Exclusive: Interview with Kevin Long of Los Angeles Mod/Ska band The Untouchables

The influence of 2-Tone outside of the UK remains one of its most enduring legacies. In fact, the speed with which the sounds born and made in Coventry, Birmingham and London made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the U.S. is astounding. In the matter of just a few short months in early 1980, like minded groups of people in New York, Chicago, LA as well as places as far afield as Portland, Oregon and Arizona heard these records and were moved to start their own bands. These new bands used the 2-Tone sound, look and ethic to kick-start a purely American version of ska which featured a combination of 60's mod, R&B, power pop, rock and reggae.

One of the goals of this blog is to pay respects to and highlight the various 2-Tone ska influenced bands and music scenes that sprouted up around the US in the early 80's. Our first stop will be Los Angeles and a look at the rise of a scene centered around The Untouchables and the tribes of scooter riding mods who followed the band and who for a time in the early and mid-80's made Southern California a uniquely American cousin to the UK Mod's of the 60's and the 2-Tone Rude Boys of the late 70's.

Living on the East Coast of the U.S. in New Jersey I was drawn into the New York Ska scene of the mid-80's which coalesced around Sunday matinee shows at CBGB's and The Continental featuring The Toasters, Urban Blight and The New York Citizens. However, I was always fascinated with the scene in Los Angeles and The Untouchables. For a number of reasons, Los Angeles just seemed to have the kind of scene I wished I could be a part of it. There were large numbers of nattily dressed kids on scooters who lived the mod and 2-Tone lifestyle, while I was struggling to find a real pork-pie hat and creepers. What I did have was The Untouchables first LP "Live & Let Dance" which became a staple on my turntable. When I finally did see the band open a show for UB40 at Fordham University in New York in 1985 I was blown away. They embodied all I had hoped for in a truly American ska band and they were soon on their way to recording with Jerry Dammers in the UK. I had hopes they would become the American face of 2-Tone.



While I loved all the 2-Tone bands and their take on UK life and politics, I was proud to have an American band featuring American themes and accents that I could connect with and look up to. According to an interview that Kevin Long, the lead singer of The Untouchables, conducted with BAM Magazine in late 1983, he placed the band squarely into an American context. "We're American. We don't sing in English accents. I have no particular affection for Union Jacks. We used to put up an American flag behind us onstage to let people know we're here, this is where we're from and this is where we want to make it."

While it was not uncommon for working class blacks and whites to live, work and play music together in the Midlands of the UK, this was not true of the U.S. and particularly not the case in Los Angeles which was clearly divided into the black city neighborhoods like Watts and white suburbs of Orange County. As Long has noted in his excellent essay "Epicenter of a Scene" which chronicles the Los Angeles mod and ska scene, " Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this scene -- more than the music and bands it spawned – was the emergence of an amazingly broad diversity of youth, arguably unlike any other music scene L.A. had witnessed before." This really made the rise of The Untouchables, who featured a majority of black members, a significant social phenomemnon in Los Angeles and the U.S.

As a quick musical history, The Untouchables first record that was Twist-n-Shake b/w Dance Beat, released on their own Dancebeat label in 1982. Then came 1983's Tropical Bird b/w The General. Tropical Bird was a pretty traditional ska number with jungle overtones.The General was a classic two-tone sounding dance tune. Their first 12" was a six song EP('84) -- Live & Let Dance, that included originals like Free Yourself, Lebanon, Whiplash and What's Gone Wrong -- all of which got some local play on KROQ during the mid-80s. Their early singles and records were eagerly bought up by mods and have become rarities. It was in '84 that the Untouchables started to get recognition, becoming the posterboys for the Los Angeles mod scene appearing in movies like Repo Man and Surf II.

I was lucky to connect with Kevin Long recently. Long was one of the founding members of The Untouchables and he agreed to conduct and interview with me to put the band's early days into perspective and to share his memories of how they helped to spawn a music scene and movement that remains a highpoint in how clubs, fans and bands can come together to make something special. In addition, Long has agreed to share a copy of his essay "Epicenter of a Scene" which I will post as part of a separate blog post. It originally appeared on the California Mod Scene blog which does a great job of providing an insiders view of the Mod scene that rose up around The Untouchables in Los Angeles in the 1980's.

Without further ado, here is the interview with Kevin Long:

Can you tell me about your introduction to music and ska music in particular?
I first got into music through radio. As a young kid I always had a small radio in my bedroom. I spent my allowance on two things: 45 rpm singles and candy. Some early stuff that really influenced me – things I now have on my iPod – were the Staple Singers, Spinners, Gladys Knight (still my favorite singer) and the Pips, Stevie Wonder and other early seventies black pop. The pre-disco period of seventies soul music remains vastly underrated in my opinion. In high school I was into the Stones and Zeppelin, of course. Like a million other pubescent boys I took guitar lessons largely because of “Stairway to Heaven.” Groan.

