"Ghost Town" by The Specials: The Sound of Impending Doom | New British Canon

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The UK Singles Chart used to mean something. Now, not so much. But before the age of streaming, a number one single was an achievement to be proud of. Especially when the artist wasn't your stereotypical pop act. Many influential acts never even touched the chart's apex, not even close. But yet Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" The Clash, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" by Arctic Monkeys and "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" by Manic Street Preachers have taken the top spot, and as rock's opposition to the status quo there's a sense of accomplishment in the face of impossible odds. But rarely if ever has a number one single captured a moment in history as concisely as The Specials did in 1981. While tracks like "One Step Beyond" by Madness, "On My Radio" by The Selecter and even "Gangsters" or "Too Much Too Young" existed within the two tone genre, "Ghost Town" remains the most important. The band's legacy is audible in artists as diverse as Massive Attack, The Streets, Operation Ivy and Lily Allen, but with their second number one single the Specials managed to capture the malaise of the British public, the strain of unemployment and the tensions of cultural unrest. This is New British Canon and this is the Story of “Ghost Town”.
#TheSpecials #Ska #Documentary
Soundtrack:
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
sleepy fish - Through Walls (chillhop.bandcamp.com/album/m...)
Bellhop - Patricia Taxxon (patriciataxxon.bandcamp.com/)
Funeral - Patricia Taxxon (patriciataxxon.bandcamp.com/)
sleepy fish - Procrastinating (chillhop.bandcamp.com/album/m...)
B-Side - Pen Anubis ( / b-side-production )
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Пікірлер: 631

  • @TrashTheory
    @TrashTheory4 жыл бұрын

    So what else do you think would be a fitting entry for New British Canon? Let me know... Trash Theory playlists - Spotify: tinyurl.com/yxp32pjf Deezer: tinyurl.com/y2mdp8h2 Also if you want to help out, here's my patreon link: patreon.com/trashtheory

  • @mollyoswald7043

    @mollyoswald7043

    4 жыл бұрын

    Trash Theory you should do Gorillaz: big fan of the videos, always learn something new.

  • @mattkomar7622

    @mattkomar7622

    4 жыл бұрын

    Maybe something about the Manics' "Holy Bible"?

  • @chloebaker7589

    @chloebaker7589

    4 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely loving this series - I’d be thrilled to see an episode on Kate Bush

  • @marcusharton5463

    @marcusharton5463

    4 жыл бұрын

    The Streets

  • @marcusharton5463

    @marcusharton5463

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@user-wl2xl5hm7k American band though, doesn't quite fit New British Cannon

  • @MainDrainStudios
    @MainDrainStudios4 жыл бұрын

    The song once again has an eerie relevance to the current world situation.

  • @JB-op4ty

    @JB-op4ty

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yeah I threw it on my Facebook page in March when everything was shutting down, it was just so eerie

  • @aperson9556

    @aperson9556

    3 жыл бұрын

    This statement is still true one year later.

  • @richfish101

    @richfish101

    Жыл бұрын

    It’s still true 2 years later, nothing ever change - another excellent Specials song Do Nothing

  • @MountainBlade

    @MountainBlade

    11 ай бұрын

    More and more relevant by the day

  • @maketelma
    @maketelma4 жыл бұрын

    Just a week ago, I found a never opened, still sealed original copy of their first album in a thrift shop in Turkey. I couldn't still figure out how an LP released in 1979 in UK came up in Turkey in mint condition after 40 years.

  • @francesjohn2625

    @francesjohn2625

    4 жыл бұрын

    Oh wow

  • @naufrage0

    @naufrage0

    4 жыл бұрын

    Lifes great like that sometimes. Enjoy it.

  • @chuffpup

    @chuffpup

    4 жыл бұрын

    Reminds me of how I scored Toots first Lp (the green one with short haired lads in suits. Ska classic) _and _ Elvis 1st Lp (the one Clash London calling cover based on) (worth zillions) both in original thick cardboard and cellophane, absolutely mint MINT! Sold the Elvis for 75 bucks when I was into drugs and Toots & Maytals for like a fiver. Shit... Oh, in New Zealand from a tiny thrift shop. I could buy a house with "Elvis Presley" now, but miss that Toots more.

  • @Cassidy127

    @Cassidy127

    4 жыл бұрын

    Finds like that are a rare and wonderfully serendipitous thing. I picked up a mint copy of The KLFs It's Grim Up North at a car boot fair in 1994 for £1. I've recently added my collection to discogs and it blew my mind when I saw that its going for £200

  • @walalongleng

    @walalongleng

    4 жыл бұрын

    my guess is the original owner died and his family had no idea what they had on their hands

  • @teddyhose
    @teddyhose Жыл бұрын

    Was part-way through this video when I heard of Terry's unfortunate passing today. Sad to hear it, RIP to a critical voice in an oppressive time 😞

  • @chriscravens8318

    @chriscravens8318

    11 ай бұрын

    Yes, the liberals had run things into the ground.

