IN DECEMBER, WE LOST ONE OF BRITISH POP’S MOST SIGNIFICANT FIGURES WITH THE SAD PASSING OF TERRY HALL. SHOOTING TO FAME WITH THE SPECIALS, HE ALSO BROKE THE MOULD WITH HIS NEXT BAND, TOO. WE CELEBRATE HIS LEGACY AND, WITH THE HELP OF NEVILLE STAPLE AND LYNVAL GOLDING, TAKE A LOOK BACK AT HIS INNOVATIVE WORK WITH FUN BOY THREE...
DAN BIGGANE
Neville Staple, Lynval Golding and Terry Hall
On 18 December 2022, British music mourned the loss of one of its most endearing and iconic stars when it was announced that the singer of ground-breaking Coventry collective The Specials and founding member of Fun Boy Three, Terry Hall, had died at the age of 63 after a short battle with cancer.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists that this country has ever produced,” stated The Specials via social media. “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest and most genuine of souls.”
Just 11 days previous, Classic Pop spoke to Hall’s former Fun Boy Three cohorts, guitarist Lynval Golding and vocalist Neville Staple, to look back and celebrate the trio’s oft-overlooked body of work. During our conversation, Golding describes Hall as a “very quiet and private man,” before telling us how he was, “a very bright and highly intelligent intellectual,” praising him for his songwriting talents for which the guitarist believed he was deserving of more recognition.
Following the announcement, Staple paid his respects online: “I was deeply saddened to hear about Terry Hall’s passing... We knew Terry had been unwell but didn’t realise how serious things had become until recently.”
“In the music world,” Staple continued, “people have many ups and downs, but I will hang on to the great memories of Terry and I, making history fronting The Specials and Fun Boy Three together.”
DAWNING OF A NEW ERA
Born in Coventry in 1959, Hall joined The Specials as their vocalist shortly after the band was formed by Jerry Dammers in 1977. Combining the abrasive attitude of punk with the spirited danceability of ska, the group enjoyed success with a string of hit singles on Dammers’ independent record label, 2 Tone.
Scoring UK Top 10s with Gangsters, A Message To You Rudy, the Too Much Too Young EP, Rat Race, Stereotype and Do Nothing, alongside two Top 5 albums, Specials (1979) and More Specials (1980), the band’s legacy would be cemented forever with their haunting chart-topper, Ghost Town. Hall had once said that he didn’t believe music could chan
