R.I.P. TERRY HALL

Well, shit. I just heard that Terry Hall died a little over a week ago. Pancreatic cancer. He was the lead singer of the Specials from 1979-1981, when the band was at the peak of their popularity and the most visible of the second generation of ska bands, primarily British and most on Two-Tone Records. After he left the Specials he continued with Fun Boy Three, then Colourfield and, well, a few other projects. He eventually re-joined the Specials for a reunion tour in 2009. When you think about it, and I have, the Specials are a big part of the reason that people, in the U.S. anyway, know that there was Jamaican popular music prior to reggae. Although I'm sure I'd heard a few ska songs by the time the Specials surfaced, I hadn't noticed a distinct difference from reggae. But, just as in going backwards to find the sources of old blues or rock 'n' roll songs, I was prodded to learn about the origins of ska after hearing Hall and the Specials. Dude was like the Elvis of ska, in that he was turning kids on to old music originally done by black musicians they never heard of.

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Listen:

The Specials - Gangsters mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Rat Race mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Hot mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Much Too Young mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Little Bitch mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Take Five mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Do the Dog mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
The Specials 30th Anniversary Tour at YouTube Full set, 24 songs
Visit:
2-Tone.Info - Extensive fan site

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 18

Here's a mess of Specials related stuff. The Specials were at the forefront of the second wave of ska, a primarily English movement, most of it on Two Tone records. What passed as ska was really more like kinda sorta ska. Nevertheless, they resusitated the music that hadn't been heard in the States or the UK for a decade or so and, well, and now you have the third wave, fourth wave and so on, all increasingly more removed from the original Jamaican ska. But what the heck, if they were able to introduce Dandy Livingstone, the Maytals and others to fringe punk rockers and new wavers, good for them. I remember hearing them and Madness for the first time and totally digging them from the git-go. Alas, Madness went the MTV route and the Specials morphed into Special AKA and though the later released some really good records, they left ska behind.

Tonight's fixation on the Specials came about after seeing a short documentary on the wide lasting influence of Two Tone. When I was watching it I was thinking that, while I love the idea behind the label and the movement, the Specials were just about the only band on the roster that I really cared for. The Selecter? I don't mind them. But don't come near me with any of that Beat stuff. I can't stand the English Beat. The Body Snatchers were good. "The Boiler" by Rhoda Dakar backed by the Special AKA is intense. Shit gets serious. Parties end.

There's a few songs below, and a video of complete show from their 30th anniversary tour in 2009. Though missing a few key players, it's good for a few.

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Listen:

The Specials - Gangsters mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Rat Race mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Hot mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Much Too Young mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Little Bitch mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Take Five mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Do the Dog mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
The Specials 30th Anniversary Tour at YouTube Full set, 24 songs
Visit:
2-Tone.Info - Extensive fan site

THE LIFER

You may have heard. Rico Rodriguez died a few days ago at the age of eighty. That's a bummer. Real bummer. He was a trombone player, one of the last links to pre-reggae Jamaican music still up and around, performing up until a couple years ago. He went to the Alpha Boys School, the former school of several musicians who would figure heavily in ska and early reggae. But Rico was one of few who kept at it throughout their life. From early sides for Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid and Prince Buster and other Jamaican producers, to the UK and Trojan, a stint with the Specials, Special AKA, Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra, and Jools Holland's band, the guy was everywhere. He played on Dandy Livingstone's "Message to You Rudy" and on the Specials' cover of it twenty years later. As a sideman and as a solo artist, he was a constant for anyone keen to him. I'll miss that, seeing where he'd pop up next. Thankfully there is a plethora of stuff available. Here's just a taste.

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Listen:
Rico Rodriguez - Rico Special mp3 at Soul Garage
Forster Orchestra Featuring Rico – Lightning Street mp3 at Soul Garage
Rico Rodriguez - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - L-O-V-E mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Toots & the Maytals w/Rico Rodriguez - Rastaman mp3 at Melting Pot
Dandy Livingstone -  Rudy A Message to You (streaming) at YouTube
The Specials -  A Message to You Rudy mp3 at Reselect
The Specials - Ghost Town mp3 at BlahBlahBlahScience
Video:
The Specials - A Message to You Rudy at YouTube
The Specials featuring Rico - Jungle Music at YouTube
Rico Rodriquez playlist at YouTube
Visit:
Jerry Dammers on Rico Rodriquez at NME
Rico Rodriquez at Wikipedia

STILL WAITING

Jerry Dammers probably has a good reason. He doesn't owe anybody anything. But jeez, come on. He put together his Spatial AKA Orchestra back in 2009 and has yet to release anything with them, if they even exist anymore. The probably don't. Their website and the Wikipedia page appear to be last updated around 2010. Regardless, I wish there was something, because the live videos that are out there are just my kind of thing, that being a combination of all kinds of things.

