"A Message to You Rudy" - Rico Rodriguez

“A Message to You Rudy” (PDF) from The Specials album, The Specials

Reggae producer Dandy Livingstone knew a hit song when he heard it - especially when he had written it. After watching the British ska-revival band The Specials perform their 1979 version of “A Message to You Rudy” on the U.K. music television program Top of the Pops, Livingstone secured the publishing rights for a song that he wrote and recorded in 1967, “Rudy a Message to You.” Despite his own prolific output, Livingstone understood that The Specials’ recording - produced by Elvis Costello - would generate a new wave of interest in Jamaican music.

That televised performance, as well as The Specials’ eponymous album, featured the Cuban-Jamaican trombonist Rico Rodriguez who had already established himself as the prominent reggae trombonist in England by the time he first recorded with Livingstone on the original version. Having signed to Trojan Records, the partnership also produced a 1969 album as Rico & The Rudies which allowed both artists to explore their Jamaican roots throughout the 1970s. Livingstone’s original “Rudy” was eventually re-released upon the success of The Specials and later directly influenced the third wave of ska music in the States.

Here is a YouTube video of that performance by The Specials on Top of the Pops:

Recommended reading: Ska’d for Life: A Personal Journey with The Specials by Horace Panter. Published by Pan Books.