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Original Rude Boy: From Borstal to the Specials: A Life of Crime and Music Paperback – January 1, 2010

by Neville Staple (Author), Pete Waterman (Foreword), Tony Mcmahon (Contributor)
4.4 out of 5 stars 341 ratings
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The Specials' vocalist offers his inside take on the 2 Tone era, his experiences producing such bands as No Doubt and Rancid, and the current Specials reunion in this raucous and charming autobiography

The Specials were the undeniable leaders of new music in the late 1970s and 1980s and this chronicle tells their story and that of a musical era. In 1979, Thatcher's Britain was a country crippled by strikes, joblessness, and economic gloom, divided by race and class?and skanking to a new beat: 2 Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the Specials burst on to the scene. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was the vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, five-year-old Neville was sent to England to live with his father, a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. As he recounts here, growing up black in the Midlands of the 1960s and 1970s wasn't easy, and his youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanizing, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually prison. But throughout there was music, and Nev reveals how he became part of the most important band of the 1980s. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2 Tone tour with the Selecter, Madness, and Dexy's, and their clashes with white nationalist thugs. He recalls the band's increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a newfound fame in America as godfather to Third Wave ska bands. Finally he reflects on the Specials' reunion and how even now, 30 years later, they can't help tearing themselves apart.

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  1. Print length
    350 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Aurum Pr Ltd
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1845135423
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1845135423
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Neville Staple was a frontman with The Specials and a member of the pop trio Fun Boy Three. He now tours the world with his ska act The Neville Staple Band. Tony McMahon is a journalist and TV producer. Pete Waterman is a record producer and DJ.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aurum Pr Ltd
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1845135423
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1845135423
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 341 ratings

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  1. Neville Staple

    Neville Staple

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  2. Tony McMahon

    Tony McMahon

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    Tony McMahon is an award short-listed author and broadcaster. He is currently writing a trilogy on the Knights Templar, published by Pen & Sword. The first book - Knights Templar: History & Mystery - published in hardback in November 2024. Tony also wrote Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln - a controversial look at the infamous Victorian serial killer. He is a regular contributor on TV documentaries covering history and science topics. Recent appearances include William Shatner's The UnXplained, Truthseekers, and Laurence Fishburne's History's Greatest Mysteries. He co-wrote the biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in legendary 1980s band, The Specials.

    BOOKS:

    The Knights Templar: History & Mystery - first part of a trilogy on the Templars - publisher: Pen & Sword

    Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln - publisher: Troubador

    The Battle for British Islam - co-author Dame Sara Khan - publisher: Saqi Books

    Quest for the True Cross - historical fiction - publisher: Bertelsman/Euromedia

    Original Rude Boy - co-author Neville Staple of The Specials and Fun Boy Three - publisher: Aurum Press

    No Place To Hide - co-author Errol Christie - publisher: Aurum Press

    TV APPEARANCES:

    Tales of Oak Island - History - multiple episodes - 2024

    William Shatner's The UnXplained - History - multiple seasons and episodes - 2021-2024

    History's Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne - History - episode on the Templars - 2024

    Secrets of the Royal Palaces - Channel 5 - multiple seasons and episodes - 2021-2024

    Truthseekers - History and Discovery - one of the four truth seekers - 2023-2024

    Alien Corridors - Super Channel and Blaze - multiple episodes - 2024

    Cursed Histories - History - multiple episodes - 2024

    Deadly Science - History - two seasons - 2023-2024

    Prime Suspect Earth - Travel - two seasons - 2023-2024

    Secrets of the Lost Ark - History - 2023

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
341 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • K. Weston
    5.0 out of 5 stars I Couldn't Put It Down. Excellent Read!!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2011
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    In 1979, I first heard The Specials on college radio. As a lover of reggae and ska from the 60s, it was great to hear this music getting a revival. The Specials were an interracial band made up of seven individuals from various musical backgrounds brought together by band founder and leader Jerry Dammers who would go on to create the 2-Tone label which attempted to bring racial unity to a socially and culturally-warring Britain in the late 70/early 80s with music (The English Beat, Madness, The Selector, The Body Snatchers, Bad Manners were all other ska bands also on 2-Tone). Neville Staples was one of two front men who dominated the frontline of the stage. While singer Terry Hall sang the melodies, Staples "toasted" (a Jamaican style of rapping that would influence and kick-start the hip hop genre in the U.S.) and played MC creating reverb and dub-laden patois diatribe during the songs. Staples contributed energy onstage, bouncing, jerking and climbing atop the PA speakers while the musicians played. He really got the crowd hyped up.