  • @alexandermccarthy
    @alexandermccarthy Жыл бұрын

    I grew up in SE London during Thatcher's time in office. Police SUS laws were used to stop anyone who didn't fit the Tories mould, racism ran rampant, and good luck trying to find a job if you were under 21! The Specials, in particular, called all of this out, loudly, often, and to great applause by those of us were completely disenfranchised. Massive respect to The Specials, and rest easy Terry Hall, you've earned it mate.

  • @laurisaarinen1126
    @laurisaarinen11264 жыл бұрын

    You can really hear how much Damon Albarn loves The Specials, especially with the first Gorillaz album. I love this song. I love reggae, i love punk and i love how they were brought together, influencing SO MUCH of my favorite music.

  • @sodapop83

    @sodapop83

    4 жыл бұрын

    ska...

  • @andyclark1337

    @andyclark1337

    4 жыл бұрын

    It was ska fringed with punk reggae's faster ancestor ska...

  • @sodapop83

    @sodapop83

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@andyclark1337 what??? lol

  • @laurisaarinen1126

    @laurisaarinen1126

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@andyclark1337 Yeah it's just that this song has a slower, more of a reggae tempo. But the band was mainly ska for sure.

  • @CharlesHammy

    @CharlesHammy

    4 жыл бұрын

    Gorillaz has a song with Terry Hall & D12 called 911.

  • @jaydee4697
    @jaydee46974 жыл бұрын

    The first time I heard 'Ghost Town' was in the early 2010s, and the song felt chillingly accurate as to what was happening in my home town at the time. Shops were closing down, jobs were disappearing, and the youth were getting stuck on the shelf. It felt like the Specials had predicted the future from 1981, and the song still sends shivers down my spine everytime I hear it.

  • @AtZero138

    @AtZero138

    4 жыл бұрын

    What Awesome luck, and Now it's safe.. what a story that record has on it's own for so long.. cheers from Southern California Ska, Rock Steady, Raggae and Two Tone.. Head Shaved and Boots Stomping.. Stay Rude Stay Roots..

  • @jimofthenorth8090

    @jimofthenorth8090

    4 жыл бұрын

    Nah, no future prediction, it's just that some parts of the UK haven't changed (for the better anyway) for nearly 40 years.

  • @BenMcManus

    @BenMcManus

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jimofthenorth8090 Spot on, Jim.

  • @jaydee4697

    @jaydee4697

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jimofthenorth8090 Agreed. The parallels weren't lost on my teenage self.

  • @jaydee4697

    @jaydee4697

    4 жыл бұрын

    @modern studies Actually, it's a Lid-Dem and Conservative area. Do some research, mate; The Labour Party were created by working people to reduce deprivation (who do you think started up the NHS?).

  • @nicholasromig5506
    @nicholasromig55064 жыл бұрын

    I've never been a huge ska fan, but this is legit one of the finest songs of the 1980s. really spooky and dark. if ska was goth, this would be it

  • @dpandcrspandvn

    @dpandcrspandvn

    4 жыл бұрын

    Listen to the Specials song 'Man at C and A' then. I think you'd like it. Apocalyptic ska!

  • @nicholasromig5506

    @nicholasromig5506

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@dpandcrspandvn great song

  • @harveysmith100

    @harveysmith100

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@dpandcrspandvn I go one step further and say try the whole second album, "More Specials"

  • @Vpmatt

    @Vpmatt

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@dpandcrspandvn Warning warning nuclear attack!!!

  • @harveysmith100

    @harveysmith100

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Vpmatt Top shout

  • @rabbitss11
    @rabbitss114 жыл бұрын

    Jerry Dammers, what a genius and what a terrific band The Specials were - when music mattered

  • @f-wingkingunclejohn6199
    @f-wingkingunclejohn61994 жыл бұрын

    I was part of the twotone movement and this song was spot on in capturing what was going on at the time. It is also one of the most prophetic songs ever produced as it has caught the imagination of a new generation through three decades and described very accurately what has occurred and what is going on today. When i first heard this track back in the 80s it sent shivvers down my spine and brought tears to my eyes as i knew change was coming.

  • @piamessing4730

    @piamessing4730

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thank you, for posting your comment. I remember to. I will never, ever forget. It was good to see a non crass, lack of understanding comment, if what WE lived through. Thank you. Be well.

