With some new members Special AKA spent two years recording its 1984 album In the Studio, with many of the tracks written by keyboardist Jerry Dammers. While the album was not broadly successful, and its first two singles, War Crimes (The Crime Remains the Same) and Racist Friend, failed to breach the UK top 40, the album's third single was its most memorable moment.
Free Nelson Mandela, written by Dammers, produced by Elvis Costello and with lead vocals by Stan Campbell, reached number 9 in the UK charts, achieved considerable success across Africa, and topped the charts in New Zealand for three weeks in June 1984. In 2013 Dammers recalled the song's impact and legacy:
We shot the video in a church hall with these kids doing crazy jazz dancing, and we used the sleeve to give people information about the Anti-Apartheid Movement. The song was banned in South Africa, but they played it at football matches, which were communal black gatherings. It was an international hit and helped build momentum against apartheid. Dali Tambo [son of exiled ANC president Oliver] approached me to form a British wing of Artists Against Apartheid, and we did loads of concerts, leading up to a huge event on Clapham Common in 1986 that attracted a quarter of a million people. That was the proudest day of my life. It led to the Wembley Stadium concert with people like Dire Straits and Whitney Houston, which was broadcast to millions around the world – comparable to Live Aid. And then things really took off, with a lot of people who hadn't previously supported anti-apartheid coming on board.
On 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from 28 years of imprisonment by the apartheid regime of South Africa. He served as the first President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
The Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela (1984)
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