Collection: The Specials Vinyl Records – The Specials, More Specials & Essential Albums on Vinyl
The Specials are one of the most important British bands of the post-punk era. Formed in Coventry in 1977 and built around Jerry Dammers's vision of a mixed-race band playing Jamaican ska through a British punk filter, they founded the 2 Tone label and released, across 1979 and 1980, two albums that are genuinely impossible to overstate the influence of: The Specials (1979) and More Specials (1980).
Ghost Town (1981), released as the band was breaking up, remains one of the defining British singles — a number-one hit during the summer of the Brixton and Toxteth riots, a song that documented a specific cultural moment with absolute clarity. The various reunion line-ups since — most successfully the 2019 album Encore with Terry Hall returning — have been better than anyone expected. Terry Hall's death in December 2022 effectively ended the band. The Specials on vinyl is essential — the ska rhythms, the horn sections, the deadpan vocals all benefit from warm analogue pressings. The 2 Tone originals and the recent BMG coloured-vinyl reissues are consistently well-mastered.
No products found
Use fewer filters or remove all
Best The Specials Albums on Vinyl
The Specials (1979)
Their masterpiece. A Message to You, Rudy, Gangsters, Too Much Too Young, Concrete Jungle, Monkey Man — produced by Elvis Costello, recorded in a flat sprint. One of the great British debut albums of any era. The Clear Vinyl reissue is the essential pressing.
More Specials (1980)
The ambitious follow-up. Do Nothing, Stereotype, International Jet Set, the title track — a record that broke with pure ska and incorporated lounge music, synthesisers and strange genre-bending experiments. Divisive on release, increasingly loved.
Ghost Town EP (1981)
The three-track EP released just before the band split. Ghost Town, Why?, Friday Night, Saturday Morning — arguably the single greatest British pop statement of the early 80s. An absolute necessity.
Encore (2019)
The reunion album that nobody expected to be this good. Vote for Me, Embarrassed by You, Blam Blam Fever (a cover), and B.L.M. — a genuinely urgent record four decades after the debut. The Specials' only UK number-one album.
Protest Songs 1924–2012 (2021)
The covers album of protest songs from across the century, recorded in one room over three days. Covers of Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley, Malvina Reynolds, Frank Zappa and others. A deeply humane final Terry Hall record.
