The Specials (GB)

About

Also known as: Roddy Radiation and The Specials, Special A.K.A., Special AKA, Specials, The Special A.K.A, The Special A.K.A., The Special AKA, The Specials A.K.A.

Few bands captured a cultural moment as precisely as The Specials did at the turn of the 1980s. Formed in Coventry in 1977, they built their sound by locking ska and rocksteady rhythms together with the raw urgency of punk, dressing the whole thing in sharp mod era rude boy style: pork pie hats, tonic suits, loafers. The debut album, produced by Elvis Costello, announced them as something genuinely new, and seven consecutive UK top 10 singles followed between 1979 and 1981. Their two Number 1 hits told you everything about what made them tick. The EP led by "Too Much Too Young" got there despite its pointed lyrics on teen pregnancy, while "Ghost Town", a bleak meditation on recession era Britain, hit the top spot in 1981 and remains one of the most politically charged pop records ever made. After key members including Terry Hall left to form Fun Boy Three, the band continued as the Special A.K.A., scoring another landmark hit with "Free Nelson Mandela". Hall's death in December 2022 marked the end of a remarkable story.