SBWNik

Hardly ska tracks though. The Specials had lost the plot by then, and House Of Fun is a pop track.

For me.... The Amphetameanies at their best - Say Something Special

or

Big D and The Kids Table - Noise Complaint.

Both on Youtube, but I've not posted enough yet to put links up.



Thats this week anyway, probably change by later!

jackhammer

Specials ARE 2nd wave Ska without a doubt and a band that had lost the plot by then? They only made 2 albums and although the first is superior they are still absolute classics and indeed templates for the Ska that followed. Just a shame that most of it was two bit Ska Punk bands who think that a bit of fast skanking on a track constitutes as Ska whilst playing generic Pop Punk riffs.

__________________

SBWNik

The Specials made 3 albums in their first incarnation: Specials, More Specials, In The Studio.
There are at least 5 albums in their second incarnation: Todays Specials, Guilty Til Proved Innocent (possibly the best of these), Skinhead Girl and Conquering Ruler and Kings Of Ska (Featuring Desmond Dekker on lead vocals).
On top of these there are several live (usually bootleg) releases including Live At The Moonlight Club, Live At The Palace and The Peel Sessions

I'd not disagree that a lot of the bands that followed used the 2-Tone sound as a template, but I'd suggest that most followed in the footsteps of The Selecter or Madness than the Specials, although there are one or two notable exceptions, such as The Toasters. I'd disagree with you saying that ska/punk bands used the sound though, that is a later development that owes as much to punk itself as ska.

FTR I've been collecting ska since 1979, have over 1000 albums and know a little about the music now.....

Screen13

I agree with House of Fun, in a positive way - Madness is one of the greatest British Second Wave Ska bands who did go Pop for a while, but mainly in a Ray Davies-Late 60's greatness tradition although they slipped quite a bit once Mike Barson left around the time of Keep Moving. They got back to Ska-influenced roots after a long while, and it's good...thankfully, hardly anyone remembers their failed 1987-8 80's Pop incarnation as The Madness.

As far as The Specials went, their first two albums are still very good in my book, and yes I'm guilty for liking More Specials (Side One, however, is still damn sharp to my ears), and the entire "Ghost Town" EP is solid. To me, the magic was lost with In The Studio With The Special AKA, although it did have one monster single in it with "Free Nelson Mandela." Sadly, their 1996 return was even more regrettable than "The Madness" (Today's Specials, the ill-fated "Update" with some good choices for covers, and then that slip of with quality of recording Neil Diamond's "A Little But Me, A Little Bit You" which really killed off the hope for a while).

Screen13

I have been digging the Real Ska on the first few pages, by the way.

Anyone care for a mention of some solid 90's Ska like The Toasters?