Part two of our exclusive chat with The Specials!

Here’s the second half of our interview with The Specials. Click here if you haven’t read the other bit!

Muso’s Guide: Back in the beginnings of the band in 1979, they were also times of economic hardship and many people were becoming increasingly disillusioned. All of these matters were part of The Specials lyrical discourse. Do you feel any certain relevancy or poignancy in playing those songs now at a time which is not too dissimilar?

Lynval Golding: It’s literally like the same thing. The Labour Party was going through a rough patch then as well.

Jon Bradbury: I don’t find it strange at all that we’re in the same position that we were 30 years ago. I think there has been very few politicians, maybe Abraham Lincoln apart, who really changed things. The rest are just tinkering with the whole system. They’re in it as professional and earning career politicians and it’s up to people like us to vote with our feet, I know it’s difficult. I think we’re getting there with things like the internet and the way people are communicating more now and it’s getting politicians thrown out right, left and centre after being exposed over different things. In answer to your question, I think the lyrics are as germane now as they were 30 years ago and I’m almost sorry to say that. That’s the way it is.

LG: Years ago I got stabbed in Coventry and was nearly killed, you know. I said to Roddy, there’s a part in ‘Concrete Jungle’, where the lyrics are “I have to carry a knife/because people threaten my life” – but my answer to that is I would never carry a knife, I was threatened and nearly got killed but I would never take a knife around with me but I understand the fear that makes people do that. I would never want anyone to have to go through what I went through. To be lying there in the hospital bed, and have doctors and nurses rushing around saying “we can’t stop the bleeding”, and I’m laid there thinking ‘what are they talking about?’ as I was under so much medication. I would never want anyone to ever, ever have to experience that. I think everyone should put down their knives – no knives should be carried.

MG: On a political theme, I’ve heard that you, Lynval, have now relocated to Seattle now, is it true that you were helping out with Barack Obama’s campaign?

LG: Yes, I went there. I went to the rallies with my little boy. I’ll tell you a true story. My little boy is coming up to be 10, and he wrote to the President on the Wednesday morning, the morning after the election on the Tuesday – he got up early enough before school to write his letter to the President, he did his research on the internet and found his address. The President was still living in Chicago before he moved to the White House and he said “Dad, can you post this?” and I said “OK”. He then got a reply from the President; I wish I’d photocopied it, he had said to him “I am so sorry that your grandmother did not get to see you become the President” – although she voted by postal ballot for him before she died and I think that must have touched him. So he replied to Dominic and it was absolutely fantastic. I keep saying to him that he’s going to be a Congressman or a politician and do you know what he wants to do? He wants to be a clown.

MG: There’d be some people who would say that there’s not much difference!

JB: He’s clearly got a good sense of irony!

MG: You never know, he could become a comedian! We’ve already mentioned football and I was watching one of your video updates on the Internet [Lynval] – and I’m going to quote you here, you said “Newcastle are too good to down”. I want to know if your opinion has changed on that now?

LG: You know what they’ve done wrong, right, which I’m really disturbed about. Getting rid of Keegan, or he left whatever, was a big, big mistake. When I said it then, Keegan was there and he would have kept them up. I still love Shearer but I think he’s come in too late, he cannot save them now – they made a big mistake there. I think Keegan should still be there. I was at Manchester United vs. Newcastle, the first home game of the season, and I’m gutted that Newcastle is going to go down. Keegan, wherever you are, please come back and sort it out.

Michelle Golding: Tell him how many football shirts you have and how many teams you support.

LG: I like Arsenal, I like Chelsea, Coventry – I’m a real lover of the game. A purist. That’s the best way to describe it, I love the game.

JB: There must be some American soccer teams in there as well?

LG: Yes, local teams. I saw United play Celtic in Seattle when they did their pre-season tour and I saw Chelsea play Celtic there. We have a wonderful Irish community there and we go and watch football at breakfast time. It’s not really about teams; the main way to describe it is that I love football.

MG: Who do you support, Brad?

JB: Chelsea. My father supported Coventry City and I grew up about five minutes from the ground. So I cut my teeth at Highfield Road but when I moved down to London I was able to follow my Chelsea team. I think as far as football is concerned, I think it’s another type of religion that I don’t see is too distinctly dissimilar to music. I don’t think we cross too many barriers when we talk about football on stage though, I’d like to keep that off the stage. [Laughs]. There are a few cheeky comments from Tel.

JB: He’s a good player, Terry. He had trials for City or Villa or someone.

MG: Obviously this is the 30th Anniversary Reunion Tour, who were the key players, if any, in make the first tentative steps towards reformation?

LG: I talked to Terry, we hadn’t talked for years and we talked about the past – had a good old chat. It was like “shit happened” then but we’re at a different place in our lives now, you know. I came over here and met up with him in London and we eventually kept talking – we did a gig with the Dub Pistols in Guildford, Madness were there along with Toots & The Maysals – I went on stage with Terry and we did ‘Gangsters’ and I couldn’t believe the reaction. Then we did Glastonbury with Lily Allen, and I met Amy at Glastonbury. Lovely girl. I think the whole thing really kicked in with Guildford and with the Dub Pistols and it was just the reaction from the one song. Then we met up with Brad at a cafe in Belsize Park.

JB: Yeah, in 2007. I can’t remember the date but I’ve still got the receipt from the first coffee I bought. I kept that as a memento. I think you’d have to talk to the rhythm section, once that was together it all fell into place. I mean, you look at it now – from little acorns to this. We’re on track now for a bit of good times now. I know what you’re going to go on to and we’re not missing any elements.

LG: We’ve got a wonderful keyboard player in Nik, he’s just an amazing player.

