Post by Fuggle on Sept 26, 2004 6:43:58 GMT -5
Special Brew
Music: As founder of The Specials Terry Hall prepares for gigs in the Inspired By series, he names his five biggest heroes
ONE of Britain’s most distinctive vocalists and songwriters, Coventry-born Terry Hall has been writing and recording music for over 25 years, as a founder member of legendary ska group The Specials, as part of Fun Boy Three and as an acclaimed solo artist. This week, he’s coming to Scotland to perform a song or two with The Dub Pistols, with whom he recently recorded the ska-influenced track Problem Is. The gigs are part of Rizla’s Inspired By series, where bands reveal some of their musical heroes through DJ sets and cover versions. The Specials are obviously an influence on The Dub Pistols, but who influenced Terry Hall? We asked him to nominate five people who have inspired him down the years.
GEORGE BEST
“He was my first ever real hero. I saw the goal he got for Manchester United against Benfica in the European Cup final in 1968 when I was nine. I lived in Coventry at the time, and United were playing the next week. I went to see them and just thought ‘this is the team for me’. I even bought George Best boots, these purpley-black things with a lace up the side.
“Basically, he got me into football: I’d try and base my game on him, without much success, really. But he also gave me a reason to get out of Coventry – I started following United so I’d be away every Saturday. He was the first real pop star, with the hair, the women, the boutiques. He was like a footballing David Cassidy. It’s sad how things turned out for him, though. I remember getting upset when I saw him drunk on Wogan. But he’s like Alex Higgins; they’re both so good because of who they are. It’s sad, but it’s also fantastic.”
THE CLASH
“They were the first British band I ever saw play live. It was at Lancaster Polytechnic in 1976, the tour they did with the Sex Pistols. And it seemed like everyone who was at that gig formed a band or became an artist of some kind. I said to my friends, ‘Let’s start a band … it doesn’t look that difficult.’ Before, you’d see bands on Top Of The Pops and it seemed like a million miles away. But with punk, a lot of live music venues shot up, even in Coventry. It was exciting.
“The Specials actually supported The Clash on a tour in 1978, but we were very unknown so we got treated pretty crap by the audiences. It was the horrible phase of gobbing and throwing things. But the band were really nice to us. I saw Mick Jones not too long ago at a Libertines gig, and I saw Joe Strummer maybe about a month before he died, which was good, in a way. I always put their first LP The Clash in my top 10 albums, because it’s such an eye-opener for any young musician wanting to be in a band. The songs are just so powerful.”<br>
LEONARD COHEN
“He’s an on-going thing with me, like Brian Wilson or Patti Smith – music you can dip in and out of down the years. But I still find him an inspiration because of his longevity. He can go into retreat for eight years, then come down the hill and make a record – it kicks against the whole music business. I’d never compare myself to what he does lyrically or musically, but there’s a kinship there. Once I had made two or three records, I realised that it was what I wanted to do forever. But the music business tells you that you can’t, there’s a time limit or something. A few years ago, I was staying at a friend’s house in France, and he was supposed to be co-writing with Leonard Cohen. I was up on my own in the middle of the night and suddenly Cohen sent him this fax; I was watching these lyrics come through the machine. They were in such a raw state, not songs or anything – it was such a thrill. I felt like stealing them.”<br>
RICHARD HELL
“I’ve become obsessed with Richard Hell. He’s somebody I listen to every day. If me and Ian Broudie are having a night out, we put on Richard Hell And The Voidoids’ [debut album] Blank Generation in the car and turn it up loud. I’m 45 now, but they’re still my favourite archetypal New York punk band.
“I’ve never deciphered what Richard Hell was singing. I once worked with the producer of that first album who told me that when Hell did his vocals he had a mouth full of sweets. I thought it was really funny. They’re just a band that I really, really love.
“And now my kids listen to Blank Generation too. They’re forming a band so I’ve told them: ‘You have to do a Richard Hell cover, then you’ll be cool.’ I can hear them playing upstairs and it reminds me of when I was their age. I try not to tell them to turn it down.”<br>
ERIC CANTONA
“He had such a spirit … he felt like God. He had what you want from anyone who plays for your team. It’s that cliché that you’d die for your shirt but as a fan, that’s what you want to see.
“We were sitting right across from the whole kung fu incident at Crystal Palace but at the time it didn’t feel as bad as it looked later on. It was his right to reply. When he left United in 1997 you felt it coming so it was OK – he helped build this fantastic team which is now sadly declining, and it looks like being a long, slow decline.
