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NEVILLE
STAPLE Neville Staple, one of the undisputed forerunners of the Ska movement, best known for his distinguished vocals in The Specials, Fun Boy 3 and Special Beat, is set to record a live DVD at the 40th birthday bash for Ben Sherman Wednesday 17th September @ Canvas, King's Cross Goods Yard, off York Way, London, N1. Jerry Dammers is guest DJ and Neville will be joined onstage by Lee Scratch Perry, Ranking Roger and members of The Beat, members of The Selector, plus Andre Shapps from Big Audio Dynamite. Liz Kershaw is the evening's MC, Norman Jay is DJ, and Liberty X are set to perform a short 15 minute set. The Specials have been widely credited as being a major influence on the likes of Rancid, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and No Doubt, and even the Prodigy's Liam is quick to praise their virtues. Rancid are, in fact being interviewed by Neville for the DVD two days after the Canvas show on 19th September. The DVD, set for release in late November via Universal, will also include footage from various gigs in America throughout the summer of 2003, and from major European festivals such as Vina Rock in Alicante and Dr. Music in Girona, Spain. Neville was one of the founder members of The Specials, who rose from humble beginnings in Coventry to become prime movers in the ska/two-tone scene in England at the end of the 1970s. After the release of their debut single "Gangsters", The Specials hit the charts with a serious of infectious, danceable hits including "Rat Race", "A Message to You, Rudy" and "Too Much, Too Young", and enjoyed two chart-topping albums, "Specials" and "More Specials". The band broke up shortly after their finest hour, when the haunting hit "Ghost Town" reached number one in 1981. Shortly thereafter Staple went on to form The Fun Boy Three with former Specials members Lynval Golding and Terry Hall. The band released two albums ("The Fun Boy Three" in 1982 and "Waiting" in 1983) and enjoyed more chart success with singles including "The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum", "The Tunnel Of Love", "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "The Telephone Always Rings". Fun Boy Three also collaborated with Bananarama and hit the top 5 of the charts with "T'Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)", and "Really Saying Something". In 1993 as Neville recalls, "Rankin Roger of The Beat came and asked me if I wanted to do an American tour. It sounded good to me, so we both teamed up with Horace Panter and John Bradbury and became The Special Beat. We stayed together for five years." The Special Beat toured extensively in the States, first with Sting and Steel Pulse and subsequently headlining in their own right after rave reviews on this tour. Two albums were released during this period; 'King Of Kings' with the legendary Desmond Dekker and a 'live' album of The Special Beat, whose last outing was on the gruelling 1998 US and European Vans Warped tour. Neville then formed his own band, and has subsequently toured America, Canada, Japan and Europe. In 2002 Neville released "Special Skank - Ska Au Go Go", his most recent studio album, (on Cleopatra / Cherry Red Records), which included eleven new original songs and a few covers such as Bob Marley's "Simmer Down" and Peter Tosh's "Maga Dog". Neville recently recorded the soundtrack to Michael Keller's "Vampires Anonymous" movie, and is currently working on his next studio album with Rat Scabies, who recently joined the ranks as the official drummer in Neville's new band. Rat has laid down drums for "Why So Rude", an up beat Ska track with a punk edge, as well as the remake of Donovan's 1971 release "Yellow Star", on which Donovan himself will join Neville in the studio for backing vocals, guitar and slide banjo.
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