Name: Live at the Moonlight Club
Brand: The Specials

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

CRTT1047

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2018-01-19

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5060516090563

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Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

The Specials

Genre GB

New Wave / Post Punk

Label GB

Chrysalis

The roots of Chrysalis stretch back to a tiny flat in West London in 1967, when former university social secretaries, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis, linked their flair for managing and booking bands to form the Ellis Wright Agency. After trying to release their bands' records via other companies, they decided to start their own label.

In 1968, they signed a licensing deal with Island Records with the proviso that if their acts achieved an agreed number of hits, they would be awarded a label of their own. Within a year, this tally was reached and Chrysalis Records was born.

Over the years, Chrysalis went through various ownership changes. In 1985, Chris Wright bought out Terry Ellis and later sold the label to EMI in 1991. EMI was then acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 before selling the Parlophone Label Group (including Chrysalis) to Warner Music Group in 2013.

The Specials were the first band of the 2-Tone era in Britain during the late '70s and early '80s. Led by keyboardist Jerry Dammers, the band consisted of Terry Hall on lead vocals, Neville Staple on vocals and percussion, Lynval Golding on rhythm guitar and vocals, Roddy "Radiation" Byers on lead guitar, Sir Horace Gentleman (aka Horace Panter) on bass, and John Bradbury on drums.

During their active years from 1979 to 1981, The Specials released seven singles, two of which ("Too Much Too Young" & "Ghost Town") reached #1 in the UK charts. However, amidst widespread street violence in major cities across the country, they disbanded when "Ghost Town" topped the charts on July 11th, 1981.

Afterwards, Jerry Dammers and John Bradbury continued as The Special AKA until 1985. Horace Panter also remained involved to some extent. Roddy Byers left but made a guest appearance on one single. Meanwhile, Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding formed Fun Boy Three.

This gig was said to have been secretly recorded by Decca Records who had an office next door to the famous Moonlight club in Hampstead, London and then somehow made its way into the hands of the bootleggers. More recently Horace Panter in his excellent account of his time with the Specials, Ska'd for Life, has stated that although the entire set was recorded the track Longshot Kick the Bucket, which had been recently added to the bands set list, was scheduled to appear on a Live Moonlight club compilation but for whatever reason the planned album failed to materialise. Whatever its origins there is no doubting that it captures the band in top form and is a great example of a sound that was to quickly take the nation by storm. Recorded on the day before the British general elections of may 1979, the gig is also of significance in that Chrysalis a&amp;r employee, Roy Eldridge, was one of the members of the audience. It was he who was instrumental in signing both the Specials and the whole 2 Tone apparatus to Chrysalis records. He impressed the Specials manager Rick Rogers by being genuinely enthusiastic about the band, not like others who were only interested in making money as quickly as possible and cared little for the music.

Live at the Moonlight Club

Music GB

Buy The Specials - Live at the Moonlight Club (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.