The Simon Jordan connection sounds depressing. He is a vile man.
The Specials aint The Specials without the Dammers toothless grin.
I saw the 2 Tone tour at Newcastle Mayfair.I'll stick at that.

Now available, for those interested.
See "thespecials.com" forum

It's ELO Part II all over again

...that Jerry Dammers is desperately unpopular with all bar one of the Specials. If they can reform without him, and they can, then they might just as well do so. If reforming with him would create a horrible working environment, and it seems it would, then the majority are right to kick out the bad apple.

Whether he wrote all the songs or not will only be relevant if/when the rest of them release a new album that they have written. If it is shite then Dammers can feel vindicated.

...that he wasn't the lead singer; well, apart from the rather charming novelty song What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend. Most people won't give a toss that Dammers isn't there, as long as Terry Hall, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding are there to sing the big hits, and the band sound reasonably tight.

"We don’t agree with what Jerry has said, but we don’t want to talk about it, not least because it is in the hands of our lawyers. We are all very excited about the overwhelming support shown to us, and the rush to buy tickets would appear to prove that the fans are looking forward to joining us in these dancehalls across the country next year as much as we are looking forward to playing them."

Surely Word readers of all people won’t forget just why the 2 Tone movement was so vital politically, socially and culturally. It had a massive influence on a generation and shaped future music and culture. That was all down to Jerry Dammers, and his refusal to take part in this sham of a tour underlines his integrity. He is one of the last truly great artists that will not compromise standards and beliefs just because it is far easier to do so.
This tour should be called Strictly Come Specials and be sponsored by Coke and Nestle and whoever else perma tanned Simon Jordan (Simon Jordan?! Is there noone left to sell out to?) can rinse more personal cash from.
Just don’t pretend it’s something that it isn’t. Dancehalls?! Blimey. It’ll be crap anyway. What do you think’s gonna happen? A bunch of 55 year old men in pork pie hats jumping around a sweaty stage singing about rude boys? Bad luck if you got a ticket. This ain’t about you dear punter, it’s all about the money.

Comment from Mrs Andrew2 when told the news - "thats not The Specials its the Fun Boy Three plus guests"

are those two from bananarama going to make a guest appearance? shit, ticket prices on ebay will go through the roof.

Saw the 6 specials at bestival and they were amazing, Jerry was there watching and even he admitted they did an great job.

There have been plenty other band reform with members missing and no one bats an eyelid - granted Jerry was the founding member but they all contributed in unique and influential ways.

I think the band have also kept some intergrity by not doing huge arenas (which i think they could have filled and lined their pockets) but stuck to intimate venues remniscent of their original tours.

Hope all the critics will be silenced by what WILL be an outstanding tour.

The 2-Tone revival finally appears to be here. After years and years and years and years of my filling space in the Coventry Evening Telegraph, predicting the 2-Tone revival was just around the corner (from years 1985-1992), and I've no doubt many did it after me, it appears that The Specials (majority verdict, forget about the founder) are back in vogue. What next, a Primitives revival? Lieutentant Pidgeon? King? Oh all those Coventry greats!