The original lineup of The Specials (minus Jerry Dammers) will be coming to Australia for a brief tour at the end of July. At present, there are only two shows, but it is good news nonetheless. You'll want to get in quick for your tickets though, as their UK shows sold out in minutes.

Saturday July 25 @ Splendour in the Grass - Byron Bay

Monday July 27 @ The Enmore Theatre - Sydney

Tuesday July 28 @ The Enmore Theatre – Sydney

Thursday July 30 @ The Palace Theatre – Melbourne

Saturday August 1 @ The Logan Campbell Centre - Auckland

Update: Gabe from musicaloccupation.com had posted these videos of the current Specials on the Jools Holland Show in the UK. See what you think.

The winners of a double pass to the Easy Star All-Stars have been drawn. They are:

Nicole Stock (Brisbane)
Anthony Murphy (Melbourne)
Harry Avramidis (Sydney)

Stay tuned for the next competition!

Full list of dates

MELBOURNE
Friday 10 April
Chill City Festival

MELBOURNE
Saturday 11 April
The Corner Hotel
Tickets available from: www.cornerhotel.com

BYRON BAY
Monday 13 April
East Coast Blues & Roots Festival

BRISBANE
Wednesday 15 April
The Zoo
Tickets available from: www.oztix.com.au

SYDNEY
Thursday 16 April
Manning Bar
Tickets available from: www.manningbar.com or www.moshtix.com.au

PERTH
Saturday 18 April
West Coat Blues & Roots Festival
Esplanade Reserve

www.easystar.com
www.myspace.com/easystar

The press release:

SNAP! is a brand new night of Reggae, Ska, Punk & Rock n Roll happening at Baroque Bar Katoomba ( or K-town) featuring local and out of town acts and DJs playing everything from The Specials, The Ronettes, Iggy Pop, Bob Marley, The Clash and much much more.

Snap! opening night is kicking off on Friday the 3rd of April @ Baroque (above Carrington Main Bar)

The night will be featuring Sydney's very own 10 piece Ska/reggae legends BACKY SKANK who are playing for the first time in the Blue Mountains @ Snap! BACKY SKANK has toured with such artists as Bad Manners, The English Beat and Neville Staples & The Specials.

Also playing are Blue Mountains own sextet DIRTY LINDY who are bringing their own brand of swing, rockabilly and funk. Dirty Lindy is a fine mix of smooth guitar licks, thumpin double bass, catchy as hell horn sections and smooth dancing moves.

PAPA RITCHIE will also bringing the Dub with his live solo performance which he'll be mixing and cutting up dub tracks live on stage.

HERB RIZLA Will be kicking off proceedings with their own style of hip hop rhymes with dub and dance hall beats.

SNAP! djs will be keeping the party going all night, playing everything danceable. We’ll be busting out some Shangri-las , Specials, Toots and the Maytals, Little Richard and much more!

Mods Mayday 2009
Date: Saturday May 2
Venue: The Cooks River Motor Boat Club, Tempe.
Doors open: 8 pm
$12 cover

Deep Sea Dan put me on to this rather disturbing video of the Aussie Queen of pop Kylie Minogue and cult kid entertainers the Wiggles doing a rendition of Toots and the Maytals, Monkey Man. Where'd that one come from? Maybe the Cockroaches used to play some ska?

Vic Ruggiero (from the Slackers) has a couple of live recordings of his own stuff over at his website. Free to download and definitely worth checking out.

http://vicruggiero.com/bootlegs

The statistics for dizzybeat.com during the month of February 2009 showed it to be the best month we've ever had since our beginning in 2001. I would probably keep writing for this site if only one person was the reader, but it is nice to think more people are coming across the site. And this last month there was a significant increase in traffic.

It has a lot to do with the announcement that Madness are coming to Australia, as well as The Special Beat and the little comp we're running to win a double pass to see The East Star All-Stars. Hopefully it also has something to do with a confirmed date for Sydney's Mods Mayday - Saturday May 2 @ the Cook River Motor Boat Club in Tempe, thanks for asking.

Thanks for reading and to those who have posted comments, please keep doing so!