Today's Specials
Encyclopedia
Today's Specials is a cover album by The Specials
, released in 1996 (see 1996 in music
). It is the first studio album by the group since 1984 although not in the full original line-up.
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
, released in 1996 (see 1996 in music
1996 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
). It is the first studio album by the group since 1984 although not in the full original line-up.
Track listing
- "Take FiveTake Five"Take Five" is a jazz piece written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, this piece became one of the group's best-known records, famous for its...
" (Paul DesmondPaul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
) - 3:56 - "Pressure DropPressure Drop (song)"Pressure Drop" is a song recorded in 1969 by The Maytals for producer Leslie Kong. The song appears on their 1970 album Monkey Man and From the Roots...
" (Toots HibbertToots HibbertFrederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert is a ska and roots reggae singer and leader of the reggae band Toots & the Maytals.-Biography:...
) - 4:18 - "Hypocrite" (Bob MarleyBob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
)- 3:25 - "Goodbye Girl" (David GatesDavid GatesDavid Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
) - 3:57 - "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" (Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
) - 4:32 - "Time Has Come" (Ziggy MarleyZiggy MarleyDavid "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley...
) - 5:09 - "Dirty Old TownDirty Old Town"Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 that was made popular by The Dubliners and has been recorded by many others since.-History:...
" (Ewan MacCollEwan MacCollEwan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
) - 3:33 - "Somebody Got Murdered" (The ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
) - 3:06 - "Shanty Town 007" (Desmond DekkerDesmond DekkerDesmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group, The Aces , he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 " and "It Miek"...
/Leslie KongLeslie KongLeslie Kong was a Chinese Jamaican record producer.-Career:Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Street, Kingston...
) - 3:57 - "Simmer DownSimmer Down"Simmer Down" was the first single released by The Wailers, accompanied by the ska supergroup, The Skatalites, and produced by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1963...
" (Marley) - 3:46 - "Maga Dog" (Peter ToshPeter ToshPeter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
) - 2:54 - "Bad Boys" (Beckford Bailey) - 5:08
Personnel
- Neville Staple - vocals, producer
- Roddy Byers - vocals, guitar
- Lynval GoldingLynval GoldingLynval Golding is a British musician. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist and vocalist with the British 2 Tone Records band, The Specials....
- guitar, vocals, harmonica, mixing - Horace PanterHorace PanterHorace Panter also known as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the Coventry 2 Tone, ska revival band The Specials....
- bass guitar - Mark Adams - organ, keyboards, backing vocals, programming, mixing
- Adam Birch - trombone, trumpet, horn, flugelhorn
- Aitch Hyatt - drums, backing vocals
- Sheena Staple - backing vocals
- Stoker - producer, mixing
- Tom Lowry - producer, programming, engineer
- Jim Lansberry - programming, mixing, engineer