  • @chrisball3778
    @chrisball37783 жыл бұрын

    Coventry people are still mad proud of The Specials, all these years later. Pointless fact: The Locarno nightclub mentioned in this video is now Coventry Central Library. Oddly enough they started hosting occasional gigs there a few years back.

  • @ZosKia523
    @ZosKia5233 ай бұрын

    I live on the American South. I feel really fortunate to discover this channel. Over the years, it's really grown and expanded upon what I know and love about music. Thank you!

  • @christianmartinez774
    @christianmartinez7744 жыл бұрын

    In 2008 I heard this song. I was living in a small Southern California town, barely out of high school and unemployed. Businesses were closing down fast, houses were left abandoned by bankruptcies, and roads were left in disrepair. This song will forever be linked to those times for me.

  • @colcot50

    @colcot50

    2 жыл бұрын

    I think in that case the song has legitimacy that has lasted decades, it expresses the breakdown of working class society

  • @tylerthecreation998
    @tylerthecreation9984 жыл бұрын

    I love this series so much

  • @karenbrown4524

    @karenbrown4524

    4 жыл бұрын

    You resemble a young Robert Smith of The Cure, assuming that is your face represented in your thumbnail. Very nice I deed.

  • @tylerthecreation998

    @tylerthecreation998

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@karenbrown4524 yep it is actually. I love them a lot

  • @harryh3203
    @harryh32034 жыл бұрын

    Ghost Town is also the sound of the priest disco in Father Ted.

  • @harrywatson7656

    @harrywatson7656

    4 жыл бұрын

    All rise for the Irish national anthem!

  • @szithaanu9934

    @szithaanu9934

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ground control to The Spinmaster

  • @MrBannystar
    @MrBannystar4 жыл бұрын

    "I now ask you to stand...for our national anthem" :

  • @DerScheisse

    @DerScheisse

    2 жыл бұрын

    kzread.info/dash/bejne/laZqw5KomszdZ6Q.html

  • @casinodelonge

    @casinodelonge

    2 жыл бұрын

    Came for this comment, glad not to be disappointed.....

  • @gianca60
    @gianca604 жыл бұрын

    I always tought Ghost Town was the first Trip Hop tune of them all.

  • @THEAKRIAN

    @THEAKRIAN

    Жыл бұрын

    I can’t stand the rain, Ann Peebles takes it for me

  • @TheWaterboarders
    @TheWaterboarders2 жыл бұрын

    The Style Council's 'Walls Come Tumbling Down" is another top 40 hit that reflected the mood of the times. One of the angriest songs to ever get in the Top 10, and the only one I can think of that mentions Class War.

  • @colcot50

    @colcot50

    2 жыл бұрын

    Also Elton Rifles and A Town Called Malice. Eton Rifles is very sad about an incident with Eton school and working class strikers, you should read up on it

  • @Midnight1138
    @Midnight11384 жыл бұрын

    "Do you remember the good old days before the Ghost Town...?"

  • @JB-fp3fb

    @JB-fp3fb

    3 жыл бұрын

    It was 40 years ago now that The Specials asked that question. Sadly many people (myself included) can't remember; we were born in a ghost town. Plenty of ghosts drifting around, thinking "This is fine. It's always been like this."

  • @13_13k
    @13_13k3 жыл бұрын

    I was 16 years old in 1981 in Los Angeles. In the midst of the transition of Punk and New Wave, and when my friends and I heard Ghostown it changed how we looked at the Specials. We knew the earlier songs and loved them for their ska punk sound, but being that we ourselves were living a much darker life and being in a large city where much of the same stuff was going on in the streets and clubs it was the perfect song. To this day 40 years later, it's still one of my favorite songs of all time

  • @FlamesCagney
    @FlamesCagney2 жыл бұрын

    "Dischordant horns, Haunted chords, Demonic vocal harmonies" well said.

  • @omarks
    @omarks4 жыл бұрын

    11:37 Anorak trivia: my ding a ling by Chuck Berry was recorded live at the Locarno in Coventry

  • @apathyintheuk265

    @apathyintheuk265

    4 жыл бұрын

    More relevant to this video - None of the street scenes were filmed in Coventry (indeed, there isn't even any reference to 'Coventry' in the lyrics) The street scenes were filmed mainly in London's east end - Some closer to east (central) where Canary wharf financial district would be developed.

  • @samsara3694

    @samsara3694

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@apathyintheuk265 think the only Coventry scene, apart from the locarno still, was the shot of Dammer's/the band's office/digs in Earlsdon Street.

  • @zk420zk

    @zk420zk

    4 жыл бұрын

    Who cares about a song recorded by a multiple sex offender? His music should be buried deeper than his filthy, perverted body is.

