Terry Hall (singer)

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Terry Hall (born March 19, 1959, in Coventry, England) was the lead singer of The Specials, the Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair and Anouchka and Vegas. He released his first solo album, Home, in 1995. He has also worked with The Lightning Seeds, Stephen Duffy, Gorillaz and Tricky and appeared live with The Ordinary Boys.

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[edit] Biography

Hall was an active member of the Coventry music scene of the 70s, playing in local punk band Squad and being credited as a composer on their single Red Alert/£8 a week.

As the frontman for The Specials, Hall primarily struck it big in Britain in 1979 when John Peel played their single "Gangsters" on his Radio One show; the song was included in Festive Fifty at #7 of that year. The Specials' first self-titled album features some of Hall's most recognizable and notable performances, including "Little Bitch", "Nite Klub", "Concrete Jungle", and "Gangsters". This debut album also displays Hall's writing talent alongside with Jerry Dammers. Hall's trademark sardonic, wry and deadpan vocals combined with sarcastic kitchen-sink lyrics still raise a smile today, seemingly a direct precursor to the dour poetic wit of Morrissey.

In October of 1980, The Specials released their second album, More Specials. While singing such fan-favorites such as "Enjoy Yourself", "Rat Race", and "Hey, Little Rich Girl", Terry successfully helped the band recreate the upbeat music that the first album possessed. The next album The Specials produced, 1984's In The Studio, did not include Hall.

After The Specials' last single with Terry, "Ghost Town", Hall left the band to start a new wave pop group, Fun Boy Three, with two other Specials members, Lynval Golding and Neville Staples. Fun Boy Three's first hit single occurred in late-1981, entitled "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)", then followed-up in early-1982 with "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)", a duet with Bananarama. Fun Boy Three then provided guest vocals for Bananarama's single, "Really Saying Something". That same year, Terry and his bandmates appeared in the video for "Driving in My Car" by ska band, Madness. In February 1983, Fun Boy Three released Waiting, consisting of the top ten hits "The Tunnel of Love" and "Our Lips Are Sealed", a song Hall wrote with Jane Wiedlin, who already made it into a hit the previous year with her group, the Go-Go's.

In 1984 Hall formed the Coventry-based band The Colourfield making the album Virgins & Philistines that included the single "Thinking of You" (UK #12 hit single). This new musical direction would culminate in collaborations with the Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie, contributing a number of songs to the Seeds' Sense (1992), Jollification (1994), Dizzy Heights (1996) and Tilt (1999) albums. Hall also co-wrote the song Smoke Rings for Broudie's debut solo album Tales Told. The track was subsequently released as the lead track on the Smoke Rings EP.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Missing" with Blair and Anouchka (Nov 1989) - #75 UK
  • "Forever J" (Aug 1994) - #67 UK
  • "Sense" (Nov 1994) - #54 UK
  • "Rainbows EP" (Oct 1995) - #62 UK
  • "Ballad Of A Landlord" (Jun 1997) - #50 UK
  • "Problem Is" with Dub Pistols (Oct 2003) - #66 UK

[edit] Quotes

"Wish I had lipstick on my shirt instead of piss stains on my shoes", Friday Night, Saturday Morning

[edit] External links

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