As rhythm guitarist and singer of the iconic band The Specials, Lynval Golding is emphatically linked to a part of popular British music culture that is now legendary. Through their 2 Tone imprint & ideology, The Specials ruled the airwaves with their sharp social commentaries, telling tales of urban despair and preaching racial harmony. Their unique Jamaican & punk musical sound-clash, became the nations soundtrack. Almost 30 years on, their influence is still felt, a fact being recognized this month at the MOJO awards, with a ‘Lifetime achievement award’.

With ever increasing talk of a Specials reunion, and ahead of the next Pama Intl UK tour we sent Rockers Revolt reporter Reynolds Clay stateside to catch up with Lynval at home…

In their short career The Specials released 7 singles, notching up 7 Top 10 UK Chart hits, including the Golding penned ‘Do Nothing’. 2 singles reached the Number 1 spot; the ‘Too Much Too Young’ live ep (the only live record ever to get to number 1), and arguably the most accurate snapshot of life in Britain ever ‘Ghost Town’. At the height of their powers Lynval, along with fellow Specials frontmen, Terry Hall and Neville Staple, left to form the often underrated Fun Boy 3, who continued with chart hits and, unfortunately, unleashed Bananarama on the world. Recent years have seen Lynval return to his reggae and soul roots, the sounds that moulded him musically, playing as part of the UK collective Pama Intl. He regularly can be found crisscrossing the atlantic to record, tour and further the Pama Intl cause.

Now settled neatly into his fifth decade, the immaculately dressed Lynval Golding resides in a sleepy part of Washington state, outside of Seattle, in North America, where he spends his days looking after his son, feeding his coy fish, watching American politics with increasing zest, battling raccoons and of course making music. With ever increasing talk of a Specials reunion and ahead of the next Pama Intl UK tour we sent Rockers Revolt reporter Reynolds Clay stateside to catch up with Lynval at home…

You’ve lived in USA for some time now. How does it feel to be on the verge of having the first black president of America?
“I went out last night to a friends concert… wearing a new T-shirt, like the old Frankie Goes To Hollywood style, you know, large bold writing… it said… LEAVE IT TO ME… on the front and on the back…. TO PAINT THE WHITE HOUSE BLACK

It’s incredible to think 200 years ago, we had slave plantations and black people had no rights as human being. Only black people allowed anywhere near the White House were cleaning it. Even with the abolition of slavery it’s taken 200 years of racism and intolerance to get to this point. Now look where we are. A black man is going to be president of the most powerful country in the world. To say we’ve come along way is a huge understatement. It’s been to long coming and there’s still so much to achieve. Racism is still prevalent, poverty, war, discrimination, crime, have all worsened under Bush, but in Obama we have the right man to turn things around.

I’ve been living in America for over 8 years now and watched George W Bush and his government act worse then lunatics. Ride rough shot over the world and American people. Lie to go war and leave the people of New Orleans to die, because they were poor. He won’t be remembered for anything good. Just the wrong doings. He’s the worst US president in history…a puppet and a joke. All he and his party understand is money and greed. Their main aims were to keep the rich rich and the poor in their place. He conditioned paranoia throughout the whole of America and tried to spread it around the world as a smoke screen to make money and keep himself and his team in power. He should of been impeached years ago. Obama has a massive job, but he’s up to it.”

Why do you believe Obama will get it right?
“He will because he’s mixed heritage…he’s part of the melting part…out of many one people…that’s his background. He understands what people have gone through and are going through. He has empathy, he’s seen poverty, racial intolerance…he has a massive task ahead of him but he’ll turn things round because he understands fundamentally the basics of what people need. He’s the right man.”

So when you’re not getting impassioned about the US politics, how do you spend your time in America?
“Always music, I’ve just been doing 10 gigs with Dave Wakeling from The Beat, which was great fun. Getting out to say hi to the fans and playing live are great motivators. All the shows were sold out…some small 500 capacity venues, right up to 40,000 people in Boston playing with a band called ‘Cake’. No idea who they are.

