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ANNOUNCEMENTS•
Terry Hall, lead singer of British ska group The Specials, has died at the age of 63. The band writes on social media that “one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists Britain has ever produced” has died after a short illness.
The Specials are the founders of British ska, a hugely popular movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group around Hall was then an inspiration for several well-known British ska bands of the time, such as Madness, The Selecter and The Beat.
In 1979 the Specials broke through with the single Gangster, also in the Netherlands. After which the shots were scored with the cover A message for you Rudy (1979) a Ghost city (1981). The latter song has been seen as the soundtrack to riots that erupted in dozens of cities that year due to racial tensions, high unemployment, and declining purchasing power.
Hall joined the group shortly after its formation and was the frontman in its heyday. In 1981, along with singer Neville Staple and rhythm guitarist Lynval Golding, he left the band after a conflict. The three formed the group Fun Boy Three. For years Hall wanted nothing to do with a reunion, but in 2007 he started to itch and started playing The Specials songs again at festivals alongside Golding.
A full-fledged reunion was later announced, although the band was never on stage again in the original lineup. The Specials also performed regularly in the Netherlands and played two more concerts in Utrecht and Amsterdam in June this year.
I have no idea who would play which instrument
Hall once said the Specials’ success was an accidental byproduct of the punk movement. “When I saw the Sex Pistols and the Clash, it didn’t seem too difficult” he said last year. “It didn’t seem like they were all that good musicians, so we just had to form a band and then flesh it out.”
“We didn’t even know who was going to get which part in the band. We switched instruments until everyone was happy. I wasn’t comfortable with any instrument, so I became the singer.”
The band’s statement called Hall a wonderful husband and father. “He was kind, funny and sincere. His music and his performances captured the essence of life: joy, pain, humor, the fight for justice, but above all love. He will be greatly missed.”
