The Specials - Ghost Town:
Background and historical contexts
Read this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually. Answer the following questions
1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?
Hammond organ six's ascending notes before a mournful flute solo, it's written in Eb which is more attuned to "mood music" linking to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition.
2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?
2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?
Mod and Punk subcultures
3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
Britain was going through a recession at the time, with 'Skinheads' being rampt in society as well as rights breaking out
4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
The horror conventions of the music video is what makes it the video eerie
5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?
The writer suggests the video is about injustice against the young, white, poor and black, a cry for help to those that have pulled the ladder up making it further out of reach. I agree, it's about social injustice and a cry for help to the top 1% and those politicians in power to remember the majority.
2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
"industrial decline had left the city suffering badly"
3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?
Ghost Town - Media Factsheet
Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. You'll need your GHS Google login to access the factsheet. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions:
5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?
The writer suggests the video is about injustice against the young, white, poor and black, a cry for help to those that have pulled the ladder up making it further out of reach. I agree, it's about social injustice and a cry for help to the top 1% and those politicians in power to remember the majority.
Now read this BBC website feature on the 30th anniversary of Ghost Town’s release.
1) How does the article describe the song?
1) How does the article describe the song?
"sparse reggae bass line"
"a West Indian vocal mutters warnings of urban decay, unemployment and violence."
"It starts with a siren and those woozy, lurching organ chords. Then comes the haunted, spectral woodwind, punctuated by blaring brass."
2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
"tough economic environment" "Thatcher's Britain"
"industrial decline had left the city suffering badly"
"The city's car industry had brought prosperity and attracted incomers from across the UK and the Commonwealth, meaning the future Specials grew up in the 1960s listening to a mixture of British and American pop and Jamaican ska."
3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?
Two of the singers are from Jamaican descent and the rest of the members are British illustrating the increasing multiculturalism in Britain
4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?
4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?
The hybridity of culture - with the blending of Jamaican Ska/reggae and British punk/mod
Transnational culture - the mixture of Caribbean and British cultures as well as other common wealth countries
5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
He was one of the first to employ synthesisers in film score
5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
He was one of the first to employ synthesisers in film score
"Dances with Wolves, Out of Africa, Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the James Bond series."
Ghost Town - Media Factsheet
Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. You'll need your GHS Google login to access the factsheet. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions:
1) Focus on the Media Language section. What does the factsheet suggest regarding the mise-en-scene in the video?
It reflects British Social Realism films
2) How does the lighting create intertextual references? What else is notable about the lighting?
The lighting style borrows from expressionist cinema referencing films that use the same lighting e.g. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; from the silent film era in the 1920s that takes on the Expressionist aesthetic
3) What non-verbal codes help to communicate meanings in the video?
The singing of the song with expressionless faces and direct mode-of-address with zombie-like, stiff body movements are suddenly relaxed in the manic middle section.
4) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the editing and camerawork? Pick out three key points that are highlighted here.
Both its style and short shot duration give a frenetic feel. This is reinforced by handheld, disorienting camerawork with whip pans and canted angles.
5) What narrative theories can be applied to the video? Give details from the video for each one.
Todorov's Equilibrium - video follows this unconventional narrative where their is a warping of time
6) How can we apply genre theory to the video?
This video is concept based(social realism)
7) Now look at the Representations section. What are the different people, places and groups that are represented in the Ghost Town video? Look for the list on page 4 of the factsheet.
• ‘Thatcher’s Britain’ - the economic recession
• The City - Coventry
• Urban youth - alternative people specifically e.g. mods, rockers etc
• Race - black and white people
8) How can Gauntlett's work on collective identity be applied to the video?
At this time al those marginalised groups came together having one thing in common which was their music taste, manifested in The Specials
9) How can gender theorists such as Judith Butler be applied to Ghost Town?
She refers to gender as a "performance" and here the musicians seem to be ‘performing’ the structures of patriarchy
10) Postcolonial theorists like Paul Gilroy can help us to understand the meanings in the Ghost Town music video. What does the factsheet suggest regarding this?
Double consciousness - black culture controlled and represented (quite underrepresented might I add) in the British music industry at the time by the majority(white people). The POC'S in these bands were normally side-lined and highly controlled in self representation to majority white audiences. Suggesting that maybe this was the case with the Specials considering the different shirts that the black members are wearing(ostracising them as if they're "other" to their white counterparts) and the use of their cultures music in the band
Bonus content! Ghost Town - Media Magazine feature
There is an interesting article on the Ghost Town music video in Media Magazine MM79. It includes an interview with one of the founding members of the group plus an analysis of the video itself.
There is an interesting article on the Ghost Town music video in Media Magazine MM79. It includes an interview with one of the founding members of the group plus an analysis of the video itself.
A/A* Extension reading: Music video and Ghost Town
There is so much excellent reading on The Specials and Ghost Town in particular. This Guardian feature by Alexis Petridis describes the social context and the band’s relationship superbly.
Along similar lines, this is an excellent piece on music reflecting the mood of a country – written during the 2011 London Riots but linking back to Ghost Town in 1981.
Enjoy this phenomenal long read by GQ editor Dylan Jones who links the history of London since 1981, music, race relations and riots to Ghost Town and the Specials.
The career of the director of the Ghost Town video, Barney Bubbles, and his influence over graphic design in the 1970s is laid out in this website article that will appeal to any arts students.
This Rolling Stone article offers some industry context regarding how artists can make money from music videos.
Finally, here are some extracts from an academic research paper on Rock Against Racism at the time Ghost Town was released. It refers to Gilroy and other theorists and gives you a superb introduction to university-level reading. You'll need to login using your Greenford Google login to read it.
There is so much excellent reading on The Specials and Ghost Town in particular. This Guardian feature by Alexis Petridis describes the social context and the band’s relationship superbly.
Along similar lines, this is an excellent piece on music reflecting the mood of a country – written during the 2011 London Riots but linking back to Ghost Town in 1981.
Enjoy this phenomenal long read by GQ editor Dylan Jones who links the history of London since 1981, music, race relations and riots to Ghost Town and the Specials.
The career of the director of the Ghost Town video, Barney Bubbles, and his influence over graphic design in the 1970s is laid out in this website article that will appeal to any arts students.
This Rolling Stone article offers some industry context regarding how artists can make money from music videos.
Finally, here are some extracts from an academic research paper on Rock Against Racism at the time Ghost Town was released. It refers to Gilroy and other theorists and gives you a superb introduction to university-level reading. You'll need to login using your Greenford Google login to read it.
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