The band who made “pop better than anyone else”, according to Terry Hall
Terry Hall, best known as the frontman of British ska band The Specials, would not be an obvious choice when thinking of fans of pop music. As one of the pioneers of the 2 tone, ska revival of the late 1970s, remembered for his dour expression and punk attitude towards the British establishment, it may come as a surprise that Hall should be considered an authority when it comes to pop music. In fact, striving for pop perfection shaped the trajectory of his career.
Having left The Specials due to feeling they had no input on the creative process, Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding went on to form the new wave group Fun Boy Three in 1981. Their first single, ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)’, was a continuation of the socio-political lyricism Hall had developed with The Specials, augmented by the simplicity of good old catchy pop. In this case, the targets at the end of the easy beat were Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. The single did not perform as well as they had hoped, peaking at number 20 in the UK Top 40. This led Hall to search for inspiration elsewhere.
Stumbling upon a then-unknown trio, Bananarama, Hall decided to make a full-on pop record with the emerging group. He chose an old jazz record, ‘Tain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)’, to serve as the timeless basis, and collaborated with them on a handful of other songs for Fun Boy Three’s first album, The Fun Boy Three. Hall’s ingenious decision to produce a pop record would prove successful as the song charted at number four in the UK Top 40 charts.
In 1981, Hall co-wrote one of music’s most iconic pop songs, ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ with the Go-Go’s guitarist, Jane Wiedlin. First released by the Go-Go’s in 1981, ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ charted well in the US, Canada and Australia. It wouldn’t be until the release of Fun Boy Three’s version in 1983 that the song would be acclaimed in the UK. But its greatest achievement was showcasing how the core musicology of pop could be expanded across a range of genres.
Speaking to the NME, Hall claimed that nobody did this better than XTC, championing their 1978 debut album, White Music, as an album everyone ought to hear before they die. Considered a playful and experimental album, White Music brilliantly captured XTC’s genre fluidity from new wave era punk to deliberate pop perfection.
XTC’s pop talent was not lost on Hall, who goes on to say that “XTC did it better than anyone else”. Speaking of their single ‘This is Pop’, Hall states that upon hearing it, he remembers thinking, “Yeah, this is pop. This is pop.” Hall commented that XTC were writing great pop songs and not getting embarrassed about it, even though this was during the height of punk.
Hall’s admiration for XTC and their pop sensibilities shouldn’t be surprising, as, after all, isn’t this exactly what Hall did? Though both are widely admired, it is time for Hall and XTC to be celebrated for their contributions to making great British pop music.
