expecting following the brilliant Ghost Town EP (though their hopes would have long been dashed by the string of decidedly non-ska singles from this album that preceded In the Studio's release). The Special AKA--defiantly led by Jerry Dammers--stubbornly refused to give the people what they wanted, but delivered what they thought they needed to help them navigate increasingly desperate times. Thirty years on, In the Studio sounds as strikingly unique and innovative as it did in 1984--every song is stellar--and its lyrics still contain their sting and relevance. The music and its messages endure. I only wish that The Special AKA could have found a way forward. I suspect that there was much more musical brilliance to come.

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Here's a live performance of "Nelson Mandela" by The Special AKA (but without Stan Campbell, who had left the band by then) with Elvis Costello, Ranking Roger, and Dave Wakeling that was taped for The Tube in 1984.



And here's the fantastic (and hilarious) video for "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend"...

Life's Little Victories: Record Collecting Edition #2

After re-reading sections of Paul "Willo" Williams' essential "You're Wondering Now: The Specials from Conception to Reunion" this past August while on holiday, I came across a passage about Specials' drummer John Bradbury's short-lived label Race Records that he ran with Sean Carasov, who was the manager for the all female punk band the Mo-dettes, as well as a roadie and merch guy for The Specials. One of the acts on Race Records that caught my attention was The People, which featured ex-Selecter members Charlie Anderson and Desmond Brown, who had left The Selecter before the recording of Celebrate the Bullet (according to a 2009 interview with Marco on the Bass, Anderson "didn't think it was the right direction for the band"), as well as Chris Christie, who had been in the Coventry reggae band Hard Top 22 in 1977 with Anderson and Brown (along with several other members of The Selecter), and John Hobley from another Coventry band, God's Toys. The People's sole release was a 1981 single: "Musical Man" b/w "Sons and Daughters."

I was intrigued, so I looked up the A side "Musical Man" on YouTube and really liked its reggae/rock sound, which--ironically--wouldn't have been out of place on The Selecter's Celebrate the Bullet--compare the (slightly psychedelic) reggae of "Musical Man" with "Selling Out Your Future." So, I decided to try to track a copy of the single down on the internet. As luck would have it, I was able to purchase a near mint copy of the single for not too terrible a price and am psyched to have this somewhat rare release in my collection.

In addition to the fantastic songs, what makes The People's single particularly compelling is that it's clearly a 2 Tone affair (even if The People's sound isn't). Specials' engineer/producer Dave Jordan produced it (and according to Anderson, Lynval Golding was also involved, though he is uncredited on the release), John "Teflon" Sims designed the artwork (and the illustration on the back of The People's single--the A side is a tribute to Rico--is reprised and further developed for Rico and The Special AKA's "Jungle Music" single picture sleeve, which was issued in 1982), and it was released on Bradbury's imprint (he had set it up as a "musicians' label," according to Paul Williams, lending each band the money to record their music, recouping his loan on sales, and if the release went bust, he forgave the band's debt).

As previously mentioned, "Musical Man" was dedicated to Rico and his musical brilliance and perseverance:

"Musical man
Keeps on blowing down
Got to let it flow
All the time

Some will criticize him
Some will judge him bad
It's the music, the music, the music
Keeps him going

Breaking apart
Right from the start
What keeps him going
I don't know

Musical man
Musical man
Musical man
Keeps on blowing down
All the time"

"Sons and Daughters" is terrific, hard-hitting, socially conscious track (with a bass line reminiscent of The Police's "The Bed's Too Big Without You") and very much in the 2 Tone vein of speaking out about socio-economic and racial injustice:

"I think about my sons and daughters
I start to think about their future
Why they make it just hating
down here?

Some are at the bottom
and some are at the top
Beating the system
With a holy load of mockery

We love our sons and daughters
We're thinking about their future
We love our sons and daughters
And we're thinking about their future

My woman and I we quarrel
For reasons we know why
Weeks and weeks of misery
Can't live our lives on the dole

But we've got to carry on
Yes, we've got to laugh it off
We love our sons and daughters
And we're thinking about their future"

From the vantage point of several decades on, I find both of these track to be pretty great and am somewhat puzzled as to why this release didn't fare better. Certainly, fans of UB40 would have found much to like in The People's sound. But the close association with The Selecter and 2 Tone must have put fans of both off when they discovered that The People didn't deliver a Specials/Selecter-like ska sound. It's a shame that The People didn't forge on--despite the changing UK pop tastes at the beginning of the 1980s--they had a very good thing going...

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Duff Review: The Specials "Sock It To 'Em J.B. (Dub)" b/w "Rat Race (Dub)"

2 Tone/Chrysalis
2014
Vinyl single in 2 Tone sleeve
Exclusive Record Store Day 2014 release

(Review by Steve Shafer)

After spending an hour and forty minutes just waiting to get in the front door (about 200 people were in line in front of me), I managed to snag the last Specials Record Store Day single at Rough Trade in Brooklyn--and then had to face the grim 15+ minute line for the cash registers (later that morning, I spotted several more Specials singles at another record store in Greenwich Village in Manhattan that I happened to pop into on a whim--it had no lines at all--and bought The Stranglers' "Peaches" single and Joy Division's "An Ideal for Living" EP, both of which were on my RSD want list and nowhere to be found at Rough Trade).

