"STEREOTYPE" The Specials 1980

[Oscel63]

mariachi

[euroyankee2003]

This is the best video I've seen on the subject. Great job.

[MYHEARTMUTMINI10]

llegué aquí porque estaba viendo la biografía de Soda Stereo

[sophiascalpel]

one of my absolute fav specials tracks!

[kramnesnay]

I think the teacher like it coz I was the only one she asked to read their song out to the class twice, plus the next day we had an English lesson on stereotypes, she who knows, maybe my boring old English teacher was influenced by the specials.

[kramnesnay]

I remember at school my English teacher asked our class to write the lyrics to our fav song, most kids chose Baggy Trousers by Madness, but I chose this one. My teacher couldn't understand how and why a 13 year old kid liked such a dark song, but the kids thought it was cool as I read it out to the class, I said 'pissed' and 'VD' and got away with it.

Great group, whose songs perfectly reflected the mood of the times.

[docfraktal]

This album annouced the special aka !

[futurecat71]

Yeah i like the style of this track ,it has that erie/unique sound to it similar to int jet set in some ways i wish the specials made a few more tracks like this.

[CodyRicheson]

There's something very melancholy about this song, that makes me feel bittersweet. I especially like the weird synthesizer in the background.

[ninelivecat]

Nice Lyrics

[MadnotMad79]

sit in and watch colour tv on his own...... :)

[kartajippy]

nice one great song long live the specials

[kartajippy]

nice one great song 

[toiletteytapiz]

Pensar que gracias a esta canción surgió el nombre Soda Stereo

[toiletteytapiz]

Pensar que gracias a esta canción surgió el nombre Soda Stereo...

[smirnoffgirluk]

Blast from the past for sure..... brilliant, thank you :)

[toiletteytapiz]

@smirnoffgirluk Pensar que gracias a esta canción surgió el nombre Soda Stereo

[smirnoffgirluk]

Blast from the past for sure......

[ritchieraith]

awesome vibe

[tomeeeee1]

He drinks his age in Pints??  C'mon, thats a cool line.

[MadnotMad79]

sit in and watch colour tv on his own... :(

[MadnotMad79]

but he,s rapped round the lampost, on saturday night... :(

[krausserfalls68]

its a very fucking good song

[blairbooth]

Terry Halls Terry Blair And Anouchka single Ultra Modern Nursery Rhymes is back up!

[martin1968pinkel]

fucking nice music love

[rodchristopher]

Best band ever...probably right!

[TheHappyjason]

great tunne

[SonicJCG]

great band, great times

[steve14mx]

what times this brings back good and bad

[gilamonster001]

AMAZING SONG !

[dot4design]

They had good rythms in their songs....MORE FANTASTIC ´80´s music on my channel!!!!!

[uranian23]

@hibtw1: i was a kid when the specials were about but loved them too :)

[TheTilly65]

@hibtw1 Thats because you have great taste.

[TFCHooligan69]

I have this single. International Jet Set is on the flipside.

[SL4Q92W]

Love this old song ,...memories from -81.

[starchaser77]

This record had one of the strangest ever UK chart runs - it went 25-6-22 - and that in the days when songs went up and down the chart at leisurely pace. Almost as if the chart return shops had made a mistake.

[SoiCowboy2]

@starchaser77 Didn't help that Radio 1 wouldn't play it at peak time............don't ever remember it on TOTP either.

I remember Terry saying that the second album caused friction as Jerry was trying too much to change the style. Good point re The Clash and 'Sandinista' below. Saw a lot of that in this album.

[SELECTER73]

:)))))))))))))))

[TFAVio]

Damn legend of a track

[admillnx6]

I'm living the dream.

[katoness]

You see thirty years later and nothing has changed. What a sad society we have become!

[admillnx6]

Post modernist irony,or whatever label you care to apply.

[katoness]

Thats a good answer to your ironic statement. Are you related to Terry Hall?You probably sound like him! These words just go round and round.

[ebantiass11]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT and does´nt sound out of place today.Topical,sad,apt and still relevant today.

Genius

[iamafish400]

pause at 1:31 and look at terry's thumb - wtf?!

bloody fantastic song though and amazing collection of photos, 5 stars

[acitonj]

It's called Hitchhiker's thumb. It's genetic :P

[admillnx6]

my mate did this two nights ago.what a wanker.

[levitajhayam]

very good

[bullk180]

1980s london cool man watcha from limerick ireland

[MARTYCLFC]

Can anyone tell me what the fast version of this song was released on? "I'm just a Stereotype"

[chimpazilla]

Where's the good part?

"I want a little bass, I just touch dis... I want a little tssst, I just touch dat..."

"go downtown and buy your stereo"

"if you don't want to drink don't go to pub"

[MrSteviebabe]

the 12 inch was better!!

true enough!!!

[NOINTOT]

The best part of the song...I do agree with u...Maybe the roots of rap ????

[NOINTOT]

Porkito!!!!

[MrSteviebabe]

Just telling a joke, forgot the punchline!!!!!

[SkankinDevil89]

He blamed his fiancée when he caught VD

[tomeeeee1]

:) he drinks his age in pints. I just cant stop it!

[boitapower]

To me the "More Specials" album is a milestone as much as The Clash Sandinista! and this track in particular is a Lounge Dub gem!!!

Jerry Dammers RULE!!!

[heru1966]

A unique sounding track to this very day!

[bartonim]

Sandinista rarely gets the praise it deserves--good comparison in terms of musical advances; Radio Clash is great, too, although only an EP and the same track in different forms, but as for sonic innovation, it is fantastic.

This is probably the best the Specials got. More Specials confounded a few people expecting ska revival 2, but over time I think it has come to be seen as a masterpiece!

