Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

The Specials/Pama International
Wolverhampton Civic Hall 9th November 2009.

And so now the maddening whirligig of time has finally come full circle, from where it all began (for me anyway) at the Civic Hall Wolverhampton and the Two Tone Tour of '79 to the 30th Anniversary Tour '09 at the Civic Hall Wolverhampton. I know I've mentioned it before (but who cares no one's listening anyway), "The past is a foreign country they do things differently there" LP Hartley. Thirty years ago I called on a couple of mates and we walked together the four miles into the centre of Wolves, I was wearing a new pair of black drainpipe jeans, monkey boots, my white school shirt and my Dads black pencil thin tie he used to wear for funerals. You'd call it street fashion nowadays; thirty years ago it was all I had. Into the Civic, the stage as I've said many times before was not as wide in those days because of the stacks of speakers on either side. Selector first , then Madness and finally The Specials there were just too many people on the stage for a seasoned punk like myself to get me head round. I was used to 4 piece combos who moved up and down on the spot and only occasionally sideways to dodge the spittle. Everything was black and white that night (Did we have any colours back then? No, I don't think colour came in until the mid eighties). It was as smoky in the Civic in those day smoky as the brimstone at the mouth of hell, there was glass, mud and beer on the sprung dance floor, people fell were picked up or trod on, no crash barriers just the hard cutting edge of the stage and bouncers to kick the living shit out of you if you got pushed near it, there were a few minor scuffles but nothing out of the ordinary, and there was the music and the movement, yeah the music and the movement transcended all the shit. I got home slightly pissed, squeezed through the top kitchen window in the wee small hours, head in the sink, head still buzzing and booming from the music, pulled off my sweat drenched drainpipes to find my legs had miraculously turned a beautiful shade of blue, happy days.

The 30th Anniversary Part Two, Felix was there and ready for us when the doors were opened (unlike in Brum earlier in the year) and his selection of music was as before, exemplary - what a top guy - he kept the pot bubbling nicely as waited for "Pama International" to enter stage left. "We are the Specials" proclaimed Finny as they took up occupation of the thin slice of stage in front of the house curtains. Ice broken, the stripped down five piece launched into "Lovely Wife" from their "Love Filled Dub Band" 2008 album (where it features Rico). A thirty minute set followed which included "Neither High nor Dry" from their truly excellent 2006 "Trojan Sessions" album and "Equality & Justice for All" and "Happenstance" from there latest "Outernational" album.

So what of "Outernational"? Well if you grab your copy of the 1977 "Birth of a Legend" album by Bob Marley & the Wailers (which is a glorious collection of the early CS Dodd recordings) and look at the hand written notes on the back cover. Eh what, you haven't got a copy? Ok this is what it says "This album represents the beginnings of a prominent musical force, Reggae, and shows the way American soul music was blended with Jamaican rhythms". This fusion of soul with Jamaican rhythms is what Pama International have done in the past and this is what they do again on "Outernational". The Specials duo Sir Horance of The Panter and Lynval Golding get involved in the mix too, the former on the neat segued instrumental "Dub a Disco" and then again with Lynval on "Question the Answer".
"Outernational" is bright and breezy, straight and direct, with solid rhythmic grooves, succinct honest song writing and soulful vocals. No subterfuge here or even DUBterfuge it's "Back to the birth of Reggae" it's "Reggae for the People".
Click the link. http://www.pamainternational.co.uk/

And so to the second coming of The Specials, it was like April but more so, the Wolverhampton crowd was certainly well turned out (I think even better turned out than the Birmingham crowd), Ben Sherman, Fred Perry and Doctor Martin were to the fore, they must have been praying for the The Specials to return, I'd like to see their sales figures for this year of recession.

The Specials set list had a few small adjustments, the presentation was slightly more polished and slick, but the main difference from earlier in the year was that the pressure appeared to have disappeared. The performance was freer, more relaxed, and everyone had a smile on their face, everyone from the fat bloke on row H of the balcony to even Terry "Buster Keaton" Hall himself, yes Terry smiled honest, just after he said "I'm going to lie on the sun bed for five minutes whilst Roddy sings Concrete Jungle". Well there was a flicker of something around his lips that looked like a smile anyway.

And that's about it really. What more can be said? We waited a long time and when it finally happened some of us were still here to see it, live it and love it. What's next? More of the same, back to do doing individual things? Or are the balls big enough to go back into the studio. Time alone only time can tell, I'll leave it with a live review from May '81 and slowly decaying memories, memories, memories………