THE SPECIALS
The Specials are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. Their music combines a “danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk’s energy and attitude”. Lyrically they present a “more focused and informed political and social stance”. The band wore mod-style “1960s period rude boy outfits (pork pie hats, tonic and mohair suits, and loafers)”. After seven consecutive UK Top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981, three members of the group abruptly left to form Fun Boy Three. Continuing on as “The Special AKA” (a name they used frequently on earlier Specials releases), a substantially revised Specials line-up issued new material through 1984, including the top 10 UK hit single “Free Nelson Mandela”. (More from Wikipedia)
In seemingly no time, the music scene was crowded with top bands and artists whose work has held up well over the decades since, among them Patti Smith Group (whose debut album, Horses came out before Ramones, in December 1975), Television, Richard Hell, the Heartbreakers (the punk band not Tom Petty’s group, though he was a part of the scene as well), Talking Heads, the Dead Boys, Blondie, the Clash, the Cars, Elvis Costello, Pat Benatar, Joy Division, the Specials, the Go-Go’s, the Police, etc., etc., etc. There were so many that rock critics and others began distinguishing bands in the safety-pin set as “punk” and others that were less confrontational as “new wave”.
(December 2016)
