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The Specials beat Busted in tight U.K. albums chart battle

Ska legends The Specials’ first new record in 38 years has shot to the top of U.K. albums chart.
Encore, which features a new version of The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum – a hit for The Specials’ spin-off trio Fun Boy Three, has topped Friday’s Official Charts Company rundown, beating out British pop punks Busted’s Half Way There by just over 1,000 sales.
Encore is the group’s first record to feature original frontman Terry Hall since 1980’s More Specials.
“Recording the album has been one of the most amazing trips of our lives,” the band says in a statement. “What can we say? It couldn’t have been better timing. A real thanks to the fans who have stayed with us for all this time. We all share in this, thank you.”
The soundtrack to the hit movie musical The Greatest Showman is at three, while Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown’s solo effort Ripples makes waves at four, and grime rapper Fredo completes the top five with Third Avenue.
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings tops the singles chart for a third week, keeping Ava Max’s former number one, Sweet but Psycho, in second place. Sam Smith and Normani’s Dancing with a Stranger is at three, while Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man’s Giant is unmoved at four, and Mabel’s Don’t Call Me Up rises two places to number five.

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