The Specials are a proudly multi-racial band influenced by ska music and fuelled by injustice.
(Left to right) Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter - original members of English band The Specials Photo: The Specials / Facebook
Produced and engineered by Graham Kennedy for RNZ Music
The Specials were a staunch multi-racial band in an era that was divided by the National Front and racial intolerance.
The band has had a number of line-up changes over the years but their back catalogue of hit singles endure – songs like 'A Message to You, Rudy', 'Rat Race', 'Too Much Too Young', and 'Ghost Town' are perennials.
Formed in Britain in the late '70s against a background of racial tension, unemployment and Thatcherism, the original group made only two albums and a handful of singles, which (other than a brief detour into Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’) provide the entire repertoire for this show.
There’s a paradox at the heart of The Specials’ music: though it draws heavily on the bright, energetic rhythms of ska, its message is frequently dark, bordering on paranoid.
The brilliant opener ‘Ghost Town’ – which marked the end of the original group’s career – sets the tone.
Though just three members remain from the classic lineup, these are crucial ones: singer Terry Hall, singer-guitarist Lynval Golding, and bassist Horace Panter.
Augmented by strings and horns, Panter and newly recruited drummer Gary Powell drive the old songs hard, while Hall and Golding prove that their ironic commentaries on class, racism and the status quo are, in an age of Brexit and Trump, as relevant as ever.
Music Details:
Titles: 'Ghost Town', 'Do Nothing', 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning', 'Stereotype', 'Man at C & A', 'Blank Expression', 'Rat Race', 'Why?', 'Redemption Song', 'It Doesn't Make it Alright', 'Nite Klub', 'Dawning of a New Era', 'Gangsters', 'A Message to You', 'Monkey Man', 'Too Much Too Young', 'You're Wondering Now'.
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