I got into ska, reggae and punk when I worked at a record store in L.A. This was in the late seventies, in fact, I believe it was 1979 that I started at Music Odyssey, a new and used record store in West LA. This was just after Two-Tone broke in England and also when the Who film “Quadrophenia” came out, so it was a great and impressionable time to be 19 or so and working at a record store. The record store employees got to take turns playing records while working, and I wore out the first albums from the Specials, Selecter and the English Beat. I also rotated heavily “London Calling” by the Clash when it was released in late ’79 or early ’80, plus the soundtrack to the film “Quadrophenia.” Oh, man, it was like being a deejay. Good times. I should add that the store manager was a guy named Jerry, a white dude, who imported reggae records directly from JA; this guy was off the hook with reggae when few others were…he would play nothing but reggae in the store. Maybe because it was 1979, 1980, I don’t know, but when he put on the dub-stylee, customers and even fellow employees could not handle it...it was so different then. If he knew the music bugged you, he turned it up. He found out about my love of Two-Tone and said I needed to learn about the original wave of ska and rocksteady, thus pointing me in the direction of Alton Ellis, the Skatalites, Desmond Dekker and other greats.

What prompted you to start the band? Did you know the other members of the band before you started the band? Why did you decide to call the band The Untouchables?
The band came together first as friends, then as musicians. Both Clyde and Jerry have told this story in print too. They grew up as neighbors in the Crenshaw area of LA, not too far from where Chuck and Herman lived. This was the nucleus of the band, and without those friendships there would have been no UTs. I was friends with Chuck before the band started, and he introduced me to the other guys. Chuck and Herm met Terry Elsworth while dancing to Phast Phreddie’s soul scene at the Starwood. While we were into ska and mod music then, Terry was mod to the nth degree. He single-handedly upped the mod ante and we followed his lead. One of the cool things about Terry was that while he was a hardcore mod, he never limited his music tastes to just mod. He was a massive Clash fan, big into Stiff Little Fingers, ska, Dexys, reggae, dub, and on and on. He was critical to our identity and what the band would become. Anyway, all of us hung out together, going to clubs, dancing, riding scooters. Because we were always together many people at clubs thought we were already a band. We got lots of encouragement to get one started, and soon we were hard at it.

I liked the name the Untouchables because it was a play on words. So many bands, especially prior to punk and new wave, put themselves on a pedestal above their fans, both literally and figuratively out of reach. Other rock bands were untouchable because they were extraordinary (and often flamboyant) musicians, musicians the rest of us would never become. But punk was brilliant because it ridiculed this notion, the idea that in order to be onstage you had to be some blazing guitarist or a multi-octave ranged singer. The do-it-yourself (DIY) ethos that punk rock spawned said, “Fuck it, we can do it too.” You would be hard-pressed to find a guitar solo in a Ramones song, but Johnny Ramone is a brilliant guitar player. Patti Smith likely never won a singing competition, but my God, what an artist and songwriter she is! So the name was a stab at satire, really, because we were of the people, by the people, and for the people. The name mocked those bands that were not.

A few of you had never played an instrument before you started the band. How did you decide who would sing and who would play instruments? Did you have any singing experience?
Everyone brought some level of experience to the band. I was probably the least proficient musician in the band, but even so had some guitar lessons as a kid. I had little or no experience singing in front of people though. As our lead guitarist, Clyde was our musical Gibraltar; he could play anything. Terry held down a solid rhythm guitar, skanking and chicken-scratching through it all. Rob Lampron (drums) and Herm Askerneese (bass) held down our rhythm section. Chuck Askerneese sang most leads, though Jerry Miller held his own too, both on vocals and percussion. For most, if not all of us, it was our first band. We were pretty naïve about the whole thing, but it didn’t matter because we were best friends and loving what we did. It just happened very naturally for us, even from day one.



What kind of influence did The Boxboys have on the band? What kind of influence did Mod vs 2-Tone have your look and sound?
The Boxboys were a massive influence on us. Terry Elsworth hipped us to the Boxboys, who played regularly at the O.N. Klub, a small divey club in Silver Lake. They were a fun ska/pop band that people loved to dance to. They put out a single or two but never quite got the momentum going career-wise. They were important to us because they encouraged us to start our own band and thought that we would have fun in the process..

For the Untouchables, it was never mod versus ska. I guess we were different that way than the UK bands, where bands into those scenes were either mod or ska, but not both. We were mods that loved ska music. We wore three-button suits, military-issue parkas, always drove Vespas and Lambrettas, etc. Some of the guys wore pork-pie hats. That was our look and it was who we were; we did not change into “gig clothes” or anything absurd like that. When we started gigging no one in LA looked like us.

Our sound was inspired by what we like to listen and dance to. We loved sixties soul and RnB, sixties mod bands (Small Faces, Kinks, etc), original ska (particularly the Skatalites) and of course all the Two-Tone bands from England, though of all those bands I think the Equators may have had the biggest influence on us. From those influences we developed our own sound and style.