I’ve also been working on some solo tunes, which have a working title of “Golding Surplus…Back in Time”. That’s a strictly roots affair. There’s a couple of covers, one old classic calypso tune, but mostly original. Old time inspiration, from my youth.”

Born in the Mendez District in the Parish of St.Catherine in Jamaica, Lynval is naturally proud of where he’s from, his heritage and how far he’s travelled. The passing of his mother this year and his father two years previously has made him look back at his start in Jamaica and reevaluate a lot of things.

“It sounds like a cliche but we didn’t have anything In Jamaica. We made our own toys…jigs and trucks and played marbles. They were cheap to buy. I used to love when it rained. The downpours were torrential, but pass just as quick as they started. We loved playing out in them. Everyday, first thing, we’d go and fetch the water from the well, there was no running water there. Then we’d move the goats to feed, then back home to wash, then walk the 2 miles to school. It was a very simple life, but a very happy one, surrounded by love and music everyday.

Things changed when I was 10. My mother sent me and my sisters to England with my Aunty who brought us up. I thought my mother was coming with us. I had no idea my mother was staying behind. When I was going on the ship, I was half way up and looked back and saw my mother on the dockside crying. I wanted to run back, but my aunt was shouting at me, everyone was walking up. For years I didn’t understand why she sent us away from her. Now I can see what an amazing, selfless act it was. It must of been the hardest decision she ever have to make. Sending her children to England because she believed it would benefit us. And she was right. I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you if it wasn’t for that woman. I wouldn’t have done The Specials or anything else in music. I wouldn’t have had any of those opportunities. Can you imagine sending your children thousands of miles away, because you knew they’d have a better life away from you? I’m forever grateful to her for the sacrifices she made to give me the life I’ve had. Before she passed we had some very special moments that I’ll treasure forever. I learnt a lot from her.”

Moving from the Caribbean to England must of been a big adjustment for a kid?
“I was miserable. I hated it. It was very cold. I missed the Jamaican climate, but the first summer we had here was long and hot, so that helped me. We settled in Southampton, then Birmingham, then went to school in Gloucester, before settling Coventry.”

How did your new life differ in England from what you were used to?
“Apart from the weather, school was the thing that got me. School in England was the first time I experienced racism. I didn’t know what it was! I had no idea! I couldn’t understand why these kids were calling me ‘gollywog’ and all these different names they had for black kids. I hadn’t experienced racism in Jamaica. We had three white kids in our school in Jamaica and we just thought our job was to look after them. School in England were the worst years of my life. I hated it.”

How about musically? What had you been listening to in Jamaica?
“We had a transistor radio but it didn’t work properly. We lived to far out for the reception. So, the first source for music for us was the local sound system called Mr.Green Sound System. He always played music. 24/7, so we always heard the latest sounds. The first song I remember having a big impact on me was ‘Jamaica Ska’. Byron Lee. Then Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster became big favorites, but my musical education started with Mr.Green.”

What was the first British music you got into?
The Beatles, but then I realised that The Stones were better. I went to see them just after Brian Jones died at that free concert Hyde Park. I must of been the only black guy in the crowd.

You moved to Coventry in the 70’s. Those years are pretty well documented, so without dwelling on them, what was your fondest memory of The Specials?
Looking back, my favourite time was when we were opening for The Clash. Before Gangsters, before we ‘made it’ and everything started speeding past. Exciting times.

For one week 2 Tone took over another British musical institution, the now defunct, Top of The Pops. How was that?
The first time we were on there was amazing. I grew up watching it, so it was like a dream actually performing on there. Being in the audience would of been good enough! But to be playing on stage was like a dream.

Three 2 Tone bands, The Specials, The Selecter and Madness all performed on there the same week?
Yes, we were all on tour together at the time. That was a good achievement. Lots of labels were fighting to get their bands on there and we had three from our label in one show.

What’s your favourite Specials track?
Why? Because of the statement and because it was so personal.

