Mojo - The Music Magazine

The Bestival crisis, the Terry Hall revival, the tragedy of Keith... and of Jerry.

Read Part 1

All of you, including Jerry but not Neville who was stuck on a ferry, turned up to MOJO's Honours List Ceremony in June 2008. But the apparent show unity couldn't have been more hollow, and it was only a couple of months later, at Bestival in September, that you hit the stage without Jerry...
Bestival was a headache. It was really, really tough. There was so much emotion. Hardly anyone, not even members of the band, knew how close we came to losing the gig.

I was staying with my daughter in Woolwich and I walked up and down the riverbank, thinking, We've come so far, I can't let this fall apart now. Me and Terry met outside a café in Islington. Me with a lemon tea and him smoking away, waiting for the phone to ring. This was the Thursday, and the gig is meant to be on the Sunday. I talk to Suggs [from Madness] on the phone and Suggs says, You must talk to Jerry. And I say the talking is over, I can't talk anymore.

Everything was together. Rehearsals had gone great. But there are these threats coming from Jerry and [Bestival organiser] Rob Da Bank is feeling very anxious. We have to guarantee we won't say the name. We couldn't even say, There are six members of The Specials going to play for you tonight. We couldn't say *that. We didn't say anything. My daughter made an intro DVD, we went on, played and got off. Said nothing!

But we knew if we didn't do Bestival, it was over. It was a huge challenge. I gotta thank Rob Da Bank for the having the courage to do it, in the teeth of threats from Jerry.

After that performance there were still obstacles in the way. Neville and Rod were unsure. Me, Brad, Terry and Horace were pretty solid.

Has Jerry sued you?
No. We're too close for that to happen. Me and Jerry have a brotherly relationship. We fight, we argue, but we love each other. I have a special love in my heart for Jerry which will never go away.

Who owns the Specials name?
Jerry went and trademarked the name as him, which I thought was definitely wrong. It's like Paul McCartney trademarking the name of The Beatles. Like "I am the Beatles!" That's wrong. It was seven guys who made the Specials work.

How has everyone changed?
It's funny. At one stage I didn't talk to Brad for years. We were young and we were a bit "rarrrrrgh!" But he is one of the most caring, nicest people... and Terry, I take my hat off to Terry. Horace... Everyone comes from different backgrounds, it would be easy for me to fall into the patois thing with Neville but I find now that I'm so much closer to these guys. Even with Rod, I go to Coventry and spend days with him...

Roddy requires some special TLC?
Roddy is a very emotional sort of person. He needs a father figure. Sometime I have to grab hold of him and slap his wrist, then I tell him how much I love him and care for him. And it works! It's tough love!

I love Roddy. There are times, when Roddy was having one of his downers, I would tell him, "Roddy, if you were to leave this band and walk away from us it would break my heart, and I would give up playing music." When I close my eyes it's like we're twins the way we play guitar together. There's no-one like him. We lift each other when we play with each other.

I love and respect every one of these guys. But there are times when I could slap every one of them [laughs]. My dear grandmother would take the strap to me and she would say, "I only do this because I love you." I didn't understand it at the time.

What do you treasure most about your time in Fun Boy Three?
You know, when they give all these awards for writers they overlook one of the best lyricists ever: Terry Hall. Read that guy's lyrics. The stories there! People ask us how we could have left The Specials after Ghost Town when the band was at its height. I always say, It was the best thing we could ever have done. It was a brilliant move! Financially, it was a disater, but in terms of creativity and peace of mind, it was the only thing to do. And we made some good records.

Working with Bananarama was really fun. Working with our arranger and keyboard player Nicky Holland was brilliant. We had the all-girl band, Caroline LaVelle on cello. Can you imagine, walking away from the Specials? We must have been nuts. But you have to give Terry credit for his vision.

What happened at the end of Fun Boy Three?
I was in Jamaica when I heard. I wasn't told. Terry said the other day, Shit happened there. It wouldn't happen now. He was young and everything. And y'know, we're not perfect. We don't live in a perfect world. We do things that we regret. We went down roads that we wouldn't choose now. But me and Terry are best mates now.

The Specials seems to have been the perfect treatment for Terry's manic-depression...
Music is a wonderful therapy. I've seen Terry at his lowest, but look at him now. I respect that he talks about his personal problem with the depression. He's always made these crazy jokes. But he never laughs; he just stands there looking at you.

How well did you know him, do you think, the first time around?
I think I was the closest one to him in the Specials. We spent a lot of time together. Looking back, a lot of things now make sense. I had no idea he was depressed. Never. I had no understanding of that at all whatsoever. People would ask why Terry was so miserable and I would say, He's not miserable - that's Terry. Now I can look him in the face and I can tell if he's having a good day or a bad day.

Through all the obstacles, what's kept you going?
What drove me was the fans. I resolved to do exactly what the fans wanted us to do. I'm never gonna let them down. There was this one guy, his name was Keith, he lived in Coventry. I think he was bitten by a snake, fell into a coma and everything. He was very very ill and even when he came to he couldn't help himself. His marriage broke up and he ended up in an old people's home, even though he was only in his forties. He lived, breathed and ate the Specials. In his hospital they'd have a special day where they'd get to pick someone to spend the day with them, and he wanted me. I was overwhelmed. I spent not one, I spent two days with him and he really inspired me.

He had all these brown newspaper clippings of what we'd been up to 30 years ago. He couldn't believe it when I turned up. I realised that this was the reason why I wanted to go play those songs. I promised him on his bed that we'd do it, and the one thing that saddens me is that he died before we played Coventry. I'd booked the cab for him, I'd arranged for his two carers to accompany him. He was so happy.

I was really mad with him when he died. I went to his funeral in Coventry. Keith, why did you go and do that? I promised you, man! Why couldn't you hang around? These were the things that gave me the strength to push and push, to go round Roddy's house and pick him up. I put blinkers on and said, This is for Keith.

You don't realise the impact you have on people's lives. These songs say a lot - Ghost Town, Why?, Too Much Too Young, Concrete Jungle - and are touching each new generation. I'm proud of what all seven us have achieved. All seven of us plus Rico [Rodriquez, trombone], Dick [Cuthell, trumpet] and [original soundman/producer] Dave Jordan. Dave Jordan should have been with us, but the drugs got him before that could happen. He left me an answerphone message that he was coming back from Paris to clean up his act, but he never made it.

And Jerry Dammers?
Jerry Dammers is an inspiration. He taught me to be strong and to never give in. Because Jerry never gives in. And that's why we had to do this without him.

Interview by Danny Eccleston

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