Terry Hall has died.

[jon1959]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...s-dies-aged-63

Only 63. Very sad - 'much too young'.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

He never looked healthy to be fair

[Wash DC Blue]

I'm so sad about this 😢

[Harry Lime]

Very sad news

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Something very different about them and Selecter

I didn't realise what a difficult life he had until skimming some articles

[RichardM]

Part of my youth..😞

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Something very different about them and Selecter

I didn't realise what a difficult life he had until skimming some articles

For me The Specials and The Selecter were THE sound of early 80s ska. Madness became too poppy. Bad Manners were more a fun band. The Beat had a different sound again.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

For me The Specials and The Selecter were THE sound of early 80s ska. Madness became too poppy. Bad Manners were more a fun band. The Beat had a different sound again.

Specials , Selecter , Beat ......good bands

Madness , Bad Manners .....rugby club Xmas party nonsense

[RichardM]

Specials , Selecter , Beat ......good bands

Madness , Bad Manners .....rugby club Xmas party nonsense

Bad Manners were fun though

[RichardM]

For me The Specials and The Selecter were THE sound of early 80s ska. Madness became too poppy. Bad Manners were more a fun band. The Beat had a different sound again.

The Beat and the Specials were my favourites of that genre/era

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Bad Manners were fun though

I could watch people dance about pissed up to them but that was it for me

How did they write enough songs to sell an album ?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Specials , Selecter , Beat ......good bands

Madness , Bad Manners .....rugby club Xmas party nonsense

Been lucky enough to support The Selecter twice in TJ's. Great people.

[RichardM]

I could watch people dance about pissed up to them but that was it for me

How did they write enough songs to sell an album ?

I don't know that they did. Were a lot of their songs covers, as were many Specials and Beat songs?

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Been lucky enough to support The Selecter twice in TJ's. Great people.

Great Venue or it was

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I don't know that they did. Were a lot of their songs covers, as were many Specials and Beat songs?

They all sounded the same

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Great Venue or it was

Jon Sicolo offered us a night to headline as main band with 50/50 on door money. Little did we know that we were supposed to promote it as we presumed TJ's would. Around half a dozen people turned up to watch us. He threw us out after 3 songs.

[RichardM]

They all sounded the same

Good point

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

I saw The Specials play the Top Rank. My memory is a bit sketchy, but I think it was circa 1980?

As others have said in this thread, they were an integral part of my late teens/early 20s.

RIP Terry Hall

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Jon Sicolo offered us a night to headline as main band with 50/50 on door money. Little did we know that we were supposed to promote it as we presumed TJ's would. Around half a dozen people turned up to watch us. He threw us out after 3 songs.

Great place when it was pumping though

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Great place when it was pumping though

Strange cave like decor around the dancefloor but amazing.

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Jon Sicolo offered us a night to headline as main band with 50/50 on door money. Little did we know that we were supposed to promote it as we presumed TJ's would. Around half a dozen people turned up to watch us. He threw us out after 3 songs.

Whether for good or bad, you'll never forget that evening.

BTW: Where was TJ's.... Newport?

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Strange cave like decor around the dancefloor but amazing.

I saw lots of hardcore and metal bands there ......the wild hearts were very good

He used to sell cans of lager or cider or feck off somewhere else

And a kebab shop over the road

My kind of place

[Wash DC Blue]

Bad Manners were amazing.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Whether for good or bad, you'll never forget that evening.

BTW: Where was TJ's.... Newport?

Yep

John Sicolo was basically responsible for any decent bands in the city

He tried to sell it on but when he died it just fell into disrepair

Wash DC is a pill boy and will know the score

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Bad Manners were amazing.

I thought they were a party band which is fair enough but selecter in particular had an edge to them