"Specials"^^ . . "Coventry's Specials was the vehicle for Jerry Dammers to launch a full blown ska revival in the late 70s and with dour singer Terry Hall and a multi-racial team of fine musicians, made the 2-Tone label one of the country's most influential imprints. In the wake of their excellent debut single 'Gangsters', the ska-punk template and the authentic Rude Boy look became hugely fashionable, while The Specials continued to notch up hits like 'A Message To You Rudi' and the banned-by-the-BBC 'Too Much Too Young'. Despite scoring a number 1 with the politcally charged (and extremely relevant due to recent race riots) 'Ghost Town', the band lost direction and soon split when Hall took guitarist Lynval Golding and percussionist Neville Staples to form Fun Boy Three. Dammers soldiered on as The Special AKA, but despite a major hit with 'Free Nelson Mandela', he called it quits soon afterwards to concentrate on his Artists Against Apartheid work."^^ . "Specials"^^ . . . . . .