  • @dongargon763
    @dongargon7634 жыл бұрын

    Grew up in Coventry in the 70s/80s and still listen to 2tone ska,my dad and mum both worked at the Locarno

  • @willh1970
    @willh1970 Жыл бұрын

    RIP Terry Hall. True genius.

  • @thebrandolorian9037
    @thebrandolorian90372 жыл бұрын

    I loved the b-side "Friday Night, Saturday Morning".

  • @TheDrLeviathan
    @TheDrLeviathan4 жыл бұрын

    This was always that opening song in Shaun of the Dead to me. I had no idea it meant so much more

  • @mrkipling2201
    @mrkipling22012 жыл бұрын

    A song called ‘ Bring your daughter to the slaughter ‘ reached number one in the singles chart?? I never knew that. I remember the song coming out in the early 90’s because that title always made me laugh!!

  • @unsuccessfullyjari
    @unsuccessfullyjari4 жыл бұрын

    Oh my, Ghost Town is one of my ultimate favourite songs, ever. The long version, I mean. This is great.

  • @nostro1001

    @nostro1001

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yup, still own the original 12" single. 😎

  • @jackattack7940

    @jackattack7940

    4 жыл бұрын

    The instrumental towards the end is brilliant.

  • @unsuccessfullyjari

    @unsuccessfullyjari

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@nostro1001 wow, brilliant

  • @unsuccessfullyjari

    @unsuccessfullyjari

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jackattack7940 it is. It's só good!

  • @alexbernadina3082

    @alexbernadina3082

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@jackattack7940 Rico !

  • @dwc1964
    @dwc19644 жыл бұрын

    At the beginning of the shutdown (around here, a couple weeks ago), this was the song that kept going through my head.

  • @bug1494

    @bug1494

    4 жыл бұрын

    my dad and i were driving to get some stuff and no one was on the streets at all, my dad popped Ghost Town in the player and i rolled the windows down.

  • @FakeSchrodingersCat

    @FakeSchrodingersCat

    3 жыл бұрын

    That was a weird time, seeing empty streets in the middle of the day only a couple of essential workers walking to work.

  • @dwc1964

    @dwc1964

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@FakeSchrodingersCat I haven't been downtown since, except for a demonstration against ICE that was on a Saturday when it's always empty. So I have no idea what downtown San Francisco looks like on a weekday anymore.

  • @FakeSchrodingersCat

    @FakeSchrodingersCat

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@dwc1964 It was empty you would see maybe one car waiting at a light where normally there were 20 with no traffic from the side streets. All the shops and restaurants were closed with next to no foot traffic and the few people walking with purpose to wherever they were going. It was a really eerie feeling.

  • @dwc1964

    @dwc1964

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@FakeSchrodingersCat Is it still like that now, or are you still talking about right after the shelter-in-place order?

  • @scaresandsparks
    @scaresandsparks4 жыл бұрын

    I grew up in Coventry in the 70s and begged my mum to go to their gigs. She didn't think it was very suitable. I've always loved them and finally got to see them last year in California where I now live. Right down the front in the pit at the age of 47! They did not disappoint!

  • @glenndouglas8822

    @glenndouglas8822

    Жыл бұрын

    Big up the Coventry and Nuneaton ✌️🙌

  • @compostcorner5934
    @compostcorner59342 жыл бұрын

    I remember hearing Ghost town for the first time at my mates flat one night , he had been out and bought the album , absolutely brilliant was hooked immediately ,before this we were listening to UB40 signing off ,good times that is hard to believe it was 40 years ago Rip Gary L ....

  • @ronaldjames6067
    @ronaldjames60674 жыл бұрын

    Fun Boy Three is NOT just a pop group ! It is a most underrated creative collective with meaningful songs about the decline of civilization and humanity. Both albums should be bought on sight when spotted, with the 2nd, Waiting, being produced by David Byrne, a true masterpiece !

  • @hatednyc
    @hatednyc8 ай бұрын

    RIP Terry Hall

  • @thevirtualtraveler
    @thevirtualtraveler4 жыл бұрын

    I had never heard this song before (American), but after watching this video, I downloaded it and it's now one of my favorites.

  • @katherynemero4118

    @katherynemero4118

    2 жыл бұрын

    I did the same thing- a year later.

  • @noelleelizabeth9991
    @noelleelizabeth99913 жыл бұрын

    Getting into ska at the beginning of quarantine and finding this song was a trip

  • @will4may175
    @will4may1754 жыл бұрын

    I was born in 71 uk, but I've never heard of The Specials, yet watching this I recognise the songs, though I recognise a lot of the sounds they used were copied into others tracks, like UB40 and Madness, great video, really enjoyed it, it was interesting right through.

