Released as a single in 1997, it mirrored the trajectory of all of Hall’s solo output by failing to chart. Like this understated gem of an album, it deserved a far better fate. And so the last at least five years have been unbelievably brilliant and [I’ve been] appreciating things on a different level which I never thought I would. Like, really simple things. On the way here, I saw a folding bike and that has made my day – that you can fold a bike to that size. It’s like origami. If I get one thing like that every day then I’m so happy. So happy,” he said. The album spawned two singles, ‘Ballad of a Landlord’ and ‘I Saw The Light’ (a cover of the Todd Rundgren song) although as with previous singles (like 1994’s gorgeous Forever J) neither troubled the top 40 singles chart. The last man I loved was a highly intelligent man from the Midlands whose childhood trauma had left him with an unreadable face. That’s how you take them with you, your first childhood idol, you carry them into middle-age love. I couldn’t explain to this boyfriend (who was younger than me) why Terry Hall’s premature passing at 63 made me cry so much because, to him at his age, Hall wasn’t that important. Just like the article I wrote, that wasn’t actually what I wrote, but did have my name beside it, that made Hall feel unimportant. I don’t believe music can change anything,” says Terry Hall. “All you can do is put your point across, really.”

Then came the Specials. The band released their self-titled debut album in October 1979 and received mass acclaim for blending a punk sensibility – and sharp lyrics about the degradation of modern Britain – with the traditional Jamaican ska sound, even explicitly updating hits by the likes of Toots and the Maytals, Prince Buster and Dandy Livingstone. All the same, there still seems something unlikely about finding the Specials in such a cheery mood. For all their celebrated live shows, and the brilliance of their slender oeuvre, an aura of darkness clings to the Coventry band's story. Eight years ago, I interviewed the band's ex-members. They expressed plenty of pride in their achievements, but there was nevertheless a sense that all of them had been rather traumatised by the experience of being in the band. The Specials in New York, 1979 … (L-R) Roddy Radiation, Sir Horace Gentleman, Terry Hall, Neville Staples, Lynval Golding, John Bradbury and Jerry Dammers. Photograph: Images Press/Getty Images Featured Artist on "Was It Worth It?" from Shakespears Sister available on the album Songs from the Red RoomHall 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.

a b c "The Official Charts Company – Fun Boy Three". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 10 March 2009. In a 2019 cover story for NME, Hall joked that his motivation for being in a band was “to piss people off”. He also noted that his leftist politics were shaped in part from his early school days, during a surge in immigration from the West Indies, Uganda and Northern Ireland: “You could feel the resentment breeding [in the community] from day one really, and you’ll find that that’s what happens – like when people come over and take these fictitious ‘jobs’.”

Credits

Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s and Hall’s former partner wrote that she was “gutted”. “He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person. Our extremely brief romance resulted in the song Our Lips Are Sealed, which will forever tie us together in music history. Terrible news to hear this,” she tweeted.

The Official Charts Company – Dub Pistols Featuring Terry Hall". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 31 May 2009.

Lil' Dub Chefin' ". Gorillaz-Unofficial. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007 . Retrieved 7 December 2007.

Co-wrote and provided vocals on "Time To Blow" and "Why Should I?" on Leila's album Blood, Looms and Blooms Co-wrote "Imaginary Friends", "What If..." and "Like You Do" with The Lightning Seeds from Dizzy Heights. This is the discography of Terry Hall (born Terence Edward Hall; 19 March 1959 in Coventry, England – 18 December 2022) who was the lead singer of the Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He released his first solo album, Home, in 1994.

Follow Us

Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love. (2/4)