    Staples book is an energetic as his stage act. This isn't just about The Specials but about Neville Staples, born in Jamaica and sent to the UK as a youth. The book is full of details of his truant and troubled past, his family, best friends, loves, his relationship with the band he helped make famous and the whole 2-Tone movement, the tours, the confrontations, etc. Staples also goes into detail about his further musical exploits like Fun Boy Three, the band he founded with Specials' Hall and guitarist Lynval Golding as well as his attempts at producing other artists and his attempts to reunite The Specials in recent years. It's a great read and Staples being the A-type personality he is, isn't afraid to let you know everything.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Pete
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastical and engaging story of a different age - for anyone interested in music.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    In the early 80's I bought an imported vinyl (4 times the cost of everything else) from a long defunct record shop in Hawera, a small rural servicing town in the middle of New Zealand. And discovered a new world of music full of rhythm and underlying social and political messages.

    But all that was a long time ago. After reading Neville Staples' autobiography, the nostolgia returns as I think back to The Specials, The Beat (and all the variations!), The Selector, The Bodysnatchers and so many others - bads that others hadn't discovered singing about things we didn't know (in the days before the Internet in a country like New Zealand, how else could a young man learn about Nelson Mandela, the downside of the Thatcher Governtment, or rascism in the UK? Those things weren't on our local news...). And even after spending way too much time on Youtube hunting down some of the old videos, the music is still great...

    For anyone who was vaguely interested in Ska, or music in general, this is essential. For me, it was a mix of a different world in a far away place, and music that had been part of my lifestyle. Some of it seem fantastical (and scary!) from so far away (in time and space) but it is easy and engaging reading of a story of a man who lived for excesses, but always with a desire to entertain and please others, and throughout it all loved music and people.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • M.T.
    5.0 out of 5 stars What a Life Neville has Led
    Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Thios was a very enjoyable book to read. I grew up in Birmingham during the same period as Neville and fully understand the description of life back then. It is so up lifting to read about how Neville started life and where he is today. It is a good lesson that if you set your mind to it things are achievable. Would highly recommend this book.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Jane
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    What a great read from start to finish.
    Thank you Neville for your memories. Coming from Coventry and growing up in the 80's with the ska music scene (Specials, Selecter, Madness etc) this brought back lots of great memories for me. Highly recommended read for anyone who remembers the music well.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Peter K. Macpherson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    It's quite entertaining. Very ego driven but an interesting document of the late 70s.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Craig Kirkland
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great insight to a soundtrack of my life
    Reviewed in Australia on July 21, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I was a bit of a rdue boy myself back in the day so it was great to read about Neville's life.
    Report
  • carl jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars Super book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book. Well packaged. First class
    Report
  • Joanne Roberts
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and entertaining
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Neville Staple, one time MC with 70's/80's ska legends The Specials tells his life story here in his own inimitable and often entertaining style.

    Of particular interest are the chapters on his years with The Specials, which he details vividly and frequently, humorously. His time as a singer in Fun Boy Three is also detailed, along with chapters on the Specials reunion around 2010.

    For fans of the specials and the ska genre of music in general this is a great addition to your reading material.
    Report
  • Fms
    5.0 out of 5 stars a must for Specials fans
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    An interesting story behind the legends, and the journey of Neville. Maybe after reading this it was good for us Jerry never returned. How bizarre is that.
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  • Robert grigg
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Arrived exactly as described.
    Report