What was your first show in September 1981 at the ON Klub like? How important were your early shows at the ON Klub to the success of the band?
That first-ever club gig was an amazing experience for us, though in many ways it was not a typical first gig. What made it different was that tons of people turned out for a gig and by and large they were there to see us, even though we were the support act for one or two other bands on a week night. We had no idea that lots of mod and ska kids were out there waiting for something like us to come along in L.A. It really took off from the get-go. Howard Paar, ON Klub manager and deejay, was delighted and soon placed on the opening slot on weekend nights. That went well and in short order we were headlining weeknights, then headlining weekends, then selling out weekends, then playing back-to-back shows, etc. The band and the mod scene really took off like wildfire in LA, all starting at the ON Klub.

That same gigging hierarchy later played out at the Whiskey a Go Go and, after a successful run there, then at the Roxy. It just kept getting bigger and bigger. I felt like we had really accomplished something when we were asked to headline the Roxy on Christmas Eve and Christmas night one year, doing separate back-to-back shows each night. All four shows sold out almost immediately. We felt like the kings of Sunset Boulevard, and, however briefly, perhaps we were. After that, Mario (one of the Roxy owners) treated us like sons and would let us drop in anytime for a drink and free show. Soon thereafter Roxy management invited us to a Thursday night residency, which ran for many months. Along with the Doors, we became the only other house band at that club.

Would you describe The UT's as a ska band, a mod band?
I guess we were mods that played ska music. A lot of people thought of us as a ska band, but in addition to ska we had other things going as well. Out of the many bands that included themselves in the greater L.A. mod scene in the mid-eighties, though, the Untouchables were one of the few bands to play ska.

Here is a Los Angeles TV news story from the early 80's about the California mod movement that features interview footage of Kevin Long and the band performing:



Tell me a bit about the early song writing process. Who wrote the songs on your first two singles?
Terry and Chuck wrote “Dance Beat,” and I believe Clyde and Chuck wrote “Twist and Shake.” Clyde wrote “The General” and ‘Tropical Bird.” Clyde was our primary songwriter, but most of us contributed lyrics and song ideas to varying degrees.

Below are videos of the band's first single 'Twist N' Shake' b/w 'Dance Beat' featuring Kevin Long on vocals:





Below are videos of the band's second single 'The General' b/w 'Tropical Bird' also featuring Kevin Long on vocals:





The UTs were one of the first racially mixed bands I can remember (not including Booker T & The MGs and Sly & The Family Stone). Did you realize how culturally important this was in city like LA which tended to be segregated?
What is great about the UTs is that even prior to the band forming, we were friends that were bound together by our mutual love of ska and mod music. Some of us were black and some of us were white, but that had no bearing on why we were friends or what music we chose to listen to, or even why we formed a band. Later, once the band got started, we may have realized that there were no other bands in LA like us; that is, no other bands playing either ska or mod music that was racially integrated. What impressed us was that we drew a really diverse audience: men, women, all races, rich, poor, you name it. That empowered us because we recognized that we could effect positive change through our music, namely that we could be a unifying force in bridging ethnic and cultural divides. Music is amazing in that respect.

Tell me what it was like to be in the movies "The Party Animal" and "Repo Man"
I only vaguely remember “The Party Animal” shoot. I think we shot our scene on a beach in Malibu, though not certain. I do remember pushing some dipshit off the stage in the middle of our performance. It turned out that he was one of the lead actors. Oops, my bad. I’ve never seen that movie to this day, so maybe I’ll check to see if Netflix carries it. “Repo Man” was cool because we got the gig through a friend and fan of ours, Emilio Estevez. It was great that the director, Alex Cox, included our scooters in a scene too. Nice of him to give us individual screen credits as well. I have to say, though, that doing extra work like that is terrible. Lots of waiting around and little creativity spells boredom in my book. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Here is the scene from the movie 'Repo Man' featuring The Untouchables:



You played with band like the B-52’s, Black Uhuru, Bow Wow Wow and X. Do you have any unusual stories or memories from those shows?
We opened three nights for the B-52s at the Hollywood Palladium; all shows were sold out. Up to that point the only venue we had played was the O.N. Klub, whose capacity was around 150. Thus we experienced a “deer in the headlights” moment when we were thrust out onto that huge stage and the 4000 people standing in front of it. Just a few years later the UTs would sell-out the Palladium as headliners in their own right, which is pretty cool turnaround.

REM opened for us at some club in Orange County. Few people knew of them then, but Peter Buck and his black Rickenbacker were a hit with the mods. His Townsend-esque windmills were cool too. Just a week later the Untouchables, REM and the English Beat (see Clyde Grimes with Ranking Roger above) shared the stage at the Country Club in Reseda. This must have been late 1983 or so, probably the Beat’s “Special Beat Service” tour. That was a great and memorable show for me and many others. (Side note: According to an REM web site that tracks every show the band ever played here is a short review of the show Long mentions above from one fan's memory: "Following the upbeat Untouchables, R.E.M. came on and played some weird slow psychadelic music. The boos started by the 2nd song, when the crowd realized it wasn't just an opener, it was the act itself, and Michael Stipe was onstage acting rather gay. At first it was boos, but then in the third song it started with cups of beer and then various small objects were thrown at Stipe on the stage, with some striking him square on the cheek. Ouch! R.E.M. quickly left the stage, and shortly thereafter The English Beat came on and restored dance music to the hall")

