Fun Boy Three

They only survived for two years but the Fun Boy Three nevertheless made a big impact on the 1980s British pop world with their feel-good post-punk take on pop music and are still fondly remembered. Formed by Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple as a much lighter and more pop-orientated splinter group from their previous band The Specials, their quietly infectious sub-reggae grooves resulted in a string of major hits including “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)” (1981), “The Telephone Always Rings” (1982), “Tunnel Of Love” (1983), and “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1983). They also released two UK Top 20 albums - Fun Boy Three (1982) and Waiting (1983) - while also helping to launch the career of the hottest British girl group of the day, Bananarama, when they collaborated on a radical 1982 hit remake of the old jazz standard “T'ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)”. Co-written by Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin (of The Go-Go’s), “Our Lips Are Sealed” was first recorded by The Go-Go’s in 1981 and helped make their name in America. In 1983, Fun Boy Three undertook a major tour of the US but split at the end of it, with all three members going on to explore different opportunities with other bands. The three members eventually reunited with The Specials in 2008 although Neville Staple left again in 2012. After many tours and two studio albums, The Specials was intending to start working together again in 2022 but plans were put on hold when Terry Hall fell ill. He died on December 18, 2022, of pancreatic cancer at the age of 63.

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