Ho. Ly. Smokes.
Talk about burying the lede. The Guardian has a story about The Specials reuniting, that just casually mentions, Lynval Golding, the guitarist "had stopped playing guitar altogether and was living quietly in Seattle as a stay-at-home father when Lily Allen contacted him and asked him to perform the Specials' Blank Expression with her on stage at Glastonbury in 2007."
Never mind that Golding's version of quiet still involved touring with several bands, including a stint with Dave Wakeling's US incarnation of The English Beat in 2006. Or that with Jerry Dammers currently sitting it out, The Specials Reunion is probably closer to a Fun Boy Three Reunion. But that's--wow, I can't believe I'm saying this--that's not important now.
DT reader Juan says it best: "Can you imagine running into Lynval F***ing Golding at the Peet's?"
The Specials tell Alexis Petridis how good it feels to be back [guardian.co.uk via dt reader juan]
Onstage video of The Specials' surprise reunion performance at last year's Bestival [youtube]
front-row video, which includes the slightly Spinal Tappish voiceover intro [youtube]
2nd wave ska was so cool and 80's. It really makes me want to pull out the thin braces, cuff up my narrow cut denims and skank. I'm still wearing doc marten's. I guess you never outgrow something good.
I was really bummed to miss "The Beat" last season, hopefully I'll be able to catch The Specials this time round.