Musician Terry Hall, who helped create one of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as lead singer of The Specials, has died. He was 63.
Hall joined the band that would become The Specials in the English Midlands city of Coventry in the late 1970s, a time of racial tension, economic gloom and urban unrest. With its mix of Black and white members and Jamaica-influenced style of sharp suits and porkpie hats, the band became leaders of the anti-racist 2 Tone ska revival movement.
With Hall's deadpan vocals setting the tone, The Specials captured the uneasy mood of the times in songs including"A Message to You, Rudy,""Rat Race" and"Too Much Too Young." The band's most iconic song is the melancholy, menacing"Ghost Town," which topped the U.K. music charts in the summer of 1981 as Britain's cities were erupting in riots.
The Specials had seven U.K. Top 10 hits before Hall and fellow band members Neville Staple and Lynval Golding left in 1981 to form electropop outfit Fun Boy Three. It scored hits including"It Ain't What You Do and"The Tunnel of Love." Musicians Terry Hall and Lynval Golding of The Specials performs on stage at Brixton Academy on May 8, 2009 in London, England. Hall later formed The Colourfield and other bands, and collaborated with artists including The Go-Go's – co-writing the group's 1981 debut single,"Our Lips Are Sealed," which was also recorded by Fun Boy Three.Gutted to hear of the passing of
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