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It seems like half the world is enduring
an election year in 2024 ...
I feel bad about my attitude to Terry
Hall back in the 80s ... 'Ugh, that miserable bastard
again !' was my reaction whenever he came on the telly.
It wasn't until he died that I learned about his crazy
back-story. He was kidnapped by pedophiles when he was
11 years old and taken to France for 6 weeks (!!!) He
spent his whole teenage years addicted to valium (who
can blame him!)
That aside, I didn't quite realise
what a decent bloke he was. A man with a genuine social
conscience (not a phoney one like modern pop stars)
I was always a bit unsure about 2-tone. I loved the
music and the multiracial bands ... but so many of their
followers (scooter boys) were utter rednecks ... Pauline
Black (Selecter) often told a story of coming onstage
at one gig to face six rows of skinheads seig-heiling
down at the front (?!)
79-81 in Britain was a fascinating,
confusing, scary and tribalistic time ...
I've got to admit, though - I did
warm to him at one point, when, in an early interview,
he corrected the interviewer to say "We don't play
ska ... we play punk rock !"
P.s. ... Inspiring to think that 'Ghost
Town' was recorded on an 8-track tape machine in a basement
in Leamington Spa and mixed in someone's front room
in Tottenham
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