That’s A Cover? explores cover songs that you may have thought were originals.
In November 1979 there was evidence of a remarkable movement in British music. Top of the Pops, the pop music show watched by millions across the country, which had the ability to make or break careers, featured three songs from the 2 Tone record label. An independent collective of the bands The Specials and The Selecter, they had recently taken a decision to sign up Madness, who had similar musical influences. Although a major label marketed them, 2 Tone itself was a tiny, ramshackle outfit. Literally off-beat, as part of their Ska music. Yet here they all were on the UK’s flagship music show. They were on a show with Abba, Dr. Hook and Queen, and the finale was Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand doing “No More Tears.” The Specials and Madness dashed up to the studios from their joint tour to perform, although The Selecter could stay in Cardiff as their part could be reshown from their performance a few weeks before. The single that The Specials were promoting was 2 Tone’s “TT 5-A,” only the fourth single on the label (the first was a joint A-side which both got serial numbers). “A Message To You Rudy” has a clear message and a danceable tune, and is one of the most streamed and covered of The Specials canon. It is also a cover itself.
(Unfortunately, although people get a lot of pleasure from reruns of the series, that episode of Top of the Pops can no longer be shown on TV for reasons unrelated to British youth culture in 1979, so we don’t get the chance to officially relive the moment in its entirety).
2 Tone Records and The Specials came out of Coventry, an industrial city in the Midlands of England. Its industrial nature made it a target for bombings in World War 2, but it rebuilt itself after the war and reclaimed its industrial base. The success of that industry pulled in people from around the UK and beyond, from the British Empire. At the time, any member of the Empire could come to the country, and the country welcomed them and their hard work. By the ’70s, the children of that early Windrush generation were growing up in the UK, but also the industrial base was beginning to shrink, a process that would soon accelerate. The common cycle of welcoming, and appreciating newcomers when times are good, and beginning to resent their presence when things are less good, could have taken hold.
The Specials were very keen to do everything they could to ensure that working-class people of all types did not turn on each other for perceived differences due to race, when they had far more in common with each other. The threat to Coventry did not come from working-class neighbors, but from politicians and politics. The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was keen to deindustrialize the British economy in favor of other activities she deemed more economically productive, but which could not be easily carried out by hard working, skilled artisans.
The idea of using music for the purpose of uniting people came Jerry Dammers, a child of Empire himself having been born in India, and a musician with an ability to master various forms and genres. A mod in the ’60s, a hippie when that became a thing, playing reggae in the ’70s. He wanted to start a new band and movement with two principles. He would explicitly have a band which reflected the multicultural nature of Coventry as a place*, and he wanted the output to be danceable. Assembling a band on these principles, he found like-minded people and started practicing and performing with them. Unfortunately, the vehicles he initially chose, New Wave punk sounds and Reggae, did not fuse too well. Their audiences did not overlap too much, and the pace of the two forms was too different to form a coherent set. New Wave punk is fast-paced, Reggae more laid back. There were jarring, dancefloor-emptying changes of tempo.
Ska (or its precursor Blue Beat) was a more pacy form of music that evolved in Jamaica in the ’60s. Heavily influenced by R&B records from the United States. it evolved a unique tempo and rhythm, along with a look and mood, that of the Rude Boy. Initially, none of The Specials were deeply immersed in the genre. Even those of Jamaican heritage were not initially that keen on the music, as they viewed it as the music of their parents, rather than of their generation. Nevertheless, the band rapidly assimilated the music, driven by the emphasis on the off-beats of bars, creating a bouncing rhythm. And no one could deny the outcomes. The gigs were electric and the band quickly built up a buzz. A second, related, band also came into the fold soon after. The Selecter were part of the collective, with some former members of The Specials, who had clashed with Dammers musically or personally, but were still willing to work together. Fronted by an enormously talented female singer, Pauline Black, this band were equally inclusive.
One problem with the gigs is that they could attract trouble. Curiously the bands, given their stance, attracted racists (who liked the music but not the philosophy), as well as the anti-racists and fun seekers you would expect. If a bunch of thugs came in with knives to cause havoc, did it really matter whether they had an underlying philosophy or were Far Left or Far Right? The people in the hospital probably didn’t care. Madness liked the music and supported the stance, but were initially an all-white outfit. In a precursor to Michael Jordan’s later comments the suggestion from one band member that “Fascist Thugs buy tickets too” did not go over well, nor did it discourage some troublesome elements.
This aspect of the ska was strangely related to what had happened during the initial phase of the movement, where Rude Boys could be seen causing trouble in Jamaica, and where youthful hijinks left a lasting stain on the lives of perpetrators and those injured. Ska pioneer Prince Buster had to invent a character, Judge Dread, to issue judgment and sentences to young boys.
It is this message that drove the original version of “A Message to You Rudy.” Don’t cause trouble for a short-term buzz, which could have lifelong consequences for you and others. Robert Thompson, a Jamaican who was part of the Windrush Generation who traveled to the UK, recorded the song under the name “Dandy,” for a pioneering music label in London, selling records to the burgeoning West Indian population in London, and the original Mods who lionized American R&B and Jamaican music. “Rudy, A Message to You” was slower-paced and softer-toned in its delivery and message, and had a different order of words in the title, but it was the original. It had a clear message and great musicality, but it had a small target audience, and was never a hit. It also, like all songs of the period, did not have a music video, although that was rectified in the version here. Dandy did have a couple of minor hits before he left the industry. The song disappeared or went underground, although there is some evidence that it reached Birmingham, geographically and musically close to Coventry.
Little was heard about the song until The Specials took it up, as part of their set, in their Elvis Costello-produced debut album, and ultimately as a single on top of the pops. Initially the song was attributed to The Specials, by the time of the single the performers were known as “The Specials With Rico.”
Rico Rodriguez, MBE, is a legendary figure in British music. A Cuban-born trombonist, who moved to Jamaica whilst young, he came to London in the early ’60s and had a stellar career until his passing in 2015. He worked under his own name, but was a valued session musician for all of that time. One of the things that he worked on was the original “Rudy.” When brought into the sessions for The Specials, to bring credibility and gravitas to their efforts to break through, he was immediately familiar with the material! He did not suggest the song to the band (they had found it by themselves), but he immediately brought something to the band and helped propel them to stardom. In the video and TV appearance, he is excused duties of wearing any part of version of the uniform of 2 Tone (as modeled by the graphic art figure Walt Jabsco on the label). The awe in which everyone held him was clear.
The Specials went on to be one of the biggest bands in the UK in the early ’80s. This song and Rico Rodriguez completed a compelling package. The 2 Tone concept, and the band, went the way of many Socialist collectives! Everyone fell out over music and money. Nevertheless, even apart, they stayed true to their political causes. The Specials AKA, a new, talented line-up featuring Dammers, drove the “Free Nelson Mandela” movement in the UK, and were part of the massive Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Concert in 2008. For us cover music fans. the 2022 (Dammers-free) Specials lineup which performed some Specials songs but an additional series of protest songs from Pops Staples, Frank Zappa and others is a fun curiosity, and also forms the last televised and recorded work from the late Terry Hall.
*It is worth noting that the laudable aims and outcomes from The Specials and Dammers have been criticised as not being as inclusive as they could have been. In addition to large inflows of people from the West Indies, the Midlands of England also welcomed new neighbors from South Asia. These people also worked hard and brought many great things to the country and culture, but did not feature in The Specials.
