The Question

Have The Time

The Tears of a Clown

Tears of a Clown

More Specials

Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) (2015 Remaster)

The Specials

Too Much Too Young (Live)

(Dawning of A) New Era (2015 Remaster)

(Dawning of A) New Era (BBC in Concert: Live at Paris Theatre, 15 December 1979)

Too Much Too Young (2015 Remaster)

Rude Boys Outa Jail (BBC in Concert: Live at Paris Theatre, 15 December 1979)

What makes a protest song? The Specials should know. First time around, back when the 70s were lurching into the 80s, they sang of racism, war, unemployment and the rough edges of urban life, and never in the same way twice. As the multiracial flagship of the 2 Tone movement, they made a political statement every time they stepped on stage. June 2021 saw the 40th anniversary of their last and greatest protest song, Ghost Town, a record that will retain its eerie power as long as there are concrete jungles, empty dancehalls and desperate spasms of violence.
 
It's fitting, then, that in 2021 the Specials are releasing Protest Songs 1924-2012, an unpredictable collection of unique takes which celebrates the long history and endless versatility of the form, from folk to post-punk, from righteous uplift to biting satire, and from Kingston to Alabama. It’s a potent reminder that there are no fixed rules to templates for a protest song. All that’s required is the combination of something that needs to be said with music that needs to be heard. “People have been using music as a vehicle for protest since time immemorial,” says bass-player Horace Panter. “Injustice is timeless.”
 
“2020 was the year of protest, wasn’t it?” says Horace. “It was in the air. The hardest part of the whole record was deciding what songs to use.” Following the musical liberation of Encore, genre was no obstacle. Each song demands a different arrangement or tone of voice. “We thought, let’s throw out the musical constraints of the Specials. There’s not a tonic suit or Fred Perry in sight. We don’t want to deny our past, because that enables us to do what we do now, but we have our own creative minds to make up.”

Rude Boys Outa Jail (BBC in Concert: Live at Paris Theatre, 15 December 1979)

The Specials

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