Rhoda Dakar was born in Hampstead, London, in 1960, and grew up in “a tower block full of social workers” in Brixton. She was working for the Department of Employment, signing people on the dole in Westminster when Nicky Summers saw her dancing in the audience at a Selecter gig and asked her if she could sing. She auditioned and became The Bodysnatchers singer and songwriter.

After the Bodysnatchers split, Rhoda became increasingly involved with The Specials, in fact one story tells of Jerry Dammers insistance at one point that she become a full member of the band. That never quite transpired, but after The Specials finally split she did become an ever-present member of The Special AKA.

The Boiler was the first release after The Specials break-up, and the idea had been around for a while to record & release the track which was one of the few originals in The Bodysnatchers live set.

Since The Special AKA, Rhodas’ work includes Palm Skin Productions Mo-Wax release ‘The Sunlight On The Garden’, Wiemer/Orensteins’ ‘How Are You’ and Dr. Roberts’ ‘Realms Of Gold’.

(A more in-depth article will be included shortly)