VIDEO THRWBCK: BBC Documentary On The Specials (1980)

Posted Oct 30, 2008 8:00 AM by Samuel Duke

File under “from Russia with love”: Rockers NYC hipped us to some weird Russian video site that’s hosting—in three parts—an incredible old BBC documentary about The Specials, shot right as two-tone, (and subsequently, the band) reached its cultural zenith in the UK (we had to chuckle at the reporter's statement that the "new sound" was "storming the charts"). The gold is pretty bountiful here—shots of the band sitting around their office-cum-apartment drinking Red Stripe, listening to Equals 45s and cracking jokes; interviews about rude boy culture with an overly eager British journalist; great live footage, etc.—so hopefully you can spend a large chunk of your morning nerding out to this like we have and forget that America totally ruined ska.

Video: 1980 BBC Documentary On The Specials