Michelle Golding: Tell him what Nik wore in Scotland!

JB: Oh, he had the kilt out.

Michelle Golding: He went in the buff with just a kilt.

LG: The man’s just amazing and wonderful to work with.

MG: Not forgetting the brass section as well, they’ve been great.

LG: Oh, just wicked, you know. We wanted nothing but the best for the audience, they deserve it. So we made sure we pulled everything out to get the best players.

JB: We’ve got John Reid, who used to play for Prince Buster, and he’s just a top player. Tim and Drew, they’re all top players. They’re not just a section to us they’re part of the family now. They are a section and they’ve played together for a long time so I know that if I do anything in the future, I want it to be with that section. Perfect. So, we’re lucky.

MG: Obviously on this tour you’ve been able to resurrect so many great songs from the past, but say for some reason you were only able to pick 3, which would they be?

LG: I’d have to say ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’ because it reminds me of Coventry so much. It reminds of all of our old weekends. Then “Why?” because, well “why?” you know? Racism and everything. There’s one song which we don’t do which I would love to do, ‘Holiday Fortnight’. I’d love to do that.

JB: There is quite a repertoire left for us to work on, rehearse and build on to change the set that we’ve got. We won’t be doing the same set for ever; we even do a few in the sound check now. We’re working on getting ‘Guns of Navarone’ together. I agree with ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’, I’ve really grown to love that song now. ‘Concrete Jungle’, I think is one of the best tracks we’ve ever done and I really do like ‘Too Much, Too Young’ to be honest with you. I just love it. That’s very difficult to choose though.

MG: What was the process of picking the songs that went into the setlist? Did anybody take a leading role or was it done by consensus?

LG: You’d have to speak to Sir Horace Gentleman; you’d have to ask him that question.

JB: He’s like the band’s archive.

LG: He remembers everything, you know. [Laughs].

JB: He’s the oracle. The oracle and glue, what a weird combination. We just left it to him and we sort of agreed most of time. Terry gets involved obviously because he has to sing the songs.

MG: During the hiatus of the band, where was the strangest place that you’d been where’ve you heard something to do with The Specials and you’ve thought ‘they’re talking about us!’

JB: That’s a really good question.

LG: That’s a really good one, that is. For me, it’s got to be, this shop in Seattle and I walked past and they had a big poster of the sleeve of one of our records and I couldn’t believe it, I thought “wow, how did this get here?!”

JB: There’s been a few. In Italy I remember once being in a restaurant, and the waiter recognised me. The recognition factor for the drummer isn’t always as great as it is for the front men. So that was a surprise, and he asked me whether we were getting back together but it happens in the strangest places. It is a tribute to the media really, the internet and everything else. These days you can’t have any myth attached to your whereabouts or what you are doing.

MG: On the theme of the Internet, how much would you credit it for bringing your music continually to new fans through the likes of YouTube where you can watch The Specials perform live on bootleg tapes?

JB: We’ve got to credit Miles Woodroffe for maintaining our website. He was the guardian of the site. He’s given us the URL; he was the custodian for 12 years. We haven’t interfered with the member’s forum at all, which is now at http://www.thespecials2.com – but we find that quite a good link these days as to what people are thinking about us. It was a slightly thorny one before the tour, with questions being raised about the membership of the band but that’s resolved itself now. The moment we struck up in Newcastle that was it. I never wanted to do any press before this tour to tell you the truth, I just wanted to do the gig and at that point in time it all becomes clear but that’s the way it is, people want you do to press.

LG: It doesn’t make sense to me to talk about what you’re going to do, I’d rather talk about why you did it, you know.

MG: I think that’s true. There’s been a lot of press, like you say, about the seventh member but I think it’s all become a sub-issue now.

JB: What we’ve got to realise now, is that if we wanted to change our name – we could do it now. You are the first person that I feel like I can say that to. That is my first-time statement to a member of the press. It won’t happen, no way will it happen but that’s how powerful I feel this family is that we can go forward under any name we want and produce what we want. Make out of that what you will. That is testament to the union of this band now.

MG: That chimes with what a lot of people have said, the ones that have seen the show. They’ve said Jerry hasn’t wanted to have been involved for whatever reasons – but after seeing the show, they all say “I bet he wishes he was involved.”

LG: It’s strange to have six members of the band wanting to go out and play, to then have one who is determined for us not to play. We want to do it the fan’s way.

JB: Where we go from here, we’ll ask the fans. I don’t think it’ll be a disappointment to them.

MG: I suppose if people had a problem with it, then they wouldn’t have come to the shows in such numbers.

LG: Exactly.

JB: Yeah, they exercise their right to vote with their feet. That’s exactly what the audience would do.

LG: I do think when the audience realise the truth of why Jerry is not with us… I think if Jerry had thought about the fans then he would have been here with us, that’s what came first for all of us – the fans. That is it – and I wish he could have done the same.

MG: Overall, what is the best thing you have taken from the experience of having The Specials as a big part of your lives?

LG: I think it’s going out and meeting the fans – getting drunk with them. [Laughs].

JB: He was in the pub with everyone the other day singing ‘Enjoy Yourself’! He had to be rescued, don’t do that again. [Laughs].

LG: That was the highlight for me! Not on the stage, in the pub with these guys who were real genuine lovers of the band – it’s a huge family.

Michelle Golding: Our female PR had to go in and rescue him!

JB: He didn’t really need rescuing.

LG: The fans were just taking care of me, you know. Wonderful – I just love them.

JB: It’s a different crowd now. Well, it’s the same crowd but it’s got more passionate and it’s got more of an idea of ownership now. They protect us and they take care of us, it’s just really great. For me, it’s the audience every time. That’s it.