SONGS THAT SAVED MY LIFE #2
This blog is about my love of music, how it's grown and changed over the years, my thoughts, feelings, memories and opinions on my lifelong passion. But it's also about much more: an undeniable feeling that i simply cannot imagine life without music. I never had an interest in sport, cars, computer games, or any of the other things that men generally get quite obsessive about. I never had many friends or girlfriends for most of my life, and so music became my friend, my companion, my way of connecting and making sense of life. I'm not sure what i would have done without it, and when i meet people who aren't bothered about or - in very rare cases - interested in music, i find it very hard to comprehend! So as part of this blog, i'm going to try and do an occasional and non-chronological series of posts about the songs and albums that really changed my life and musical tastes. I've already written about my love for Madness, what their music has meant and still means to me, so i'm going to consider my earlier entry about them and the Divine Madness compilation as part 1.
#2: THE SPECIALS - SINGLES.
After becoming a fan of Madness in 1992, i heard and read about the 2-Tone and Ska revival scene they'd been part of in their early success, and the other bands who were involved. I wanted to know more, and hear more, but in those days before the internet it was harder to do that. Luckily, having been told about The Specials by my Mum, i found this cd in the local library in early 1993. And still not knowing much about Ska or its roots, it was a revelation: short, snappy, danceable songs with serious lyrics about racism, politics, social and class issues, personal statements about life in late 70's and early 80's Britain, in the deprived inner cities and run-down Midlands, specifically Coventry, the home of the band and the 2-Tone label. The photo of the band in the booklet grabbed me too: 7 serious-looking young black and white men in sharp suits and pork pie hats, looking not unlike the gangsters of the bands' debut single. There was no information about the band or the songs other than the titles, no sleevenotes or lyrics, so the music was all i had to go on. And what music it was! The bouncing ska grooves of Gangsters, Rat Race, Nite Klub, and Too Much Too Young: the laidback rocksteady shuffle of Rudy, A Message To You and Do Nothing: the easy listening influenced Stereotype, International Jet Set, and Friday Night, Saturday Morning: And of course, The Specials masterpiece, the haunting Ghost Town, written about the social and racial tensions in Thatchers Britain. As the band had toured the country in early '81, chief Special Jerry Dammers felt inspired to write the song after witnessing scenes of urban deprivation, inner city poverty and desperation, and the simmering tensions bought about by police racism and social inequality. Massive unemployment, the closure of industry, and the rise of the National Front all added to growing sense of unease that something was about to erupt. This dub inspired song, with minor key chords, stabs of brass, a spectral flute line, a howling wordless banshee wail for a chorus, minimal but deep lyrics: "this town is 'coming like a ghost town.... Too much fighting on the dancefloor..... People getting angry.....government leaving the youth on the shelf.... can't go on no more....." combined to make a song that sounded like nothing else. And it was to prove not to be just social comment, but prophecy: on the week that this unlikeliest of chart toppers hit No. 1, riots erupted in 35 inner cities around the UK. At the time, i knew none of this, but i sensed that this was a very important song, and listening to it made my neck hairs stand up and gripped my imagination: it still does to this day, and i've never tired of this album. That line up of the band tore itself apart as their finest achievement soundtracked the social turmoil of the country, and later Dammers would form another version of the band, The Special A.K.A. 4 of their singles are here, only one of which was a hit - the anti-apartheid anthem Free Nelson Mandela - and are far too serious for my tastes, so i rarely play them. The preceding 12 songs, with their thrilling mix of music to make you not only dance but think, are legendary in pop.
One of the great things about cds is the opportunity to discover music from years ago, but that is also a frustration: a lot of the bands i've gotten into over the years have long split up. Or they had. In 2008, the original band (minus Jerry Dammers, who had declined to take part or wasn't invited, depending on who you hear it from!) reformed and began touring to old and new fans alike. In 2011, i finally got to see them play after years of obsessing over their music, and they were everything i thought they would be.
#2: THE SPECIALS - SINGLES.
After becoming a fan of Madness in 1992, i heard and read about the 2-Tone and Ska revival scene they'd been part of in their early success, and the other bands who were involved. I wanted to know more, and hear more, but in those days before the internet it was harder to do that. Luckily, having been told about The Specials by my Mum, i found this cd in the local library in early 1993. And still not knowing much about Ska or its roots, it was a revelation: short, snappy, danceable songs with serious lyrics about racism, politics, social and class issues, personal statements about life in late 70's and early 80's Britain, in the deprived inner cities and run-down Midlands, specifically Coventry, the home of the band and the 2-Tone label. The photo of the band in the booklet grabbed me too: 7 serious-looking young black and white men in sharp suits and pork pie hats, looking not unlike the gangsters of the bands' debut single. There was no information about the band or the songs other than the titles, no sleevenotes or lyrics, so the music was all i had to go on. And what music it was! The bouncing ska grooves of Gangsters, Rat Race, Nite Klub, and Too Much Too Young: the laidback rocksteady shuffle of Rudy, A Message To You and Do Nothing: the easy listening influenced Stereotype, International Jet Set, and Friday Night, Saturday Morning: And of course, The Specials masterpiece, the haunting Ghost Town, written about the social and racial tensions in Thatchers Britain. As the band had toured the country in early '81, chief Special Jerry Dammers felt inspired to write the song after witnessing scenes of urban deprivation, inner city poverty and desperation, and the simmering tensions bought about by police racism and social inequality. Massive unemployment, the closure of industry, and the rise of the National Front all added to growing sense of unease that something was about to erupt. This dub inspired song, with minor key chords, stabs of brass, a spectral flute line, a howling wordless banshee wail for a chorus, minimal but deep lyrics: "this town is 'coming like a ghost town.... Too much fighting on the dancefloor..... People getting angry.....government leaving the youth on the shelf.... can't go on no more....." combined to make a song that sounded like nothing else. And it was to prove not to be just social comment, but prophecy: on the week that this unlikeliest of chart toppers hit No. 1, riots erupted in 35 inner cities around the UK. At the time, i knew none of this, but i sensed that this was a very important song, and listening to it made my neck hairs stand up and gripped my imagination: it still does to this day, and i've never tired of this album. That line up of the band tore itself apart as their finest achievement soundtracked the social turmoil of the country, and later Dammers would form another version of the band, The Special A.K.A. 4 of their singles are here, only one of which was a hit - the anti-apartheid anthem Free Nelson Mandela - and are far too serious for my tastes, so i rarely play them. The preceding 12 songs, with their thrilling mix of music to make you not only dance but think, are legendary in pop.
One of the great things about cds is the opportunity to discover music from years ago, but that is also a frustration: a lot of the bands i've gotten into over the years have long split up. Or they had. In 2008, the original band (minus Jerry Dammers, who had declined to take part or wasn't invited, depending on who you hear it from!) reformed and began touring to old and new fans alike. In 2011, i finally got to see them play after years of obsessing over their music, and they were everything i thought they would be.
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