Album #149: The Specials - The Specials

The Specials

The Specials (1979)

2 Tone legends/creators The Specials were largely responsible for the ska explosion in Britain in the late 1970. Coming at the same time as punk music, the band's ethos was all about anti-racism and integrating black and white people at a time when British society was running rife with a racist streak (the abhorrently racist National Front were experiencing significant support at this time.) It was 2 Tone that brought ska into the mainstream; firstly with The Specials, then with acts like The Selecter, Madness and The Beat...but it was the label's inventors who were their biggest and best act.

Their debut album came a couple of years after their birth in Coventry, and after they had already garnered the attention of Joe Strummer and Elvis Costello (the latter produced this album). Let's take a journey through its ska/reggae/rocksteady/rockabilly flavours...

The Album

The great thing about this album, apart from its inherent sense of fun, its danceability and its melodic excellence, the wonderful contributions of every member, and the sheer catchiness of the majority of the songs, is the variety of styles presented by The Specials. There's ska (Monkey Man, (Dawning Of A) New Era, Little Bitch, Stupid Marriage), rocksteady (A Message To You Rudy, Too Hot, Blank Expression), reggae (Doesn't Make It Alright), punk lite (Do The Dog) and rockabilly (Concrete Jungle). All of them are driven by the intricate bass of Sir Horace Gentleman, the rugged lead guitar of Roddy Radiation, the rhythmic guitar work of Lynval Golding, the powerful/deft drumming of John Bradbury, the vocal stylings of Terry Hall and Neville Staple, and the bubbling keyboard of Jerry Dammers.

In short, every member contributes flavour to every song; it's a real full-band album, and you wouldn't know from listening to it that the band, for the most part, have never really liked each other.

The pick of the tracks are the raucous, pumping Monkey Man, the equally raucous and snarlingly lyrical Little Bitch, the superbly catchy rocksteady of Blank Expression and the speedy, yet enormously fun, (Dawning Of A) New Era (which notably provided Melbourne ska band Area-7 with their name). That's not to say other tracks aren't also good, or don't have fantastic elements; Neville Staple's performance as "Judge Roughneck" on Stupid Marriage is a highlight, as is Terry Hall's defiant call to arms vocal performance on Do The Dog. Roddy Radiation's lead guitar work is particularly outstanding also on Concrete Jungle (which he himself wrote and sang on the album). 

It's not all beer and skittles though. The version of Too Much Too Young on the album is slow....too damn slow, in fact. Those familiar with the faster, catchier, skankier single version would hear the album version and bemoan the lack of tempo and urgency; it also suits the song's themes of teenage pregnancy and the importance of contraception much better. It's the worst song on the album by a distance and that's a shame because the single version is kickarse. Too Hot is a little boring, despite Hall and Staple's dual lead vocal, while closer You're Wondering Now, while lyrically it's the perfect album (and gig) closer, manages to end a fairly joyous, sunny album on a bit of a downer.

Lastly of note is that aforementioned social conscience. The Specials were not, at this point, the massive social commentators they later became, but there is evidence of this future development on the album. Songs like Too Much Too Young, Stupid Marriage, Concrete Jungle and Do The Dog show, through their lyrics, an awareness of contemporary social issues and a courage to pass comment on those issues. It was something that bandleader Dammers would continue to explore, and was part of the reason why just two years after the release of this album, Hall, Staple and Golding left to form the Fun Boy Three.

The Verdict

If you've never heard a ska album, this is the perfect place to start. If you have, and it's more recent ska, then this album is essential listening because this is the birth of the modern ska sound (even if it is entirely rooted in Jamaican reggae and rocksteady of the 60s.

My rating: 7.4/10

Standout Tracks

(Dawning Of A) New Era

Little Bitch

Monkey Man