The Specials and the Battle of Midsummer Common (too much fighting on the dance floor!)

This interview with the reforming Specials was very interesting for a number of reasons, apart from the fact of the band’s (at least partial) reunion. I really liked the Specials, although they weren’t one of my very favourite bands. I think that was because of the rather whiny, preachy nature of some of their songs, such as “Racist Friend”, “Rat Race” and probably everything they released after the Fun Boy Three departed. But I suppose a bit of preachiness was hardly surprising given that Jerry Dammers’ father was a senior canon at Coventry Cathedral.

It was interesting (and a bit alarming) to see how much Terry Hall had aged. It was also interesting to see John Bradbury get a bit of publicity, given his virtual invisibility during the Specials’ existence. But most interesting of all was the mention of the chaotic concert in Cambridge in 1981 which resulted in Hall and Dammers being convicted of public order offences (though not incitement to riot as the article claims ), and possibly inspired the “too much fighting on the dance floor” line in their (much overrated) song “Ghost Town”. And I was there.

Unusually, the concert took place in a marquee on Midsummer Common. Most major gigs in Cambridge happened at the Corn Exchange, squalid, uncomfortable, perfect venue for punk. (I’ve just looked at their website – it’s still there and it’s got SEATS!!!). Fights happened but it was nowhere near as dangerous as student folklore suggested. I think for a while in late 1980 and early 1981 there weren’t any gigs going on there, something weird to do with the noise disturbing experiments going on in the university labs next door.

Anyway, too much digression. The odd thing is, I can’t remember much about the event itself. I think we had a few pints beforehand in the Salisbury Arms (now back in the Good Beer Guide, but I’m not going to digress again), whereas I didn’t usually drink before gigs. Perhaps that is why I wasn’t more afraid. I don’t think we even had tickets: we were going to buy them on the door but by the time we got there (I think the Specials were already on stage) things were already so tasty that there wasn’t anyone there to take money. I don’t remember if the music was good or not, it just got interrupted a lot. The incident that got Hall and Dammers into trouble was (as the song says) a little bit frightening but the thing that stood out in my mind was the ridiculous cap Jerry Dammers was wearing. The only songs from their set I actually remember were particularly angry renditions of “Pearl’s Café” and “Do The Dog”, and the whole thing ending up with a manic “Skinhead Moonstomp” with uninvited skinheads dancing on the stage.

Interesting experience? Yes. History in the making? Not really.