Too Much Too Young: The Gold Collection is a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by British Ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

 band The Specials

The Specials

The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...

. It features eight songs from their self-titled 1979 debut album Specials

Specials (album)

Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band The Specials.Released in 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene...

, along with seven songs from the subsequent More Specials

More Specials

More Specials is an October 1980 album from the ska band The Specials. The album was the band's second, after their self-titled debut, and expanded the group's 2 tone sound to include lounge music and other influences. It includes collaborations with The Go-Go's, Rhoda Dakar from The...

album (1980), plus the track Rude Boys Outa Jail, originally only released as a double A-side single with Rat Race in 1980.


The compilation thus focuses on the earlier years of the group, only featuring recordings made by the origial line-up before Neville Staples

Neville Staples

Neville Eugenton Staple is a singer for the two-tone ska band, The Specials as well as his own combo, The Neville Staple Band. Along with Ranking Roger, he also sings in Special Beat.-Early life:...

, Terry Hall

Terry Hall (singer)

Terry Hall is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and has also collaborated with many artists including David A...

 and Lynval Golding

Lynval Golding

Lynval Golding is a British musician. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist and vocalist with the British 2 Tone Records band, The Specials....

left the band in 1981/1982. A notable omission is the group's second (and last) number one hit Ghost Town, released as a single in 1981, while Staples, Hall and Golding were still in the group.

Track listing

1. "Too Much Too Young"
2. "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)"
3. "Man at C&A
4. "Rude Boys Outa Jail
5. "I Can't Stand It"
6. "Do The Dog"
7. "Blank Expression"
8. "(Dawning Of A) New Era" (listed as "(Dawning Of) A New Era")
9. "Monkey Man"
10. "Hey Little Rich Girl"
11. "Pearl's Cafe"
12. "Little Bitch"
13. "Rat Race"
14. "A Message To You Rudy"
15. "Do Nothing"
16. "You're Wondering Now"