More Specials

More Specials
Studio album by The Specials
Released October 1980
Recorded Horizon Studios, Summer 1980
Genre Ska, 2 Tone, punk rock
Length 45:32
Label 2 Tone Records
Producer Jerry Dammers
The Specials chronology
The Specials
(1979)		 More Specials
(1980)		 In the Studio (as The Special AKA)
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Mojo[4]
Q[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

More Specials is the second album by ska band The Specials, released in October 1980. The album expanded the 2 tone sound of their self-titled debut to include lounge music and other influences. It featured collaborations with The Go-Go's members Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, and Jane Wiedlin; Rhoda Dakar from The Bodysnatchers; and Lee Thompson from Madness. The lyrics, like the previous album, were often intensely political.

On the charts, the album hit the Top Five in the UK, where "Rat Race", "Stereotype" and "Do Nothing" hit the Top Ten. "Rat Race" hit No. 89 on Billboard Music Chart's (US) Club Play Singles chart, while the album as a whole hit No. 98 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart.

More Specials was a hit in the two-tone movement, a late-1970s revival of Jamaican ska from the 1960s. Along with bands like the Bodysnatchers and Madness, The Specials were leaders in this revival, and later heroes for two further ska-punk revivals on the opposite side of the Atlantic: the late 1980s Southern California scene (NOFX, Operation Ivy) and the mid-1990s "third wave of ska" (Sublime, No Doubt) which popularised the mixture in the US.

Track listing

LP

Side one
  1. "Enjoy Yourself" (Herb Magidson, Carl Sigman) – 3:39
  2. "Rat Race" (Byers) – 3:07 - NB: not included on UK release nor Dutch LP
  3. "Man at C & A" (Dammers, Hall) – 3:36
  4. "Hey, Little Rich Girl" (Roddy Byers) – 3:35 - featuring Lee Jay Thompson
  5. "Do Nothing" (Golding) – 3:43
  6. "Pearl's Cafe" (Dammers) – 3:07
  7. "Sock It to 'Em J.B." (Clayton Dunn, Rex Garvin, Pete Holman) – 2:56
Side two
  1. "Stereotype/Stereotype Pt. 2" (Dammers, Staple) – 7:24
  2. "Holiday Fortnight" (Byers) – 2:45
  3. "I Can't Stand It" (Dammers) – 4:01 - featuring Rhoda Dakar
  4. "International Jet Set" (Dammers) – 5:37
  5. "Enjoy Yourself (Reprise)" (Magidson, Sigman) – 1:46
Bonus 7"

Early copies included a free 7" single:

  1. "Braggin' & Tryin' Not to Lie" by Roddy Radiation and The Specials
  2. "Rude Boys Outa Jail (Version)" featuring Neville Staple AKA Judge Roughneck

CD

  1. "Enjoy Yourself" (Magidson, Sigman) – 3:39
  2. "Rat Race" (Byers) – 3:07 - NB: not included on UK release nor Dutch LP
  3. "Man at C & A" (Dammers, Hall) – 3:36
  4. "Hey, Little Rich Girl" (Byers) – 3:35 - featuring Lee Jay Thompson
  5. "Do Nothing" (Golding) – 3:43
  6. "Pearl's Cafe" (Dammers) – 3:07
  7. "Sock It to 'Em J.B." (Dunn, Garvin, Holman) – 2:56
  8. "Stereotype/Stereotype, Pt. 2" (Dammers, Staple) – 7:24
  9. "Holiday Fortnight" (Byers) – 2:45
  10. "I Can't Stand It" (Dammers) – 4:01 - featuring Rhoda Dakar
  11. "International Jet Set" (Dammers) – 5:37
  12. "Enjoy Yourself (Reprise)" (Magidson, Sigman) – 1:46

Reception

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Greene, Jo-Ann. "More Specials – The Specials". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The Specials: More Specials". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  4. ↑ Perry, Andrew (May 2015). "The Specials: More Specials". Mojo (258): 108.
  5. ↑ Lowe, Steve (April 2002). "The Specials: More Specials". Q (189): 133.
  6. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
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