(guest blogged by Howie Klein)

I don't know, for the life of me, what made me think of this song on this Independence Day.

Maybe you do; and if you do (if you're the kind of mind-reader I know lots of LNMC participants are), you can win a 2-CD set, The Essential George Jones, a career spanning retospective, 1956-1999, all the big hits frpm this all-American singer-songwriter.

Now this song by The Specials (Special AKA) was a big hit too, but only outside of the U.S. The 2 Tone thing never really took off on this side of the pond. This Coventry-based septet got going in 1977 and I saw them when I went on a U.K. tour with The Clash for whom they opened. I thought they were powerful and infectious and couldn't get enough of them. Although they had had at least one #1 in the U.K. before "Free Nelson Mandela," this was the one that brought them the most international acclaim. But what does it have to do with July, 2007? And don't forget to throw in something about Martin Luther King's "Free at last!"

Send your entry to downwithtyranny@aol.com

And Congratulations to C&Ler Marc of LA for his winning entry for the last contest!