"The Boiler" is about a woman with low self-esteem (she compares herself with an old boiler) who is raped and assaulted. In the song Rhoda Dakar references the rape of a friend some years before.

"The Boiler" was the first song The Bodysnatchers wrote themselves; prior to this they only had played old ska covers. Jerry Dammers wanted to produce it for the band, but pressure from Chrysalis (who looked after the 2 Tone label) caused The Bodysnatchers to record the more commercial "Let's Do Rocksteady." Due to musical and some personal differences, The Bodysnatchers disbanded after a year, and some members went on to form The Belle Stars; while remaining on friendly terms with The Belle Stars, founder member and bass guitarist Nicky Summers chose to work with Rhoda. There is a live bootleg version of "The Boiler" from 1980, on "The Bodysnatchers Live at Folkestone," though it is a rough mix. There also exists an as-yet-unreleased specially-recorded version from the John Peel show.

Rhoda Dakar, who had sung some tunes on the More Specials album, went on tour with The Specials in 1981 more or less by accident, first as a guest then as a permanent fixture. Not long after making the "Ghost Town" promo, "The Boiler" got added to the set list. The Specials played "The Boiler" on their North American tour. There are at least two bootleg versions of "The Boiler" live with The Specials in 1981. These versions are slightly polished but played in a fast and intense way so that it still sounds very different from the much more laid-back recorded version.

Rhoda Dakar and Jerry Dammers started working on "The Boiler" but then another project caught Jerry Dammers' attention (Dance Craze the live British ska concert movie), so "The Boiler" was again put on hold. Rhoda has stated remembering recording her part of the song in the studio about a year before its release, a long and difficult process.

Prior to the split of The Specials in the summer of 1981, Jerry Dammers started working again on "The Boiler", making different remixes and after the split Jerry Dammers finally produced "The Boiler". This also helped to keep the outside world quiet about the future, and hopefully to help heal the wounds of the split. They recorded it with Jerry Dammers on keyboard, John Bradbury on drums, John Shipley from The Swinging Cats on guitar, and Dick Cuthell on brass, with Nicky Summers on bass. After going on tour with Rico Rodriguez, they also recorded "Jungle Music," this time with Horace Panter on bass. Not long after that, Horace left The Specials. Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury, Dick Cuthell, Rico Rodriguez, John Shipley, Rhoda Dakar and some new members went on until 1984 as The Special AKA.

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Wikipedia