The Specials

The Specials formed in Coventry, England in 1977, becoming the leaders of the 2 Tone ska revival movement that fused Jamaican ska rhythms with punk energy and working-class British anger. Jerry Dammers — the band's founder, keyboardist, and primary songwriter — built their sound around a Farfisa Compact Combo organ, whose thin, reedy tone became the signature keyboard sound of the entire 2 Tone genre. The Farfisa's transistor-based circuitry produced a nasal, slightly aggressive tone that sat perfectly in the mix between Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation's guitars and the horn section. Radiation played a Fender Telecaster — its bright, cutting single-coil tone ideal for the staccato upstroke rhythm patterns of ska — through a small Fender amp cranked for slight breakup. On their self-titled debut (1979), produced by Elvis Costello at TW Studios in Fulham, the band's raw energy was captured almost entirely live, with Costello pushing Dammers' Farfisa high in the mix and keeping the guitar deliberately thin and trebly. Horace Panter's bass work on a Fender Precision provided the deep, syncopated foundation essential to ska, while John Bradbury's drumming combined the offbeat emphasis of Jamaican ska with punk's velocity. "Ghost Town" (1981) — recorded during a period of intense racial tension and unemployment in Britain — showcased a darker, more experimental approach: Dammers layered the Farfisa with a Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer and incorporated dub production techniques, creating an eerily atmospheric single that hit number one during the summer riots.