What other 2 Tone sounds were you into?
Madness were fun. You never know what they were going to do next. I was friends with The Selecter, still in touch with most of them…Charlie, Aitch, Neol. It was wonderful working with Neol again in the Pama Intl set up. He did three shows with us last February. Fantastic guitarist. He’s going to be working more with Pama. Any music Rico makes is always special. The two albums Rico made for 2 Tone are very good. Again it was great to have him guesting with Pama. He’s recorded on our last two albums…Love Filled Dub Band and the Trojan one.

2 Tone and the Specials stood for a lot and certainly led by example. I realise they were in a minority, but why did racists actually come to see The Specials play? That’s always puzzled me.
Well, the NF (National Front) were pretty strong back then. Whenever things aren’t going as well as they should in the country they rear their very ugly heads. England at the time was going through bad times. High unemployment. A lot of people had enough…they were disenchanted. The NF preys on that and tell everyone bullshit reasons why things aren’t working. Some people are stupid enough to believe them. The NF latched onto the skinhead movement at the time, and of course we had skinheads coming to our shows. Skinhead and reggae go way back, so that was nothing new.

It made no sense whatsoever, racists liking The Specials and what we were saying. I’ve thought of that many times… why some took to us… but haven’t been able to figure it out. Two black guys and a Jew fronting the band. The black & white imagery and Unity messages. Songs like ‘It Doesn’t Make It Alright’ can’t spell it out any clearer. In many ways though I do believe it was good they came. You have to bring them in and talk to them. You can’t change anything by not talking to people. That’s why Bush is such an idiot with his foreign policy toward Iran. Refusing to talk to Iran, only makes matters worse. You have to communicate. Racists coming into The Specials arena meant we could attempt to talk and say “Look this is wrong”. If you can change one man’s thinking you’ve succeeded.

What other music were you listening to back then?
The British reggae scene… Steel Pulse, Aswad, Matumbi with Dennis Bovell, Black Slate, all brilliant. There was a true passion in the music then. The times and people’s surrounding gave them an edge that seems to be missing today.

With The Specials biggest single, Ghost Town at number 1 in the charts you left to do Fun Boy 3. Was that a good move?
How can I put this… How would you feel being in one of the biggest bands in England at the time and through bad vibes have to leave? It wasn’t an easy decision. The Specials had become self destructive. The nature of the band and the personalities in it were volatile at best. Anyone who watched a Specials show would know how volatile they could be, and that’s what people loved… the energy, but the same energy burnt us out. We achieved a lot in a very short space of time. The more we achieved the more the seven of us had differing views on what to do and nobody communicated. At the time it was the only decision I could make, we could make, in order to keep moving forward. It was something we had to do. So, Fun Boy 3 was a very good move and the right one at the time.

Fun Boy 3 are somewhat overshadowed by The Specials but you had some big hits and great songs ‘The Lunatics’, ‘Telephone Always Rings’, ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’, ‘We’re Having All the Fun’, ‘The Farm Yard Connection’…
The freedom we had to express ourselves was very liberating and creatively very much needed. To say what we wanted and how we wanted it to sound. The first Specials album we were all throwing ideas in. The second was very much Jerry’s vision of where we should be going. Fun Boy 3 was Terry and myself really having room to experiment and we loved that. It is an incredibly creative time.

Terry is a extremely talented lyricist. Him and Sean Flowerdew are the best lyricists I’ve worked with. Terry has a fantastic dry sense of humour. It was wonderful working with Terry & Neville. Neville is a great showman. He thrives on the stage, wonderful to watch. We made some great pop songs, but also tackled important things. “The More I See” was about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Belfast was only 30 minutes away. We tackled things like that head-on. “The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum” was a brilliant debut single for us. Spot on lyrics and production. Spot on introduction to what we wanted to say and sound.

