Woke up this morning too the sad news that Terry Hall has passed away. Got great memories as a kid listening to his music, from The Specials and Fun Boy 3. Band pays tribute to The Specials singer Terry Hall who died aged 63 https://mol.im/a/11556031 via https://dailym.ai/android
... very sad news for me having loved his music, his attitude and his legacy. Ghost Town is a wonderful song to leave, way better than so called classics like Bohemian Rhapsody or Bat out of Hell, etc. I only met him once and never realised he'd lived his life hindered by depression. Gone but will never be forgotten.
Loved Ghost Town when I was a kid and even taped it off the radio when we were on holiday! . But the song that's going through my head this morning is a cover that they sang at a concert - Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
I was in a restaurant only last week and the waiter asked me if I wanted to hear the specials. I said yes and he replied 'this town, is coming like a ghost town'..... That's the cultural impact this lad and the band, and the movement he was involved in had. Working class lads of every colour fusing British and West Indian music together to make something new. RIP Terry. 63 is ridiculous these days. Might be Ska day in the office today.
The Specials were a massive part of my youth, Monkey Man cover was brilliant but without doubt Too Much Too Young was my favourite, it encapsulated such a lot of peoples lives who I mixed with in my early youth. Youth pregnancy was very common in my area late 70s early 80s, a lad and lass I knocked about with were parents at 15. RIP Terry
Brilliant band, saw them at the Mecca in Sunderland think it was’79, Do Nothing is a big favourite of mine
Sad sad news. Leaves a hell of a music legacy. Love the specials. About a month ago I had a car full of work mates on the way back from an event. Ghost Town came on my playlist and everybody immediately knew it and hummed or sang along. One of those bands, brings everyone together.
I think he is from a genre of music people of different musical likes appreciate for what it was. One of the lads in my car was a big 70s rock fan but said 2 tone just made you smile feel good about music.
I posted this on the other thread, so copying it in here...... "I wasn't a fan of ska/two tone at the time of the Specials....hated it tbh. But it's one of those genre's of music that I've come to listen to, enjoy, and appreciate, as I've got older. R.I.P. Terry, another good un gone,and at only 63, way too soon". ............... I wish I'd had a more open mind about music in my mid-to-late teens, instead of focusing on one particular style/genre. I feel like I missed out on so much good stuff, that by the time I came to appreciate it, it was too late.
Same here Snaggey, in my youth, I listened to nothing but folk or folk rock music and missed out on a host of fantastic artists but with the help of posters on here I am slowly being educated.
Saw them at the Mayfair in the Two Tone tour with Madness, etc., I was into west Indian music in those days (having sung a few lines of Enjoy Yourself with the Jolly Boys in Jamaica a year or two earlier, my only claim to stardom ), and only enjoyed the Specials, even though the band were poor imo., Terry had his own style only eclipsed by the totally opposite Jas Smash that night. good show but all in all very patchy imo.
Aye very unique and brilliant artist in my opinion, although I was only 19 at the time and under the influence I’ve always considered they were the best live band I’ve seen, crowd were going crazy and if I remember correctly, there used to be a massive imitation tree in the Mecca and somebody climbed up there and wouldn’t come down while the Specials were on
Sounds about right, those were great years in the NE and fondly remembered. My fav story about the Mecca was one night I walked in with a guy woth a small dog on a lead the doorman waved us through and when we got to the top of the stairs the figure in front turned round and smiled it was Steve Winwood. Could you imagine anything like that happening these days ?