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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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| Post subject: Have you heard 10 Commandments by The Specials? |
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New track by Terry, Lynval, Horace and special guest: Saffiyah Khan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_yPCE7GSTY
I don't think it's as good as any of the tracks on Specials, More Specials or In The Studio. I'm still keen to hear the rest of the album though especially the new version of Lunatics
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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 Posted:
Mon Jan 21, 2019 9:46 pm |
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Trojan
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Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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This was the one track that I was keen to hear on the album because in theory a modern day female take on Prince Buster’s 10 Commandments sounded very intriguing. This just sounds very contrived and lacks any real punch. And also a bit hollow given Saffiyah Khan works as a catwalk model, an industry which is hardly the bastion of progressive attitude towards women.
Pseudointellectuals indeed.
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Richard Eddington is innocent.
http://2-tone.info/ |
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Posted:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:00 am |
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Imani
Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 1693
Location: Bradford
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Must admit I was putting off listening to this when I saw Harry's post this morning. Not feeling this one. That's all I'll say right now.  |
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Posted:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 6:22 pm |
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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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The new Mojo is out - there's a big feature on Specials / 2-Tone. Jerry declined to be interviewed. There are comments from Nev and Rod as well as Terry, Lynval and Horace - it's a bit sad how they don't seem able to get on or even agree on what happened. The new album only gets a 3 star review from Ian Harrison who is old pals with Terry and has raved about everything else Terry did in the past.
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 8:04 pm |
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Trojan
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Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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According to the revamped Specials web site for this track the band wanted "to get something between Prince Buster, Sleaford Mods and The Fall"
More Adrian Mole in parts than Mark E Smith I would say.
The track is getting some very harsh words indeed over on the offical Facebook page along with some more favourable views.
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Richard Eddington is innocent.
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:45 am |
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Imani
Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 1693
Location: Bradford
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| Trojan wrote: |
According to the revamped Specials web site for this track the band wanted "to get something between Prince Buster, Sleaford Mods and The Fall"
More Adrian Mole in parts than Mark E Smith I would say.
The track is getting some very hard words indeed over on the offical Facebook page along with some more favourable views. |
On paper, the mixture of influences is promising - but for me there's something missing in the finished product.
With spoken word material, it works best when the music and the words feel like they're made for each other, such as when you hear LKJ, John Cooper Clarke and a few others. Or if you listen to The Boiler, for that matter, especially the way the music on that track reacts to the drama of the delivery. The music and words on Ten Commandments feel quite separate, and there's no sense of the music nor the voice emotion changing, it's all at one level.
The lyrics. I'm aware of the gender wars that are being waged online, yet how much of that is really a reflection of how people interact with each other in everyday life? Yes there is still sexism that needs to be challenged, for sure. Yet the tone of Saffiyah's poem seemed half as though it was a response to some online troll, and half a stereotyping of males. Neither of which really helps.
Much as I've always been drawn to 'protest music', I've found my views on it have gradually shifted. I'm reminded of something Elvis Costello mentions in a recent songwriting workshop (I posted it on General a couple of years ago) about the danger of being too dogmatic. See from 1:36.
Sorry, Saffiyah and crew - not for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPPK2Stkw_s
Last edited by Imani on Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:09 am |
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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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I agree with you. I love tracks like LKJ's England Is A Bitch. In my opinion the new version of 10 Commandments doesn't sound anything like him or The Fall or Sleaford Mods the track it brought to mind was David Brent's Equality Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTV62mE1PA
William Blake said the road to hell was paved good intentions.
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:46 am |
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Trojan
Too Hot
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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| Harry wrote: |
I agree with you. I love tracks like LKJ's England Is A Bitch. In my opinion the new version of 10 Commandments doesn't sound anything like him or The Fall or Sleaford Mods the track it brought to mind was David Brent's Equality Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTV62mE1PA
William Blake said the road to hell was paved good intentions. |
Normally even the mere mention of Ricky Gervais, along with Russell Brand, makes my skin crawl but this track is actually quite funny. It's laced with sarcasm and irony, which in turn gets the message across.
This take on The 10 Commandments sounds in places like 6th Form poetry.
The Bodysnatchers The Boiler has been mentioned as a point of reference. That and The Special AKA 'Can't Get a Break' are both examples of songs well and truly hitting the mark.