The Specials only made two albums. Fun Boy 3 only made two albums. You’ve now worked on three Pama Intl albums. Something of a record for you?
Yes! Pama have the record! It’s down to the people you’re working with you know… the characters around you. I’ve known Sean and Finny for years, since we work together in the early 90s. We’ve always been close. Good people bring out the best in you, you know? It’s taken us three albums to get to where we want to be though.

The new Pama Intl album ‘Love Filled Dub Band’ is getting raves reviews everywhere. What’s your take on it?
I’m very, very proud we took enough time to get it right, and very, very proud of the record. Without a doubt it’s spot on. John Collins did a great job producing it with Sean. I hadn’t worked with John since he produced ‘Ghost Town’. In 10 years I know I’m going to feel the same about this records…it’ll be noted as a classic album in years to come.

It’s billed as a “brand new classic”, you don’t think it’s a classic already then?
Good records take time to settle. We’ve made a great record, but not enough people have heard it yet. The reviews and radio play speak for themselves. We do everything ourselves. Sean puts the music out and does all the press. We don’t have big budgets to promote things or spend months in the studio. It’s limited, but we’re learning to work the limitations. We’re not signed to a major, so we have no money for advertising, which isn’t a bad thing. It means we work things from the grass roots. Now, we have very strong foundations and things will just build and build. We don’t rely on anyone. No management, no label, no backing. All on our own terms. True DIY spirit. It’s good. All the music industry don’t know what to do… what the next format will be… all sales are down and they just sell off music cheaper and cheaper, devaluing everything. Through greed they’ll lose everything… watch them get smaller and smaller. We’ll outstay many because we’re building something of quality. We have all the ingredients. Finny, has one of the best soul voices. He gets better and better the more we do. Sean’s writing gets better and better. He’s got most of the next album written already! I’m looking forward to getting to the UK and hearing the ideas. I know it’s going to be something INCREDIBLE. The next level.

You wrote one of the songs on ‘Love Filled Dub Band’… ‘Wonder Wonder’?
Yes, it’s the first song I’ve written thats been commercially released in years. I was watching the news and there was a story about a wedding party in Israel. A suicide bomber blew himself up at it killing a lot of innocent people. What should of been the happiest day for these people was destroyed and whatever your beliefs that is wrong. So I just put the question in song…”I wonder why, why can’t we live together”. I’m still searching for the answer, but I do believe that the answer is within all of us. In ourselves. No laws passed are going to change things. We, the individuals have got to come to our senses. We have to change things. If we do that on a personal level we’d live in a much better world.

You’re back in the UK very soon touring with Pama Intl?
Yes. I’m looking forward to that. Pama live is very enjoyable. First class players. Fuzz Townshend and Ernie McKone our rhythm section are rock solid. Musically, how Pama set about things, is for all the right reasons. We enjoy it. We enjoy playing live together. We enjoy recording together. We challenged eachother… always try and make things better. Always improving. I’m looking forward to this tour. We’re at Glastonbury again. The Slackers and Pietasters are both on the road with us. We’ve put a tour package together with Rockers Revolt bands and calling it ‘Reggae For The People’. Going to be a lot of fun.

What’s the best live show you’ve performed with Pama Intl?
A tiny gig in Nottingham really stands out for me. Everything clicked that night. After we finished the first song you couldn’t hear yourself think… the crowd were deafening. Also, Glastonbury last year. We did both Leftfield stage and Dance stage. Two great shows. We’ve been asked back to Leftfield this year to co-host the stage. We’ll be there on the Thursday, with The Levellers, Don Letts and Rockers Revolt bands… The Pietasters, Slackers AND Mungos Hi Fi.

The Pama live set seems to be developing and developing. Recent reviews have described it as a “wall of sound” and Acid Jazz founder, Eddie Pillar described Pama as “the most entertaining ska band he’d ever seen”. What’s your take on Pama Intl’s live sound?
We try to set ourselves standards so each show is better then the last, but they’re all different. Always evolving. Dub is a huge part of Pama’s sound and we like to take that out live, so no two sets are the same. Live dub, with Marcus Ferrari behind the desk. Superb engineer. He works with Easy Star All-stars, you know, the New York guys who did ‘Dub Side Of The Moon’. A ‘wall of sound’ isn’t a bad description but it’s more than that. We’re bigger than that. Our sound overtakes… it’s dictates how you move… pure good vibes all the way. No one leaves a show unhappy.