X were always kind to us, and helped us get our first-ever gig at the Roxy. Not sure that the punk crowd ever cared for us that much, but we were in X’s corner to be sure. We had a brilliant show in Santa Barbara once, opening for X and the Blasters. It was a great and energetic lineup; the Blasters had never heard or seen anything like us before. Ska was new to them and they all watched our set from just off the stage, wondering what we were all about. Later they genuinely wanted to do a “Mods v. Rockers” show with us for years, but we were unable to pull it off. I cannot say enough kind things about those guys. We once played a crazy show in support of X in Sacramento. Some redneck-type of rocker dudes showed up in numbers and started fighting with the punks and others there to see X. Several plate glass doors to this beautiful ornate theater were shattered, many bottles and punches thrown. There was an intense and heavy vibe in the crowd and we tore it up. People were diving on the stage, getting thrown off and then coming back for more. It was pure adrenaline. X got halfway through their set when John Doe finally tired of some guy pawing at Exene, so he fired a beer can off the guy’s forehead. Several songs later the same guy was front and center again, this time toting an industrial strength fire extinguisher which he unleashed on the band, the roadies and the band’s equipment. The show ended just like that. I watched it all unfold from behind DJ Bonebrake’s drum kit.

Why did you leave the band in 1984?
The band was looking to go into another direction at the time. I may have lacked the singing chops that they were looking for then, too, though numerous interpersonal issues had by then surfaced. As you know, when you are in a band going 24/7, it can be difficult for the best of friends, even when things are rolling. It is like a family, and sometimes families go dysfunctional.

I started another band, Stone Soul Picnic, with Chuck’s girlfriend at the time, Jill Richmond, a great lead guitar player. I played rhythm guitar and sang backing vocals. Unfortunately, the band lasted only a year or so before falling apart.

Are you still in touch with any of your band mates?
Clyde and I exchange calls each year, but I’ve fallen out of touch with the rest of the guys. I moved back to Seattle many years ago, so there is little opportunity to see them now. I understand Jerry still has the UTs going, though he is the last of the original members. I’m happy that he still has the drive.

What are you doing these days?
I’m married and living in Seattle, my hometown. My wife and I have two sons, ages 12 and 9. Following college I went to law school. I’ve been working primarily in the financial services industry since. I play guitar nearly everyday and still work at the frustrating art of songwriting. If I find the time (and courage) I may look into recording some of what I have written thus far. Hmm. “Thus Far” – sounds like a good record title.

The Specials Live on BBC Show 'Rock Goes To College" Now Available For Free Viewing Online

Wondering what the set list for The Specials reunion shows may look like this coming April and May? Look no further than the set they ripped through on January 21, 1980 as part of the BBC series 'Rock Goes To College'.

Rock Goes To College ran between 1978 and 1981 on British television. A variety of up-coming bands were showcased live from small venues and broadcast simultaneously on television and radio during a 40-50 minute live performance. The venues were small University, Polytechnic or College halls holding a few thousand persons which gave a more intimate atmosphere than larger venues and often tickets were given to the Students' Union to distribute for free (to ensure that the concert halls were full) - effectively an invited audience. The bands chosen were also bands which did not have a mainstream following at that time although many went on to be very successful. A BBC DJ would also be present to introduce the band for the television audience.



The original broadcasts were transmitted on television as well as Sight and Sound in Concert; a BBC initiative to provide simultaneous pictures on BBC2 and stereo radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 1 (as stereo television broadcasts and receivers did not exist at the time). It allowed rock enthusiasts to enjoy the event with an improved sound quality.

Original recordings of at least some of the Rock Goes To College series still exist and some legal releases have been made available, on DVD or CD, either as the concert in its entirety or as part of a compilation. UK Gold has re-broadcast some of the programs (in stereo on television) in 2006 as has BBC Four and Arena in the late 1990s. In some cases, the radio broadcasts contained additional songs to those broadcast via the television including pre-broadcast/warm-up tracks. Many performances have been bootlegged from the original tapes or from public television/radio broadcasts.



Here is the set list The Specials performed during their show on the program. A special note: If you watch the show carefully you will notice Terry Hall reacting to a bouncer by throwing a tambourine at him in anger because the bouncer was stopping the kids from invading the stage, It's so great to see this moment captured on television as it spoke volumes about the relationship between the band and their fans.

Do The Dog
Monkey Man
Rat Race
Blank Expression
Rude Boys Outta Jail
Doesn't Make It Alright
Concrete Jungle
Too Much Too Young
Guns of Navarone
Nite Klub
Gangsters
Longshot Kick de Bucket
Madness
You're Wondering Now

The full broadcast is now easily watchable on Veoh, which is a cousin to YouTube. The link is below:

The Specials Live at Colchester Institute

Flexipop Magizine Features 2-Tone Band Photo Spreads and Collector Edition Versions of The Selecter's 'On My Radio' & Bad Manners 'No Respect"

Living in the digital age of the 21st century its hard to even fathom the small innovations that the music industry rolled out in the early 80's. Remember Sony Walkman cassette players? What about Flexi-Discs?

