Comments: 9

• Kevin from New YorkLike another commenter, I first heard this song on 60 Minutes. It’s probably the first Ska I ever heard. I was 13 or 14 years old. I found this page while searching for the air date of that episode; it just popped into my head to wonder that.
• John from Washington DcI first heard this song, and of The Specials, when it was featured in a 1981 article on the Brixton riots on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
• T J Laurence from Luton UkThis song epitomised everything that was going wrong in the UK at the time. Thatcher, Police suss laws, Mass unemployment especially for school leavers (put onto government schemes Y O P ), The rise of the far right recruiting youth from the football terraces & dance-halls. The start of the have / have not society (Yuppies), Civil unrest & riots is most towns & city's. As the song sat on the no:1 spot Britain was burning, the powerful plotted & made there plans for destroying the working classes, & as a 16 year old I was there & lived it.
• Sarah from UkThis is a protest song about the consequences of Thatchers Britain. Later when a black member of the Specials was attacked, it also became an anti racist anthem. The song is still relevant today in both respects
• Thomas from Coventry, EnglandHave to say that while I'm too young to relate to the early 80s, the city is still quite empty, with LEVC being the largest employer other than the hospital I believe. The state of the town centre has only degraded, as now 'clubs' are just shisha bars full of 14-17 year olds. If it became a ghost town with everybody moving from the violence and lack of jobs, it's now a hideous Frankestein's monster of relics from a bygone age mixed with attempts at rejuvenation (masses of new houses).
• Ross from Leicester, United KingdomI think it was a bit more confusing than that. The Specials set out to appeal to a skinhead audience, as they recognised that skinheads weren't necessarily racist, but that the National Front were having an influence on the scene. There were racist and anti-racist skinheads, and some of the racist skinheads were into ska! This was on top of a very violent live music scene which included fighting between different subcultures (punks,mods,skins,teds,metalheads,etc) as well as local rivalries. This effected a lot of gigs, not just the Specials - as the song says "too much fighting on the dancefloor"!
• Richard from London, United KingdomI heard this song was about white racists adopting ska as part of their culture. This lead to fighting at gigs and clubs, and places being closed down and people not wanting to go out. I might be wrong.
  
  I also know John Collins who mixed and produced it. He told me he got a call out of the blue one day, he hadn't really done much work like this but took it on anyway. He said he didn't really fit in with the band. They were all smoking drugs and he wasn't into that. John went onto make the music for the 80's TV show 'Desmonds'. I've met quite a few people who have said this is their favourite ever record.
• Kayla from N. Lauderdale, FlSeriously, my favorite ska song ever. I vibe to it when I can.
  Btw, this song is even featured in the movie "Garage Days."
• Gary from Chester, EnglandThis song epitomises mine (and 1,000's others) youth. Remember the riots, even had few here !!

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