TERRY HALL: A Soulful Rebel (Biographies of Musicians)

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Beyond our punky start on stage, it was in the studio with Elvis Costello producing, where Terry was able to sing quietly, that I think his hidden strength came out, a delivery which brought out the melancholy in some of The Specials’ songs, and which I think a lot of people could relate to. All my condolences and sympathies go out to his wife and family.” Lynval: Remember when we did it in Chicago? When they got the audience to throw these fake dollar bills on the stage? Because… gangster, yes? Terence Edward Hall was born on 19 March 1959 in Coventry, England, where he was also raised. He had a German-Jewish grandfather, and said of his heritage, "I grew up in an environment where you didn't really know where you were from. Coventry was built on immigrants because it was an industrial city looking for cheap labour. I don't think it's an accident that a group like the Specials came out of that". [2]

A statement from the band released on Monday (December 19) said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced. Hall was still struggling with his mental health, he admitted around this time. In 2003, he had begun self-medicating with alcohol. In the last decade of his life, he sought medication, having been wary of it since being put on Valium as a teenager, as well as taking up art therapy. They released their debut single, Gangsters (a reworking of Prince Buster’s Al Capone) in 1979, which reached No 6 in the UK singles chart. They would dominate the Top 10 over the next two years, peaking with their second No 1 single, and calling card, Ghost Town, in 1981. The lyrics, written by the band’s main songwriter, Dammers, dealt with Britain’s urban decay, unemployment and disfranchised youth. Terry: I get really bugged by this City of Culture thing. If you have to really search for the culture, you’re making it up. The landmark for me in Coventry is the cathedral. I come from a gypsy-spirited family, and everyone used to sing in pubs whether you liked it or not. I didn't want to be that sort of singer. Then when I was 16 this album gave me a look, a sound, and a way of holding yourself. Apparently all his clothes were from Wal-Mart at this time. He put a blond streak in his hair and we would do the same. Then you would go to football and get punched in the face. It was very important, really. Everything Bowie did at this time was dead cool, unlike all that Spiders From Mars shit.

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Culture Club frontman Boy George called it a 'sad day', tweeting: 'Very sad to hear about Terry Hall! Absolutely loved him as an artist.' Perhaps the final word should be about Hall’s music. October saw the release of one of the last – if not the last – recorded song that he had a hand in. It was called Emily Smiles and it appeared on The Lightning Seeds’ latest album See You in the Stars. Hall co-wrote it with his old pal and Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie. The lyrics couldn’t be more apt. They speak to the hope, the openness and the communication that Hall deemed so important. They suggest that life, although bruised, is beautiful. The first gig, at the Ulster Hall, in Belfast, on Wednesday, January 14th, had been tense. National Front skinheads had taunted the audience queuing outside. (They were rebuked by punters who chanted: “Skinhead, skinhead over there / what’s it like to have no hair?”) Fun Boy Three achieved four UK top ten singles. Hall left the band in 1983 to form The Colourfield with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale.

The photo session is done. The dancing and non-dancing are over. Hall has another cigarette and then we gather around a table to answer questions from Observer readers and famous admirers. There are more than usual. “Hmm,” says Hall. “I bet you say that every time.” (There are; I don’t.) “Fire away…” He said: 'The chemo treatment starts favourably but it seems that it would be March 2023 at the earliest before we'd be in any position to work. He is in and out of hospital to stabilise the diabetes issue and also to manage pain. It then goes quiet.' Building on the ska legacy of their former band, Fun Boy Three hit the UK Top 10 with their eponymous debut album (1982), and scored a Top 5 hit single with the infectiously catchy It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do it), its chart-friendliness much enhanced by the addition of the female trio Bananarama. Hall had brought them on board after seeing them featured in the Face magazine. The Specials released a new studio album entitled Encore on 1 February 2019. Upon release it went straight to the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the highest-charting album ever released by the Specials. [26] Personal life and deathThe Specials were formed in Hall's home city of Coventry in 1977, by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter - with Hall, Neville Staple, Roddy Byers and John Bradbury joining a year later. Hall collaborated with Mushtaq of Fun-Da-Mental on the 2003 studio album The Hour of Two Lights which contains contributions from Blur's Damon Albarn, a twelve-year-old Lebanese girl singer, a blind Algerian rapper, a Syrian flautist, Hebrew vocalists, and a group of Polish gypsies. [13] Later years Miranda Sawyer: But can you think of a song that isn’t yours where you thought : this changes everything? In 2019, they released a new album, Encore, which featured Khan performing on a new song, 10 Commandments. It charted at No 1 in the UK albums chart – their highest-ever album placing. “Achieving a first No 1 album in our 60s restored our faith in humanity,” Hall told the Quietus.