The Specials discography
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (November 2009) |
| The Specials discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 8 |
| EPs | 4 |
| Live albums | 5 |
| Compilation albums | 11 |
| Singles | 23 |
| Video albums | 5 |
| Collaboration album | 1 |
The discography of The Specials, an English ska revival band consists of eight studio albums, one collaboration album, five live albums, eleven compilation albums, four extended plays, twenty-three singles, and five videos.
Albums
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1][2] |
CA [3] |
NZ [4] |
SWE [5] |
US [6] | ||||||
| 1979 | The Specials
|
4 | 21 | 5 | 34 | 84 | ||||
| 1980 | More Specials
|
5 | 49 | 28 | 30 | 98 |
| |||
| 1984 | In the Studio (credited as The Special A.K.A.)
|
34 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | Today's Specials
|
— | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1998 | Guilty 'til Proved Innocent!
|
— | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | Skinhead Girl
|
— | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | Conquering Ruler
|
— | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2019 | Encore
|
1 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
Collaboration albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1993 | King Of Kings
|
Live albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK [2] | ||
| 1992 | BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert
|
— |
Live at the Moonlight Club
|
— | |
| 1999 | Blue Plate Specials Live
|
— |
Ghost Town Live
|
— | |
| 2012 | More... Or Less: The Specials Live
|
109 |
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] | |||
| 1991 | Singles / The Singles Collection
|
10 |
|
| 1994 | Dawning of a New Era (credited as Coventry Automatics aka The Specials)
|
— | |
| 1996 | Too Much Too Young: The Gold Collection
|
— |
|
Best of the Specials
|
— | ||
| 1998 | Concrete Jungle (credited as The Specials and Friends)
|
— | |
BBC Sessions
|
— | ||
| 1999 | A Special Collection
|
— | |
| 2000 | Stereo-Typical: A's, B's and Rarities
|
— | |
| 2001 | Archive
|
— | |
| 2008 | The Best of the Specials
|
24 |
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
Extended plays
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] | |||||||||
| 1980 | The Special AKA Live! EP
|
1 | |||||||
| 1987 | The Peel Sessions
|
— | |||||||
| 1993 | The Two Tone EP
|
30 | |||||||
| 2012 | The Specials E.P. Live!
|
— | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] |
IRE [8] |
NZ [9] |
NL [10] |
AUT [11] |
NOR [12] |
US Dance [6] |
US Mod [6] | ||||||||||||
| 1979 | "Gangsters" [A] | 6 | 27 | 20 | 11 | — | — | — | — | Non album single | |||||||||
| "A Message to You, Rudy" / "Nite Klub" | 10 | 19 | 29 | 35 | 7 | — | — | — | Specials | ||||||||||
| 1980 | "Too Much Too Young" | 1 | 3 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Rat Race" / "Rude Boys Outa Jail" | 5 | 17 | — | — | — | — | 89 | — | Non album single | ||||||||||
| "Stereotype" / "International Jet Set" | 6 | 12 | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | More Specials | ||||||||||
| "Do Nothing" / "Maggie's Farm" | 4 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1981 | "Ghost Town" | 1 | 3 | 20 | 12 | — | 7 | — | — | Non album single | |||||||||
| 1982 | "The Boiler" [B] | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Jungle Music" [C] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "War Crimes" [A] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | In the Studio | ||||||||||
| 1983 | "Racist Friend" / "Bright Lights" [A] | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1984 | "Free Nelson Mandela" [A] | 9 | 6 | 1 | 9 | — | — | 34 | — | ||||||||||
| "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" [A] | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1988 | "Free Nelson Mandela" (re-recording) [A] | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non album single | |||||||||
| 1991 | "Ghost Town Revisited" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Singles Collection | |||||||||
| 1994 | "Coz I Love You" [D] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non album single | |||||||||
| 1995 | "Hypocrite" | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Today's Specials | |||||||||
| 1996 | "Pressure Drop" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" [E] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 1998 | "It's You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent! | |||||||||
| "Bonediggin'" [E] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| 2014 | "Sock It To 'Em J.B (Dub)" / "Rat Race (Dub)" [F] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non album single | |||||||||
| 2018 | "Vote For Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Encore | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||||||
Compilation contributions
| Title | Release date |
Label |
|---|---|---|
| The Specials vs. The Untouchables: Ska's Greatest Stars | 2002 | Big Eye Music |
| 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 |
Videography
- "Dance Craze – The Best of British Ska... Live!" (VHS)
- "The Special AKA on Film" (1981 VHS & Laserdisc)
- "The Specials: Too Much, Too Young" (2008 DVD)
- "The Best of the Specials" (CD/DVD 2008)
- "The Specials – 30th Anniversary Tour" (2009 DVD)
Films
- Sixteen Candles (1984) – song – "Little Bitch"
- Natural Born Killers (1994) – song – "Ghost Town" (not included on the soundtrack album)
- Multiplicity (1996) – song – "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) – songs – "Pressure Drop", "A Message to You, Rudy" and "You're Wondering Now"
- SLC Punk! (1998) – songs – "Too Hot" and "Gangsters"
- 200 Cigarettes (1999) – song – "A Message to You, Rudy"
- Mystery Men (1999) – song – "Gangsters" (covered by Citizen King)
- A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) – song – "A Message to You, Rudy"
- An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000) – song – "Pressure Drop"
- Snatch (2000) – song – "Ghost Town"
- Garage Days (2002) – song – "Ghost Town"
- Shaun of the Dead (2004) – song – "Ghost Town"
- This Is England (2006) – songs – "Do the Dog", "Pressure Drop"
- We Own The Night (2007) – song – "A Message to You, Rudy"
Television
- Father Ted – Episode – Think Fast, Father Ted – song – "Ghost Town"
- Six Feet Under – song – "Monkey Man"
- Misfits (TV series) – song – "A Message to You Rudy"
Commercials
- The song "A Message to You, Rudy" was featured in a SFR television commercial directed by Bruno Aveillan, with world champion football player, Marcel Desailly in 2001
- The song "Blank Expression" was featured in a Ford Fiesta television commercial in 2003
Video games
- Dance Dance Revolution – song – "Little Bitch" (remix)
- MLB 2K7 – Song – "A Message To You, Rudy"
- Skate 2 – Song – "Ghost Town"
References
- ^ "Specials | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 519. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Search – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Chris Woodstra. "The Specials | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e [1] Archived 24 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung (27 April 1980). "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung (15 February 1980). "Austria Top 40 - Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 17 October 2013.