[nailhair]

this reminds me of my rude boy days !!

[punkisuprimo]

a mi edad y pensando en ponerme los tirantes de mi abuelo...que buenos productos traen de pakistan

[jmulhall86]

going to see them in oxygen

[boatskate]

him never have a stereo, bucket though... These guys are tits!

[heru1966]

Great collection of pics, some I'd never seen before, some that I still have in my own collection from 30 years on. My favourite band of all time and definitely my favourite British group. :-)

[sillysausagemilly]

they have to be one of the best bands that have ever come out of the uk.

[blackmajor1]

best lyic s , florestent jam sandwich with flashing blue lights

[blackmajor1]

reply to fez , i had to older brothers , got bought up on this !!!! , that how i remember them

[Cokowawa]

2:10, 2:11 look at the guy in the left!

[thackerb67]

best band ever....probably!

[tpqadw]

no probably about it, best live band bar none

[toiletteytapiz]

@thackerb67 

[tomeeeee1]

'til his nicoteen fingers are stuffed down his throat. the best lyricos ever! ENGLAND 4 ever.

[tomeeeee1]

but he doesnt really exist!!!!!!!!!!

[MadnotMad79]

but he,s wrapped round the lampost on saturday night :(

[blackmajor1]

i remember when these were the coventry automatics ??? many moons ago ( in my youth ) but there not many modern groups that have replaced them

[fez41]

But you would only have been seven! They didn't change their name til 1978. Are you sure you remember them?

[andyparse]

he might be 83

[floppybollox3]

The dayz when musical Britain as truly Great! Where did it ll go?

[noonoobaggins]

So very true, but have they the X factor ;-)

[nuttyboy11]

Good job Willo.....any footage from recent gigs???

[nybras66]

wah! where's the part 2??? sob! :(

[n2music48]

love this song

[BabaYayaLeo]

reminds me of my first love's best mate :) good times

[moonstomp66]

luv jerry dammers front teeth , or lack ov 'em!!!!!so i got mine kicked out in 1980,from chelsea skin'eads....wish i could play the keyboard tho........ah! well WEST HAM FOREVA!!!!!!!!!!

[andyparse]

fuckin exellent. The vid is the best.

[mwjppgg]

Excellent!

[andyparse]

fuckin ace mate. the pcs are brill.

[ebantiass1]

Great stuff very topical and still relivant today many years after.Captured the youth culture in britain excellently and with some very good melodies too.

[thesocratex]

well I was 13 when the first album came, then we had the second.

I remember me listen it in my daddy's car , I stole a cassette at the record shop (easier, and the only stolen one of my life) well..was a shock but very interesting. I was and still I am a lot in the two tone stuff.

Great song.

[therealsoulproduct]

But now that I'm older, wiser, and much more open minded I love this side. I loved the fact that they were ballsy enough to experiment with different sounds and created this element of surprise to the listener. The Specials were a great band!

[arcanis22]

I had a very similer experience a few years ago mate. I was really getting into some oldschool "jamaican-style" ska from the likes of badmanners and desmond decker and when I started listening to some of the specials' later stuff and neville staples' band I was really put off until I started REALY listening to it. Can't beat it IMHO

[therealsoulproduct]

I remember listening to this for the first time back in 2000. I had luckily stumbled upon a "More Specials" cassette in the bargain bin. I loved the 1st album and hoped the 2nd album would have more of that rootin', tootin' Ska! I enjoyed the 1st side of "More Specials" even though some songs sounded a bit strange. Then I flipped the tape over to side 2. I was like, "WTF IS THIS SHIT?!" It was like listening to another band. I hated the fact that they went off the deep end like that.

[amclpreston]

Actually, I thought that 'Stereotypes - Part 2' on I'm pretty sure side 2 of More Specials was utterly brilliant. Having said which I spent most of my university days 38 years ago listening to 'Let's Make the Water Turn Black' by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

What made The Specials special for me was that they didn't just play ska covers straight off the boat from Jamaica. They were Coventry kids and they had a lot more to say, about urban life here. And I still play their albums.

[BeccaJade90]

i love this 1

x x x x

[66richardson]

Could you upload "Stereotypes Part 2"?

[rudeboiupfront]

grew up with the specials,born 1967 11+ when they were best! we got the best music in our early teens, still love it now! got to go back to the rat race monday! makes £!!

[schuchtern]

Superb song :-)

[lebriel31]

i remember my mum sneeking into my room to borrow this album, coz she liked the first one, bit more swearing on this one! on vinyl i mean!i had to laugh!

[chunkyhugo]

When I was about 12, I played this album so much it nearly wore out the tape! Liked this album more than the first; wish they'd done more, but hey! They went out at the top and Neville Staples is still a dude to this day!

[PHATDADDY100]

wow! your mom liked your music? i remember playing this album when i was 19, my mom and dad thought i was retarted. its still a great song.

[beevapatrol]

knew Jerry Dammers in the 80's too coll to chat hiself up, and we never saw the best of a genius we ad a beer in the red Wedge gig in Cardiff in the early 90's and he aint done a lot since.

[juantxoskalari]

de lo mejor de la musica simplemente exquisito

i love this song

[DIZZYskin]

Nice collection of pix.

[dcowboy08]

Their best song by far.

[bunkersoldier1966]

Great pics thanks for posting

[scottlegod]

and the sad thing is there were pricks like this back then - lying selfish posers! Probably still exist today?

Great song though

[r8ltl]

oh my fek i ave this on vinyl double a side i think int jet set

[technoturnip]

my fav specials tune great stuff

[frankrfranklin]

gotta loves the ghost chorus. tanx for p'osting

[liverpoolmod]

hes just a stereo oo type love it