The Specials: The Singles Collection
Genre: Ska	Dates: 1979-1984

Seems like there's a ska revival every ten years-in fact, here in '07, we're overdue for a new one. If you don't know the term, ska is pre-reggae: faster, horn-ier, briefer, and made for the dance floor. The Specials were the prize of what I've deduced was the second revival, which sprouted from the barren and angry English earth in the late '70s. Racially integrated like most of the other bands in the revival and facing the resistance of the National Front, their best songs ("Gangsters," "A Message to You, Rudi," "Rude Boys Outta Jail," the truly haunting "Ghost Town," and especially the later "Why?" and "Racist Friend") hit resistance head-on and let you dance to the impact. Inspirational Verse: "If you have a racist friend/Now is the time, now is the time/For your friendship to end."

Track Listing:

1. Gangsters - (with The Special AKA)
2. Rudi, A Message To You
3. Nite Club
4. Too Much Too Young (live) - (with The Special AKA)
5. Guns Of Navarone (live) - (with The Special AKA)
6. Rat Race
7. Rude Boys Outta Jail
8. Maggie's Farm
9. Do Nothing
10. Stereotype
11. Ghost Town - (12" version)
12. Why?
13. Friday Night, Saturday Morning
14. Racist Friend - (with The Special AKA)
15. Free Nelson Mandela - (with The Special AKA)