The Specials are the first group I’ve followed from first gig to international stardom. Nobody else realizes this, but their first ever press mention was, in fact, in CREEM. It was in a Letter From Britain in late 1977. I was trying to describe the exhilarating punk transformation of Coventry’s provincial routines. The best of the new groups was called the Automatics and their singer, Tim, became a friend. In those days he wanted to look like Iggy but could never remember the words. The Automatics made dance music out of punk and reggae in Ways that Elvis Costello and the Clpsh hadn’t thought about. They had a black drummer, Silverton, a choppy reggae guitarist, Lynval, a pale, stunning bass player, Sir Horace Gentleman,, and Jerry Dammers on keyboards. That night he couldn’t get his organ onstage and stood in the audience, facing his band like a conductor.

The track I remember most clearly from that performance was “(Dawning of a) New Era,” Jerry’s punk celebration of the moment, a bohemian strut through the decaying 70’s. And then, as the gig came to an end, a heartlifting surprise: a speedy version of “The Liquidator,” a pop-ska hit instrumental from 1969, and a sudden rush of memories—skinheads, Yorkshire dance floors, Saturday afternoons in Leeds town centre. Jerry’s organ was swirling with excitement.