Of course, both of these tracks are versions of songs off The Specials' second album, More Specials. While these dub mixes come from the same 1980 sessions as the album, they've remained in the 2 Tone/Chrysalis vaults until now. Of the two, John Bradbury's dub of The Specials'  awesome cover of Rex Garvin and The Mighty Cravers' Northern Soul right hook "Sock It To 'Em J.B." is by far the more inventive, successful, and enjoyable. Instead of just shouting out the names of  various James Bond films as they do in the album version of this cut, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding name check various spy/law enforcement agencies (MI5, Interpol, Scotland Yard, Secret Service, FBI, CIA, KGB, etc.) and chat about a special assignment rooting out one's inner weakness by blowing one's mind on ganja. I prefer this version to the original, as it's not as repetitive (with the "Sock It To 'Em" refrain visited over and over) and the dub effects bring it more into the ska/reggae realm.

Jerry Dammers' dub mix of Roddy Radiation's incredible "Rat Race" doesn't fare as well. It starts out promisingly enough, with a driving bongo beat, John Bradbury's drumming, the signature plucking of the piano strings, and some great keyboard lines dropped in here and there to remind us of the melody. But then the track fails to really go anywhere and doesn't use any of Terry Hall's vocals, Roddy's or Lynval's guitar licks or chords, or Sir Horace Panter's bass lines. As a result, it feels like it's not fully formed (which is a shame, since what's here is a great foundation to build on...) and seems very tenuously related to its source material. With More Specials, Dammers was very much about stretching the band's sound beyond 2 Tone ska to explore and incorporate other musical idioms, a goal that was much more fully realized with The Special AKA's discordant, no wave jazz/pop/reggae on their darkly brilliant In the Studio--where "Rat Race (Dub)" would have been far more at home.

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Duff Review: Maroon Town Urban Myths

Rockers Revolt
2011
CD

If they haven't ever been on your radar, you should know that Maroon Town's genesis was in the late 80s UK ska scene that spawned the likes of The Trojans, Potato 5, and The Loafers--and rejuvenated the careers of Bad Manners and Laurel Aitken. What made Maroon Town unique was their mix of vintage ska, reggae, hip hop and soul (with socially conscious lyrics often from the perspective of the common person), as exemplified on 80s/90s hits like the cover of Prince Buster's "City Riot," "Pound to the Dollar," "Prince of Peace," and "Average Man" (several of which were produced by The Specials' John Bradbury). While Maroon Town (the core of which is Deuan German and Rajan Datar) has been active on and off over the past 20 years--often collaborating with a rotating cast of musicians from all over the globe--Urban Myths is their first album since 1997's Don Drummond. And even though about half of the songs on this album are new versions of old songs or have previously appeared on other Maroon Town records, this is still a powerful and compelling return to action.

On Urban Myths, Maroon Town successfully ventures into such non-ska genres as salsa ("Latin Moshpit"), jazz (a groovy reading of Herbie Hancock's perennial "Watermelon Man," which appeared on New Dimensions), and soul ("Innocent Mind" and "Clarendon Calling," with the fantastic Jenny Stanford on vocals; both of these songs appeared in different versions on Don Drummond)--but it's the ska and reggae tracks that play to the band's greatest strengths and catch them at their most appealing.

"Ya Ya (Lemme Tell Dem)," with its immensely catchy sing-along chorus, is a hard-driving, raucous ska cut about hitting the town (MC Sirreal toasts, "I got up in the morning and went to the bar/When I came out all I saw was the stars"), acting up, coming on to, and mouthing off to anyone within striking distance. While there's gonna be hell to pay--not to mention one hell of a hangover--the sound and heat generated makes it all worth it. It's then quite a contrast from the yobbish chorus of the ugly 24-hour bender to the lush and polished ska-pop of "Lion" (which even includes the sounds of plucking violin strings), though its sheen can't mask the something's-gotta-give desperation (and, ultimately, the hope) in its lyrics. Andrew Tumi sings, "I'm tired of feeling gray/How I pray it'll go away/Saving happiness for rainy days/One life and the price you'll pay/Can't keep it up this way/My deep heart's in a shallow grave/Once it's full, it's all you got/Cause something's not right and I gotta move on...I want to run like a lion in the sun..."

You'll long for a lyrics sheet when you hear "Wreckless"--the pace of the rapping by The Wreckless Crew is so freakin' frenetic and urgent that you can barely make out every other word (it still sounds great, though). "Bella Cosa" ("beautiful thing") is Latin-tinged roots reggae with excellent LKJ-like toasting by Rubi Dan; the encouraging chorus urges us to hang on and "realize, realize/hope is just a shot away." "Bullit," perhaps inspired by the Steve McQueen film of the same name (which is actually spelled "Bullitt") is an crisp Skatalites-flavored instrumental (though it's considerably less revved up than that film's car chase through the streets of San Francisco).

The seductive "Are You Ready" (which also appeared on the Don Drummond album) wants to lure the listener on a mystical musical journey. The superb Mikey Roots toasts: "All generation love the musical spring/The African man a instruct you again/In a traditional style for real a god send/Vibes to conquer duppy vibes to make us boom beng/Rootical flavor well and nice and ting/Crowd a people just a bubble crowd a people just a sing/No say them love the old school feeling/Cause the people bawl yes every time a sing a sing/Are you ready?/Tell me are you ready?/Are you ready?/Then follow me now!" After hearing this, there won't be any question in your mind about what you're gonna do.

Die hard Maroon Towners may be a bit put off that there's only an EP's worth of new material on Urban Myths after so long a wait, but the new stuff is stellar--and the album serves as a terrific primer on the band for newcomers.



Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A-