the best band of the late 70s/early 80s

I grew up at a time of fantastic access to all my heroes as a teen, and I made the most of it. I saw everyone.

Revisiting all those canonical bodies of work, almost everyone had some sort of fatal flaw. Live, the Clash were never that tight, the Blasters' records were never as exciting as the Blasters live, the Dead kennedys live always sounded a little thin compared to their records (which were fantastic), and so on.

But you know who delievered live and on record every time? The Specials. The lyrics still feel intelligent, the band was the tightest thing you ever heard, and their recorded output is still scary fresh.

Despite that they're so imitated, almost nobody points to them and says, "A lot of things sound like the way they sound because of this band" (same goes for Motorhead and Run-DMC).

Not only were they influential and smart, but they were exciting, authentic, supercharged, and TIGHT.

My nomination for the best band that mattered.