The Special AKA Live! was a live EP by The Specials, released in 1980.Renowned for their live shows, The Specials released a 5-track live EP in January 1980 as the third single by the band. The EP featured 'Too Much Too Young' (originally recorded on the album Specials) with 'Guns of Navarone' recorded live in London; and 'Skinhead Symphony' - a medley of 'Long Shot Kick De Bucket', 'The Liquidator' and 'Skinhead Moonstomp' - which was recorded at Tiffany's in Coventry.
Lead track 'Too Much Too Young' is based on the 1969 song 'Birth Control' by Lloyd Charmers. It is sometimes wrongly stated that the song was banned by the BBC due to mentions of contraception in the lyrics. This is not true - however, when the song's promotional video was featured on Top of the Pops, it was cut off just before reaching the final line, "try wearing a cap".
The song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in January 1980. It became only the second EP to top the chart after 'The Demis Roussos Phenomenon EP' in 1976, and was also the first live recording to top the chart since Chuck Berry's 'My Ding-a-Ling' in 1972. It was the shortest song to reach number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in the 1980s at 2:04.
Rico Rodriguez played trombone on 'Guns of Navarone' and 'Long Shot Kicked De Bucket', and Dick Cuthell played flugelhorn on 'Guns of Navarone'.
Click the link below to download the following:
The Old Grey Whistle Test - Performance
Single Version
Skinhead Symphony - B-Side
Link removed due to DMCA notice
The Specials - The Old Grey Whistle Test - Performance
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