'The Godiva Festival gig was a must for me'

Neville Staple performed at the city's Godiva music festival on Saturday, alongside his wife Christine "Sugary" Staple

"I love being on stage and I had to do Coventry."

Despite serious health concerns, there was no way The Specials' Neville Staple was going to miss playing the city's Godiva Festival.

Staple, one of the founders of the legendary ska revivalists, has been told he can only play five gigs a year, after having to cancel several gigs and festival sets last year when he was diagnosed with a serious heart defect.

His Godiva performance on Saturday saw him back in the city where The Specials first took to the stage after forming in 1977.

"I've missed being on stage so much," Staple told BBC CWR, explaining that after discussions with his wife and his doctor he accepted he had to cut back on gigs.

Staple's wife and fellow musician Christine "Sugary" Staple knew his heart was immediately set on playing Godiva, where she also played in the band's line-up.

"He said I've got to do Coventry – out of the five [shows], Coventry is a must," she said.

The Specials, with Neville Staple (top left), formed in 1977 and soon appeared on Top of the Pops, as their 2-Tone label exploded on to the UK music scene

The three-day Godiva festival, which showcases local acts as well as famous bands, will end later with a headline set from Ocean Colour Scene.

The Specials were at the forefront of the 2 Tone movement that started in Coventry in the late 1970s, quickly gaining national acclaim. The genre blended Jamaican reggae, ska, and British punk music.

Along with the likes of The Beat, The Selecter and Madness, the band captured the mood of the late 1970s, when future prospects for young people looked bleak.

Now firmly fixed in Coventry's cultural heritage, 2 Tone continues to inspire successive generations, with tributes posted across the city when The Specials' frontman Terry Hall died in 2022.

One of Hall's piano's has been on display at Godiva this year, alongside a stall from Tonic Music for Mental Health, a charity he supported.

Christine "Sugary" Staple described the Godiva festival gig as "a homecoming"

"Sugary" Staple described the gig as "a homecoming" and added that "we love Godiva, we've got history at Godiva."

The couple have also been involved with anti-knife crime campaigning in recent years, after their grandson Fidel Glasgow was fatally stabbed in Coventry in 2018.

On Saturday, Staple's message to people in the city was: "Stay positive, love one another, and put away those knives."