Are there any live bands you’ve seen lately that you rate?
Sly and Robbie in Seattle. Horace Andy was meant to be with them, but he didn’t show. So they did this DUB show. It remind me of the professor and the pupil. It was like a school lesson… being taught again watching the masters at work. Sensational the way they worked the rhythms.

I really enjoyed Amy Winehouse as Glastonbury last year. Her two backing singers… great showman and great voices.

And how about from the past? What’s the best concert you’ve witnessed?
For a technical, professional show it would have to be Prince. He’s the best I’ve seen for that. For atmosphere… Sex Pistols. They were awful but the atmosphere was unbelievable… the buzz was tremendous… the energy and excitement, second to none. I saw them at Mr.George’s in Coventry, with Sid Vicious.

Digging into your record collection, what is the best album you’ve bought?
Many. Off the top of my head… one of the best would have to be Carlos Santana… the one with ‘Black Magic Women’ on it. I played that one to death. Also, any Curtis Mayfield album. He’s my guitar hero. Bob Marley to. He was on the radio constantly though so never really need to buy an album at the time.

How about your favourite songs of all-time?
‘Get Up Stand Up’. I like the Bob Marley version. Straight the the point. Strong and direct political message. The Peter Tosh version is even heavier… I met him once, but he wasn’t very nice at all… miserable as hell! I met him on the old TV show The Tube and he wouldn’t talk to anyone. He wasn’t as bad as Jacob Miller though… he was rough, rough, rough!

On the soul side it’d have to be ‘Let’s Get It On’ by Marvin Gaye. Such a seductive song.

So, the question I have to ask… all 7 Specials rehearsed together recently. How was it for you?
The music always stands out and talks for itself. It’s good therapy for everything, but when the music stops I’m lost for words. It was wonderful playing again with everyone, but it’s a shame we can’t as a band live up to what we preached. Preaching unity but can’t agree amongst ourselves. What should be something so simple, going out and playing songs we’ve played 1000s of times before is being overcomplicated. It should be about the people who support us. A celebration. It’s wonderful that a new generation have discovered the band. It’d be great to play for them.

Individually a lot of the band are keeping on spreading the word and doing what they love.

No dates for our diary then?
I’m still dreaming about that. There’s nothing more that I like to see The Specials play again, for the fans that have been so dedicated… but there’s seven people in the band, who don’t necessary have the same vision of how things should go. So, still no dates. There was talk of playing for our 25th anniversary. Now there’s talk of playing for our 30th anniversary.

Reformation seems to be en-vogue. If you could get any band to reform who would it be?
The Clash. Pama got to do a show with Mick Jones and his new band Carbon/Silicon last year. It was wonderful to see him again and to see him playing new material and with new purpose. Joe Strummer’s passing was very sad indeed. If it wasn’t for Joe I doubt The Specials would of happened. That’d be the band I’d want to see again… The Clash.

So there you have it. From Barack Obama to Joe Strummer. From past glories with The Specials & Fun Boy 3 to playing out the new sounds of Pama Intl. Still questioning everyday, still pushing the creative boundaries, still working out what’s important, still passionate about music and about life. Lynval certainly does have a lot to celebrate in his past. It’s inspirational to find him relishing today and beyond.

Interview by Reynolds Clay
6th June 2008

You can catch Lynval live with Pama Intl throughout the summer - view dates?

Pama Intl - Love Filled Dub Band (RRHITCD2)
is out now on Rockers Revolt - available from www.rockersrevolt.com
and all good record shops - dist.by Active/Universal
Click HERE to buy it from Rockers Revolt direct…

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