A historic night for American television and for ska music as The Specials performed for the first time in decades on late night TV in the U.S. This video is of their web-exclusive performance of their hit “Little Bitch” which aired on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC last night. I’ve already received emails from friends and fans that were in attendance at the show.
Yes, people; The Specials are officially back in America! If you didn’t buy a plane ticket to NYC or Cali, your next best option for seeing the Specials playing live is by tuning in to The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon tonight (Tuesday, April 13th, 11:35 PM CST). The big question is, what are they going to play? Their first appearance in NYC on SNL in 1980, they gave a cracking performance of “Gangsters”; will they repeat it? Will it be everybody’s favorite “A Message To You, Rudy”? “Too Much Too Young”? Maybe even pull a Special AKA card and do a 17-minute rendition of “Free Nelson Mandela”? You’ll just have to tune in and watch for yourself!
Check out some recent live videos from the Jools Holland show after the jump.
Ska news is Fit to Print! The New York Times has recently published an article detailing the long-anticipated reunion of one of ska’s most legendary groups – The Specials. Read the full article HERE.
Good news, everyone! We are less than a month away from a brand new Pama International album! The legendary dub group have announced that their newest record Pama Outernational will hit stores in April 2010. The album has already received some critical acclaim:
“Pama Intl continue their inexorable rise” 4 Stars
- Mojo“12 hook-filled tracks, vintage rocksteady spiked with soul… An album of substance”
- Q Magazine“acknowledges the glory days of Studio 1 but sounds fresh and relevant today”
- Record Collector“I’d simply say, it’s brilliant.” Album of the Month
- Scootering magazine
I’m listening to the album right now and I have to say that the sounds are rich and diverse, with soul-infused dub that make the songs sound like instant classics! The band issued a press release to highlight Pama Outernational:
King Tubby & Lee Perry‘s dub stylings meet the southern soul sounds of 1960′s Stax, all the time remaining distinctly Pama Intl. The classic sounds of yesteryear, with a social commentary firmly cemented in the 21st century.
The resulting soundclash is fronted by long time musical cohorts Sean Flowerdew and Finny (who cut their teeth together in UK ska-upstarts The Loafers, before joining 2 Tone supergroup Special Beat) and The Specials/Fun Boy 3 singer and guitarist Lynval Golding. They’re backed by a wonderfully diverse array of musical talent, including members from Acid Jazz label stars Lord Large, Kasabian, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Pop Will Eat Itself and Lynval’s fellow Special, Sir Horace Panter. Co-producing the album with Flowerdew is John Collins (producer of The Specials iconic ‘Ghost Town’).
2009 was yet another huge year for Pama Intl, with not one but two support tours with The Specials, countless festival appearances including Glastonbury and overwhelming response to ‘Outernational’. 2010 looks set to exceed all expectations.
Check out the album art and track listing after the jump.
Welcome to another edition of Miss Upsetter’s Retro Vinyl Review! Miss Upsetter is originally from Arizona where she was very involved with the ska scene and used to run the now-defunct ska site Get Up Edina! Being the vinyl junkie that she is, she posted many quick-hit reviews of some classic ska and reggae albums on that site. We have unearthed these reviews and will share as many as we can for a somewhat daily review segment.
Today’s review is of the album More Specials by The Specials (2-Tone Records):
This album definitely shows The Specials transition to maturity and heading toward the “muzak” sound that Terry Hall wanted. I actually like this album the more out of their two full-lenghs. Songs like “Sock it to em J.B” and “Man at C&A” constantly get stuck in my head. I’ve heard people argue that this album was “a terrible attempt” at a musical transition for the band, but I beg to differ. I think in comparison to their self-titled album, this one shows a lot more creativity and breaks away from the same old songs that they covered.
This may be old news, but I feel that it is also good news. 2 Tone ska legends The Specials are talking about a full-blown reunion for this upcoming year. The band reformed in 2008, which was the first time the group had played since they split up in 1981, but this was without Jerry Dammers who claimed was forced out of the band. However, Madness frontman Suggs told Britain’s Daily Star that:
We have been talking about playing with The Specials this year but the problem for us is that they haven’t had Jerry Dammers in the band. We are pals with both camps so kind of caught in the middle. But there’s now talk of us doing a massive festival next year together, and maybe a big tour.
You can read the full article at contactmusic.com
Although there has been some discussion on the MNSka forum as to her ability to pull off playing ska covers, I decided to post this video of Amy Winehouse doing a cover of The Specials “Hey Little Rich Girl” at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007. Although there is evidence that she can ruin a ska song like the trainwreck that she is, the above video proves that she can also do them justice.
This is a recent live performance of the reunited Specials, performing their hits “Gangsters” and “A Message To You Rudy” on the British show Later with Jools. Big thanks to Tom from MNSka and the Ska Blah Blah blog for pointing out that this video was posted.
According to the reliable VentnorBlog, the popular 80′s ska group The Specials may potentially fill the “surprise act” slot at this year’s Bestival, an outdoor music festival in Newport, UK. Frontman Terry Hall made some comments on BBC Radio London that some could interpret as an announcement that you may find them on the main stage this Saturday (September 6th). Hall appeared at last year’s Bestival alongside fellow Specials’ band member, Lynval Golding. Another reason why many think this is a possibility is because Hall is already scheduled to perform with the Dub Pistols on Friday night, so appearing with the Specials the following evening wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.
Last year, fellow 2-Tone band Madness took the same surprise slot on the main stage. This year’s headliners include My Bloody Valentine, Amy Winehouse, and Underworld.
