‘The Boiler’: The Specials AKA song that mirrored a horrifying court case
The Specials remain famed for an ability to write music about a genuine subject matter that appeals to wide areas of society, with the masterpiece ‘Ghost Town’ a celebrated analysis of the urban decay and recession that engulfed Britain when it was released in 1981. Elsewhere, long-term member and chief songwriter Jerry Dammers created the hit single ‘Free Nelson Mandela’, a protest against the imprisonment of the anti-apartheid activist and politician by the South African government.
The focus here, though, is one of the band’s other esteemed releases, ‘The Boiler’, which withholds an important legacy because of the profound theme and depiction of sexual assault that it contains and the fact that it also paralleled a real-life crime — albeit accidentally.
Notably, the 1982 single was produced by Jerry Dammer, who played organ on the recording, with Nicky Summers of the all-female 2 Tone outfit The Bodysnatchers playing bass. The vocals are spoken by Summers’ Bodysnatchers bandmate, Rhoda Dakar, with the songwriting credits split between Dammers and the members of the band.
At the time of the track, The Specials were transitioning from their original lineup into the next iteration, The Special AKA, which saw the likes of frontman Terry Hall and vocalist Neville Staple depart. Duly, ‘The Boiler’ was released by ‘Rhoda with The Special AKA featuring Nicky Summers’.
Whilst the lineup is a talking point among their devoted fanbase, the dark details of the song are what make it stand out. Dakar describes a disturbing rape in severe detail from the victim’s perspective. It tells the story of a woman who feels like “an old boiler” when she goes out on a date that eventually goes horribly wrong. It ends with her date raping her in a dark alleyway.
Although the theme of the song and Dakar’s vivid lyrics were enough to make ‘The Boiler’ controversial, it was the parallel between it and a real rape case that caused a stir. At Ipswich Crown Court on January 5th, 1982, businessman John Allen was convicted of the rape of a teenage hitchhiker. Initially pleading not guilty, he changed his plea when the victim broke down his violence in court.
Astonishingly, when Judge Bertrand Richards sentenced Allen, he claimed that the victim had been “guilty of a great deal of contributory negligence”. As expected, this comment caused widespread outrage, as did the fact that Allen was only fined £2,000.
Later in January 1982, Dakar was interviewed by the NME. According to her, the song, which the publication described as “uncannily timed”, emerged from a jam and was not written with the intent to scare. Regardless, it remains one of the most visceral accounts of sexual assault in music.
