There have been numerous proposals for a permanent memorial to ska legend Terry Hall to be erected in his birthplace of Coventry. The city was also the place where the Specials’ frontman, who passed away on Monday, spent his childhood.
Coventry’s musical legacy is inextricably linked to the Two Tone music movement he helped establish.
The city’s overhead gantries were updated to read “too much, too young, RIP Terry Hall” in honor of the late actor.
An advertising banner outside the HMV Empire said, “Thank you for the memories.”
Hall, a singer-songwriter who attended Sidney Stringer school and grew up in Hillfields, first performed with The Specials that same year.
Phil Rooney, manager of HMV Empire, has proposed erecting a statue of a hall in the city.
“Terry was a very important element of Coventry’s music history, world music history potentially,” he continued. “They have a Specials day in Los Angeles, and I think it’d be great if we could have one in Coventry as well.”
In response to the city council’s Facebook post regarding the gantries, one resident said, “I spotted your Terry Hall message on the ring road yesterday and it gave me a tear in the eye.” The lovely finishing touch on our Cov baby, as one commenter put it.
Horace Panter, a bandmate of his, said that his friend had been diagnosed with cancer not long before he passed away, and that autopsy results showed that his pancreatic cancer had progressed to his liver.
The Very Reverend John Witcombe, Dean of Coventry Cathedral, remarked that the “warm memories of Terry” he has from the band’s homecoming gigs in the Cathedral ruins three years ago still bring a smile to his face.
The shows caught “the very soul of Coventry,” as praised on the cathedral’s Facebook page.
Tom Grennan’s manager, John Dawkins, stated that tonight’s game versus West Brom should be played in the team’s Two Tone kit as a tribute to the “legend.”
The squad stated that it would not be allowed to wear the kit, but that they would honor the band by playing The Specials’ music and showing photos of the band on the big screen during Wednesday’s game against West Brom.
“I often talk [to my artists] about wanting to affect popular culture in a positive way and I don’t think anyone’s done it nearly as successfully as Terry has,” he remarked.
Hall was called “exceptional” by Pete Chambers of the Coventry Music Museum.
“Without The Specials and the Two Tone movement in the city, there would be no Coventry Music Museum,” he stated. To this day, the influence of the Two Tone movement and Terry’s contributions to it are felt.
A “genuine Coventrian,” in the words of Coventry’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Kevin Maton, Hall has been honored with the title.
“He was a shining light for many in the fight for equality and justice,” he added. “He was not simply a superb songwriter and exciting performer who undertook a variety of musical ventures.”
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