Most Specials bootlegs document the band circa their debut album, so this decent-sounding 1981 show is (uh-hum) ...special, as it gives the mellower songs from their sophomore album, More Specials some live bite.
Tell us what you think of the Specials sophomore album in the comments.
Speaking of the comments section, that's where you'll find the link for Live at the Paramount.
This bootleg is a gift from Silvarude who has a fine YouTube channel and, most spectacularly, runs a great site exclusively dedicated to Specials bootlegs - so go there for Much More Specials!
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sure inspired some unforgettable protest anthems. From The English Beat's "Stand Down, Margaret", To Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" to The Exploited's "Let's Start a War" every musician in England seemed united against the Iron Lady's Conservative government. The Specials (more here) responded to this avalanche of agitprop, by trying to update one of Bob Dylan's more abstract "protest" songs, "Maggie's Farm.
It used to go like that, then, for a few minutes, it went like this:
So, this early aughts CD bootleg of the Live at the Lyceum L.P. from 1979 tacks on nine more live and rare tracks, including a version of "Maggie's Farm".
Live at the Lyceum (Deluxe CD) link is in the comments
Speaking of comments, what do you make of The Specials doin' Dylan?
A radio-only promo L.P. of a non-stop Specials (more here) show from 1979. As a live band it's almost impossible to believe how much of a whirlwind The Specials were. Watch their relentless energy and tight-ass playing when they visited Saturday Night Live and shake your head at the rampant cultural idiocy of late seventies North America.
As a bonus, perhaps only for this listener, is that you get to hear the rip-snortin' "Do the Dog" with those toasts ("Do The daaawg, not the DON-KEY!") as background vocals and rather than as the loudest part of the song, as they are on the studio version. Plus you get another fabulous take on the band's nod-to-their-roots, "Skinhead Symphony".
(Thanks to the amazing 2-Tone.info for the images + info .) Live at The Lyceum link is in the comments
Speaking of comments, what's your favourite Specials tune?
Who were the most important band of the 2-Tone ska revival era?
The English Beat mixed in the American R & B, Madness added that carnival sound, The Selecter (and the short-lived Bodysnatchers) brought some female representation and Bad Manners injected a shot of that inimitable British Silliness but The Specials led the way. It was the roster of their label (2-Tone launched the careers of ALL of the above), their Rude Boy image and their refusal to stand still musically that defined that hugely-influential period.
Of course, there doesn't have to be a Most Important band of this or any other era. It's possible to simply stand in awe of just how concentrated the creativity of the super-brief flash that we now call the Two-Tone Era really was. To help remind you of the brilliance of the era in general and The Specials in particular let us consider the long out-of-print BBC Sessions CD.
BBC Sessions link is in the comments
Speaking of comments, tell us who your fave 2-Tone band is!
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