Here's a couple mp3s taken from a live television appearance, some live videos, and some stuff from his days in the Specials, assorted what not and what have you.

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Listen:
Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra - Soul Vibrations mp3 at Eezy Weebly
Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra with Francine Luce - I'll Wait For You mp3 at Eezy Weebly
The Specials - A Message to You Rudy mp3 at Evil Vince
The Specials - Guns of Navarone mp3 at Plain or Pan
The Specials - Ghost Town mp3 at Midwestern Housewives
Video:
Jerry Dammers and the Spatial AKA Orchestra - Ghost Planet at YouTube
Jerry Dammers and the Spatial AKA Orchestra - Soul Vibrations of Man at YouTube
Jerry Dammers and the Spatial AKA Orchestra Four Videos at Jerry Dammers
Visit:
Jerry Dammers and the Spatial AKA Orchestra at Wikipedia

YEAH? SHOW ME SPECIAL

I was not all that surprised that the Specials still had an official web site. Thinking: Oh, hey, there's a blog...let's see here...oh, wow, there's something about a tour? Oh yeah, this is gonna be rich. What's this nonsense about strings? ...and so on. Then I scanned to the bottom of the page, waaay down there, and in tiny type, it said "Jerry Dammers will not be performing as part of the re-formed The Specials." What?! If you ask me, no Dammers, no Specials, AKA or otherwise. Reformed or otherwise. I've forgotten their history (and I'm too lazy right now to deal with researching why I have the impression that I do), but somewhere along the way, I've had reason to think of Dammers as the heart and soul of the Specials. Whether or not it's warranted, that's what I think. When the Specials split up, some became the Fun Boy Three, and some became Special AKA. The latter went on to record "Free Nelson Mandela," which is a magnificent piece of work. The former did a Go-Go's song. And Dammers was the head AKA-er, that much I know. So he was there for "Message To You Rudy," he was there for "Ghost Town" and he was most definitely there for "Free Nelson Mandela." Nope, sorry. Ain't buying it. If he's not in it, it ain't.

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Listen:
The Specials - A Message to You Rudy mp3 at Booween
The Specials - Little Bitch mp3 at Joe Bien
The Specials - Ghost Town mp3 at 8106
Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela mp3 at Contort

M.I.A. TO SUN RA IN FOUR MOVES

This all started inauspiciously enough. I ran into a post of M.I.A. with the Specials [sic] doing the Spectral Display song, "It Takes a Muscle." That was going to be it. After enjoying the clip, I began wondering how many of the original Specials were playing. Terry Hall wasn't there, but that could have been because M.I.A. had the vocals covered. One person who definitely wasn't there was Jerry Dammers; to me, the heart and soul of the original Specials. When they split up, Dammers formed Special AKA ("Free Nelson Mandela") and Hall went and started Fun Boy 3 ("Our Lips Are Sealed"...you know, drek). You could stop right there. Forget the other members. No Dammers, no Specials.

You can see where this is going. A quick peek at a M.I.A. video turned into Dammers Appreciation Hour. After the M.I.A. and Specials video, I decided to start at the beginning, with the Specials as they were. Then a quick jaunt by Special AKA (avoiding Fun Boy 3 all together), and then, the most anticipated part; Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra, often described as a cross between the Specials and Sun Ra. I'd read about them, but not heard them. Dammers' site has four videos, but I've been unable to find any mp3s, or even a CD to buy. So all I have to go on is the videos, which are undeniably boss.

Thirty years cannot be covered in a few links. Nonetheless, here's a bunch of stuff, documenting why exactly it is, that nothing ever gets done around here.

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Music:
M.I.A. - It Takes a Muscle mp3 at 8106
MIA w/the Specials - It Takes a Muscle (live, 2010) mp3 at Sheen Beaston
The Specials - A Message To You Rudy mp3 at Town Full of Losers
The Specials - Ghost Town mp3 at BlahBlahBlahScience
Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela mp3 at Contort
Sun Ra - Rocket #9 mp3 at L'Homme Scalp
Sun Ra - UFO mp3 at Destination Out
Video:
M.I.A. with the Specials - It Takes a Muscle (live) at YouTube
The Specials - Ghost Town at YouTube
Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela (live, with Elvis Costello) at YouTube
The Specials - Gangsters (2009) at YouTube
Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra - Ringo Rock at YouTube
Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra - Sabayinda at YouTube
Jerry Dammer's Spatial AKA Orchestra - Where Pathways Meet at YouTube
Sun Ra - Space Is the Place (film intro) at YouTube
Sun Ra Arkestra - Live, 1981 at YouTube
Visit:
Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra official site
The Specials official site
The Spatial AKA Orchestra at Wikipedia