background image in data cell

Maybe someone can help...Is there a way to have an image in the background of a <td>? My bigger issue is that Im trying to validate my site, and that is holding me up. Any suggestions?

CSS:

td.special background
{
background:url(path to image);
}

HTML:

<td class="special background"></td>

Dan

somehow this isnt working for me. My background isnt showing up at all. Im new to CSS, so I might be missing something basic. Any suggestions?