Task 1

Ghost town, the song produced by the specials, was released on the 12th of June 1981. The song spent three weeks at number 1 and a total of 10 weeks in the top 40. All three major uk music magazines awarded the song single go the year in 1981. the specials were a British band signed to the label 2 tone. Their specific genre of music was ska/ two tone which was influenced by Jamaican culture.

Task 2

The song was written about the decline in Coventry, which is where the band grew up as well as the scenes seen on their uk tour where they saw numerous amounts of shops becoming closed down as well as violence spreading. At the time the song was released the uk saw a spread of riots caused by racial tensions, as many ethnic minority communities suffered from poor housing and low wages as well as police powers being abused. These riots lead the governments attention to help the unemployed.

Task 3

The music video demonstrates an empty city which would usually have been filled with people. The band were in a car driving around this empty town joyfully singing and dancing to the lyrics. During the line ‘why must the youth fight against themselves’ shadows of people fighting is shown to demonstrate the scenes seen throughout the uk.