The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks

 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?

Ghost Town is not part of any one social movement for change. It is, rather, a stealth protest song. 

2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?

2 Tone had emerged stylistically from the Mod and Punk subcultures and its musical roots and the people in it, audiences and bands, were both black and white. 

3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?

There were riots in several cities and towns in England. The riots mainly involved black British youth clashing with police. They were caused by tension between black people and the police

4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
I think 'ghost town' is very eerie due to the underlighting and the whole vibe of the song. The people in the back of the car are almost passed out and randomly get up to do a dance. Their facial expressions are very serious and creepy as well 

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?
  I agree as they supported the political situations that were happening in the moment

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

1) How does the article describe the song?

It starts with a siren and those woozy, lurching organ chords. Then comes the haunted, spectral woodwind, punctuated by blaring brass. its blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning

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

Britain's streets erupted into rioting almost three weeks later - the day before Ghost Town reached number one in the charts.

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

With a mix of black and white members, The Specials, too, encapsulated Britain's burgeoning multiculturalism. The band's 2 Tone record label gave its name to a genre which fused ska, reggae and new wave

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

"The black atlantic" - The hybridity of music genres

they played ska music a hybrid mix of Jamaican reggae, American 1950s pop, and elements of British punk rock. Gilroy's Black Atlantic explored how things aren't specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but are, rather, a hybrid mix of all of these at once.

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 composed the scores for eleven of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1987, as well as arranging and performing the "James Bond Theme" for the first film in the 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? 

The mise-en-scene of the Ghost Town video uses the style

of British social realist films. This genre is characterised

by sympathetic representations of working-class men, the

highlighting of bleak (often urban) environments and a sense of

hopelessness. The bleakness of the final shot

where the band throw stones into the Thames is very powerful

and nihilistic.

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

the band are lit eerily by a limited interior light

source and what looks like a handheld torch to light the faces of

those in the back from a low angle.

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

Non-verbal codes play a memorable role in contributing to the atmosphere of 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.

Handheld, disorienting camerawork with whip pans and canted angles. 

 Most of the shots are on-board travelling shots

The sequence near the start consists of a series of establishing shots and low angle shots which make the scenery loom in an intimidating way

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

Todorov :

Equilibrium

The band setting off together looking for something to do, accompanied by the eerie

diegetic sound and the green traffic light.

Disequilibrium

This could be seen as the emptiness of the streets because, ‘Bands don’t play no more – too much fighting on the dance floor’

New Equilibrium

Their arrival at the river, having found nothing else to do.

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

Performative : The performer or band appear in the video performing it in some way, this could be a literal performance or just one band member lip-syncing 

Narrative:  This video has an identifiable story, usually connected in some way with the lyrics

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 City, Urban Youth, Race and Masculinity

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

The song and video give a sense of male collective identity, This means that the text offers a place for men to see their problems being enacted and perhaps compare them with their own lives in what was a time of economic deprivation 

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

Butler refers to gender as a performance. In the video, the musicians seem to be ‘performing’ the structures of patriarchy which include brotherhood and male solidarity. 

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?

The factsheet suggests post-colonialists might argue that there is double consciousness (Gilroy) here. This term refers to the experience of being part of a black minority in predominantly white culture, seeing black representations being constructed for white people from the outside with very little self-representation.