The Specials “More Specials” 1980. 2 Tone Records. Today’s ska spin is in honor of singer Terry Hall, who died Sunday at age 63. More Specials is the band’s second LP; it hit #5 in the UK and edged onto the US chart at #98. Of note: More Specials features Hall’s first co-composition (with keyboardist/primary songwriter Jerry Dammers), “Man at C&A.” The record also has contributions by members of the Go-Go’s on background vocals. Hall and Go-Go Jane Wiedlin had affair around the time of this album’s recording, which resulted in the Go-Go’s hit “Our Lips Are Sealed,” co-written by Wiedlin and Hall, a fact – and song – that delights me to no end. (Hall’s band Fun Boy Three, formed in 1981 after Hall left The Specials, recorded their own version of “Our Lips Are Sealed” in 1983; it went to #7 in the UK.)

More Specials is a lot ska, but it also has other elements like lounge (not a fan: the song “Pearl’s Cafe” is not good), rockabilly and soul (am a fan: the track “Sock It to ’em J.B.” kicks). There’s even a touch of spaghetti western on the single “Stereotype” which hit #6 in the UK. The Specials released three other singles: the upbeat “Enjoy Yourself” (first recorded in 1949 by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians), “Rat Race” (on the US release, not the UK version) which went to #5 in the UK and to #89 on the US Dance chart, and “Do Nothing” (#4 UK).