  • @skamiikaze
    @skamiikaze4 жыл бұрын

    About time people talked about the specials!!! I feel like they don’t get enough love

  • @johnleary1356
    @johnleary13564 жыл бұрын

    Hey, man. Is there any chance you could do a video on the Manic Street Preachers? Most Americans haven't heard of them, and I think they deserve more attention

  • @kurtduvel4345

    @kurtduvel4345

    3 жыл бұрын

    The Holy Bible!

  • @johnleary1356

    @johnleary1356

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@kurtduvel4345 Hell yes. Their magnum opus. RIP Richey Edwards

  • @henrydemonfreid1985
    @henrydemonfreid19852 жыл бұрын

    There's a brilliant sound on sound article about the recording of Ghost Town. With the article was a great photo of Jerry Dammers leaning over the mixing desk writing out the cheque that paid for the session.

  • @hiway7
    @hiway74 жыл бұрын

    These essays are just amazing. Thank you for this content!

  • @MARKLUBINSKY
    @MARKLUBINSKY4 жыл бұрын

    Great job covering a wonderful song. I bought the 12" when it first came out and still spin it regularly. Keep up the good work!

  • @JenBuilt
    @JenBuilt4 жыл бұрын

    I lived in Hollywood, CA in 1980 and Ghost Town was my favorite song - played on the radio when I was lucky. Also, just sayin, Squarespace is a really userfriendly website builder.

  • @vr6swp
    @vr6swp4 жыл бұрын

    Heard Ghost Town on US college radio in the early 1980's, probably shortly after it was released. Somehow you just knew the back story from the lyrics and sparse mournful arrangement. Like the song said it all, no explanation needed.

  • @marcus8176
    @marcus81764 жыл бұрын

    m8! I was so pumped when I saw this in my feed today. Two Tone has so much weight and tone today and we should learn from those lessons. Keep making awesome content !

  • @nostro1001
    @nostro10014 жыл бұрын

    What a well thought out and put together video. Cheers and congrats!!!

  • @sasbetasquadron873
    @sasbetasquadron8734 жыл бұрын

    *Lest we forget, the "suss laws" employed by the police in thatchers' Britain were barbaric, heartless and cruel... The Brixton riot was caused when a teenage boy who had been stabbed was arrested by cops. He subsequently bled out and died in the back of the police car while they sought other suspects to arrest instead of securing medical attention for him... It was a terrible moment in London history...*

  • @k_a_y_l_e_e

    @k_a_y_l_e_e

    4 жыл бұрын

    sounds eerily similar to the riots in exarcheia, athens in 2008.

  • @brickmissing8295

    @brickmissing8295

    4 жыл бұрын

    Were the 1980s riots any worse than the 2011 London riots? Seems like a certain section of the population are prone to violence and rioting.

  • @piamessing4730

    @piamessing4730

    4 жыл бұрын

    I hate to ask this....how old are you? I lived through it. Bloody surprised I did.

  • @jackchapman1043

    @jackchapman1043

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@brickmissing8295 fuck off u racist fuck

  • @brickmissing8295

    @brickmissing8295

    3 жыл бұрын

    Jack Chapman BLM - Burn, Loot, Murder.

  • @mozdickson
    @mozdickson2 жыл бұрын

    ...was as stunning to see that video and hear this for the first time in 1981 as it had been to see Rudy the year before. What talent.

  • @phillipwalklett9466
    @phillipwalklett94663 жыл бұрын

    The Friday I left school ,, this was # 1,,in UK,,, that same Friday nights Liverpool was ablaze, RIOT " tomorrow your homeless tonight it's a blast."( Dead Kennedys) !!!!!! Brilliant tune,,,Bitter times !!!

  • @davidellis5141
    @davidellis51414 жыл бұрын

    This single was a perfect summary of the Summer of 1981. Rampant Unemployment & street clashes were breaking out regularly in the 🇬🇧. Thatcher was clearly out of touch with the youth of the nation. Additionally , The Specials themselves were dissolving internally. This masterpiece resulted.

  • @stevel9914

    @stevel9914

    4 жыл бұрын

    To be fair ... and it goes to show how muddy our glasses become. Thatcher came to power in June 1979 and Ghost town was number 1 in June 1981 .. barely 2 years into the tenancy. She took hold as a consequence of a disaster of a labour government (it is why she won the election). So the notion that this song was created by MT government is not really appropriate. The rot had set in for several years before the Conservative tenancy. I come from South Yorkshire ... a place cut to ribbons by the death of mining and steel ... so I am not unaware.

  • @samsara3694

    @samsara3694

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@stevel9914 Its the case that the economy was in dire straits before Thatcher, but the speed at which she let industries go the wall, in favour of capital, meant a significant felt impact in just 2-3 after taking office. The early eighties were possibly the worse period for the working class since immediately post war.