For the uninitiated Flexi-Discs (or Flexis) were records pressed onto thin, flexible vinyl. They were really cheap, easier and faster to produce and press than conventional records, and their form meant that they could be included in a magazine or book with little trouble. For what they were, the fidelity of Flexis wasn't too bad. Their light weight often made them slip on a turntable, so many Flexis had a space for taping on a penny - sorta lo-fi & DIY. Personally, I found that after just a few plays they had already worn out their welcome...

The earliest flexis originated in the UK during the mid-1950's and were manufactured to be played at 78 RPM. Flexis came of age in the 1960s when The Beatles sent out flexis featuring interviews with the band and Christmas wishes with their annual fan club newsletters. Later, flexis were widely used as promotional tools and magazine freebies. Both the NME and Melody Maker competed for readers by affixing flexis to their covers with unreleased tracks and excerpts of music from various bands. The flexi was not necessarily seen as a prestige item and rival magazines in the 80s made big play of their ability to substitute the flexi with conventional 7" singles, referred to as "Hard Vinyl"

However, for fans of 2-Tone and 80's British new wave and punk, Flexipop Magazine was well known and famous for bringing the flexi back in vogue in the UK during the 80s. Launched in 1980 by ex-Record Mirror journalists Barry Cain and Tim Lott, the magazine featured a flexidisc in each issue, usually unique to the issue. Interestingly, the first ever issue of the magazine contained a 2-Tone bonaza of materials including The Selecter's "Ready Mix Radio", which was a dub version of "On Your Radio" as well as photo stories of The Selecter and Bad Manners, live photos of The Specials on tour as well as a Madness band factfile.


According to the 2-Tone Info Web site, this flexidisc came free with the first ever issue of the magazine FlexiPop. Like most flexidsics playing it was easier said than done. This remix of the bands single 'On My Radio' is mostly instrumental in nature and is unavailable on any other format. The magazine is an interesting item in itself aside from the flexidisc, it includes features on all of the bands on Dance Craze with the exception of The Beat. The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers & Bad Manners each have silly photo stories... there's a typical Madness band members factfile and a nice three page spread of photos of The Specials by The Specials on tour. There's also a really nice promo for More Specials on the magazine back cover and a competition to win said photos & autographed copies of More Specials to boot... not bad for 60p.

Below are the photo series of the The Selecter and Bad Manners from the first issue of Flexi-Pop as well as the three page spread of photos of The Specials on tour and a Madness factfile. At the bottom of the post is the download of "Ready Mix Radio" by The Selecter and 'No Respect" by Bad Manners courtesy of Judge Fredd at The Beef, The Original and The Cover and 2-Tone collector and expert Liam. The images are very large, so click on them to see them in their full size as they cut off a bit in the blog format.





















Below is the download of The Selecter's Flexipop Magazine single 'Ready Mix Radio' from Issue 1 in 1980 and the Bad Manners Flexipop single 'No Respect' Blue Flexidisc:

The Selecter - Ready Mix Radio

Bad Manners - No Respect

Members of The Selecter perform in Coventry as part of Holocaust Memorial Day

Pauline Black, Neol Davies and Charley 'H' Bembridge performed an acoustic set of songs by The Selecter in Coventry as part of 'The Stand up to Hatred' walk that took place around the city center on Saturday January 24 as part of a weekend of events to mark the national Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations which this year are being held in Coventry.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated on January 27th each year. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau where 1.6 million men, women and children (including 1.2 million Jews) were killed. Coventry will host the National Commemoration on Sunday January 25th, an event which will see local people attend side by side with national leaders and survivors of genocide and conflict as well as international survivors of Nazi persecution.

According to photographer John Cole who attended and shared pictures from the event, the band performed 'Missing Words' and 'Redemption Song' by Bob Marley. Also in attendance were Lynval Golding of The Specials, noted 2-Tone producer Roger Lomas and Coventry music journalist and 2-Tone historian Pete Chambers.

Below are a series of pictures from the event:

Neville Staple Autobiography "Original Rude Boy" Now Available for Pre-Sale

While we bask in the glow of President Obama's inauguration here in the US, I have also been celebrating all things related to The Specials 30th anniversary. Without realizing it, I noticed that the last few posts have been about long lost photos and cartoon artwork about the band. It seems only natural to keep The Specials theme going for a little bit longer.