“When he turned to acting and was in that film Elizabeth, I couldn’t watch. It was painful, like watching Sting act. I just want to remember him in a red shirt …”
26 September 2004
Music: As founder of The Specials Terry Hall prepares for gigs in the Inspired By series, he names his five biggest heroes
ONE of Britain’s most distinctive vocalists and songwriters, Coventry-born Terry Hall has been writing and recording music for over 25 years, as a founder member of legendary ska group The Specials, as part of Fun Boy Three and as an acclaimed solo artist. This week, he’s coming to Scotland to perform a song or two with The Dub Pistols, with whom he recently recorded the ska-influenced track Problem Is. The gigs are part of Rizla’s Inspired By series, where bands reveal some of their musical heroes through DJ sets and cover versions. The Specials are obviously an influence on The Dub Pistols, but who influenced Terry Hall? We asked him to nominate five people who have inspired him down the years.
GEORGE BEST
“He was my first ever real hero. I saw the goal he got for Manchester United against Benfica in the European Cup final in 1968 when I was nine. I lived in Coventry at the time, and United were playing the next week. I went to see them and just thought ‘this is the team for me’. I even bought George Best boots, these purpley-black things with a lace up the side.
“Basically, he got me into football: I’d try and base my game on him, without much success, really. But he also gave me a reason to get out of Coventry – I started following United so I’d be away every Saturday. He was the first real pop star, with the hair, the women, the boutiques. He was like a footballing David Cassidy. It’s sad how things turned out for him, though. I remember getting upset when I saw him drunk on Wogan. But he’s like Alex Higgins; they’re both so good because of who they are. It’s sad, but it’s also fantastic.”
THE CLASH
“They were the first British band I ever saw play live. It was at Lancaster Polytechnic in 1976, the tour they did with the Sex Pistols. And it seemed like everyone who was at that gig formed a band or became an artist of some kind. I said to my friends, ‘Let’s start a band … it doesn’t look that difficult.’ Before, you’d see bands on Top Of The Pops and it seemed like a million miles away. But with punk, a lot of live music venues shot up, even in Coventry. It was exciting.
“The Specials actually supported The Clash on a tour in 1978, but we were very unknown so we got treated pretty crap by the audiences. It was the horrible phase of gobbing and throwing things. But the band were really nice to us. I saw Mick Jones not too long ago at a Libertines gig, and I saw Joe Strummer maybe about a month before he died, which was good, in a way. I always put their first LP The Clash in my top 10 albums, because it’s such an eye-opener for any young musician wanting to be in a band. The songs are just so powerful.”<br>
LEONARD COHEN
“He’s an on-going thing with me, like Brian Wilson or Patti Smith – music you can dip in and out of down the years. But I still find him an inspiration because of his longevity. He can go into retreat for eight years, then come down the hill and make a record – it kicks against the whole music business. I’d never compare myself to what he does lyrically or musically, but there’s a kinship there. Once I had made two or three records, I realised that it was what I wanted to do forever. But the music business tells you that you can’t, there’s a time limit or something. A few years ago, I was staying at a friend’s house in France, and he was supposed to be co-writing with Leonard Cohen. I was up on my own in the middle of the night and suddenly Cohen sent him this fax; I was watching these lyrics come through the machine. They were in such a raw state, not songs or anything – it was such a thrill. I felt like stealing them.”<br>
RICHARD HELL
“I’ve become obsessed with Richard Hell. He’s somebody I listen to every day. If me and Ian Broudie are having a night out, we put on Richard Hell And The Voidoids’ [debut album] Blank Generation in the car and turn it up loud. I’m 45 now, but they’re still my favourite archetypal New York punk band.
“I’ve never deciphered what Richard Hell was singing. I once worked with the producer of that first album who told me that when Hell did his vocals he had a mouth full of sweets. I thought it was really funny. They’re just a band that I really, really love.
“And now my kids listen to Blank Generation too. They’re forming a band so I’ve told them: ‘You have to do a Richard Hell cover, then you’ll be cool.’ I can hear them playing upstairs and it reminds me of when I was their age. I try not to tell them to turn it down.”<br>
ERIC CANTONA
“He had such a spirit … he felt like God. He had what you want from anyone who plays for your team. It’s that cliché that you’d die for your shirt but as a fan, that’s what you want to see.
“We were sitting right across from the whole kung fu incident at Crystal Palace but at the time it didn’t feel as bad as it looked later on. It was his right to reply. When he left United in 1997 you felt it coming so it was OK – he helped build this fantastic team which is now sadly declining, and it looks like being a long, slow decline.
“When he turned to acting and was in that film Elizabeth, I couldn’t watch. It was painful, like watching Sting act. I just want to remember him in a red shirt …”
26 September 2004