{
  "slug": "the-specials",
  "name": "The Specials",
  "description": "The Specials appears 3 times in our Two-Tone list, placing as high as No. 1. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-31",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-specials/",
  "appearanceCount": 3,
  "distinctRecordings": 3,
  "years": {
    "first": 1979,
    "last": 1981
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 1,
    "list": "Two-Tone"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "two-tone",
      "name": "Two-Tone",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/two-tone/",
      "entries": 3
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "the-specials--ghost-town",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-specials--ghost-town/",
      "title": "Ghost Town",
      "year": 1981,
      "label": "2 Tone",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Number one while English cities were actually burning, and the band split the week it topped the chart. A haunted-house organ, a wailing horn, and the most precisely timed record in British pop.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Specials%20Ghost%20Town",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 1,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "two-tone",
        "name": "Two-Tone",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/two-tone/"
      },
      "artist": "The Specials"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "the-specials--a-message-to-you-rudy",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-specials--a-message-to-you-rudy/",
      "title": "A Message to You, Rudy",
      "year": 1979,
      "label": "2 Tone",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Dandy Livingstone's rocksteady original, with Rico Rodriguez — who had played on the Jamaican sessions of the sixties — brought in on trombone. Continuity made audible.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Specials%20A%20Message%20to%20You%2C%20Rudy",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cntvEDbagAw",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 3,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "two-tone",
        "name": "Two-Tone",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/two-tone/"
      },
      "artist": "The Specials"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "the-specials--too-much-too-young",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-specials--too-much-too-young/",
      "title": "Too Much Too Young",
      "year": 1980,
      "label": "2 Tone",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "A live EP about teenage pregnancy that went to number one, and got banned in places for a lyric about contraception. Very funny and not remotely kind.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Specials%20Too%20Much%20Too%20Young",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PD9NvKKY7W0",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 7,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "two-tone",
        "name": "Two-Tone",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/two-tone/"
      },
      "artist": "The Specials"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}