The Bands

     The Specials hailed from coventry and came together in 1978. Their first single came out in 1979. They were a seven piece band consisting of Neville Staples and Terry Hall singing; Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on Guitar; Jerry Dammers on Keyboard; Sir Horace Gentleman on bass; and John Bradbury on drums. On Trombone Rico Rodriguez, while not being a full fleged band member, played with the band frequently and added an important element to the sound.      After releasing five hit albums and seven top-ten singles the band split. Singers Terry Hall and Neville staple took fellow band member lyndval and formed The Fun Boy Three. Roddy Radiation split soon after to for his own band Roddy Radiation and the Tearjerkers. Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury, and Sir Horace grabbed some guest musicians and carryed on with the Special AKA.

     It is said that the only reason The Selector even got together is because the Specials needed a B Side to their first single. Neol Davis had enough of a tune together, so it was put on the back of the Gangsters single. Well, that record and its historic B side rocketed up the charts. Neol then grabbed six musicians, including fabulous lead vocalist Pauline Black, and formed the band proper. They went on to create two albums; Too Much Pressure, and Celebrate the bullet; both of which were later on cut down and compiled into a "Best Of" type album called Selected Selecter Selections. The band disbanded in 1981.

     The Beat came from Birminghah. They released one single under the 2 Tone Label, and then proceeded to make their own label. Six strong, they were fronted by Singer/guitarist Dave Wakeling and Singer Ranking Roger. The word English was added to their name because; in order to release anything in America they had to have a unique band name. The name The Beat was already taken, hence The English Beat. They went on to release three albums; I Just Can't Stop It, Wh'appen, and Special Beat Service. And who can forget the live singles on the Dance Craze lp, and the best of album What is Beat. After their three albums they split to form Fun Boy Three and General Public.

A seven man band who formed in 1976. They enjoyed success with hits like Baggy Trousers, House of Fun, One Step Beyond, and One Better Day. Thet released 11 albums, busted out with 28 singles, 5 music videos, and finally even made a movie called Take it or Leave it. They broke up around 1986, but have been popping up all over the place since they came back and did some reunion concerts in 1992.