The Specials Terry Hall: A Tribute

Terry Hall, the singer of The Specials has passed away at the age of 63. The singer who also fronted the band Fun Boy Three after The Specials disbanded, was recently diagnosed with cancer, and Terry sadly lost his short battle with the disease on 18^th December.

The Specials

Terry Hall was born in Coventry in the West Midlands, in 1959. After a turbulent childhood, the singer was spotted by bandmate Jerry Dammers, and they formed The Specials in 1977. With members from Coventry and the outskirts of the nearby city of Birmingham, the group found a local following, however it was the support of major Radio 1 DJ John Peel who brought the music to a national audience in the UK after playing the band’s debut single Gangster.

The Specials were a formidable force to be reckoned with as they (and their music) opposed the discourse and values that the government at the time were infamous for enforcing – the band members were multi-national and multi-racial, their musical style incorporated Jamaican and West Indian ska and reggae influences, and their lyrics expressed discontent at the hate and division in society. They created the genre ‘2 Tone’ and a record label that signed many more fellow bands and artists creating music in the style at the time, including Madness, the Selecter, the Beat, and the Bodysnatchers. The Specials and 2 Tone formed a lasting impact that still influences musicians around the world over 40 years later.

The Specials most well-known hit single Ghost Town was a snapshot in time of the summer of 1981, whereby riots broke out across the UK due to several untenable factors that included mass unemployment, austerity and tax issues, and systemic racism in the police following a stop-and-search policy named ‘Operation Swamp’ that terrorised the Black community.

Police used CS gas grenades on crowds for the first time during these riots, and in the years leading up to them, The Specials had experienced their own run-ins with violence and intolerance: one of their gigs in 1978 was disrupted by right-wing hate group the National Front, the group’s guitarist Lynval Golding had been badly injured in a racist attack in London, and at one show Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers were arrested and charged with ‘incitement to riot’ while attempting to break up fighting in the audience.

The band believed that the trouble they were seeing in their crowd was symptomatic of what they were seeing in towns and cities while touring across the UK, whereby shops and industries were closing down en masse, forcing millions of people into unemployment and in need of government assistance.

The song encapsulated the sentiment of the nation at the time, and is still revered to this day – it was named as the ‘second best number one single in the UK of all time’ by The Guardian in 2020.

In later years, Terry Hall fronted the band Fun Boy Three, and collaborated with other artists in the 1980s pop scene. He released music as a solo artist, collaborated with Gorillaz, and reformed The Specials in 2008, going on tour and participating in the epic closing ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Specials 2019 album Encore unbelievably became their first ever UK number one album. Prior to the pandemic, the band had been gigging extensively, however the wider changes led to a hiatus and the release of a 2021 cover album in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, titled Protest Songs.

Speaking to the British news channel ITV at the time of the Encore release in 2019, Hall explained that he still viewed the nation as “massively divided”, and described British towns and cities as “very sad places” as well as delving into the wider troubles experienced in the UK prior to BLM and the pandemic hit.

Tributes to Terry Hall

While the city of Coventry mourns, tributes have flooded in from fellow stars in the world of music and fans alike. Elvis Costello, who produced the 1979 debut album The Specials expressed his sadness in a Twitter post that read:

“Sad to receive the news of Terry Hall’s passing last night from Lynval Golding. Terry’s voice was the perfect instrument for the true and necessary songs on “The Specials”. That honesty is heard in so many of his songs in joy and sorrow. My condolences to his family and friends.”

Musician Billy Bragg concurred:

“The Specials were a celebration of how British culture was invigorated by Caribbean immigration but the onstage demeanour of their lead singer was a reminder that they were in the serious business of challenging our perception of who we were in the late 1970s.”

The Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown tweeted his condolences, saying:

R.i.P TERRY HALL. A musical pioneer, a true original,one of the great frontmen, an inspiration and a lovely https://t.co/3583iAjQJa and condolences to his family and band @thespecials X

— Ian Brown (@ianbrown) December 20, 2022

The Specials bandmates Horace Panter and Neville Staple have sadly revealed that the group had planned to record new Specials material in November before Hall was taken ill, and that Staple and Hall were also going to work together once more. Clearly devastated by his passing, the group released a statement across several posts that read:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/qJHsI1oTwp

— The Specials (@thespecials) December 19, 2022

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.

Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love.

He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity. Terry often left the stage at the end of The Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words…“Love Love Love”

Also by Michelle Sciarrotta: