The Special AKA / In The Studio 180g 12" Vinyl LP (2014 Reissue)

True innovators of the punk era, The Specials began the British ska revival craze, combining the highly danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude, and taking on a more focused and informed political and social stance than their predecessors and peers. By October 1981, constant touring and differences over musical direction saw the original band line-up split but they soon regrouped and reformed as The Special AKA and released their third album In the Studio in 1984.

The album was over two years in the making and featured the hit singles "Nelson Mandela" and "Racist Friend." Newly remastered and reissued on heavyweight 180g vinyl.



The Special AKA - In The Studio

Side 1
1. Bright Lights
2. Lonely Crowd
3. Girlfriend
4. House Bound
5. Night On The Tiles
Side 2
1. Nelson Mandela
2. War Crimes
3. Racist Friend
4. Alcohol
5. Break Down The Door

Format: 12" Vinyl LP
Cat Number: CHR TT X5008
Release date: 27/10/2014

http://2-tone.info/2tone.pl?show151&

http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/prod/TheSpecialAKA-InTheStudio-Chrysalis-99904.html

Rhoda Dakar / Sings The Bodysnatchers (2014)

Celebrating the 35th anniversary of The Bodysnatchers, 2 Tone Records all-girl goup, lead singer and songwriter Rhoda Dakar will be recording (though not re-forming) a Bodysnatchers album for the very first time.

Formed in 1979 after Shane McGowan introduced Rhoda to bassist Nicky Summers, the band signed to legendary UK record label 2 Tone after only their second show. Nationwide gigs alongside Madness, The Selecter, The Specials, The Go-Gos and Toots & The Maytals followed, as did two UK chart hits; Let’s Do Rocksteady b/w Ruder Than You in March 1980 and Easy Life b/w Too Experienced (produced by label boss/The Specials founder Jerry Dammers) in July of the same year. These now much sort-after singles and their appearance on 2 Tone’s Dance Craze movie were to be The Bodysnatchers only commercial releases.

To celebrate the band’s 35th Anniversary, Rhoda is recording a very special Bodysnatchers album, which will feature previously unrecorded and unheard (outside of a few bootleg live cassettes) Bodysnatchers songs.



Easy Life
The Ghost Of The Vox Continental
Happy Time Tune
007
Private Eye
Too Experienced
The Loser
Mixed Feelings
Hiawatha

Rhoda dakar - Vocals
Mark Claydon - Drums
Horace Panter - Bass
Sean Flowerdew - Keyboards
Lenny Bignell - Guitar
Lynval Golding - Guitar
Karl Wirrmann - Sax

http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/rhodadakar

https://www.facebook.com/rhodadakarofficial

http://www.londoninternationalskafestival.co.uk/shop/

The Specials / Horace Panter & John Bradbury (Video Interview)

Good interview with Horace and Brad recorded for STV Glasgow 06/11/2014

Photos from the Glasgow gig are available below



Video:

http://clips.stv.tv/g/v/V1l1ORmCkxU

Photos:

http://entertainment.stv.tv/galleries/entertainment-music-specials/235928/

The Specials / Live at the Bataclan, Paris, France 30/11/2014

Born in 1977 in England, The Specials mix for decades the dancing aspect of ska to punk aggressiveness. Highly politically engaged, the British formation has risen several times at the top of the UK charts with hits like "Too Much Too Young" and "Ghost Town."

After dissolution due to the departure of three of its members at the end of the 80s, The Specials are reformed in 2009. Always the Devil in the Flesh, the musicians are preparing to blow a wind of rebellion on the Bataclan!

Filmed on 30/11/2014 (87 minutes)



Setlist:

Ghost Town
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Do Nothing
International Jet Set
Stereotype
Man at C&A
Rat Race
Hey Little Rich Girl
Blank Expression
It's Up to You
Why?
Doesn't Make It Alright
Nite Klub
(Dawning of a) New Era
Do the Dog
Gangsters
Monkey Man
Concrete Jungle
A Message to You, Rudy
Little Bitch
Too Much Too Young

Encore:

Guns of Navarone
Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)
You're Wondering Now

Video:

http://concert.arte.tv/fr/specials-au-bataclan

Photos:

http://soundofbrit.fr/2014/12/01/photos-the-specials-bataclan-paris-30-novembre-2014/

Jerry Dammers / Ivor Novello inspiration award (22/05/14)

Legendary keyboard player picks up one of music industry's most prized awards - and dedicates it to his mum

Legendary Specials songwriter Jerry Dammers has been named a music industry inspiration at a major awards ceremony.

The founding member of the Coventry 2-Tone group picked up the inspiration award at the 59th Ivor Novello Awards in London.

It came three decades after his song, Nelson Mandela, stormed the charts calling for the release of the anti-apartheid campaigner.

Dammers scored a top 10 hit with the track performed by Special AKA.

The song became an anti-apartheid anthem and Mr Mandela, who died in December, was eventually released in 1990.

The annual awards, known as The Ivors, are presented by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and are highly prized because they are voted for by songwriters and composers.

Dammers was presented with his award by former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, who described him as “the Tsar of Ska”.

Dammers - who no longer performs with the reformed Specials - revealed that he had almost missed the ceremony because his mother is ill, and dedicated his win to her.

Speaking backstage, the Ghost Town songwriter said he thought the idea of protest music was still thriving.

“I don’t think protest music necessarily has to have lyrics even,” he said. “You can have instrumental protest music, you know - jungle, dub-step, all of those are kind of abstract but still protest music like jazz was before.”

Terry Hall / Sorrow "Live" (Fred Perry) 08/01/14

Terry Hall and Friends - Sorrow from Fred Perry on Vimeo.

