Roddie 'Radiatiation' Byers- The Specials. The beginnings of what was to become The Specials as we know them, came about in 1977 under the auspices of Coventry DJ Pete Waterman with the lads being given the support slot on the Clash's 'On Parole' tour in June/July 1978. Originally booked for just the first couple of shows, they got the whole tour thanks to Joe Strummer's interest in the band.
On their return to Coventry, the band locked down to some serious rehearsals in the back room of a pub, and started to experiment mixing some ska elements into their sound.
With a new song written, but no support from the record companies, the Special AKA set about raising some cash from family and friends to record 'Gangsters' themselves, based on the 1964 track 'Al Capone' by Prince Buster.
Short of cash, the band couldn't afford to record a B-side for the single, so a demo recorded two years earlier by Brad, Barry Jones and Neol Davis was dug out, billed as The Selecter by The Selecter, and stuck on the flip side. They called their new label '2 Tone'.
They received several offers, but most weren't willing to accommodate their demands for the 2 Tone label to maintain it's own identity. One who did was Chrysalis Records, and the deal was done - 10 singles a year from 2 Tone, and The Specials were signed to a 5 album deal.
Along the way, 2 Tone signed it's first band - The Selecter - on the back of the success of the Gangsters/Selecter single. The second 2 Tone signing was Madness, after they had opened for The Specials on a couple of occasions to great success. 'A Message To You, Rudy' was released in October 1979, backed by 'Nite Klub' as a double A side,
Later that month, their debut album, entitled simply 'Specials' was released and shot straight into the UK album charts at number 7. The Specials, and 2 Tone were really on the map, and a 40 date '2 Tone Tour' of the country began in earnest featuring The Specials, Madness and The Selecter.
Half way through the tour Madness were replaced by Kevin Roland's 'Dexy Midnight Runners', a soul band from Birmingham, who although didn't play ska and weren't signed to 2 Tone, still went down a storm. Next to sign to 2 Tone were The Beat from. Their debut single, Smokey Robinson's 'Tears of a Clown' was another success for the label, although the beat subsequently went out on their own forming their own label 'Go Feet'.
In January 1980, along with being filmed for a 2 Tone documentary by the BBC and a live appearance on the 'Rock Goes To College' show, The Specials released their third single 'Too Much Too Young'.
The band played a few shows in Europe, and then headed off to take British ska to the USA.
For some of these shows the band opened for The Police, whipping the American crowds into a frenzy, often overshadowing the main act by all accounts. Whilst away, 2 Tone continued to rule the waves in England, with 'Too Much Too Young' topping the UK singles chart. In May 1980 'Rat Race' was released as The Specials' 4th single, backed by 'Rude Buoys Outa Jail' on the B-side, which again raced up the charts reaching a high point of number 5. The song, written by Roddy, was a straight dig at students, but they strangely had no trouble in recruiting a few to be in the classroom video for the song! Soon after, some of the band members took the opportunity to pursue their own projects. Roddy formed the Tearjerkers, a band playing 'skabilly' - his mix of ska and rockabilly.
The band regrouped back in Coventry, and in June 1981 released another EP single, fronted by the seminal track 'Ghost Town', with 'Why?' and 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning' on the B-side. 'Ghost Town' perfectly echoed the feelings in Britain at the time, and reached the number one spot in the charts to a backdrop of inner city riots in Liverpool.
Despite the success of 'Ghost Town', the band members were increasingly at each others throats. In the time since the Specials split in 1981, Roddy had been gigging hard with 'The Tearjerkers', 'The Bonediggers' and then 'The Raiders', delivering his own brand of honest ska-billy throughout Europe.
Back in the UK, a project from Trojan Records with Desmond Dekker was to re-unite Lynval, Neville, Horace and Roddy, which resulted in the 1993 release of 'King of Kings'. The foursome went on to re-launch The Specials in 1994, teaming up with ex-Selecter drummer Aitch Bembridge, Keyboard player Mark Adams and Trombonist Adam Birch. They released 'Today's Specials' to a mixed reception in 1996, but continued to tour widely in the US, Japan and Europe. In true Specials tradition the live shows were an electric experience, and a new generation of ska fans were loving it. Roddy's latest project is the. 'Skabilly Rebel - The Roddy Radiation Anthology'- featuring THE TEARJERKERS, THE BONEDIGGERS and THE RAIDERS performing the original versions of songs later recorded by The Specials.

Dave Wakeling - The Beat. The (English) Beat entered the music scene in 1979. The six member band consisted of Dave Wakeling (vocals & guitar), David Steele (bass), Andy Cox (guitar), Everett Morton (drums), Saxa (saxophone) and Ranking Roger (vocals). The band managed to fuse all of their respective musical influences - soul, reggae, pop and punk - into a unique sound that was highly danceable. Along with contemporaries such as The Specials, The Selecter and Madness, The Beat became one of the most popular and influential bands of the British Ska movement.
Over the course of the three albums, The Beat acheived great success in their home country, charting several singles into the top 10 (including Mirror in The Bathroom, Tears of a Clown, Stand Down Margaret). Although the band was never able to duplicate their UK chart success in America, they did find a solid base of young fans eager to dance to the band's hypnotic rhythms. Their constant touring with bands such as The Clash and The Police helped to boost their popularity. In 1983, after the release of their third album, "Special Beat Service", the band broke up due to artistic differences.
It was at that point that Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger recuited Stoker (drums) and Mickey Billingham (keyboards) of Dexy's Midnight Runners and Horace Panter (bass) of The Specials and formed General Public. Their first album "...All The Rage" included a guest appearance by former Clash guitarist Mick Jones. After the fantastic success of "...All The Rage", the band spent two years writing and recording their follow-up. Although "Hand to Mouth" did not fare as well as the first album, it did spawn two singles, "Too Much or Nothing" and "Come Again".

Pauline Black - The Selecter. The front 'woman in the mighty ska - 2 tone giants Selector, since its formation in 1979 when the band spearheaded the Two Tone movement alongside The Specials releasing the singles The Selecter, Three Minute Hero, The Whisper, Missing Words and On My Radio & two albums Too Much Pressure & Celebrate The Bullet. The Selecter were also featured in the cult film Dance Craze. The band split in 1982, Pauline carved out a career in TV and theatre appearing in dramas like The Vice, The Bill, Hearts and Minds and 2000 Acres of Sky. She won the 1991 Time Out award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the play All or Nothing At All and starred next to Christopher Lee in the schlock horror film The Funny Man. She reformed The Selecter in 1991 and has released several new albums and has toured all over the world.

Nick Welsh - The Selecter & Bad Manners. Nick probably best known for being the bassist in The Selecter and formerly Bad Manners but he has worked with some of the biggest names in Ska and Reggae, Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Rico Rodriguez, Dave Barker & most recently Lee "Scratch" Perry with whom he received a Grammy Award Certificate for his work on the CD Jamaican ET which won The Best Reggae Category in 2002. Nick also writes music for TV which has been used world-wide on shows as diverse as WWE (world wrestling entertainment), The Osbournes and even adverts for Ariel soap powder!