The Specials: Coventry Cathedral
Comments
Ta. Will tape.
Ahh, definitely not the night I was there. The edit has chopped some of the classics in favour of songs from Encore (number one album in the UK at the time to be fair) so not just a greatest hits package.
If anyone watches it and is unfamiliar with the woman on stage:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffiyah_Khan
If anyone watches it and is unfamiliar with the woman on stage:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffiyah_Khan
Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
Yes - it's hard with a band like the Specials who are so much more than the sum of their parts. It's Lynval, Horace and Terry by the time of Encore isn't it - plus the Scandinavian keyboardist who'd been with them for years. I think John Bradbury's drumming was a big miss. They seemed energised around the time of Encore I thought - they seemed to react to adverse conditions....EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
I have to confess I choose the boxing last night after the kids went to bed - but I will have a look - thank you.
So still a bit special then ? :)EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
Yes those three. I think Horace is the only person to have been in every line up and he's still gigging most nights with The Dirt Road Band or The James Oliver Band (both blues, old school RnB type things), Lynval has had health problems for a couple of years and Terry is RIP (died on my birthday so I know when the anniversary is...). There was a charity gig thing recently and single but I think that's the last gasp really. I think Neville stopped doing solo gigs due to health issues. Roddy is still gigging and posting bitter comments about most of the rest of them. Jerry been in semi retirement since the 1980s.Placidcasual79 said:Yes - it's hard with a band like the Specials who are so much more than the sum of their parts. It's Lynval, Horace and Terry by the time of Encore isn't it - plus the Scandinavian keyboardist who'd been with them for years. I think John Bradbury's drumming was a big miss. They seemed energised around the time of Encore I thought - they seemed to react to adverse conditions....EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
I have to confess I choose the boxing last night after the kids went to bed - but I will have a look - thank you.
The track with Saffiyah Khan might rate as the most disliked in the band's history but possibly hints at what the reggae album they never got to make might have sounded like. Instead we got Protest Songs which is a bit hit and miss.
3/7ths of the original line up, still a bit special.GoFish said:So still a bit special then ? :)EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
I liked Encore - but Protest Songs lost me a little. They were a really unique combination of musicians and influences - Horace, Bradbury, Golding and Dammers where a great rhythm section I think...EricTheWeary said:Yes those three. I think Horace is the only person to have been in every line up and he's still gigging most nights with The Dirt Road Band or The James Oliver Band (both blues, old school RnB type things), Lynval has had health problems for a couple of years and Terry is RIP (died on my birthday so I know when the anniversary is...). There was a charity gig thing recently and single but I think that's the last gasp really. I think Neville stopped doing solo gigs due to health issues. Roddy is still gigging and posting bitter comments about most of the rest of them. Jerry been in semi retirement since the 1980s.Placidcasual79 said:Yes - it's hard with a band like the Specials who are so much more than the sum of their parts. It's Lynval, Horace and Terry by the time of Encore isn't it - plus the Scandinavian keyboardist who'd been with them for years. I think John Bradbury's drumming was a big miss. They seemed energised around the time of Encore I thought - they seemed to react to adverse conditions....EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
I have to confess I choose the boxing last night after the kids went to bed - but I will have a look - thank you.
The track with Saffiyah Khan might rate as the most disliked in the band's history but possibly hints at what the reggae album they never got to make might have sounded like. Instead we got Protest Songs which is a bit hit and miss.
I read Horace's book and he seemed like a pretty decent fella - he makes his love for RnB well known - after the Specials originally stopped and he was teaching in schools he talked about gigging in local pubs at weekends and clearly just loved playing - but I didn't know he was still doing stuff..... I might have a look for the bands you mention there - thank you Eric - hope you and yours have a great Christmas.
Yes, have a great Christmas!Placidcasual79 said:I liked Encore - but Protest Songs lost me a little. They were a really unique combination of musicians and influences - Horace, Bradbury, Golding and Dammers where a great rhythm section I think...EricTheWeary said:Yes those three. I think Horace is the only person to have been in every line up and he's still gigging most nights with The Dirt Road Band or The James Oliver Band (both blues, old school RnB type things), Lynval has had health problems for a couple of years and Terry is RIP (died on my birthday so I know when the anniversary is...). There was a charity gig thing recently and single but I think that's the last gasp really. I think Neville stopped doing solo gigs due to health issues. Roddy is still gigging and posting bitter comments about most of the rest of them. Jerry been in semi retirement since the 1980s.Placidcasual79 said:Yes - it's hard with a band like the Specials who are so much more than the sum of their parts. It's Lynval, Horace and Terry by the time of Encore isn't it - plus the Scandinavian keyboardist who'd been with them for years. I think John Bradbury's drumming was a big miss. They seemed energised around the time of Encore I thought - they seemed to react to adverse conditions....EricTheWeary said:It was down to three original members by then so some debate if that counts as The Specials or not but Terry was the voice of the band to most people. They were on form for these gigs and a lovely atmospheric spot to have them.Placidcasual79 said:Thanks @EricTheWeary - will give this a gander.
I have to confess I choose the boxing last night after the kids went to bed - but I will have a look - thank you.
The track with Saffiyah Khan might rate as the most disliked in the band's history but possibly hints at what the reggae album they never got to make might have sounded like. Instead we got Protest Songs which is a bit hit and miss.
I read Horace's book and he seemed like a pretty decent fella - he makes his love for RnB well known - after the Specials originally stopped and he was teaching in schools he talked about gigging in local pubs at weekends and clearly just loved playing - but I didn't know he was still doing stuff..... I might have a look for the bands you mention there - thank you Eric - hope you and yours have a great Christmas.
James Oliver is occasionally on here, if you have a quick look at his gig lists on his website or Facebook it’s absolutely phenomenal. He doesn’t do days off. So he has rotating bassists and drummers including Horace and Norman Watt-Roy (Ian Dury and the Blockheads,etc).
I will listen to Encore this week as part of my half arsed tribute to the band.
Of minority interest on here I'm sure but The Specials did a run of of gigs in the old cathedral in 2019 and the film of one of the nights is being shown for the first time (second anniversary of Terry's death this week hence the timing). I was there one of the nights but I don't remember film crews so probably can't spot myself in the crowd. Probably Steve Cradock on guitar although I don’t think he played all the nights.