  • @stevel9914

    @stevel9914

    4 жыл бұрын

    I come from S Yorkshire .. so I know at least as well as others. The point I am making is that the rot was set in many years before 1981 .. so laying the blame purely at MT's door is a fallacy. Truth is that all of the 80's issues can be laid at the EU's (with the support of the govt policies) door. Closing our plants whilst increasing output in Germany in steel and coal and automotive (to name but 3) is an example of our industry being terminated. Fortunately at the time we had the 80's electronic industry growth that took up some of the slack but now that has left our shores as well.

  • @samsara3694

    @samsara3694

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@stevel9914 I agree, simply pointing out that Thatcher greatly accelerated it. UK industry was the sick man of Europe before Thatcher came in. Thatcher simply put it out of its misery, rather than choose CPR. The effect was total, and dramatic.

  • @stevel9914

    @stevel9914

    4 жыл бұрын

    I'm not so sure it was as sick as the media made it. Ford still produced Cortina and Escort during the 70's, Talbot produced in Coventry, Vauxhall produced Cavalier (a massive success in the 70's and 80's). Everyone focused on things like BL and their work force issues... whereas work force issues in other manufacturers were not as disagreeable. My suspicions are that this was not a coincidence ... once you realise that all these manufacturers moved vast portions of their production to Europe whilst BL kept drowning ... couldn't export (as they were predicted to do) because production could only deal with local UK sales. It is fair to say that the MT govt were not going to be blackmailed for electricity by the coal industry (as had happened in the 70's on more than one occasion). Thus coal was going to be a dead man walking before long and it has to be said that whilst socially .. S Yorkshire became a dead place.... air quality improved dramatically once steel had taken a huge hit. The main critique I would lay at the door of the MT years is that they made no allowance for new business opportunities.... and now it is a shopping paradise for credit cards.. with low level wages from warehousing and call centres.

  • @PhinClio
    @PhinClio4 жыл бұрын

    I'm American and spent several weeks, as a sixteen year old, in the summer of 1981 in York, England. "Ghost Town" was ubiquitous that summer. And, as the video says, it perfectly captured what was going on in England at that moment. I'll always associate it with that time and place.

  • @obsesivefunatica
    @obsesivefunatica4 жыл бұрын

    This was awesome. Really enjoying this series.

  • @SJ-gg8fm
    @SJ-gg8fm4 жыл бұрын

    Ghost Town was such a memorable song but it was sombre in more ways than one as The Specials were in the middle of splitting up when it went to the top after an acrimonious American tour that was the beginning of the end. The rift between Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers will never heal.

  • @darganx

    @darganx

    10 ай бұрын

    It never did..

  • @NyctalopeDiurne
    @NyctalopeDiurne4 жыл бұрын

    Guy Ritchie’s Snatch got me into this song. That OST is one of my favourite btw. I subscribed.

  • @chrisrosenkreuz23

    @chrisrosenkreuz23

    4 жыл бұрын

    PHRASING

  • @icemonAesDana
    @icemonAesDana4 жыл бұрын

    a well thought out video...enjoyed it, nuff respect.

  • @MrKankuamo
    @MrKankuamo3 жыл бұрын

    I have heard this song several times through the years as background in movies, and also heard about The Specials. But I never knew Ghost Town or The Specials until now. Thanks a lot for this one, I was already a subscriber but you have so much more to show me yet :)

  • @Felco6
    @Felco64 жыл бұрын

    Good work here. Solid history. Thank you. It’s a song, and a band, worth the time and effort.

  • @crouchingotter
    @crouchingotter3 жыл бұрын

    Ghost Town just a relevant then as it was when this video came out in October 2019 and then Covid19 came along and Ghost Towns are even more reverent than we imagined in 2019.

  • @timvanboening9432
    @timvanboening94322 жыл бұрын

    Such a great song, and great episode! Cheers!

  • @BrokenNoseBoxing
    @BrokenNoseBoxing3 жыл бұрын

    Top work, Trash Theory! Watched this multiple times 🎶

  • @BrandochGarage
    @BrandochGarage4 жыл бұрын

    Another good essay! Well Done. Makes me much more curious now about the individual members of the Specials

  • @cadencebenoit3705
    @cadencebenoit37054 жыл бұрын

    I first heard "Ghost Town" in 1995 on a compilation called "Loaded.' It also epitomized a point in my own life where I was feeling very beat down and crapped on by society. It's great to hear some of the history that was going on at the time that made this song a classic when it was released!

  • @mazzi42
    @mazzi423 жыл бұрын

    Your channel is amazing. Love it.

