The Specials versus Madness
 

I think its fair to say of the 2Tone movement The Specials and Madness were the "Big Two" of the era.

Not poo pooing the efforts of the others, far from it. All part of the History...
Bad Manners, The Beat, The Selector, The Bodysnatchers. All brilliant with a flavour of thier own.

Out of the main two which did you prefer yourself at the time?

For me I loved Madness very much, especially the early stuff... One Step beyond and Nightboat and much off the first two albums... BUT!!!!

The Specials were my everything. They not only moved us on the dance floor but they spoke to a generation about the importance of standing your ground, the drama's of UK family life, and defying Racism in all its ugliness.

It was Two Tone. Simple as that. Black & White.

So did you MB Ska Heads of old and new prefer Madness or the Specials or any of the above instead?

Problem A is Madness were never on 2-Tone beyond their first single.

And Specials>Madness, mainly for how brilliant More Specials is, although I really wish they'd held it together longer.

Good Evening loveissucide
After Madness left 2Tone and went Stiff they did keep a similar sound for a good while and were still considered part of the 2Tone Furniture. IMO rightly so.
More Specials was good, Very good. A Step beyond the first self titled album. Has some very unusual Tunes on it. "Stereotype" (LP Version) is like an epic story of stupidity and social Commentry with an amazing soundtrack rumbling behind/with it. Neville Staples Compliments Terry Hall brilliantly here. I really grew to love this track. The I still do.

Go the other extreme you got "Enjoy Yourself" on the same album. Class!

the specials kept to their musical roots, madness sold out to chart success, and became a fairground band, in fact i once heard one of the madness members being interviewed on a late night radio show and he claimed madness where never a ska band, it was their followers who where into the ska scene, which doesn't make much sense, as their first album is full of great ska covers...

The Specials, although Madness' One Step Beyond is a beasting album.

Yeah, and Absolutely's one of my favourite albums ever too.

Tough call. Madness wrote some of the best, most quintessentially English pop songs since the prime of the Kinks. On the other hand, I couldn't really see Suggs & co coming up with a song like Ghost Town.

The Specials by the narrowest of margins for me.

The Specials

Although The Selecter's Too Much Pressure album is my favorite product of all of those bands.

Madness have certainly crafted some great Pop songs but c,mon. Within 2 albums Specials said more about the state of Britain at that time within a well oiled reverent sound that Madness could only dream of.

Specials debut is essential listening even if the genre is not high on your list. It's a superlative album that is still relevant 30 years after release both lyrically and musically.