Following in the foot steps of his bass playing band mate, Horace Panter, it's been confirmed that Neville Staples' 288 page autobiography will be released in time for the kick-off of The Specials UK reunion tour this April. The book was originally scheduled for a 2010 release but was rushed to take advantage of the tour. Indeed, news is that a photo shoot of the band took place this week and the pictures will be included in the book. The tome is called 'Original Rude Boy' and it will include Neville's life story as well as his exclusive inside take on the 2-Tone era. According to sources, both Ranking Roger and Pauline Black have contributed to the book as have a number of Third Wave American ska bands. In fact, the book will give Third Wave ska the recognition it's long deserved. Neville lived in California for eight years and worked with bands like No Doubt and Unwritten Law.

Here is a synopsis of the book that was posted on the Waterstone's web site: 1979. The dawn of Thatcher's Britain. It's a country crippled by strikes, joblessness and economic gloom, divided by race and class - and skanking to a new beat: 2-Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the new music's undeniable leaders were The Specials. Bursting out of Coventry's concrete jungle, their lyrics spoke of failed marriages, petty violence, crowded dance floors, gangsters and race hate - but with a wit that outshone their angry punk forebears. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, aged only five, Neville was sent to England to live with his father - a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. Growing up black in the Midlands of the sixties and seventies wasn't easy, but then Nev was hardly an angel. His youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanising, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually borstal and Wormwood Scrubs. But throughout there was music, and now Nev tells how a very bad boy became part of the most important band of the eighties. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2-Tone tour with The Selecter, Madness and Dexy's - and their clashes with NF thugs; he recalls the band's increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a new found fame in America, as godfather to the third wave of ska and bands like Gwen Stefani's No Doubt. The Specials have announced their reunion tour - beginning on 22nd April 2009 and ending at the Brixton Academy on 7th May Horace Panter's "Ska'd For Life" (978033044073X) has already proven a clear market for The Specials' story. This book lays bare the difficult relationship between the band's white grammar school kids and working class rude boys. Neville continues to tour, both here and abroad, with The Neville Staple Band and has built up a large and dedicated following. A major publicity campaign includes signings, gigs, press, TV, radio and merchandise.

Aurum Press will publish in the UK; a US distribution deal is yet to be nailed down but the book will be available via Amazon in time for the UK tour. If you live in the UK you can pre-order the book from the Waterstone's Web site.

Exclusive: Interview With Nick Davies - Bringing The Specials Songs To Life In Cartoon Art

With the 30th anniversary of The Specials now upon us, I wanted to highlight one of the most creative pieces of art work associated with 2-Tone and The Specials that I have ever seen. I've previously posted about the art design of 2-Tone and the genesis of The Specials logo 'Walt Jabsco" as well as the approach The Beat and cartoonist/artist Hunt Emerson took in designing The Beat girl. I just recently posted about an exhibition of never before seen photographs of The Specials from 30 years ago that were taken by John Coles. Another noteworthy and highly sought after collection of cartoons/graphic art to come out of the 2-Tone era is The Specials Illustrated Songbook which was published in 1981.


The Specials Illustrated Songbook is a collection of songs from The Specials song catalogue complete with amusing and highly original cartoon artwork for each track and many band photos included. The book was the brainchild of illustrator Nick Davies (who later went on to illustrate The Special AKA's 'What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend' sleeve and who had played guitar in a band with Horace Panter) and graphic designer Ian Haywood who attended the same art college (Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry) as Jerry Dammers and Horace Panter. They approached Dammers and received his blessing to design the book and it was published in 1981. Long out-of-print, it has become highly sought after by 2-Tone fans and collectors.

Davies' amazing cartoon art, which is similar in scope and complexity to R. Crumb, brings the lyrics of each song from both albums by The Specials to life in intricate detail. Davies was kind enough to conduct an interview with me about his career as a graphic designer and illustrator and share some stories about the book and its illustrations and cartoons. He was also kind enough to share a number of scans from the book which are included throughout the post.

Where did you grow up and when did you become interested in design and illustration?
I grew up in Coventry and drew a lot when I was a kid, it was the only thing I was interested in. I studied art at school and that's where I became interested in illustration, more so than cartoons. Then when I was 16 I went to Art College and then did an art foundation course which is a 1 year pre-Degree course, but instead of doing an Art Degree I jumped ship and went to Amsterdam and got a job in a small design studio. I was a junior trainee dogsbody, made the coffee etc and was learning to be a graphic designer but I did a bit of general illustration and some cartoons and caricatures.



Who influenced your style?
Initially there were British comics like The Beano, The Dandy, Buster. When I was about 10, I had a gag cartoon published in Buster and got paid 50p for it, my first paid job. Then there was Heath-Robinson and his crazy machines, Ronald Searle who illustrated the St Trinians books, and Carl Giles of the Daily Express was a big influence, every year I got the Giles Annual for Christmas, then I got interested in older British comics from the 20's to the 50's and liked Roy Wilson a lot, there were others but very often the work wasn't signed so you wouldn't know who did what. After that there was Robert Crumb, Hunt Emerson, Graham Thompson, Paul Sample, Joe Wright, Seve Bell and I got more interested in caricatures, Gerald Scarfe, Ralph Steadman, basically any cartoons and caricatures I saw.