  • @TheChannelofaDisappointedMan
    @TheChannelofaDisappointedMan4 жыл бұрын

    I salute you for the effort that goes into your videos and the seriousness with which you treat your subjects. Quality viewing. Amazed you didn't reference the astonishing video.

  • @juanjan__
    @juanjan__4 жыл бұрын

    yet again, great work!

  • @doctorfunkshock
    @doctorfunkshock4 жыл бұрын

    Some say God Save the Queen actually got to Number One, that it was fixed, as the Establishment couldn't have a critical number one headlining during the Silver Jubilee celebrations! The NME Chart of the day put them at Number One in their chart. The BBC refused to play it. From Wikipedia: "In March 2001, the BBC published an article that stated ‘"God Save the Queen" reached number one in the UK in 1977 despite being banned by the BBC, and marked a defining moment in the punk revolution." WH Smith put up a record chart where the song was left out to show it wasn't countenanced. A fitting tribute to the Blank Generation.

  • @Sarke2
    @Sarke22 ай бұрын

    Really enjoying your documentaries, and i am in love with this song, even as not a big ska/2 tone fan, it has something deep what you explained greatly. Unique track.

  • @OliverLevy
    @OliverLevy4 жыл бұрын

    À propos of very little: 'My Ding-A-Ling' (11:30) was recorded at the Locarno Ballroom (5:51), with an audience containing Noddy Holder (0:08) (who claims he can be heard during the singalong). Also, it held Slade's 'Gudbuy T'Jane' off the top of the chart.

  • @todd6851
    @todd68512 жыл бұрын

    This is great. Thank you for posting.

  • @antonystringfellow5152
    @antonystringfellow51524 жыл бұрын

    I remember the song and the time very well - I was 18-19 at the time and had just started going out to bars and clubs. I think the main reason for the song's success is that it captured the mood and what was happening all across Britain at the time. Most of us could relate to it. I remember, very soon after, the Friday and Saturday night riots in the towns in my area (Halifax and Bradford) started. When people that age feel they've been left on the garbage pile, they do get very angry. Though never a violent person myself, I felt the anger and actually enjoyed the thrill of the riots. I remember, it felt like justice.

  • @apathyintheuk265

    @apathyintheuk265

    4 жыл бұрын

    So 'justice' came in the form of looting and destroying peoples property and business? Business that some people had taken years to establish from scratch. Property that people owned from working long hours in almost certain dead end employment. You have a very strange take on what quantifies 'justice'.

  • @markevens
    @markevens4 жыл бұрын

    I always loved this song, but never realized how deep it went. Thanks for this

  • @Grag9091
    @Grag90912 жыл бұрын

    I would cry to this song as a kid. It really freaked me out.

  • @mgebremedhin
    @mgebremedhin4 жыл бұрын

    Bravo. Ghost Town is a wonder and rare Specials video. Loved the backstory

  • @MonoLith2049
    @MonoLith20494 жыл бұрын

    First 12" I ever bought when it came out. Still sounds fresh today 39 years later, an absolute masterpiece! Really enjoyed this, thanks. Stay safe everyone x

  • @jamesingram7151
    @jamesingram7151 Жыл бұрын

    Nice work on the doco. Well done.

  • @Scotty_Russell_Music
    @Scotty_Russell_Music3 жыл бұрын

    I once did a cover version of this song, it took ages to work out and get sounding right. I had even more respect for Jerry Dammers as a composer once it was finished. I gave Jerry a copy of the tunes at one of his dj sets but he didn't seem at all interested, little did i know he was getting shafted out of the reunion behind closed doors and the last thing he wanted to hear was some fanboy gushing about the specials. His SunRah band is tight and he's a legend.

  • @Scotty_Russell_Music

    @Scotty_Russell_Music

    3 жыл бұрын

    kzread.info/dash/bejne/n6l5scykZ5eumLQ.html said cover of ghost town

  • @toriagalaxy1566
    @toriagalaxy15664 жыл бұрын

    Didn't live through the time this was released, but it transports you there, and indeed resonates again and again through time. One of my favorites due to everything that comes together to create this perfectly timeless song. Also, it even sounds great when my 3yo sings it haha. Thanks for the profile of The Specials and Ghost Town. Truly classic! 💗

  • @sacredfire8023
    @sacredfire8023 Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting! Good job!!

  • @vinnyc365
    @vinnyc365 Жыл бұрын

    R.I.P. Terry

  • @tomwhite916
    @tomwhite9164 жыл бұрын

    Your videos are so so good !!!

  • @pdzombie1906
    @pdzombie19064 жыл бұрын

    Love the series, please consider Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire as pioneers of industrial music, and also Raymond Watts (PIG), and Pop Will Eat Itself. Thanx!!!!

