What is charisma?
Does it require waving arms and jumping around saying hey, hey look at me?
Or is it an internal power, subtle whisper, you want come closer of your own accord, because the singer wants to tell you a story?
Terry Hall first burst onto the scene via Coventry, England as the rail-thin, pogo-ing, manic lead singer of the two-tone ska band The Specials in the late 1970s.
Yet even in those early days, there was a deadpan, laconic side creeping in. On the Specials second album More Specials, when Terry declares in a cover of Prince Buster’s Enjoy Yourself “Hi. My name’s Terry and I’m going to enjoy myself first,” you don’t really believe him.
By 1982, Terry Hall had left the Specials and formed The Fun Boy Three with two other members of the Specials: Lynval Golding and Neville Staple. The most notable tune was probably Our Lips are Sealed, which Terry co-wrote with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s, who had a massive hit with the song a year earlier. I prefer the haunting, almost gothic Fun Boy Three version:
Terry had now developed into the perfect anti-hero, the antithesis of what lead singer was expected to be – the anti-Mr. Entertainment/Mr Showbiz. Can you imagine how this attitude would go over on the The Voice?
By 1985, Terry Hall and moved on from the Fun Boy Three to The Colourfield, along with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale. The Colourfield were notable for the following reasons:
- Almost nobody in the USA has heard of them.
- Their 12-inch picture sleeves were sophisticated and understated. The photos were shiny on a matte finish background. Please see Exhibit A:
The Colourfield created one of the greatest albums all of time: Virgins and Philistines. For starters: percussion. Yes, it’s true, ladies and gentleman, percussion makes a difference. It’s almost a lost art, and often overlooked. The Ray Coopers of the world are awaiting your call. The production is understated but the overall mix adds compression, reverb and distortion and Hammond organ as needed.
Although it was released in 1985, the album does not sound dated. It also contains actual melodies. Like the best Beatles music, the instrumentation serves the song. It contains not one, but several perfect pop songs – Castles in the Air, Take, and Thinking of You (see the three picture sleeves above and the videos below).
4. They looked really cool.
5. They broke up before anyone even really realized who they were.
The Colourfield was the apotheosis of deadpan Terry Hall.
One more essential thing about Terry I want to mention – he comes from a long tradition of English eccentrics – it’s something that transcends the bounds of music.
Perhaps Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was one of the first templates where we learned that genius is often served with a side helping of social standoffishness and that is just fine, thank you very much.
By the 90s, Terry had lightened up a bit, a smirk had crept across his face and his clothes and attitude were loosening up.
By 1994, Terry was cranking out pop masterpieces as a solo artist. Home (1994) and Laugh (1997) both flew under the radar and were both overlooked, failing to chart entirely in the US. Home featured the opening track and single Forever J:
Laugh (1997) featured the rather fun take on Todd Rundgren’s I Saw the Light:
After he left the Specials around 1981, almost every day of his life someone would ask Terry when The Specials would get back together and he would just say “tomorrow” to get them off his back, realizing that it would never happen after their acrimonious split.
But miraculously, The Specials did manage to reform around 2008, albeit without their founder and keyboardist Jerry Damners.
The reformation of The Specials turned out to be a great thing for Terry’s outlook, who has battled manic depression for several years, but finally found the right medication to balance out his mood swings. The Specials have managed to tour on and off right up until the present time.
Also worth mentioning – Terry Hall released an interesting collaboration album with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics under the name Vegas (1992) and an intriguing world music album with Mushtaq called The Hour of Two Lights (2003).
Here’s a raised glass of gratitude for the understated genius of Terry Hall – and a hope that many more creative years are to come.
Terry Hall fan website: http://www.TerryHallMusic.com
2017 interview with Terry Hall:
jedbonniwell 