Truly Special

Flicking through my copy of this month's Mojo mag, I was delighted to see six of the original seven members of The Specials on stage together.

They were at the magazine's awards show, having been given their rightful and, quite frankly, overdue place in the Hall of Fame.

For years after they split in the early 80s, there was animosity and mudslinging. But in Mojo there was a lovely pic of Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, Horace Panter, John Bradbury and Roddy 'Radiation' Byers standing proud as their legacy was rightly lauded. The only guy missing was Neville Staple and there was nothing sinister in his failure to turn up (he was "stuck on a train somewhere" according to Golding!).

The original line-up lasted just two short years, producing two classic albums until Hall, Golding and Staple left to form the Fun Boy Three in 1981. They united black and white cultures and wrote some stinging politically charged songs which, despite the often dark content, still managed to sound uplifting because of the bouncing, infectious ska beat.

Listen to Too Much Too Young, Nite Klub, Gangsters, Do Nothing, Concrete Jungle, Blank Expression, Man At C&A, A Message To You Rudy, Stereotype, I Can't Stand It or, best of all, Ghost Town and tell me they were not brilliant.
Actually, I could have listed any of the songs they released between 79 and 81.

Dammers rebranded them Special AKA after the 81 break up and they released on final album, In The Studio in 1984 which, despite a handful of classic moments, wasn't quite the same.

Recently we have seen Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Happy Mondays and countless, poxy boy bands reform. But, along with the Stone Roses, a reunion of The Specials' classic, original line-up truly would be..well, special.
Over to you guys...you know you want to!