1979. The dawn of Thatcher’s Britain. It’s a country crippled by strikes, joblessness and economic gloom, divided by race and class - and skanking to a new beat: 2-Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the new music’s undeniable leaders were The Specials. Bursting out of Coventry’s concrete jungle, their lyrics spoke of failed marriages, petty violence, crowded dance floors, gangsters and race hate - but with a wit that outshone their angry punk forebears. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was the vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, aged only five, Neville was sent to England to live with his father – a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. Growing up black in the Midlands of the Sixties and Seventies wasn’t easy, but then Nev was hardly an angel. His youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanising, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually borstal and Wormwood Scrubs. But throughout there was music, and now Nev tells how a very bad boy became part of the most important band of the Eighties. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2-Tone tour with The Selecter, Madness and Dexy’s – and their clashes with NF thugs. He recalls the band’s increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a new found fame in America, as godfather to bands like Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt. Finally he reflects on The Specials’ reunion and how even now, thirty years on, they can’t help tearing themselves apart.Raucous and charming Original Rude Boy is the story of a man who done too much, much too young.
Neville Staple was a frontman with The Specials, a member of the hugely successful pop trio Fun Boy Three and now tours the world with own his own ska act The Neville Staple Band. Visit him at: www.nevillestaple.co.uk
Tony McMahon is a journalist and TV producer living in south London.
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‘A fascinating but harrowing tale of an uneasy life’
(Lois Wilson Mojo)‘There’s a charm –and often downright cheek- in everything this “Rude Boy –made-good” has done… There’s more than enough colourful behaviour to keep you smiling’
(Jake Kennedy Record Collector)‘The book offers an insightful account of 1970s Britain; a time crippled by joblessness and economic gloom, but also uplifted by the new sound of the time: 2 Tone.’
(The Voice)About the Author
Neville Staple is a singer for the two-tone ska band, The Specials, as well as his own combo, the Neville Staple Band. Along with Ranking Roger, he also sings in Special Beat.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Steve C.
Format:Paperback
I used to LOVE The Specials so when I saw this book I just had to get it. i could just hear the tunes again as I read it!
It's a great read all the way. Lots of photos in there as well. Interesting characters.
I realise this is his point of view on why or how things went the way they did but it's only to be expected and doesn't come over as somebody's biased viewpoint at all.
If you were into ska, 2 tone or any of the groups like The Specials you could be interested in this. Also, if you're into autobiographies with a difference then I'd definitely recommend this. Not like your boring footballer stuff!
It's a great read all the way. Lots of photos in there as well. Interesting characters.
I realise this is his point of view on why or how things went the way they did but it's only to be expected and doesn't come over as somebody's biased viewpoint at all.
If you were into ska, 2 tone or any of the groups like The Specials you could be interested in this. Also, if you're into autobiographies with a difference then I'd definitely recommend this. Not like your boring footballer stuff!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By michelle
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
such an easy book to read as its written as if hes talking,so laid back,full of information,dosnt hide from anything tells the truth evan if it dosnt make himself look good,you dont have to be a fan as his story itself is so interesting as a person and the times.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Flashbum
Format:Paperback
A really enjoyable romp through the life of Neville... nice to hear the whole history of the guy and not just the Specials section.
There is one aspect of the tale that started to really annoy me and thats the fact that Neville thinks he is the most important person in the whole world when it comes to influencing ska music in other nations. Apparantly the whole of the 3rd Wave was influenced by him.
Anyway, forgive him that and you have a very good read.
There is one aspect of the tale that started to really annoy me and thats the fact that Neville thinks he is the most important person in the whole world when it comes to influencing ska music in other nations. Apparantly the whole of the 3rd Wave was influenced by him.
Anyway, forgive him that and you have a very good read.
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