1979 was a strange year and was crying out for something new.
I was getting bored with punk/new wave which was inevitably becoming more
watered down and commercial. The original punk bands were developing in
different ways – some better than others – and as a 17 year-old I wanted
something new and fresh.
Lo and behold up comes this single, the first 2-Tone record,
a double A-side with The Special AKA (subsequently becoming The Specials) on
one side and The Selecter on the other. It’s ‘Gangsters’ by The Specials that made the impact and
led the charge of the new ska revival that produced The Beat, Madness and
others.
The tune is actually a re-working of a 1964 Prince Buster ska song
called ‘Al Capone’ and I think it went Top 10 in the singles charts which in
those days was a shed load of sales. The brains – some would say genius –
behind The Specials, including the writing of this song was Jerry Dammers.
Two great albums followed in the subsequent years before the
wheels fell off, Dammers having nothing to do with the current Specials line-up
that now rakes in the money through touring and re-hashing the old hits which
they didn’t write. Without him they’ve recorded nothing new in about 30 years
which just about says it all.
Nonetheless, ‘Gangsters’ remains a gold nugget, a song which genuinely changed what the youth of ’79 were listening to and influencing countless other bands. Not many records do that. I think I might even call it a classic. Here's the music:
