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Special Brew are a 2 Tone / Ska Band
from Coventry.
Special Brew of people playing a Special Brew of music, 2 Tone and Classic Ska from the 2 Tone city, Coventry, England, UK

A lifelong obsession with 2-Tone has brought us here.
Dedicated to the original members of Coventry's finest
THE SPECIALS & THE SELECTER
and to the brilliant
MADNESS, BAD MANNERS and THE BEAT

Special Brew - VERSIONS CD

Coventry 1979
... and something very special is brewing.

The country is about to go 2-Tone crazy to the new sounds of British ska. The Specials, widely regarded as one of the most exciting live bands in the country, have just pressed 5,000 copies of their debut single, on their own label, 2-Tone Records. Within months, The Specials and their labelmates The Selecter & Madness will all appear on Top of the Pops on the same night. For the next two years these bands, alongside The Beat & Bad Manners will dominate the nations airwaves and rule its dance floors.

After 2 years though, its all over, both The Specials and The Selecter split and the 2-Tone bubble bursts. Madness go on to become one of the nations most successful acts, former members of The Specials continue to have hits, as do The Beat & Bad Manners, but the excitement of the early days will not be matched. Speak to anyone who lived through these black & white days and they have so many great memories, but so many will tell you about the excitement of the live shows. They tell you how they danced till they could dance no more. 2-Tone and the bands that started life on the label, also produced some great singles, songs that touched the hearts of the nations youth and left them ska'd for life.

Many of those singles are here on this album, 3 decades on, played by a band made up of life-long fans of the label and its music.

Coventry 2009
... and the city is dancing again to the sounds of the 2-Tone era

This is the sound of ...
SPECIAL BREW

Click below for the bands main website and details of how to get your own copy of the VERSIONS CD

DANCE CRAZE - CHR TT 5004 - Released 14 February 1981