Neville Staple

Neville Staple
Neville Staple - Dundee Doghouse - 2007
Background information
Birth name	Neville Eugenton Staple
Origin	Coventry, England
Genres	2 Tone, Ska, New Wave
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocalist
Years active	1977–present
Labels	2 Tone, Chrysalis
Website	www.nevillestaple.co.uk

Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955) is a singer for the two-tone ska band, The Specials as well as his own combo, The Neville Staple Band. Along with Ranking Roger, he also sings in Special Beat.

Early life

Staple was born in Manchester, Jamaica. At the age of five, Neville left Jamaica to live in the English town of Rugby, Warwickshire but later moved to Coventry. He was initially active in the sound system scene forming his own crew called "Jah Baddis". Neville was a regular fixture at the Locarno ballroom in Coventry where he met its resident DJ, Pete Waterman. Pete was heavily involved in the seventies reggae scene before going on to become a major pop producer in the 1980s. Pete has written the foreword to Neville's biography - "Original Rude Boy" - and briefly managed The Specials.

The Specials

Neville's first involvement with The Specials was when they were still called The Coventry Automatics. He initially joined as their roadie but at a gig supporting The Clash, Neville took to the stage and never looked back. For a while, The Specials were managed by The Clash's manager Bernard Rhodes of whom Neville used to toast "Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue" at the beginning of the Specials hit single "Gangsters".

Neville's vocal style is toasting or chanting over a rhythm. A forerunner of rapping which was brought to Britain in the 1960s by musicians from Jamaica. Neville honed his toasting skills on the sound system scene in Coventry during the 1970s. When he joined the Coventry Automatics, the line up already included Jerry Dammers, Horace Panter and Silverton Hutchinson on drums. Terry Hall subsequently came in as vocalist, replacing Tim Strickland, and Roddy Radiation on lead guitar. John Bradbury would later take over on drums from Silverton.

Fun Boy Three

When The Specials split up, Neville departed with Terry Hall and Lynval Golding, to form Fun Boy Three. They had a string of chart hits, some in collaboration with the all-female trio Bananarama.

Third wave

In 1990, Staple joined Ranking Roger from The Beat to form Special Beat, a revival group playing hits from both former two-tone bands. This was in response to the huge explosion of interest in ska in the United States. The so-called "Third Wave" of ska. Neville moved to California in the 1990s to work with many of these new American ska acts. Bands he collaborated with included No Doubt, Rancid and Unwritten Law. Neville also featured on the song "Explosive" by the Canadian ska band, The Planet Smashers.

In 2000, Staple's re-recordings of hits by The Specials and Fun Boy Three were released as The Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy Three, though without being prominently labelled as a solo work by Staple.

Solo career

In 2004, Neville returned to the UK and formed "The Neville Staple Band". This group featured former members of the British ska band Bad Manners with Warren Middleton (Trombone), Andy Perriss (Guitar), Stephen Armstrong (A.k.a Sledge, Bass) Joe Atkinson (from Flipron, keyboards) and Patrick Pretorious/Matty Bane (Drums).

Since 2004 Neville has relentlessly toured the UK, Europe, The Middle East, Australia & New Zealand with his own band, as well as several successful tours and shows alongside Ranking Roger of The Beat and Pauline Black of The Selecter as Special Beat and Legends of Ska.

He has a daughter; Sheena Staple, who currently lives in the U.S., and is working on a solo album; and a son Darren Simms who is the lead singer in a U.S. reggae / rock band named "DreadStarr" And a Male model.

Original Rude Boy

In April 2009, Neville Staple set out on a reunion tour with The Specials. The same month also saw the launch of his biography Original Rude Boy published by Aurum Press. The book covers Neville's involvement with the 1970s sound system scene and childhood in Jamaica. Then how a chance encounter with Jerry Dammers and The Specials led to his involvement in that band and Fun Boy Three. Neville collaborated with former BBC journalist Tony McMahon on the book and both are registered with the Blake Friedmann literary agency.

Compilation albums and compilation contributions

Title	Release date	Label	U.K. album peak
The Singles Collection	1991	2 Tone, CHR TT 5010	10
Coventry Automatics Aka the Specials: Dawning of a New Era	1994	Receiver	-
Too Much Too Young: The Gold Collection	1996	EMI	-
Concrete Jungle	1998		-
BBC Sessions	1998	EMI	-
Best of the Specials	1999	Disky	-
Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy Three	2000	Cleopatra	-
Archive	2001	Rialto	-
The Specials vs. The Untouchables: Ska's Greatest Stars	2002	Big Eye Music	-
Ghost Town	2004		-
Stereo-Typical: A's, B's and Rarities	2005	Chrysalis	-
The Best of the Specials & Fun Boy Three	2006	Pegasus	-
Greatest Hits	2006	Fantastic Prize	-
80's New Wave Hits - Rearrangement of The Go-Go's' "Our Lips Are Sealed", with Jane Wiedlin, originally on The Specials vs The Untouchables: Ska's Greatest Stars	2006	Big Eye Music	-
The Best of the Specials	2008	EMI	24

External links

• Neville Staple at IMDb
• The Specials
• Neville Staple official website
• Neville Staple's myspace page
• Rolling Stone article on Neville and Third Wave
• Neville Staple book signing in Birmingham - May, 2009
• [7]