Where did you meet Ian and how did you start working together?
We went to the same school but Ian was a year older than me so our paths didn't cross although I was aware of him because he played drums in a rock band and I saw them play once at the school, but we met at the Lanch (Lanchester Polytechnic) on the foundation course, got on really well and hung around together. When I came back from Amsterdam we got together again and we spent most of the time joking, bouncing ideas off each other, there was a lot of verbal riffing. The Specials were big, especially in Coventry and we had the book idea, got the nod and that was that. We worked on the ideas and jokes together, I did the artwork and Ian designed and produced it.

When and where did you meet Jerry Dammers and Horace Panter?
Jerry and Horace were at the Lanchester Polytechnic doing fine art degrees but they were two or three years older than me and I never met them there, in fact they may have left by the time I got there, but I knew Horace through some mutual friends Geoff and Gaz Bayliss who I played guitar with. When I was about 17 I jammed with Horace's pre-Specials band Alive and Smiling, I remember playing Quadrant from Spectrum by Billy Cobham. I like to think that if fate had taken a slightly different path I might have ended up in The Specials....now there's a thought. I met Jerry when we went to see him with the book idea.

What gave you the idea to create The Specials Illustrated Song Book? Had you seen the band play? Were you a fan of the band?
After working in Amsterdam for three years I went back to Coventry and hooked up with Ian again who was working as a graphic designer in a studio in Warwick. Being in Holland I'd missed The Specials rise to fame but as soon as I heard the album I loved it. When I was 14/15 I was a bit of a suedehead so I was into ska and reggae. Jerry gave us a tape of More Specials before it was released so we could get some inspiration and I loved that too, we played it to death. I don't know which of us came up with the idea to do a book but I think I must have been influenced consciously or sub-consciously by The Ruttles, Eric Idle and Neil Innes's spoof Beatles documentary. We spent a few weeks kicking ideas around and got a dummy book together with the spoof cover and back of the first album and a couple of songs illustrated inside, can't remember which ones, I think Nite Klub might have been one of them. The Specials were recording More Specials in Horizon Studios and Ian phoned up and spoke to Jerry and we went to meet him at Horizon. He liked the idea, put us in touch with his music publisher, we went down to London, showed him, he liked it and gave us the go ahead

How long did it take you to draw and design each picture that accompanies the lyrics to each song? Do you have a favorite illustration from the book?
The whole thing took about six months from start to finish, but it was my first job on that scale and some of it was very busy, or action-packed and it took a lot to work out how to fit everything together, so although it was fun to do it was exhausting. My favourite illustrations would be Dawning of a New Era, Gangsters, and Man at C&A, and the covers and inside covers, as for the rest of it some parts I'm pleased with and other parts make me cringe but what can you do, If I could hop in my time-travel machine and go back and make a few changes I probably would but I can't. It is what it is. That's the worst thing about doing anything like this, the pressure to make it as good as you possibly can because it'll be out there forever and anything you're not happy with will bug you forever. I'm never 100% happy with anything I do, you always think you could do it better if you did it again, you just have to learn to live with it.









Was it difficult to get the book published?
No, it was as easy as falling of a log, I wish everything was that easy.

What kind of response did the book get when it was published? You also created a More Specials Illustrated Song Book right?
I've no idea. The people I knew all said it was great, but then they would wouldn't they? but as to the wider response I don't know. I don't even know how many copies were printed, or sold, only a few thousand I would think and I only ever saw one advert for it in Smash Hits so I don't think it had much of a push. I saw a couple of favourable reviews, but it was never destined to make the bestseller list. As for doing a More Specials songbook, we did and we didn't. I'm presuming from the question that you've seen the images on line and not seen the book in the flesh because it's actually like 2 books joined back to back and upside down, and you start at the front cover and make you way to the middle but when you get to the middle you turn it upside and start at the back which is now the front, (the front now being the back) and make your way back to the front, or the back or, if you like, the other front, or even the middle which is still the middle. Confused? Anyway the book covers both albums The Specials and More Specials.

What was the concept behind the art for the cover of The Special AKA single "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend"?
I can't remember if the brief was to do it like that or if I had a free reign to do anything, but it was just a literal take on the song and I fancied doing something a bit different. I was experimenting with my style at the time and that spiky arty edgy style was quite popular so I was trying to blend my cartoon style with that, but I got over it.

The book is currently out of print. Are there any plans to re-issue the book in conjunction with The Specials 30Th reunion shows in 2009?
No plans to reissue it although I'm open to suggestions and offers, but I thought it would be nice to illustrate some of the songs that weren't in the book like Ghost Town, Enjoy Yourself, Girlfriend, Monkey Man etc maybe do prints of them, and maybe do prints of some of the original illustrations, maybe in colour? But we'll have to wait and see what happens.

What are your working on now and where can people see more of your artwork?
Since the book I've been working mainly for magazines in the UK, but I've got a lot of projects up my sleeve which I'm hoping to get off the ground soon. I'm also working on getting a website together and should have something out there soon. I have got a MySpace page but it's only just got up and running and there's not much on it yet. It's www.myspace.com/nickcartoons and click on my pics.

