THE SPECIALS -- Rudi, A Message To You_Guns Of Navarone

The Specials (sometimes called The Special AKA) are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. They have had hits in the United Kingdom, and their music is featured in film and television soundtracks. After seven consecutive UK Top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981, the band broke up. On 7 April 2008 it was announced that the band are officially reforming, ( Without Jerry Dammers)
After being formed in 1977 by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding, and Horace Panter (also known as Sir Horace Gentleman), the band was first called The Automatics, and then The Coventry Automatics. Terry Hall and Roddy Byers (AKA Roddy Radiation) joined the band the following year, and the band changed its name to The Special AKA The Coventry Automatics, and then to The Special AKA. Joe Strummer of The Clash had attended one of their concerts, and invited The Special AKA to open for his band in their On Parole UK Tour. This performance gave The Special AKA a new level of national exposure, and they briefly shared the Clash's management. In 1979, Dammers decided to form his own record label, and 2 Tone Records was born. On this label, the band released their 7" debut, a reworking of Prince Buster's ska hit "Al Capone". Retitled "Gangsters", the song became a Top Ten hit in 1979.

The band had begun wearing mod/rude boy/skinhead-style two-tone tonic suits, along with other elements of late 1960s teen fashions. Changing their name to The Specials, they recorded their debut LP Specials in 1979, produced by Elvis Costello. In a nod to classic ska, the album lead off with Dandy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message To You" (slightly altering the title to "A Message To You, Rudy") and also had covers of Prince Buster and Toots and the Maytals songs from the late-1960s. In 1980, the EP "Too Much Too Young" (credited to The Special AKA) was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart, despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which reference teen pregnancy and promote condom use.

Reverting once again to the moniker The Specials, the band's second album, More Specials was not as commercially successful or plainly ska-influenced as previous recordings. The album featured a more experimental approach; including influences from pop music, new wave, and muzak. Their 'lounge music' style would later be an influence on bands such as Air. The band also experimented with what could be described as dark, almost psychedelic reggae. Notable female backing singers on the Specials first two studio albums included: Chrissie Hynde, Rhoda Dakar (Then of The Bodysnatchers and later of The Special AKA), Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey (of The Go-Gos). "Ghost Town", a non-LP Specials single, hit number one in 1981, However, shortly afterwards, Staple, Golding and Hall left the band to form Fun Boy Three.

Dammers then drastically revised the line-up of the band, adding vocalists Stan Campbell and Rhoda Dakar, and began working again under the group name The Special AKA. The resulting album from the new line-up, In the Studio, was not very commercially successful, although the songs "Racist Friend" and "Nelson Mandela" were hits. The latter contributed to making Mandela a cause célèbre in the United Kingdom, and became popular with anti-Apartheid activists in South Africa. Dammers then dissolved the band and pursued political activism

Category:

Music

Tags:

• THE
• SPECIALS
• SKINHEADS
• SKA
• TWO
• TONE

[JOCC07]

Rude Boy! Rude Boy! Rude Boy!

[piaggiolover77]

2 tone are still alive..

[delron44]

jaa

[dog2son]

WHITE AND BLACK MAKES = WALK! SO PRAISE JESUS1. PEACE.

[skandal1966]

roooots

[MadFranko008]

@CrunchyFeet

Rudy, Rudie, Rudi or Rude Boy... are not describing a specific individual. It's an old Jamaican term used to describe "juvenile delinquents" or "juvenile criminals"... :-)

It's used in "Ska" terms because of the roots of Ska (ie: Jamaica) that Two Tone music is based on... :-)

I've been listening to the Specials every day since 79 and all the other great Ska bands for over 30 years now and no other music can touch it...

Your never too old or too young to be a Rude Boy... :-)

[keelanrudd266]

timeless music only in britain

[mikeed500]

Ruuuuuuudi.....wicked!

[sarahrumancik]

@CrunchyFeet Rudy is another name for rude boy, if that helps.

[JEEROFUKU]

Bloody brilliant indeed!!!

[CrunchyFeet]

I've been trying to find out who "Rudy" is...if you have any thoughts on the matter, please let me know.