Posted on by Rob Jones · 2 Comments

The Specials Play “Too Much Too Young” (Live EP Version)

The Special AKA Too Much Too YoungListen to this track by first tier of second wave ska outfits The Specials. It’s “Too Much Too Young” as featured on their 1980 EP of the same name. It was released in January of that year, quick to follow up their self-titled record that preceded it in October.

This song was featured on that release as well, with a slightly slower  and more languid tempo. With this version, recorded live in front of an audience at the Lyceum in London, the song is amped up in every way, full of the kind of on-stage energy for which the band were known by this time, clocking in at just over two minutes. The result was a number one showing on the UK singles chart in February, being the shortest song in the UK to hit a number one spot during that decade.

As with much of their material, The Specials drew inspiration from the Trojan label and the music associated with it coming out of Jamaica in the mid-to-late sixties. Head writer Jerry Dammers based this song around some elements that can be found on the 1969 single by Lloyd Charmers “Birth Control“, adding a bit of contemporary content of his own in this new track that took some of the themes of the original, and put something of a political spin on the proceedings in so doing. So, how does a jaunty ska track become so political? Read more

Posted on by Rob Jones

UB40 Perform ‘Food For Thought’

Here’s a clip of Birmingham UK reggae octet UB40 with their 1980 track ‘Food For Thought’ as taken from their debut album Signing Off.  Among the bands coming out of the ska/reggae revivalist movement in the Midlands of England by the late 70s and early 80s, UB40 had the most commercial success, although it’s important to note that they were never officially a part of that scene.

Their were a lot of Birmingham bands that focused their songwriting initially on political topics around the time UB40 debuted. And the sociological similarities between UB40 and the Two-Tone scene are undeniable. For instance, the band formed in an economically depressed region of the country, is multi-racial, and drew from the sounds of the Caribbean for inspiration including Desmond Dekker, The Slickers, Jimmy Cliff, and Toots & the Maytals, among others. But these overarching elements are where any comparisons to their peers end.

I first heard this tune on the band’s 1983 Live album, a song about the disparity between the first and third worlds, with some references to the absurdity of religion in the face of human suffering thrown in.  I was 14 at the time, unaware of most of what was going on in distant places.  But the weightiness of this song, the stark imagery in the song’s lyrics, more than made up for that lack of awareness.

The lamenting sax lines from saxophonist Brian Travers, along with Ali Campbell’s plaintive vocal convey the sadness and the anger in this tune.  And the rhythm makes each line hypnotic, holding the attention of the listener. It’s always annoyed me that reggae has been sidelined as music to smoke pot to, especially when so much of the best of the genre is about paying attention, and not letting it wander.  And this was the strength that UB40 had on their early albums; they made reggae music that had something to say, like the music of those who influenced them.

UB40 were more of a purist reggae outfit when they started out, leaving behind the abrasive textures of punk which marked the Two-Tone sound which was another prevalent musical scene in Birmingham, Coventry, and the outlying areas. This is one of the major reasons why they are thought of as being separate from their contemporaries like the Specials or The Beat.  They would eventually leave the rootsy sounds of Jamaican reggae too,  and take it in a more AM radio pop-reggae direction by the late 80s and into the 90s, which diluted their sound to the band’s detriment.

But, their first few albums were very focused on their dual purpose as a band; play reggae and make money.  If this last bit sounds a bit on the mercenary side, it’s because these guys had all lost their jobs and formed the band as a means to make up the difference.  They even named the group after the UB40 form, which is the documentation needed to get their dole money.

After they gained an audience and rose in stature, they most likely had a more difficult time justifying their unemployment benefits.  Yet, at least in the beginning, they were giving voice to that audience by singing about what they perceived to be a crumbling society around them, as well as how the corruption of their government was affecting life in the Third World.  In short, they were a long way from reggae covers of Elvis tunes, at least for a while.

Enjoy!