For more information about Davies' current artwork or to learn more about how you can get prints from the illustrations in the book, you can contact Davies at: nickdaviescartoons@hotmail.com

The Specials 30th Anniversary Celebrations Kick-Off In Coventry With Plaque Unveiling & Exhibition Of Never Before Seen Photos Of The Band

The Specials 30th anniversary reunion celebrations have started! Ever since the reunion was announced and the tickets for the UK tour went on sale (and sold out in minutes), the excitement has been growing. No where is this more true than in Coventry, the heart and soul of 2-Tone. Just this week alone a plaque was unveiled near the canals in the city where the iconic photographs of the band that graced the covers of their first and second albums were taken. To commemorate the occasion, both Roddy Byers and Horace Panter were on hand to help unveil the plaque. The plaque and the event was the brainchild of Pete Chambers of The Coventry Evening Post and author of several books on 2-Tone was there to serve as the MC.

Here is video of the plaque unveiling:



As part of the plaque unveiling celebrations, The Lock Gallery, which is in a redeveloped area of Coventry right on the canal, opened an exhibition titled "Setting the Two Tone" featuring never before seen photographs of The Specials taken by local photographer John Coles. Coles frequently photographed The Specials during their heyday and his photographs serve as testimony to the great moments in rock and roll history that The Specials own. From what I can gather there is both an art and a science to shooting a rock concert. The art comes in because live shows and musicians are unpredictable and spontaneous. Musicians tend to be expressive, especially when they are performing , so the results when done well, can be images full of emotion and energy. However, this energy is also the cause of one of the biggest challenges from a technical perspective in live music photography. Capturing the gyrations of seven members of The Specials had to be a tricky business. Coles has delivered on both accounts.


According to remarks prepared by Chambers at the gallery opening on Thursday, "Coles was born in Coventry on 1955 and attended Bishop Ullathorne RC School. With over forty years behind the lens, and sixteen of those as a wedding photographer, John sums it up in his usual ‘matter-of-fact way, “After forty years I think I can safely say that photography has long ceased to be just a hobby, it’s much more a way of life now”. As well as the 2-Tone roster, John has photographed the likes of The Adverts, The Killjoys, The Stranglers, Boomtown Rats, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Golden Earring, the Who, Automatics, Squad, Clash, 999, Uriah Heep, Queen,The Tubes, The Flys, The Buzzcocks and new local heroes Pint Shot Riot, The Ripps and The Enemy. His work has appeared in Sounds, and the Coventry Telegraph."


I had the chance to conduct a short interview with Coles, who related that he is Coventry born and bred and has been a professional photographer for most of his life. He has been friendly with The Specials since their early days and frequently had a backstage pass to their shows which provided him with unique access to the band and the opportunity for many close up pictures of the band performing. The photographs are striking for their ability to capture the energy and intensity of the band performing live. Amazingly, the large cache of pictures that are now on display had been stored at Coles home for the last 30 years. Among the pictures are many from The Specials last performance. Coles mentioned that he has spoken with the band about photographing them during their upcoming UK tour when it visits Coventry in May.

The Lock Gallery is an independent open studio and art gallery located in Coventry's Canal Basin within the hub of Coventry's art scene. (local arts and craft workshops and studios surround the canal basin.) It is run by artist and sculptor Emma O'Brien (below hanging a picture) who curated the exhibition.


O'Brien was kind enough to conduct an interview with me about "Setting The 2-Tone:

How long has the Lock Gallery been open?
Since May 2008.

How did you connect with John Coles?
Through Pete Chambers. I was Talking to pete about the plaque unveiling, and how it would be good to have an exhibition in the gallery.

How much work went into preparing for the show?
A huge amount. Pete Chambers kindly donated a lot of original memorabilia, from the era, and it was very hard sifting through all of Johns fantastic images to find the right ones to display

What is your take on the pictures?
I think they're amazing, there has been great interest so far in them as they have never been published before, and there is also such a huge response in the return of The Specials, with lots of excited fans having the chance to take a trip down memory road through the exhibition

Are you a fan of 2-Tone?
Not as big as some, but I am proud to be part of all this, and to open the 30 year celebration with my exhibition, is a real honour, I'm glad we are celebrating the great things that have come out of Coventry

What kind of response have you had to the pictures?
A great response, a lot of people like to talk about the concerts they were taken, and if they were their or not, they are definate conversation starters!

How can fans purchase copies of the prints?
By coming into the Gallery, each print has 2 large sizes, 2 medium and two small and available to buy (ltd edition) from £10.

You can watch a BBC Midlands news piece about the plaque unveling and the photo exhibition here.

The exhibition opened on Friday January 16th 2009 and will remain up until Saturday January 31st 2009. Reprints of the photographs on display are available for sale at The Lock Gallery. For more information about the exhibition or to find out how to purchase reprints contact the gallery via their website or their Facebook page.

Coles was kind enough to share photos he took at the plaque unveiling and exhibition opening with me. I've included a number of them below. Enjoy!