In the Studio

When The Specials original lineup disbanded in 1981 following the success of their biggest hit Ghost Town Jerry Dammers retreated to the studio for two years and returned with the aptly named In The Studio under the name Special AKA.

The album was preceded by one of the most harrowing songs ever to trouble the UK charts. The Boiler with Rhoda Dakar is about a girl with low self esteem who is assaulted and raped, the screams and sobs at the songs climax making it very much a song people would only ever listen to once and drastically limiting it's radio play.

The album that followed didn't contain anything quite as dark as The Boiler but continued with the bleak themes; war, racism, police corruption etc. The record was a commercial failure, due in the main to the record company deciding it wasn't worthy of any promotion and, the upbeat protest number Free Nelson Mandela aside, has largely been written out of the bands history.

Dammers was disillusioned by the records failure and never released another album and yet listening today to the remastered reissue it's clear that this was his greatest achievement, his Pet Sounds. In The Studio is a compelling mix of ideas and styles - a musically complex hybrid of Jazz, Reggae and Soul leaps and bounds ahead of the simplistic Ska Punk of The Specials more well known first album, justifying the time Dammers spent recording it and cementing the notion that The Specials/ Special AKA were one of the most important and influential bands of the early 80's.