Rat Race – The Specials (1980)

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An individual, limited edition, example of vinyl record art made from a genuine, original, 45rpm, 7” single featuring the 1980 hit, Rat Race by English 2-Tone and ska revival band, The Specials. The vinyl single has been reworked into a silhouette of a common rat.

A great framed gift for a friend or family member who is a fan of The Specials,  Ska, Rats, Rodents or has a special memory linked to the song.

Presented in a black wooden box frame
Limited Edition of 100, signed and numbered by myself, the artist

Title: Rat Race
Media Artist/s: The Specials
Record Label: Two-Tone
Medium: Mixed media, hand cut from an original 7″ vinyl single
Era: 1980s
Genre: Ska

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Description

Description

Additional information about this, The Specials vinyl art.

The Specials – The Artist

The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. Their music combines a “danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk’s energy and attitude”. Lyrically, they present a “more focused and informed political and social stance”. The band had a particular look and wore mod-style “1960s period rude boy outfits (pork pie hats, tonic and mohair suits and loafers)”

Rat Race – The Song

Rat Race’ is a song written by guitarist Roddy Byers as a critique on how privileged students would waste their time at university, drinking more than studying, knowing full well that Daddy would get them a good job when they left no matter what. It was included on the Non UK version of their second studio album, ‘More Specials.’

The Common Rat – The Shape

Modelled into a silhouette of a common rat.  The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat, Parisian rat, water rat, or wharf rat, is one of the best known and most common rats. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or grey rodent with a head and body length of up to 28 cm (11 in) long, and a tail slightly shorter than that. It weighs between 140 and 500 g (4.9 and 17.6 oz). Thought to have originated in northern China, this rodent has now spread to all continents except Antarctica, and is the dominant rat in Europe and much of North America, making it, by at least this particular definition, the most successful mammal on the planet alongside humans. With rare exceptions, the brown rat lives wherever humans live, particularly in urban areas.

A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. It may also refer to a competitive struggle to get ahead financially or routinely. The term is commonly associated with an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment.

 

 

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Additional information

Weight 1030 g
Dimensions 25 × 4.5 × 25 cm
Artist Formation

Group / Band

Decade

80's

Gender

Male

Nationality

English

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