The Special AKA 8211 In The Studio 40th Anniversary Edition 2x 180G Vinyl LP Half-Speed Master

40th Anniversary Edition 2x 180G Black Vinyl LP Half-Speed Master Release Year: 2024 Catalogue Number: CHRTTH5008 Barcode: 0840401703922 Record Grading: Mint (M) Sleeve Grading: Mint (M) Condition Note: Brand New Track Listing / Description A1 Bright Lights A2 The Lonely Crowd A3 What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend B1 Housebound B2 Night On The Tiles C1 Nelson Mandela C2 War Crimes (The Crime Is The Same) D1 Racist Friend D2 Alcohol D3 Break Down The Door On November 8th, 2Tone Records/Chrysalis Catalogue will release a 40th Anniversary Half-Speed Mastered Edition of The Special AKA \’In The Studio\’ album. This release has been liaised and approved by the band\’s founder and main songwriter Jerry Dammers. Formed in Coventry in the mid-1970s, The Specialswas the idea of musician Jerry Dammers, who brought together an eclectic array of individuals to fulfill his vision of a multi-racial band, fusing the energy of punk with the legendary but, at the time, often overlooked, sound of Jamaican ska. The band rose to prominence along with the 2Tone movement, which included two No. 1 singles, Too Much too Young and 1981\’s Ghost Town, which theme still resonates today before Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple left to form the Fun Boy Three and Roddy Byers left to tour with his band the Tearjerkers. The remaining members, Dammers, Bradbury and Panter, recruited guitarist John Shipley from The Swinging Cats, ex-Bodysnatcher Rhoda Dakar and lead vocalist Stan Campbell,reverting the original band name of The Special AKA and set to work on a new album. Released in 1984, \’In the Studio\’ was a brave mix of bold and challenging music, with a strong political, social and moral conscience. The album made it into the Top 40, and while it might not have been a huge commercial success, it was, and still is, an astonishingly unique work: a haunting, claustrophobic mix of lounge, soul, reggae, jazz and Arabic rhythms, with uncompromising subject matter. It featured two classic singles: the joyous, yet serious rallying anthem for the then imprisoned South African ANC leader, \’Free Nelson Mandela\’, and \’What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend\’. As time has gone by, the status of \’In The Studio\’has grown, and today it is rightly viewed as a genuine lost classic. Like the previous two Specials 40th Anniversary vinyl editions, this has been newly remastered and cut at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London. Format: Wide spine sleeve, 2LP 180gm Black Vinyl cut at 45rpm with insert inside and OBI.