The Specials - The Specials

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday.

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the self-titled debut of the Specials. This 1979 release went to number 34 in Sweden, number 21 in Canada, number 5 in New Zealand and number 4 in the UK. Here in the US, it spent twenty-one weeks on the Billboard Album chart with a top spot of 84.

Fun Boy Three - Waiting

After their self-titled debut album in 1982 (click here for that review), the English pop trio Fun Boy Three (Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding) followed up a year later with Waiting. This second album from February of 1983, produced by David Byrne of Talking Heads, would also be the group's last. It charted at number 104 in the US, number 47 in the Netherlands, number 14 in the UK and number in New Zealand.

The US vinyl release differed in the order of the tracks, most notably by flipping the sides and then swapping around the final tracks on each side. For this review to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, I will look at the songs in the US order.

Fun Boy Three - Fun Boy Three

Happy fifty-third birthday tomorrow (March 19th) to UK-born singer Terry Hall.

From 1981 to 1983, three former members of the Specials formed their own group. Hall (vocals), Neville Staple (percussion and vocals) and Lynval Golding (guitar and vocals) became Fun Boy Three, a band that worked in Ska and heavy percussion into their music. They also helped launch the musical career of Bananarama who provided some backing vocals.