RIP John Bradbury

So I’ve been struggling with this year-end piece I’m working on and not really liking. Blah. Click over to Facebook to take a quick break and I see that a friend’s posted that John Bradbury, the drummer for the Specials, has died. He was 62 years old and still playing with the band pretty regularly, I think. I just saw him killing it with them a few years ago up in L.A., for crying out loud.

As anyone who’s heard the Specials knows, Bradbury was the driving force behind the whole sound. The snappy snare-drum fill that kicks off “A Message to You, Rudy,” helped announce the 2-Tone sound to the world. Bradbury’s ability to bring an identifiable, unique approach to everything from rapid-fire ska like “Do the Dog” to the oddball lounge reggae of “Rat Race” made the whole venture possible, really. Hardly anyone knew his name, but every ska fan in the world could mimic a couple of his drum lines.

So anyway, the whole year-end piece is a goner. Totally pointless. I never really liked it, anyway. Nothing I was going to post could possibly top just clicking over to YouTube and watching the mighty Specials do their thing. RIP, John Bradbury. Your music meant a whole hell of a lot to more people than you probably could have imagined.

Here’s my favorite Specials clip on YouTube. It’s their appearance on some old British show “Rock Goes to College,” complete with goofy host intro. I love the ending, when half the crowd of little mods gets up on stage with the band to sing “You’re Wondering Now.” Awesome stuff.

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