Legendary band The Specials have said that their comeback album has come at the right time – as the UK is in as much turmoil then as it was when they last recorded together 38 years ago.
The band, whose 1981 UK chart-topper Ghost Town soundtracked the riots in the inner cities that year, spoke exclusively to The Big Issue about the political threads that run through their music, including their comeback album Encore. They reaffirmed that no matter how many decades have passed, they have always got a lot to say.
“You could tie our music in with any event of any year we release it… maybe apart from the Winter Olympics,” frontman Terry Hall said. “We wouldn’t be so relevant there. But yeah, it just so happens that the country is in turmoil again. Huge turmoil. Bigger than you would want to imagine.
“I find myself in awe of the mess, nightly listening to politicians giving their opinion and thinking, I don’t necessarily trust any of you, really. It is pretty sad.
“I grew up aligned to a party, the Labour Party, quite strongly. Until Tony Blair made Noel Gallagher prime minister I knew exactly where I stood.”
Bassist Horace Panter agreed. He added: “Injustice is timeless, unfortunately. You can write songs with the same subject matter, I’m afraid, now in 2019 as you could in 1979. Mrs Thatcher was voted in as prime minister on 4 May 1979. I remember we played at Dingwalls the night before.