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Richard Eddington is innocent.
http://2-tone.info/ |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:36 am |
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Imani
Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 1693
Location: Bradford
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| Harry wrote: |
I agree with you. I love tracks like LKJ's England Is A Bitch. In my opinion the new version of 10 Commandments doesn't sound anything like him or The Fall or Sleaford Mods the track it brought to mind was David Brent's Equality Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTV62mE1PA
William Blake said the road to hell was paved good intentions. |
Though I do really like Equality Street! Nothing wrong with songs that are serious and earnest, of course, but sometimes humour can convey messages just as effectively. |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:58 am |
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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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I prefer this rehearsal version of Can't Get A Break to the one that ended up as the B-Side of Girlfriend. I think this is pretty good.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTRd5E_hj9g
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:52 pm |
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Imani
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Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 1693
Location: Bradford
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Yes, I also do, even though I liked the B-side version. The earlier one suits Rhoda's delivery. |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:52 pm |
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phil wright
Special
Joined: 19 Jun 2006
Posts: 537
Location: sutton coldfield
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| I know others have said it, but this just isn't The Specials anymore for me. Bands have to move on but this?!! It just isn't the music I wanted to hear from the band I discovered in 1979 and grew up with. But with 3 out of 7 it's not The Specials as we knew. Would we accept a band made up of Rod, Nev and Jerry as being The Specials?! |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:12 pm |
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the-ska-knight
Too Hot
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 1761
Location: Shakespeare Country.
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Looking at the Facebook page, if nothing else this has upset the Gammons - for that I love it anyway  |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:17 pm |
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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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| phil wright wrote: |
| Would we accept a band made up of Rod, Nev and Jerry as being The Specials?! |
Well... I guess Rod, Nev, Dick Cuthell and Jerry could avoid any potential confusion by calling themselves The Special A.K.A 
I may be wrong but I think Rico, Nev both guested on one of Jerry's live shows and you're right they didn't say, "We're The Specials"
Previously Jerry was not in The Specials reunion because, we were told - 1) he wanted to do new material and pick up where the band were at with Ghost Town whereas they wanted to play the hits 2) he wanted to play big venues and they wanted to keep it intimate 3) he wanted the band to experiment with a string section. Terry & co then went and did all these things without him.
What's odd is that Terry and Lynval have both said in the recent interviews that they would love to have Jerry back in the band and work with him again.
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:24 pm |
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Trojan
Too Hot
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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After reading the article on The Specials in the current issue of MOJO I think it safe to say that there is more chance of my arse playing the banjo than the 6 remaining members ever performing as a band again.
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Richard Eddington is innocent.
http://2-tone.info/ |
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Posted:
Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:51 am |
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Imani
Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 1693
Location: Bradford
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Looking at comments on social media & Youtube, I think some people have automatically assumed that if they're not feeling the song, it's evidence of misogyny or sexism. Whilst I question some of the lyrics, which aren't very nuanced in showing male and female attitudes, the main thing for me overall is the track could SOUND better. I'd say this even if I was on side with the message.
Political songs sound best when there's a strong musical/aesthetic appeal as well. The Specials at their best always had this. Without that balance I'm afraid it just sounds too much like a soapbox, and the music is almost irrelevant. |
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Posted:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 1:20 pm |
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Trojan
Too Hot
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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Posted:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:53 pm |
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marigold
Too Hot
Joined: 16 May 2010
Posts: 3262
Location: washington. d. c.
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Posted:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:31 pm |
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Trojan
Too Hot
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 2389
Location: Area 3
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In my book if you don't like Johnny Cash then you don't like music.
_________________
Richard Eddington is innocent.
http://2-tone.info/ |
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Posted:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:00 pm |
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Harry
Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 1589
Location: London
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I thought that was pretty good.
Are you familiar with Zoe Leonard's poem? I think she has more interesting ideas and more to say than Saffiyah Khan or Terry Hall. Imagine if Vote For Me was more along these lines....
“I want a dyke for president. I want a person with AIDS for president and I want a fag for vice president and I want someone with no health insurance and I want someone who grew up in a place where the earth is so saturated with toxic waste that they didn’t have a choice about getting leukemia. I want a president that had an abortion at sixteen and I want a candidate who isn’t the lesser of two evils and I want a president who lost their last lover to AIDS, who still sees that in their eyes every time they lay down to rest, who held their lover in their arms and knew they were dying. I want a president with no air-conditioning, a president who has stood in line at the clinic, at the DMV, at the welfare office, and has been unemployed and laid off and sexually harassed and gaybashed and deported. I want someone who has spent the night in the tombs and had a cross burned on their lawn and survived rape. I want someone who has been in love and been hurt, who respects sex, who has made mistakes and learned from them. I want a Black woman for president. I want someone with bad teeth and an attitude, someone who has eaten that nasty hospital food, someone who crossdresses and has done drugs and been in therapy. I want someone who has committed civil disobedience. And I want to know why this isn’t possible. I want to know why we started learning somewhere down the line that a president is always a clown. Always a john and never a hooker. Always a boss and never a worker. Always a liar, always a thief, and never caught.”
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I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:02 pm |
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