  • @StephenSE9
    @StephenSE94 жыл бұрын

    07:45 And I thought Victor Romero Evans was only famous for being the quiet one in 80s sitcom, No Problem.

  • @sandieguitoadult
    @sandieguitoadult4 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely briliant analysis. Someone put to words what I knew in 1981-1982.

  • @MrToddy31
    @MrToddy314 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for posting.

  • @user-hc1bf7wo9b
    @user-hc1bf7wo9b4 жыл бұрын

    every episode is a genuine treasure well deserved to be broadcast on major music channels like mtv rock or vh1 covering the bigger audience

  • @DJBFAD
    @DJBFAD4 жыл бұрын

    Superb summary of a great song & amazing (underrated) band, bravo!

  • @thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051
    @thevfxmancolorizationvfxex40514 жыл бұрын

    Could you do next how Psychedelic Rock became Heavy Metal?

  • @SeymoreSparda

    @SeymoreSparda

    4 жыл бұрын

    Was kinda explained, to a certain extent, mind you, in this documentary; kzread.info/dash/bejne/rKGXx9OFitTcgLw.html In a micro sense, of course, since the British music scene doesn't represent the whole world's (like duh...)...Tho, they kinda forgot about the psychedelic/prog/occult rock scene that bridged between the two, in my honest opinion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult_rock

  • @EclecticoIconoclasta

    @EclecticoIconoclasta

    4 жыл бұрын

    No. Metal sucks.

  • @thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051

    @thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@SeymoreSparda Still though, I want to see it

  • @SeymoreSparda

    @SeymoreSparda

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@thevfxmancolorizationvfxex4051 We share the same sentiment, then. I'm just glad that you even bothered to watch the doc (in its entirety, hopefully)

  • @2opler

    @2opler

    4 жыл бұрын

    When Lemmy left Hawkwind?

  • @Erdnase23
    @Erdnase234 жыл бұрын

    Excellent stuff. And prescient.

  • @veteranvlogger_swarnajit
    @veteranvlogger_swarnajit2 жыл бұрын

    I never heard such a nice song. Your creation is an excellent. I liked your video. SUBSCRIBED to your Channel.

  • @MarcusBeard
    @MarcusBeard4 жыл бұрын

    Amazing song - sends chills down my spine every time. I'm old enough to remember seeing Terry Hall on TOTP and thinking he was the coolest bloke alive. Awesome. Good documentary video - thanks!

  • @neilpye6089

    @neilpye6089

    4 жыл бұрын

    They split up in the dressing room after the totp performance mentioned in the vid

  • @alexremoll2771
    @alexremoll27714 жыл бұрын

    This is such a good video and series. Hall was so great, and not just in the Specials. The Colourfield albums are so underated

  • @TokajiPsychonaut
    @TokajiPsychonaut Жыл бұрын

    R.I.P. Terry Hall

  • @christofjork8446
    @christofjork84463 жыл бұрын

    your channel is gold. Greetings from Berlin.

  • @deannilvalli6579
    @deannilvalli65794 жыл бұрын

    This video is a fantastic analysis and very well made. Ghost Town was indeed a song both brilliant musically and as a cultural and historical artifact. It will endure.

  • @joeneedsfood
    @joeneedsfood4 жыл бұрын

    I love The Specials so much. Definitely one of my favourite band.

  • @eyesofisabelofficial
    @eyesofisabelofficial4 жыл бұрын

    Fun Fact: "My Ding A ling" was recorded in Coventry (Lanchester Polytechnic arts festival)

  • @GrahamMilkdrop

    @GrahamMilkdrop

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes! I was just going to write that.

  • @eldiablo8580
    @eldiablo85804 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for your visual essays. They are so informative and pull together two of the greatest loves of my life, music and history, with an academic level of facts and rhetoric and great visuals accompanying them. I just want to say keep up the great work!!! I don't have any suggestions of note. I love synth pop and I especially loved your piece on Robyn. I would really like for you to do an essay on why and how New Wave/New Romance was a much more palatable music style for the British public at large than Punk OR specifically about the ascension of New Wave in the 1980s out of the shadows of Punk. Anyhow Peace out.....and have a lovely Christmas

  • @joaomedeiros8914
    @joaomedeiros89144 жыл бұрын

    very nice content watching from Brazil

  • @ResidentRob
    @ResidentRob8 ай бұрын

    I love The Specials and always considered this practically a perfect song. It's so atmospheric and haunting it really captures the despair a lot of people felt.

  • @MsNooneinparticular
    @MsNooneinparticular3 жыл бұрын

    Ideal sound for 2020. Everything old is new again. Great music is evergreen & never goes out of style.

  • @richfish101
    @richfish101 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent video 👍