Ghost Town

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This article is about the ska song by The Specials. For abandoned towns in general, see Ghost town. For other uses, see Ghost town (disambiguation).
For the 2008 comedy, see Ghost Town (film).
 This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)
"Ghost Town"
UK single cover of Ghost Town
Single by The Specials
B-side "Why?"; "Friday Night, Saturday Morning"
Released 20 June, 1981
Recorded Woodbine Studios
Genre Ska
Length 3:40
Label 2 Tone CHS TT17
Writer(s) Dammers
Producer John Collins

"Ghost Town" is the title of a 1981 song by the British ska band, The Specials. The song is currently ranked as the 90th greatest song of all time, as well as the best song of 1981, by Acclaimed Music.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The song was written in response to Margaret Thatcher's policies which the band believed would increase the large-scale unemployment already present in United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland and England's industrialised north and Midlands regions. This was highly relevant to The Specials as they formed and lived in Coventry and saw the effects of the policies first-hand, as their city experienced some of the UK's worst unemployment at levels of 20%. It was also the summer of large-scale riots in Brixton, London and Toxteth, Liverpool amongst others, where there was alleged heavy-handed police treatment of young black men. Indeed the single was unusual in that it hit the top of the UK Top 40 at the exact time that riots occurred on the streets of Great Britain. The music thus reflected the social spirit of the country.

The song spent three weeks at number one and ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart overall. The track was recorded at the Woodbine Street Recording Studios in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

Despite being a song about Coventry, the band chose to film the video of themselves driving a Vauxhall Cresta around some empty London streets.

Ghost Town was at number one in the UK charts during the run-up to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer amid much royalty-inspired patriotic rejoicing. This ironic juxtaposition is similar to the notorious events of the Silver Jubilee of 1977 when the Sex Pistols version of "God Save the Queen" was widely believed to have been the rightful number one during the week of celebrations despite being officially eclipsed by Rod Stewart.

The club referred to in the lines "All the clubs are being closed down" and "Too much fighting on the dance floor" was The Locarno - later Tiffanys - which was also the club setting the scene for the b-side song, "Friday Night Saturday Morning". It is now Coventry Central Library.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] 1981 release

  • 2 Tone CHS TT17 7" [2]
  1. "Ghost Town" (Dammers) - 3:40
  2. "Why?" (Golding) - 2:59
  3. "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" (Hall) - 3:32
  • 2 Tone CHS TT1217 12" [3]
  1. "Ghost Town (Extended Version)" - 6:02
  2. "Why? (Extended Version)" - 3:55
  3. "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" - 3:32

[edit] 1991 re-release

  • 2 Tone CHS TT30 7" (Ghost Town Revisited) [4]
  1. "Ghost Town" - 3:40
  2. "Ghost Dub '91" - 4:19

[edit] Chart Positions

Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart [5] 1
Irish Singles Chart [6] 3
Norwegian Singles Chart 7
Netherlands Singles Chart 12[7]

[edit] Cover versions

  • No Doubt included a partial cover of "Ghost Town" in their Live in the Tragic Kingdom concert DVD. It's part of the song "Move On".
  • The Prodigy made a cover of the song which is included on the 1 Love compilation in the September 2002 issue of the NME magazine.
  • The very beginning of the track (the howling wind and drumbeat) is sampled throughout the Gorillaz song, "Slow Country".
  • Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly covered the song in 2006 for a competition in NME.
  • The song is also sampled as part of JC001's single "Never Again".

[edit] Use in other media

  • The song is the only record brought by the forgetful DJ priest Father Billy O'Dwyer to the Craggy Island disco and raffle in the Father Ted episode "Think Fast, Father Ted". The writers of the series tried to think of the worst song that could be played at a disco and "Ghost Town" was chosen. It has to stand in for the national anthem "Amhrán na bhFiann" at the end of the evening.
  • The song was used in the Australian film Garage Days.
  • In the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch, the song is used in the introductory scene for Sol and Vinnie, two of the film's protagonists.
  • Included in the Electronic Arts game, Skate 2.
  • The song is heard during the background of a series 1 episode of "The Wire"
  • Artist Suspicious Stench did a Dubstep remix of the song on the album Foul Play Dubstep Elite EP

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"One Day In Your Life" by Michael Jackson		 UK number one single
11 July 1981 - 25 July 1981		 Succeeded by
"Green Door" by Shakin' Stevens

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Acclaimed Music Top 3000 songs". 27 May 2009. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net. 
  2. ^ http://2-tone.info/2tone.pl?show112& 2Tone Discography "Ghost Town" release details
  3. ^ http://2-tone.info/2tone.pl?display219 2Tone Discography "Ghost Town" 12 Inch release details
  4. ^ http://2-tone.info/2tone.pl?show125& 2Tone Discography "Ghost Town Revisited" release details
  5. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=9432 chartstats.com "Ghost Town" chart log
  6. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/ Irish singles chart placings
  7. ^ Norwegian & Dutch Chart Positions @ finnishcharts.com Retrieved July 2009
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Town"
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