''In the Studio'' is the third studio album by British ska revival band

the Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynv ...

. It was released under the name the Special AKA in June 1984, their only album under that name. The album took over two years to produce before finally seeing release, by which time the original Specials had long since disbanded. ''In the Studio'' was ranked No. 3 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1984 by '' NME''. It charted in the UK Top 35. It was not as commercially successful as their previous two albums, although " (Free) Nelson Mandela" became an international hit single.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

Jerry Dammers Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials (also known as The Special A.K.A.) and later The Spatial AKA Orche ...

except where noted. # "Bright Lights" ( John Bradbury, Stan Campbell,

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The SpecialsStrong, ...

, Dammers) – 4:11 # "The Lonely Crowd" (Campbell, Dammers, John Shipley) – 3:52 # "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" – 4:50 # "Housebound" – 4:13 # "Night on the Tiles" (Dammers, Shipley) – 3:04 # " (Free) Nelson Mandela" – 4:07 # "War Crimes" – 6:13 # "Racist Friend" (Bradbury, Cuthell, Dammers) – 3:49 # "Alcohol" – 5:01 # "Break Down the Door" (Bradbury, Cuthell, Dammers) – 3:36

Personnel

;The Special AKA * Stan Campbell – vocals *

Rhoda Dakar Rhoda Dakar (born 1959) is a British singer and musician, best known as the lead singer of The Bodysnatchers, who were signed to the 2 Tone record label. She also worked with The Specials and Special AKA, also 2-Tone artists. Career Dakar, bo ...

– vocals, backing vocals *

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

; vocals on "What I like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" * Gary McManus –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* John Shipley –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

* John Bradbury –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

; bass and synthesizer on "Break Down the Door" ;Additional personnel * Rico Rodriguez –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

–

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

* Andy Aderinto - saxophone *

Claudia Fontaine Claudia Fontaine (26 August 1960 – 13 March 2018) was an backing vocalist from Peckham, London. Career During the 1980s, Fontaine and fellow backing vocalist Caron Wheeler (and later, third member Naomi Thompson) were known as Afrodiziak. She ...

– backing vocals on "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" * Edgio Newton – vocals, percussion *

Horace Panter Horace Panter (born Stephen Graham Panter, 30 August 1953) also known as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the British 2 Tone ska band The Specials. Early life Panter was born in Croydon, Surrey and spent most of his formative years i ...

– bass guitar on "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend", "War Crimes" and "Alcohol" *

Roddy Radiation Roddy Radiation (born Roderick James Byers, 5 May 1955 in Keresley, Coventry, England) is an English musician who played lead guitar for The Specials, as well as many rockabilly bands such as the Bonediggers and the Tearjerkers. He wrote the S ...

– lead guitar on "Racist Friend" * Lynval Golding - backing vocals on "Night On the Tiles" * Nigel Reeve –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

* Tony "Groko" Utah - percussion on "The Lonely Crowd" * Dave Heath - flute on "Nelson Mandela" * Paul Speare - penny whistle on "Nelson Mandela" * Nick Parker - violin on "War Crimes" *

Dave Wakeling David Wakeling (born 19 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and General Public. Career Wakeling began his professional caree ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

, Lynval Golding, Molly Jackson, Polly Jackson,

Ranking Roger Roger Charlery (21 February 1963 – 26 March 2019), known professionally as Ranking Roger,Strong, Martin C. (2002) ''The Great Rock Discography, 6th Edition'', Canongate, , p. 72Huey, Steve " Ranking Roger Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 17 Febru ...

- backing vocals on "Nelson Mandela" *

Caron Wheeler Caron Melina Wheeler (born 19 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born and raised in London, she performed in various singing competitions as a teenager and began her recording career as one of the found ...

– backing vocals on "What I Like Most Like About You Is Your Girlfriend" * Naomi Thompson - backing vocals on "What I Most Like About You Is Your Girlfriend" ;Technical * Jerry Dammers - production * Dick Cuthell - production on "The Lonely Crowd" and "War Crimes" * Elvis Costello - production on "Nelson Mandela" * Alvin Clark, Colin Fairley, Dick Cuthell, Jeremy Green, Mark Freegard, Teri Reed - engineer * John A. Rivers,

Steve Churchyard Steve Churchyard is an English record producer, recording engineer and mixer who began his career at Sir George Martin’s AIR Studios in London. He currently resides in the United States. He has been nominated for 15 Grammy awards. In 2008 he wo ...

- rhythm track engineering * Nigel Reeve –

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ing coordination * Noel Summerville – remastering * Adrian Thrills – sleeve notes * David Storey – album cover design

References

{{Authority control 1984 albums The Specials albums Albums produced by Elvis Costello 2 Tone Records albums