The Specials / Sock It To 'Em J.B. & Rat Race (Dub)

We’re pleased to announce The Specials 7” single ‘Sock It To ‘Em, JB/Rat Race’. This limited edition 7″ single will be released on the Two Tone Records label exclusively for Record Store Day on April 19th. It features two previously unreleased dub mixes created at the time of the ‘More Specials’ mixing sessions by John ‘Brad’ Bradbury (Sock It To ‘Em, JB) and Jerry Dammers (Rat Race). The single will be sold via participating independent retailers in the following countries; Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Nordics, Benelux, UK & US



A Side
Sock It To 'Em J.B. (Dub)
(Dunn)
Produced and mixed by: John Bradbury

B Side
Rat Race (Dub)
(R. Radiation)
produced by: Dave Jordan
Mixed by: Jerry Dammers

2 Tone Records

CHS TT 32

P & C Chrysalis Records Ltd.

Released 19/04/2014

http://www.45cat.com/record/tt32

Terry Hall / Sunday Service (BBC Radio 6 Music) 02/02/14

Specials frontman Terry Hall takes over the Sunday afternoon slot for the whole of February armed with a box of records carefully selected from his personal collection.

As frontman of The Specials Terry Hall represented a kind of detached, dry kind of cool totally at odds with other pop stars of the time.

After leaving the band at the height of their fame in 1981 Terry went on to from Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield - before embarking on a multifarious career that's seen him work with Damon Albarn, Lily Allen, Sinead O'Connor and leap from style to style in way few artists do (or can). All while maintaining this deadpan sense of humour and his own unique vocal style.



Terry Hall - The Carrier Bag Collection (02/02/14)

The Fall - New Big Prinz
Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrel
Janet Kay - Silly Games
Laura Mvula - Green Garden
Sly & The Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay
Sly & Robbie - Boops (Here To Go)
Talking Heads - The Good Thing
Aztec Camera - We Could Send Letters
Donnie Elbert - Where Did Our Love Go?
Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
David Bowie - Golden Years
Junior Murvin - Police And Thieves
The Beach Boys - Heroes And Villains
The High Llamas - Nomads
Toots & The Maytals - 54 46 That's My Number
XTC - Making Plans For Nigel
Marc Ribot - No Me Llores Mas
Tom Waits - Telephone Call From Istanbul
The Statler - Brothers Flowers On The Wall
Bob & Marcia - Young Gifted & Black
Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?
Salad Drink - The Elixir
Jonathan Richman and Modern Lovers - Egyptian Reggae
Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan
Grant Lee Buffalo - Fuzzy
Chris Montez - Sunny
Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking

Terry Hall - The Carrier Bag Collection (09/02/14)

Big Audio Dynamite - E=Mc2
Big Youth - Hit The Road Jack
Massive Attack - Karmacoma
David Byrne and St. Vincent - Who
Iggy Pop - Nightclubbing
The Doors - Moonlight Drive
EELS - The Look You Give That Guy
Buzzcocks - Noise Annoys
Be Bop Deluxe - Ships In The Night
Ben Folds Five - Philosophy
Andy Williams - Moon River
Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You In The End
The Lightning Seeds - Pure
New Order - Age Of Consent
Paul Williams - So You Want To Be a Boxer
Tricky - Hell Is Round The Corner
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Come Wi Goh Dung Deh
Max Romeo - War Inna Babylon
John Barry - The Persuaders Theme
Yonderboi - Ohne Chanteuse
Cher - Gypsies Tramps & Thieves
Echo & The Bunnymen - A Promise
Doves Here It Comes
Jimi Hendrix - Angel (Acoustic version)
Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucu Paloma
The Roches - Mr Sellack
Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - The Plan
Desmond Dekker - 007 (Shanty Town)

Terry Hall - The Carrier Bag Collection (16/02/14)

The Clash - Clash City Rockers
The Breeders - Cannonball
Suicide - Ghost Rider
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
Jackson 5 - ABC
Stereolab - French Disco
Susan Cadogan - Hurt So Good
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
David Essex - Lamplight
Willy Mason - Oxygen
Dolly Parton - Jolene
Al Brown - Here I Am Baby
Finley Quaye - Sunday Shining
Max Romeo and The Upsetters - Chase The Devil
Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Hamilton Bohannon - Disco Stomp
Taraf de Haïdouks - A Gypsy Had A House
Patti Smith - Kimberly
Cocteau Twins - Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires
Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven
R. Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost In My House
The High Llamas - Literature Is Fluff
Linda Lewis - Rock A Doodle Doo
Violent Femmes - Country Death Song
David Bowie - Heroes
Carpenters - Goodbye To Love


Terry Hall - The Carrier Bag Collection (23/02/14

Lloyd Cole and Commotions - Perfect Skin
Dawn Penn - You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)
Kraftwerk - Showroom Dummies
The Fall - Hit The North
Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds
Orange Juice - Rip It Up
Richard Hell and Voidoids - Blank Generation
Veruca Salt - Seether
Ian Hunter - Once Bitten Twice Shy
Les Négresses Vertes - Zobi La Mouche
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling
The Lightning Seeds - Telling Tales
Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
Le Volume Courbe - Le Petit Chevalier
Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
The Beach Boys - Sail On Sailor
Blondie - Heart Of Glass
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Warren Zevon - Werewolves Of London
The Roches - Nurds
Tom Waits - More Than Rain
Harry J. All Stars - Liquidator
Freda Payne - Band Of Gold
Aztec Camera - Orchid Girl
Ray Stevens - Misty
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us
Dr. Alimantado - Poison Flour
War - Low Rider
Dave & Ansel Collins - Monkey Spanner
Peggy Lee - Is That All There Is

Listen Again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w6mfl#programme-broadcasts

Terry Hall: Interview

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01r574t