The three original studio albums from the legendary 2-Tone ska act The Specials — 1979’s The Specials, 1980’s More Specials and 1984’s In the Studio — will be reissued this March in expanded 2CD sets featuring non-album singles, live material, instrumentals and Peel sessions.

This week’s new releases include a live CD/DVD combo from Simple Minds, a new best-of from The Dream Academy, vinyl reissues of classic debut albums from Tears For Fears, ABC and Soft Cell, a live album from The Specials reissued on vinyl, and a new best-of set of 2 Tone ska.

Elvis Costello and The Roots have been busy this week promoting their just-released new album Wise Up Ghost, performing in Brooklyn Monday night — where they covered The Specials’ classic “Ghost Town” — and appearing on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” aka ?uestlove and Co.’s day job, on Monday night.

As promised, reunited 2 Tone-era ska giants The Specials are returning to North America this summer for the second leg of their 2013 tour, following up their March dates at South By Southwest and in the western part of the country with at least eight concerts in Canada and on the East Coast of the United States.

As one of our readers noted this morning, Morrissey finally got the answer to the question he posed of Margaret Thatcher in his controversial Viva Hate closer “Margaret on the Guillotine”: “When will you die?” The former British prime minister passed away today at age 87.

The Specials have begun announcing dates for the first leg of this year’s North American tour, confirming shows via their Twitter account in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco on either side of the band’s planned performances at the South By Southwest festival in March.

The Specials finally are making good on a promise to tour the U.S., today announcing they’ll play two dates at the South By Southwest festival in March as part of the first leg of a larger North American visit — but the shows will not feature co-vocalist Neville Staple, who is leaving the band due to “ill health.”

Today we continue with more results from our Readers Poll 2012, this time counting down the Top 10 compilations, box sets and live albums, with titles from the likes of World Party, James, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Roxy Music, The Specials, Skinny Puppy, Duran Duran and more.

The reunion of 2 Tone-era ska giants The Specials rolls into 2013 as the band this week announced a 10-date spring tour of the U.K. and even hinted it would fulfill its promise to return to America, tweeting this morning that “The Specials are discussing a possible two part TOUR OF THE USA in March and late August 2013.”

Ska-pop survivors Madness celebrated their appearance in Sunday’s mammoth, music-filled closing ceremony of the London Olympics — where they performed “Our House,” much like they did for the Queen earlier this summer — by releasing a free track off their forthcoming, as-yet-untitled 10th studio album.

Amid rumors that the stage-shy singer somehow will participate in Sunday’s London Olympics closing ceremony, Kate Bush apparently is set to release a new remix of her best-known hit, ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).’ A listing for a 2012 remix of the song was up on Amazon.co.uk, although it’s now been removed.

This week’s new releases include a 10CD career-spanning box set from Roxy Music, Redd Kross’ first new studio album in 15 years (‘Researching the Blues’), a new live album from The Specials and a vintage one from Bad Brains, and new compilations from Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Jesus Jones.

Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items about Midnight Oil, The Stone Roses, John Lydon, This Mortal Coil, The Specials, Pet Shop Boys, World Party, Mission of Burma, The Smiths and more — plus the latest Auto Reverse mixtape.