Task 1 – Notes on this Media Production

• “Ghost Town” is a song by the British two-tone band the Specials, released on 12 June 1981. The song spent three weeks at number one and 10 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

• The song was named “Single of the Year” in Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, the UK’s top three weekly music magazines at the time.

• The song is remembered for being a hit at the same time as riots were occurring in British cities.

TASK 2: WHAT IS THE CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN WHICH THIS VIDEO WAS COMMENTING UPON?

The two toned band fuses traditional ska with musical elements of punk rock and new wave music. or, a mix of both British and Jamaican street styles. This style of music can be seen as a result of turbulent political factors such as the multiple riots occurring in the UK at the time. The music was also used as a way of conveying political messages.

The summer of 1981 saw riots in over 35 locations around the UK. In response to the linking of the song to these events, singer Terry Hall said, “When we recorded ‘Ghost Town’, we were talking about [1980]’s riots in Bristol and Brixton. The fact that it became popular when it did was just a weird coincidence.” The song created resentment in Coventry where residents angrily rejected the characterisation of the city as a town in decline.

TASK 3: MAKE SOME NOTES ON THE WAY IN WHICH THIS MUSIC VIDEOS CREATES AND COMMUNICATES MEANING IE MEDIA LANGUAGE.

• Cinematography – Each shot is merged together through a transitional disappear/ slide effect. Which was common for music videos during that time.
• Todorov’s = can be applied as there is a clear narrative in the video of a beginning, middle and end or equilibrium, disruption, resolution and new equilibrium.
• Levi-Strauss’s theory can be applied to this CSP as the theory of binary opposites could be seen as the two contrasting music styles/ genres being combined or the opposition of music and politics being combined.
• Ghost town = dull colours used + no people about, “This town, is coming like a ghost town, all clubs have closed down” = links to the high unemployment rates in the UK for that time
• “Too much fighting on the dance floor” metaphor for the riots in the streets
• “Government leaving the youth on the shelf” referring to Thatchers policies and how many Brits disliked her due to the poor economy
• For much of the video the artists maintain eye-contact with the camera as if they were addressing the audience – breaking the ‘4th wall’
• The sirens in the background would have been a clear link to some form of law enforcement or ambulance dude to the damages caused by the riots

(TASK1) Background Information:

• A song by ‘The Specials’
• It was released on the 12th of June 1981
• When released, the song spent 3 weeks at No. 1 and 10 Weeks in total on the Uk Singles Chart’s Top 40.
• It was awarded the “Single of the Year” in 1981
• It won an NME award for being the ‘Best Single’
• The song was written just as the 3 band members (Neville Staples, Lynval Golding and Terry Hall) were leaving ‘The Specials’ to form a band called ‘Fun Boy Three’
• According to Dammers, the song was inspired by the band splitting up. He said in 2008: “‘Ghost Town’ was about the breakup of the Specials. It just appeared hopeless. But I just didn’t want to write about my state of mind so I tried to relate it to the country as a whole.”
• The band’s ‘2 Tone” record label gave its name to the genre that fused ska, reggae and new wave.
• Formed in 1977, the group had became the pioneers of a cross-cultural sound that fused the sounds of reggae music with the raw anger of punk.
• In a space of 2 years (1979-1981), the original “Specials” managed to embody the new decade’s violent emerges of violent energies, morals and conflicts.

(TASK 2) Cultural, Social and Historical Background

• The song was addressing the themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities
• In 1981, industrial decline had left the city suffering badly and unemployment rates were at the highest level within the UK
• In 1981, unemployment was heading up to 3 million people
• The band’s ‘2 Tone’ record label inspired a crisply attired youth movement
  • However, as a consequence, ‘The Specials” gigs began to attract the hostile of presence groups, such as The National Front and the British Movement.
• Ghost Town is believed to be a prophecy that sounds like an aftermath as the Ghost Town it describes of is gutted by recession and appears to be the terrain before a riot.
• 1981 was the height of youth unemployment as the UK reacted to Margaret Thatcher’s cuts and riots were erupting all over the country
• The song consists of many different sounds, chords and unusual instruments to represent the chaos and confusion which was happening during 1981
• The origin of the song began back in 1980, after Dammers had witnessed the St Paul Riots in Bristol. For most of the 1970s, St Pauls, which was a predominantly black and white working class area, was a victim of deteriorating housing, poor education services and and increasingly strong Police presence.
• The band included both members with black and white skin, which was very rare back in the 80s, identifying the “Specials” are challenging the dominant ideology
• Drammers said to the Guardian in 2008 “For me, it was no good being anti-racist if you didn’t involve black people, so what the Specials tried to do was to create something that is more integrated”

(TASK 3) Ways in which this music video creates and communicates meaning using media language

• Some of the band members are in dark suits, whereas some are in bright clothing, which contradicts each other and could possibly signify the divide between different skin colours
• The lighting of this music video is very dark and not much is happening in the background, suggesting the idea of a Ghost Town.
• Cinematography is used through the merging of each scene of the music video, that switches from scene to scene using a sliding transition, which was common in music videos during the 80s
• At 1min 13seconds, the car is swerving out of control, possibly to signify how the unemployment situation in the UK is going out of control
• During the video, the band maintains eye contact, which could identify seriousness
• A creepy tone is used by wha sounds like an accordion, which follows Steven Neale’s Genre theory of sameness, since ‘Ghost Town” could link to the horror genre due to the word “Ghost”
• The panoramic shots of driving down the street identify that it is a ghost town and sets the tone for the song
• The binary opposition theory by Levi-Strauss can be linked to this song because there are 2 contrasting genres of music (ska and jazz)
• Todorov’s theory of narrative structure can be linked to this music video because their the video starts with equilibrium, then progress, then disruption, a resolution and then a new equilibrium is found.
• On the first verse “Too much fighting on the dance floor” it in referencing the riots that are happening on the streets
• The lines “can’t go on anymore, too many people angry” reference how the “Specials” gigs were attracting a hostile of presence groups, such as the National Front and the British Movements.
• Ghost Town EP included discordant horns, haunting chords and demonic vocal harmonies to emphasise how the Ghost Town was a scary place to be.

Media Production

• Released in 1981
• Won an NME award for best single
• Went number 1 on the UK charts for 3 weeks
• Produced by John Collins
• They had limited recording space when producing the song so Collins recorded each band memeber individually and built up the song track by track

Cultural, Social and Historical

• In 2002 Jerry Dammers told The Gaurdian, “You travelled from town to town and what was happening was terrible. In Liverpool, all the shops were shuttered up, everything was closing down … We could actually see it by touring around. You could see that frustration and anger in the audience. In Glasgow, there were these little old ladies on the streets selling all their household goods, their cups and saucers. It was unbelievable. It was clear that something was very, very wrong.” He later stated in 2011 that seeing this was the inspiration for Ghost Town.
• The song addresses 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
• “no job to be found in this country” is one of the lyrics from this song making a clear link to the high unemployment in england at this time especially the north.

Communicating Meaning

• The song consists of many unusual instruments and different chords and sounds, all of this was to represent the chaos and discomfort felt by many at the time.
• The music video uses a shot of the band all inside a car, it uses good blocking techniques to fit most of the band memebers in the shot.
• The clothing choice with some members in all black suits and others in brighter clothing juxtapose ine other which could be a statement at the divide in the country especially racially.

• released in June 1981
• the specials are a British band
• ghost town spent 3 weeks at number 1 in the uk top 40
• the last song recorded by the original 7 members of the specials
• label – 2 tone
• genre – reggae/two-tone
• music video filmed in London
• directed by Barney Bubbles
• won awards for song of the year and best single