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?

The music creates a "lyrical landscape" and also "reflects and engenders anxiety". 

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?

Skinhead nights and riots were breaking out in urban area's. Deprived places were taken over by young unemployed black and white people. Places like London and Liverpool were a riot ground between these youngsters and the police.

4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?

It sits outside of the pop conventions. It doesn't point its listeners to one specific political view. 

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 video is a cry of injustice for young people who have been robbed of their opportunities due to how they are driving around in empty streets, showing the disadvantage youngsters. I agree as in this time, young people were neglected and unemployment was a huge problem. The empty streets show how there are no more opportunities to do anything. 

Now read this BBC website feature on the 30th anniversary of Ghost Town’s release. 

1) How does the article describe the song?

A 'haunted' song, against a backdrop of unemployment. 

2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?

Unemployment was rising, British streets were erupting in riots, there was a tough economic environment, Britain was under rule of Thatcher, industrial decline had left the city suffering.

3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?

There was a mix of black and white members and had a blend of different genre music style such as reggae which encapsulated Britain's multiculturism. 

4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?

The representation of music and people are racially diverse. This provides evidence for Gilroy's Black Atlantic diasporic identity that Black culture is influenced by travel and hybridity, a liquidity of culture. The music is a blend of reggae and 50's/60's pop genre.

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?

John Barry was a film score composer whose music was famous as the films he made them for. He worked on many films such as Born Free, but his most famous being James Bond soundtrack.

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? 

The mise-en-scene uses the style of British social realist films which is characterised by creating a sympathetic representation of working class men and a hopeless environment. The social and political nature of the time is reflected in the low budget shoot.

2) How does the lighting create intertextual references? What else is notable about the lighting?

The lighting makes intertextual references to expressionist cinema. The design of the lighting makes use of natural sources. There is a mixture of day and night, and light and dark which creates a disorientating effect for the audience - chiaroscuro lighting. 

3) What non-verbal codes help to communicate meanings in the video?

The car which is a Vauxhall Cresta which signifies the 1960's to the tone culture, the dress code reflects the working class men, the expressionless faces and the direct-mode-of-address which are zombie like, these get relaxed in the 'maniac' middle section.

4) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the editing and camerawork? Pick out three key points that are highlighted here.

The band are crammed in the car and are shown as an ensemble within one frame in many shots reflecting their togetherness, one person then gets ejected signifying the overcrowding in urban areas. 

• In one shot the camera is placed as if we are seated next to the driver.
• The tilted angle adds to our senses that all isn't right.
• The looming building in the final shot contributes to the unsettling atmosphere.

5) What narrative theories can be applied to the video? Give details from the video for each one.

• Todorov: Equilibrium - the band set of together to find something to do (green light). Disruption - 'bands don't play no more - too much fighting on the dancefloor'. Recognition - upbeat break in the song 'We danced and sang, and the music played in de boomtown.' Attempt to repair - aimless driving is continued, shadowy figures and the conflict. New equilibrium - the arrival at the river, having nothing else to do.
• Barthes action and enigma codes: Hermeneutic/enigma codes - where is the car going? Who's car is it? Action codes - the car travelling from different locations. Semantic codes - the band being dressed smartly connotes their intention to go out and the car steering wildly connoting danger. Symbolic codes - contrast between past and present. Referential codes - lyrical references to historical/social contexts such as joblessness and urban decay. 

6) How can we apply genre theory to the video?

Steve Neal's repetition and difference can be applied to this video.

 The repetition would be shows through the performative side of music videos. The band, "The Specials" appear in the music video who are lip-syncing the song. A narrative is also present in this song which lyrically and visually is linked and matches. There is also regular motif of the empty streets and buildings.

The difference would be that there is a mixture and blend of 2 genres (reggae and pop music) to make Ska music.

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 Britain - The buildings are positioned in an empowered way, towering over the camera which perhaps idolises the business and finance world of the city which glorifies capitalism which is a classic right-wing ideology linked to the Conservative government Thatcher ruled.
• The city - the video is set in the city of London showing all the buildings. London is famous for its business and finance, so the buildings are positioned in empowered way could be seen as glorifying capitalism.
• Urban youth - the band members are youngsters who talk about unemployment in the song, many young people couldn't find jobs also at the time young people were engaged in many riots.
• Race - the band is a mixture of black and white people and plays a blend of reggae and pop music which reflects the multiculturism of Britain at the time.
• Masculinity - the representation of masculinity could be accurate as in the song, the band members who are all men, seem to want to break free and have anger. This represents a hypermasculinity representation of men as they portray their aggression.  

8) How can Gauntlett's work on collective identity be applied to the video?

The video gives a sense of male collective identity and deals with the issue of trying to negotiate with identity. This is because men will be able to see all there problems enacted in the video due to the economic disruption and that many masculine jobs were being taken over.

9) How can gender theorists such as Judith Butler be applied to Ghost Town?

Butler suggest that gender is not defined by sex but instead a social construction of expectations and behaviors. The musicians are seen to be 'performing' the structures of patriarchy including, brotherhood, camaraderie and male solidarity.

There is an absence of women in the video. This could signify the effect of hopelessness and the effect of unemployment on their reality and is shown only as a male issue.

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 is represented in this video as there is a black minority in a white dominated industry showing how they are also part of this industry. The band was multi-ethnic so shows how there was a blend in genres and the representation but also how the representation of white influenced impacted the black minority. 

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.