Ghost Town (The Specials song)

"Ghost Town"
UK single cover of Ghost Town
Single by The Specials
B-side
  • "Why?"
  • "Friday Night, Saturday Morning"
Released12 June 1981 (1981-06-12)
Recorded3–9 April and 15–17 April 1981
Studio
Genre
Length3:40
6:02 (extended version)
Label2 Tone
Songwriter(s)Jerry Dammers
Producer(s)John Collins
The Specials singles chronology
"Do Nothing"
(1980) 		"Ghost Town"
(1981) 		"The Boiler"
(1982)
Audio sample
"Ghost Town"

"Ghost Town" is a song by the British two-tone band the Specials, released on 12 June 1981.[2] The song spent three weeks at number one and 11 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

Evoking themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for being a hit at the same time as riots were occurring in British cities. Internal tensions within the band were also coming to a head when the single was being recorded, resulting in the song being the last single recorded by the original seven members of the group before splitting up. However, the song was hailed by the contemporary UK music press as a major piece of popular social commentary,[3][4] and all three of the major UK music magazines of the time awarded "Ghost Town" the accolade of "Single of the Year" for 1981.[5][6][7] It was the 12th-best-selling single in the UK in 1981.[8]

  1. ^ Bryant, Tom (25 June 2014). "17 rock-reggae crossovers that work... and three that don't". Classic Rock. Future plc. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  2. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 13 June 1981. p. 24.
  3. ^ Montgomery, Hugh; Bignell, Paul; Higgins, Mike (3 July 2011). "Ghost Town: The song that defined an era turns 30". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print Ltd. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  4. ^ Petridis, Alexis (8 March 2002). "Ska for the madding crowd". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Singles of the Year". Melody Maker. London, England: IPC Media. 19 December 1981. p. 29.
  6. ^ "Records of the Year". NME. London, England. 19 December 1981. p. 30.
  7. ^ "Singles of the Year". Sounds. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 19 December 1981.
  8. ^ "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981". Official Charts. 5 March 2021.