Great Lives

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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Great Lives: Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials

Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials

Terry Hall, lead singer of The Specials and Fun Boy Three - includes Lynval Golding

Jon Ronson picks his hero Terry Hall - he first met him as a small kid and never forgot

When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to Sophia Gardens," he says. "The crowd was fantastically wild. There’s a lot to not like about the feral nature of British street culture – i.e. getting beaten up - but out of turmoil can come great art, songs like Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle. Anyway, before The Specials came on, I made a decision: I would pretend to faint in the hope that I could watch the show from the side of the stage. It worked like a dream. I was carried by the bouncers to the wings, and left there. This was probably the most exciting moment of my life, and as I stood there, Terry Hall noticed me and came over to ask if I was okay. Terry Hall, the coolest man in Britain, being kind and showing concern."

Years later Terry Hall publicly announced that he'd been abducted by paedophiles as a boy. Jon Ronson immediately remembered the care and concern Terry had shown him and wondered if this was why. 

Programme includes Terry's bandmate, Lynval Golding, giving his first interview since Terry died in December; plus two of his friends, Shaun O'Donnell and Gary Aspden, and the voice of Terry himself.

Jon Ronson is the author of Adventures with Extremists and presenter of Things Fell Apart, about the culture wars.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

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Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials

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