Welcome to the Friars Aylesbury website

John Bradbury, drummer - obituary - Telegraph

John Bradbury, who died on December 28th, was drummer with the Specials, a Coventry-based multi-ethnic group that helped lead the ska revival in post-punk Britain and directly and indirectly were responsible for the future successes of Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, The Selecter (all of whom played Friars more than once) and more

The band was responsible for 2-Tone, which was not only a record label that gave a leg up to the bands mentioned above but a movement and a style which neatly became a soundtrack to the early Thatcher years, the band unafraid to tackle themes of social problems of the time with hard hitting lyrics.

The Specials first played Friars Aylesbury in 1978 as the Coventry Automatics, and it is well known that Terry Hall, the band's lead singer, announced to David Stopps just before they took to the stage that they were now The Specials.

The Specials between 1979 and 1981 made just two albums and they had seven consecutive Top 10 hits. Their best-known song Ghost Town was inspired by the downturn in their hometown Coventry and became one of the biggest hits of 1981 as it became effectively a soundtrack (both musically and lyrically) for plenty of inner city unrest in Britain that year. In 1980 The Specials played a very lively and memorable gig at Friars Aylesbury instantly selling out.

The Specials called it a day in 1981, worn out both internally and from having to deal with undesirable elements trying to latch on to their gigs (the National Front being one) and the band resisting.

Bradbury and Dammers soldiered on together after the band's split as the Special AKA, memorably introducing the name Nelson Mandela to many people for the first time with the hit single Free Nelson Mandela.

Nearly 30 years after they had disbanded, The Specials reformed (minus Dammers) for a huge UK tour with tickets instantly selling out. The band's Roddy Byers said to us when we interviewed him at the time, rightly, that the social issues they sang about originally were just as relevant today.

In 2013, The Specials came back to Friars at last and not only did we get to hear Ghost Town played at Friars for the first time, it also became one of the three most in demand gigs ever at Friars with huge queues stretching around the Waterside. The gig and the atmosphere were incredible and it seemed that just about everyone who last saw The Specials at Friars in 1980 was there reliving it in 2013.

My personal memory of John is meeting him after the 2013 and taking the picture below with their Heroes Award. Like the rest of the band, just a nice guy and will be missed.

Mike O'Connor