The Specials – The Specials (1979):  In the U.S. during the mid to late 1970’s, there was “punk” and “new wave” and the lesser-known “power pop”; and that’s about it.  And even those categories were often lumped together.  The situation in England was more complicated.  One of the leading lights of British punk/new wave music is Elvis Costello – he was the album producer on The Specials – but in the U.K., he is slotted in as “pub rock”.  The Specials is another top British new wave band, but they fit squarely in the category of “ska revival” that developed into the “2 Tone” movement.  Ska is an early form of Jamaican music that is a precursor to reggae and rocksteady.  Ska music was popular among the Mods in the U.K. in the 1960’s but was never a major force in the U.S.  I haven’t heard much ska music, but I really love the Specials.  There is a lot of energy on this album, mixing protest music with good-time party anthems and a fair amount of humor; and it seems like every song has an edge.  “Stupid Marriage” imagines a misbehaving couple appearing before a magistrate, and “Too Much Too Young” has a similar vibe.  Three of the tracks are covers of classic Jamaican ska songs, and they are among my favorites on the record:  “Too Hot”, “Monkey Man”, and “A Message to You Rudy”.  Early in their career, the American all-female rock band the Go-Go’s toured for several months in England; and they connected with the Specials frequently, with three of their bandmembers providing background vocals on their second album, More Specials (1980).  A recent documentary on the band simply called The Go-Go’s (2020) includes several admiring interviews with bandmembers in the Specials.  The Top 20 U.S. hit “Our Lips are Sealed” (1981) by the Go-Go’s was co-written by Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s and Terry Hall, the lead singer of the Specials.  Three of the bandmembers in the Specials, including Terry Hall left the band in the early 1980’s and formed the band Fun Boy Three.  In 1983, Fun Boy Three released their version of “Our Lips Are Sealed”; the track became a Top Ten hit in the United Kingdom and remains the best-known version of the song in that country.