And now Terry Hall also, has succumbed to the 'thing' that makes life utterly fucking pointless.... Death.
He did have a talent for conveying such pointlessness within his vocal style coupled with his natural deadpan presence.
Never a fan of The Specials meself,, however i did see them supporting The Clash with Suicide when they were the Coventry Automatics. blah blah fucking blah!
Oh sweet jesus, never has there been a band where the Tonic suited,Fred Perry and Pork Pie hat decorated audience all thought they were in the band,and Danced to order as their idols commanded.
Lots of Punky Bands started to bark shite like "Why aren't you Dancing" to the crowd....because we don't fucking want to??? If we wanted to dance we'd go to a bloody Discotheque wouldn't we? I'm here for the existential angst and the freedom to spill beer in the melee thanks. The Specials or Joy Division.....I know Where I'd rather be.
However musically not my thing Two Tone may have been,or not been, they were completely DIY in execution.,and incredibly successful at it.!?
Terry, was in the early line up for Coventry Punk Rockers "Squad"...whether it's 'The' Squad and not just the contracted version I dunno,but it was fashionable for record labels to drop the "The" at the beginnings of Band Names,like when Virgin insisted that The Ruts had to be called, just ,"Ruts", to be cool enuff for Richard Branson.
Terry was there, in "Squad", for about five minutes;but long enough to get a writing credit for "Red Alert",I don't think he got recorded, but the singer on the plastic does sound uncannily like him....Gus Chambers, who,i am told,is also deceased!? From imbibing an accidental cocktail of his medication and alcohol...not recommended.
In fact "Squad" are a fine example of no-one is bigger than the team,as the line-up was totally different for their second,less charming, single as compared to the original line-ups...including terry, who went onto pastures during the first ten minutes of "Squad's" existence....presumably joining the Coventry Automatics, aka Special aka.
As there were several bands called "Squad" in the UK, they could have had interchangeable personnel if only they knew of each others being.
Concrete Fly-overs, Lady Godiva , and Two Tone is what Coventry is known for, and Terry is part of that forever,the pleasant chap he apparently was....hopefully still is?
No, I don't own this record...its as rare as Hens Teeth.
ps....i'm gonna have to change tack...this is getting dee-pressing!
Tracklist:
B £8-A-Week
death's a right cunt
ReplyDeletewhy does so much of it happen these days?
rip terry
Sad news. Respect for Terry. I will never forget the heydays of the Specials back in the days.
ReplyDeleteGood share, btw. Hanx!