BIOGRAPHY AND WIKIPEDIA: British star, Terry Hall, has died

“When I saw the Pistols and The Clash I realised it didn’t seem that difficult,” he told The Big Issue. “They didn’t seem like they could play very well either, so the thing was to form a band then work it out.

“We didn’t even know who was going to play what – we passed around all the instruments until we found what we were comfortable with. I wasn’t comfortable with any of them so I became the singer.”

Nonetheless, the band rode an extraordinary wave of popularity, scoring seven consecutive top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981.

That period culminated with 1981’s Ghost Town, an hypnotic, menacing song that seemed to predict and then soundtrack that summer’s riots on the streets of London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham; a response to the police’s use of stop-and-search tactics.

Hall said his political awakening came in his teenage years “when I discovered that working men’s clubs had a colour bar on their doors”.

“That really shook me,” he said, and resolved to take a stand.

“When you see injustice, all you can do is think: what can I do to help, what can I say about this, how can I make people aware of this?”

Ghost Town spent three weeks at number one, and is widely regarded as one of the all-time great British pop songs.

But Hall – who was only 22 – found it hard to bridge the discrepancy between chart fame and the band’s political message.

“When we picked up a gold disc for Ghost Town, I felt really bad about it,” he said. “You are being told to celebrate this number one record that is about what is happening, the mess that we are in, and I felt very uncomfortable.”

Terence Edward Hall was born March 19, 1959, in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. At age 12, he was abducted by a pedophile ring and subjected to sexual abuse, which led to him battling depression and addiction throughout his life. He was diagnosed as manic depressive following a suicide attempt in 2004, but in a 2019 interview for comedian Richard Herring’s “Leicester Square Theatre” podcast, he matter-of-factly stated, “It’s unfortunate it happened to me, but you can’t just let it destroy your life.” Hall quit school at age 15 and soon became a fixture of the late-‘70s Coventry music scene, joining the Specials (originally called the Coventry Automatics) when he was 18 years old.

In 1979, after releasing their Elvis Costello-produced self-titled debut album on their own 2-Tone label and receiving support from the Clash’s Joe Strummer and BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, the Specials found themselves at the forefront of Britain’s ska revival — along with Madness, the Beat, and the Selecter. The group’s multiracial lineup (which included Neville Staple, Lynval Golding, Roddy Radiation, Horace Panter, Jerry Dammers, and John Bradbury); activism via organizations like Rock Against Racism; and sociopolitical messaging all resonated deeply with disfranchised British youth during the bleak and tension-filled Thatcher era. For instance, “Rat Race” was a scathing critique of privileged university students, while “Ghost Town,” which was released during the recession and amid race-related unemployment riots in Brixton and Liverpool, became the Specials’ signature song.

Hall also told Yahoo that he was surprised that so many people made a fuss over the Specials’ integrated lineup, saying, “We didn’t find it a big deal, because when I grew up, I went to a school that was probably 70% West Indian and Asian. We all grew up in the same area and went to the same places. For me, one of the funniest first reviews we got was when the Guardian pointed out that we were a multiracial band, and it was like, ‘Yeah, of course we are.

Hall also told Yahoo that he was surprised that so many people made a fuss over the Specials’ integrated lineup, saying, “We didn’t find it a big deal, because when I grew up, I went to a school that was probably 70% West Indian and Asian. We all grew up in the same area and went to the same places. For me, one of the funniest first reviews we got was when the Guardian pointed out that we were a multiracial band, and it was like, ‘Yeah, of course we are.

The Specials charted seven top 10 U.K. singles during their first run, and today The Specials is considered a landmark recording, appearing on Pitchfork’s list of the Best Albums of the 1970s and on NME’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. But by 1982, Hall had left the Specials to form the more pop-leaning Fun Boy Three with Staple and Golding. Fun Boy Three went on to rack up six top 20 singles in the U.K., one of which, “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It),” helped launched the career of girl group Bananarama. (Fun Boy Three later supplied their background vocals to Bananarama’s top five single, “Really Saying Something.”) Hall also cowrote the Go-Go’s’ first hit, “Our Lips Are Sealed,” with Jane Wiedlin, with whom he’d had a brief affair while the Go-Go’s were on tour with the Specials in 1980. Fun Boy Three split in 1983 after the release of their second album, the David Byrne-produced Waiting.

Following the original Specials’ breakup, the remaining members recorded and toured under the monikers Special A.K.A. and Special Beat, while Hall busied himself with various musical projects and collaborations, including the Colourfield, the Lightning Seeds, Vegas (with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart), and two solo albums. Over the course of his career, Hall also worked with Damon Albarn, Sinéad O’Connor, Dub Pistols, D12, Tricky, Junkie XL, Lily Allen, and Shakespears Sister, and Toots and the Maytals; the latter record, 2004’s True Love, won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album.

Bandmate Neville Staple said he was “deeply saddened” to hear about the death of Hall – adding that they had only just confirmed some joint musical projects for 2023.

“In the music world, people have many ups and downs, but I will hang onto the great memories of Terry and I, making history fronting The Specials and Fun Boy Three together. Rest easy Terry Hall.”

Thousands of fans paid their respects online, with fellow singer and songwriter, Midge Ure, describing Hall’s death as “dreadful news”.

Singer/songwriter and Strictly Come Dancing star Matt Goss said he was “in shock” over Hall’s death.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation said Hall’s death was “truly sad news”, sharing a picture of him with the Back to Black singer.

Radio DJ Jo Whiley also paid her respects, tweeting how she has “always been a fan” of Hall. The Specials were formed by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter in Hall’s home city of Coventry in 1977.

Hall, together with Neville Staple, Roddy Byers and John Bradbury joined a year later.

The band were originally called the Automatics before eventually settling on The Specials in 1978.

They quickly achieved popularity with their ska and rocksteady style, credited for providing a musical backdrop to economic recession, urban decay and societal fractures in the early 1980s.

The band produced a string of iconic hit records, including Too Much Two Young and Ghost Town, which both hit number one in 1980 and 1981 respectively.

The Specials decided to go their separate ways in 1981, with Hall, Golding and Staple going on to form the band Fun Boy Three, which achieved four top 10 singles.

Two years later Hall departed to form The Colourfield before taking on a series of solo and collaborative projects, including working with singer Lily Allen.

But The Specials announced in 2008 they would reunite for a number of tour dates with the promise of new music to come.

In September that year, Hall and five other bandmates performed a surprise slot at Bestival music festival under the name Very “Special” Guests – to the delight of fans.

The group kicked off a tour to mark their 30th anniversary in 2009, later supporting The Rolling Stones during a concert at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena in 2018.