Rhoda Dakar

Vocalist Rhoda Dakar occupies a significant place within the British ska community, where her resonant tone and poised, theatrical delivery have cultivated a devoted audience across a professional span of five decades. She first achieved recognition through membership in the Bodysnatchers, the all-female ensemble featured on the 2-Tone roster during the 1980s, and supplied lead vocals for the Special A.K.A.’s unsettling 1982 single “The Boiler.” After maintaining a subdued presence from the mid-1980s, focused chiefly on behind-the-scenes contributions, she returned to the fore in 2007 with the solo release Cleaning In Another Woman’s Kitchen and consolidated her standing among ska’s foremost female artists via 2014’s Rhoda Dakar Sings the Bodysnatchers and 2023’s Version Girl.

Born in Hampstead, London, England in 1959, Rhoda Dakar absorbed an eclectic range of sounds while growing up, embracing Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls during adolescence, developing an affinity for reggae pioneers such as Toots & the Maytals, and subsequently aligning with the punk movement. Toward the end of the 1970s, amid the 2-Tone ska resurgence across England, she co-established and fronted the Bodysnatchers, a seven-piece all-female ska outfit. Jerry Dammers of the Specials endorsed the band and secured its place on 2-Tone; the debut single, a rendition of Dandy Livingstone’s “Let’s Do The Rocksteady,” achieved hit status by climbing to Number 22 on the U.K. singles charts, while the group performed regularly alongside the Specials and additional 2-Tone acts. Shortly afterward the ensemble issued the follow-up 45 “Easy Life,” and one of its shows was captured for the concert film Dance Craze, with renditions of “Easy Life,” “Let’s Do The Rocksteady,” and “007 (Shanty Town)” appearing in the final edit alongside sequences featuring the Specials, Madness, the English Beat, the Selecter, and Bad Manners. By the time of the film’s release, however, the Bodysnatchers had disbanded; Dakar chose an independent path, whereas several former colleagues later found commercial traction as the Belle Stars.

Alongside her Bodysnatchers work, Dakar contributed to the Specials’ second album, 1980’s More Specials, sharing vocals with Terry Hall on “I Can’t Stand It.” Following the Specials’ dissolution, Jerry Dammers launched the Special A.K.A., which in 1981 issued the single “The Boiler” featuring Dakar as lead singer. Conceived by Dakar while still in the Bodysnatchers, the track presented a stark narrative of a woman subjected to violence on a date; the intensity of her performance drew critical acclaim yet rendered the record challenging for many listeners. Dammers further enlisted Dakar for vocals on the Special A.K.A.’s 1984 album In The Studio. In the years after that release she largely withdrew from the industry, though she appeared on recordings by Dr. Robert, also known as Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys (1996’s Realms of Gold), ex-Specials singer Terry Hall (1997’s Laugh), and the versatile dance collective Apollo 440 (1999’s Gettin’ High On Your Own Supply).

Dakar resurfaced in 2006 with the solo album Cleaning In Another Woman’s Kitchen, comprising original material co-written with Nick Welsh, previously associated with the Selecter and Bad Manners. Two years later she and Welsh collaborated again on Back to the Garage, an album oriented toward rock styles. On 2015’s Sings the Bodysnatchers, Dakar revisited her former band’s catalog by interpreting ten selections from that era, supported by Lynval Golding of the Specials and Horace Panter of Madness. For 2023’s Version Girl she delivered her own readings of established rock and pop numbers such as “Stop Your Sobbing,” “The Man Who Sold The World,” and “As Tears Go By.” Beyond her own band’s touring schedule, she regularly performs DJ sets and maintains a role as a committed political activist.