The legend that was Terry Hall died on the 18th December 2022 and the announcement knocked me sideways.
I was a teensy bit too (much too) young to be into The Specials when they were being amazing at the end of the 1970’s but I do remember the impact of Ghost Town when it was released and how it seemed to mirror perfectly the discord up and down the UK at the time. I also remember the shock of lads at school when, shortly after its release they announced they were splitting up.
Since then Terry’s antics have meant a lot to me. I thought the Fun Boy Three were the coolest thing as a teenager and The Colourfield afterwards were a very special (no pun, honest) breed of pop band. At the time I used to listen to Picadilly Radio in the evenings almost religiously. The DJ filling my head with nonsense throughout the early 80s later went on to become a TV presenter and scored a couple of pop song successes with ticky tacky cover versions of sixties bubblegum pop songs but at the time he was the stalwart nutcase that is Timmy Malett.
After Terry’s death Timmy released a two hour long show takeover from 1984 that was recorded just before the release of The Colourfield’s first album. In it Terry plays some of his own tunes and also lots of his favourite songs from all genres. He is funny, charming and a bit daft at times. He jokes about his “Mr Misery” moniker and comes across as anything but. He was a self effacing icon of a man and this show is an absolute treasure. I hope you enjoy it.
Club 30-80 