I have two ringtones on my cellphone.
1 tone is for calls - 'Close to You (closet mix)' by The Cure
2 tone (ooh, see what I did there) is for texts - 'A Message To You, Rudy' by The Specials.
Let's clear one thing up for those who don't already know. 'Rudy' is not a persons name.
"Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture." Others include ..
'Rudie Can't Fail' - The Clash
'Rudie' - UB40
"Along with ska and rocksteady music, many rude boys favored sharp suits, thin ties, and pork pie hats".
This is The Specials first studio album with '... Rudy', 'Monkey Man' .. You're Wondering Now' to name 3 of my favourites, but later albums included the prophetic 'Ghost Town' amongst others. The opening few lines sound like the corona virus lockdown ..
"This town (town) is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place (town) is coming like a ghost town
Bands won't play no more......"
There's all sorts of influences at play in their music, and down the line they influenced others.
Their later albums include covers of a wide variety of stuff .. from Dylan's 'Maggie's Farm' to Ewan McColl's 'Dirty Old Town' with some more Toots, some Marley and even an instrumental version of a 1959 rock 'n' roll song 'Sea Cruise. I'd only ever heard a reggae version of that before done by Yellowman on his 'Two Giants Clash' album.
I had a major WTF moment hearing them do 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You' - a bit like when The Ramones played 'Needles and Pins'.
Amy Winehouse did a couple of songs made popular by The Specials on her 'Back to Black' deluxe version.
'Monkey Man' and 'Hey, Little Rich Girl' would have been on her playlist long before she recorded anything.
Separate the wheat from the chaff and The Specials have some good stuff sitting out there waiting to be played again.
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