The Specials - Rat Race (1984)

To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the classic 'Ghost Town' single, here is a collection of some of The Specials' rare tracks from the first five years of their existence, bookending all three songs from the 'Ghost Town' 12" single. The band, also known as The Special AKA, formed in 1977 in Coventry, and after some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. The band began around the same time as Rock Against Racism, which was first organised in 1978, and Dammers' vision was that this was intrinsic to the formation of The Specials, with the goal of integrating black and white musicians. They were first called the Automatics, then the Coventry Automatics, and finally settled on The Special AKA, under which name they released their first single 'Gansters', on their own 2 Tone Records label.  After 'Gangsters' became a top 10 hit in the summer of 1979, the band dropped the 'AKA' to become The Specials, and they recorded their eponymous debut album in 1979, produced by Elvis Costello. As well as containing original material, the album also featured covers of classic ska tunes, such as Dandy Livingstone's 'Rudy, A Message To You' (slightly altering the title to 'A Message To You, Rudy'), and songs by Prince Buster and Toots & the Maytals. In 1980, the 'Too Much Too Young' EP was released under the name of The Special A.K.A., and was a No. 1 hit in the UK singles chart, despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which referenced teen pregnancy and promoted contraception. Reverting once again to the name of The Specials for their second album, 'More Specials' was not as commercially successful, and was recorded at a time when conflicts had developed within the band. In the first few months of 1981, the band took a break from recording and touring, and then released 'Ghost Town', which again topped the singles chart, although despite this success, relationships had become so strained within the group that Staple, Hall and Golding announced they were leaving the band, later forming The Funboy Three. For the next few years, the group was in a seemingly constant state of flux, and in 1982 they released 'The Boiler' with Rhoda Dakar on vocals, Dammers on keyboards, Bradbury on drums, John Shipley (from the Swinging Cats) on guitar, Cuthell on brass and Nicky Summers on bass. The single was credited to Rhoda With The Special AKA, and the track describes an incident of date rape, with its frank and harrowing depiction meaning that airplay was severely limited. After going on tour with Rodriguez, the band recorded 'Jungle Music' as Rico And The Special AKA, although this failed to chart when released. After two further mildly successful singles, in 1984 the band finally issued a new full-length album 'In the Studio', once again reverting back to the name The Special AKA. The record was both critically and commercially less successful than previous efforts, although the single 'Free Nelson Mandela' was a No. 9 UK hit, and helped contribute to making Mandela's imprisonment a cause célèbre in the UK, but it wasn't enough to hold the group together, and Dammers dissolved the band to pursue political activism. The Specials were without doubt at the forefront of the whole ska/bluebeat resurgence of the late 70's, and helped bands such as Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, The Selecter, and even Bad Manners onto their own chart success, and for that they fully deserve this retrospective.   

Track listing

01 Rat Race (single 1980)

02 Rude Boys Outta Jail (b-side of 'Rat Race')

03 Maggie's Farm (b-side of 'Do Nothing')

04 Sea Cruise (John Peel session 1980)

05 Ghost Town (single 1981)

06 Why? (b-side of 'Ghost Town')

07 Friday Night, Saturday Morning (b-side of 'Ghost Town')

08 Raquel (from the free NME cassette 'C81' 1981)

09 Jungle Music (single by Rico And The Special A.K.A. 1982)

10 Rasta Call You (b-side of 'Jungle Music')

11 Easter Island (b-side of 'Jungle Music')

12 Theme From The Boiler (b-side of 'The Boiler' by Rhoda With The Special A.K.A. 1982)

13 Can't Get A Break (b-side of 'What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend' 1984)