My so-called post-punk life, Part 7
This is a shorter entry, and I hope to follow it up with a much longer sequel over the weekend.
I’ve only ever bought three records off the turntable at record stores, and none in the last 25 years. The three records were U2′s Boy (which was then available only on import), Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music For Airports and The Specials’ debut album.
Elvis Costello produced the latter, saying that he wanted to get them recorded before someone came along and ruined them. As it turned out, he was right, but the supposed enemy came from within. This will be the subject of that promised sequel.
I knew nothing of them, but news reports started to come through after I bought this album about their incredible live shows and the racial politics they championed. In retrospect, what really stands out for me is the misogyny. You can see all three of these elements at work in this incredible picture of one their early live shows. Note that despite their commitment to a racial equality message, this picture appears to be entirely white men. I guess the woman-bashing songs like “Little Bitch,” “Stupid Marriage” and “Too Much Too Young” ultimately made more of an impression on their fan base.
I heard this record first at Rasputins when it was its way-old location between Channing & Durant, the one that burned down in 1980 (I think). To get a great sense of what Rasputins was like in those days, have a look at these pages from Cometbus 30. (Scans are PDFs, right-click to download.)
[Soundtrack]
The Specials – Stupid Marriage.mp3
Contemporaneous press coverage of The Specials live experience
