Song of the Day 12/28: The Specials, “Vote for Me”

Singer Terry Hall, frontman for three bands that reached the British charts in the 1980s, died last week at age 63 of pancreatic cancer. Best known as co-lead vocalist for British ska revivalists the Specials, he left in 1981. He formed a series of bands and guested on many artists’ albums before reforming the Specials (albeit without founder Jerry Dammers). This tune was on their 2019 LP “Encore,” which debuted at No. 1 on the UK album charts.

Hall wasn’t an original member of the Specials but he was with them in their heyday, from 1977 to 1981, when he and co-lead vocalist Neville Staple and guitarist/singer Lynval Golding left to form Fun Boy Three, scoring a half-dozen top 10 singles in the UK.

It wasn’t until 2019 that Hall revealed he had been sexually abused as a 12-year-old by a teacher. Only then did people realize that this odd song from Fun Boy Three’s 1983 LP “Waiting,” produced by David Byrne of the Talking Heads.

Hall soon left Fun Boy Three to form the Colourfield, whose 1985 LP “Virgins and Philistines” reached No. 12 in the UK.

The Specials, down to Hall, Golding, bassist Howard Panter and guest musicians, were planning another album when Hall’s illness brought the project to a halt.