Too Much Too Young
EP by
The Special A.K.A. featuring Rico
Released11 January 1980
RecordedThe Lyceum, London, and Tiffany's, Coventry, 1979
GenreSka, 2-tone
Length11:04
Label2 Tone
ProducerJerry Dammers and Dave Jordan
The Specials singles chronology
"A Message to You, Rudy"
(1979)		 "Too Much Too Young"
(1980)		 "Rat Race"
(1980)

Too Much Too Young - The Special A.K.A. Live! is a live EP by The Specials with Rico Rodriguez, released on 11 January 1980.[1] On the original release, the front cover credited the performers as The Special A.K.A. featuring Rico, while the back cover mentions and the labels credited only The Specials.

Renowned for their live shows, The Specials released a five-track live EP in January 1980 as the third single by the band. The EP featured "Too Much Too Young" (originally recorded on the album The Specials) with "Guns of Navarone" recorded live in London; and "Skinhead Symphony" - a medley of "Long Shot Kick De Bucket", "The Liquidator" and "Skinhead Moonstomp" - which was recorded at Tiffany's in Coventry.[2]

Lead track "Too Much Too Young" was based on the 1969 song "Birth Control" by Lloyd Charmers.

Contrary to what is sometimes stated, "Too Much Too Young" was not banned by the BBC due to mentions of contraception in the lyrics. However, when the song's promotional video was featured on Top of the Pops, it was cut off just before the final line, "try wearing a cap".[3]

The song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1980.[2] It became only the second EP to top the chart after "The Roussos Phenomenon EP" in 1976, and was also the first live recording to top the chart since Billy Connolly's "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." in 1975.[2] At 2:04, it was the shortest song to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in the 1980s.

Rodriguez played trombone on "Guns of Navarone" and "Long Shot Kick De Bucket", and Dick Cuthell played flugelhorn on "Guns of Navarone".[2]

Track listing

Side A
  1. "Too Much Too Young" (Jerry Dammers, acknowledgment to Lloyd Chalmers) - 2:04
  2. "Guns of Navarone" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Webster) - 2:25
Side B - Skinhead Symphony
  1. "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" (George Agard, Sydney Crooks, Jackie Robinson) - 3:10
  2. "The Liquidator" (Harry Johnson) - 1:15
  3. "Skinhead Moonstomp" (Roy Ellis, Monty Naysmith) - 2:11

Chart positions

Chart Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart[4] 3
UK Singles Chart[5] 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Beat join Selecter tour". NME. London, England: IPC Media: 3. 12 January 1980.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 201. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  3. ↑ ""Too Much Too Young" release details - "It was also the first 2 Tone release to fall foul of the censors. The final line of "Too Much Too Young", "Try wearing a cap", proved too much for the nations moral guardians and the song was deliberately cut short before the offending word "cap" was broadcast"". 2-tone.info. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  4. ↑ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Ltd (1962-10-01). "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  5. ↑ "Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
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