racial otherness – Gilroy argues that the immigrant black community from the outset – constructing them as a racial ‘other’ in the predominantly white world of 1950’s Britain.

post – colonial melancholia – The publics association of these post war immigrants with substandard living conditions produced racial representation.

the story of UK race relations post W.W. 2 – Media stories regarding the black community , Gilroy suggests, intensified fears that immigrant communities might swamp white Britain.

Legacy of the Empire – He suggests that the empire, as such, represents more than the loss of sovereign power. Also a strain on the collective British identity. Empire immigrants and thier descendants, is argued to be visible representation of British power as it once was.

The Search for Albion – Albion England is nothing more than a distracting fantasy that disguises the reality of what Britain is really like – crippled by regional poverty and an ever-widening economic social divide.

PAUL GILROY

Paul Gilroy is an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar, who explores the construction of racial ‘otherness’ as an underlying presence within print media communication during the 1970s and 80s. `He famously argues that criminalised representations of black males in media are a misrepresentation that hurts the reputation of the black community.

GHOST TOWN
“Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment” – Jon Kelly
“it expressed the mood of the early days of Thatcher’s Britain for many.” – Jon Kelly
“By mid-1981, the UK was already tense following April’s riots in Brixton” – Jon Kelly
“It sums up how it felt to be young at the time,” – Les Back, professor of sociology at Goldsmiths

THE GUARDIAN
“Despairing of rising unemployment and frustrated by the most unpopular government of the post-war era” – Alexis Petridis
“the worst mainland rioting of the century broke out in Britain’s cities and towns.” – Alexis Petridis
“Clearly the Specials and a whole generation had been hugely inspired by what had happened with punk, culturally, socially and politically,” – Alexis Petridis

1. racial otherness (72-73)

“post-war wave of immigration…produced a series of anxieties”

1. post-colonial melancholia (72-73)
2. the story of UK race relations post W.W. 2 (72-73)

“In the two decades following the Second World War… intensified fears that immigrant communities might swamp white Britain”

1. Legacy of the Empire (77-79)
2. The Search for Albion (77-79)

PAUL GILROY

On the BBC website, Jon Kelly it states:
– Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment.
– Britain’s streets erupted with rioting 3 weeks later, a day before “Ghost town” was number 1 on the charts.
– With a mix of black and white members, The Specials, too, encapsulated Britain’s multiculturalism.
– Specials gigs began to attract the hostile presence of groups like the National Front and the British Movement.

On the guardian website, Neil Spencer states:
– It was the punk’s “summer of hate”, 1977 where people had spiky haircuts, a ripped t-shirt and a sawn-off school tie.
“THERE AINT NO BLACK IN THE UNION JACK”

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS (BINARY OPPOSITIONS)
– He suggested that myths were used to deal with the contradictions in experience,
– This theory suggests that NARRATIVES (=myths) are STRUCTURED around BINARY OPPOSITIONS eg: good v evil; human v alien; young v old etc.
–

PAUL GILROY

Paul Gilroy, an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar, explores the construction of racial ‘otherness’ as an underlying presence within print media communication during the 1970s and 80s, and argues that criminalised representations of black males regularly pour scorn on the black community.

When it comes to the 1990s, Gilroy diagnoses the existence of a media induced ‘post-colonial melancholia’ as a representational response to the UK’s declining global position in the late 1990s – a decline as a result of the loss of the post-war Empire (which the media quietens down with stories infused with Union Jack waving nostalgia. For Gilroy, those stories are also underscored by racial misrepresentations and the amplification of multicultural disharmony in the UK.

Ska story: the sound of angry young England:

The main irony of the Specials’ songs, and in fact of the entire ska movement, was that lurking just beneath the “happy,” infectious dance beat were often chilling stories of the racial divisiveness and economic deprivation that characterized the dawning of the Thatcher era.

Reggae: the sound that revolutionised Britain:

The two looks represented the different worlds inhabited by young white and black Britain, worlds which a year previously had been remote from each other but which by the summer of 1977 were unexpectedly and often uncomfortably rubbing shoulders.

The Specials: How Ghost Town Defined an Era:

Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment, its blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning when Britain’s streets erupted into rioting almost three weeks later – the day before Ghost Town reached number one in the charts.

Abigail Gardner Ghost Town: A Haunting 1981 Protest Song That Still Makes Sense Today:

Perhaps because “Ghost Town” cannot be “placed”. It’s not explicitly against any one event. It does not exhort its listeners into any one particular political view. It is not part of any one social movement for change. It is, rather, a stealth protest song.

Alexis Petridis (Guardian music journalist)

As Ghost Town reached number one, its lyrics were horribly borne out. “Can’t go on no more,” sang the Specials, “the people getting angry.” As if on cue, the worst mainland rioting of the century broke out in Britain’s cities and towns. For the first and only time, British pop music appeared to be commenting on the news as it happened.

Directed by the graphic designer Barney Bubbles:

Barney Bubbles defined the look of the British psychedelic movement of the ’60s, then seemed to recede from sight. He resurfaced a few years later, helping to establish the aesthetic of British punk, then did the same for post-punk. 

Binary:

Binary means 2 things that are opposite. For example, a male and a female in a film and show how different the characters are and how they play it. This is the form of narrative structure which is the low point of it. You could also suggest who has more power male or female and present how each character is preferred in the matter of binary talking.

BBC News – John Kelly

Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment, its blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning when Britain’s streets erupted into rioting almost three weeks later – the day before Ghost Town reached number one in the charts.
But, clearly, it expressed the mood of the early days of Thatcher’s Britain for many. “It was clear that something was very, very, wrong,”

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 and, in turn, inspired a crisply attired youth movement.

Britain’s streets erupted into rioting the day before Ghost Town reached number one in the charts. This was due to Ghost Town being released on Released on 20 June 1981 against a backdrop of rising unemployment. it expressed the mood of the early days of Thatcher’s Britain for many. “It was clear that something was very, very, wrong,” the song’s writer, Jerry Dammers, has said. – Source (BBC, Jon Kelly)

The band was made up of white and black singers, at the time this was known as 2 Tone due to the record labels name to a genre which fused ska, reggae and new wave and, in turn, inspired a crisply attired youth movement. Vocalist Neville Staple said in Ghost Town that there was “too much fighting on the dance floor”, he sang from personal experience. The Specials to announce a gig promoting racial unity in their city on the day of Ghost Town’s release; the National Front announced a march in the area on the same day. By the evening of 10 July, Ghost Town was a number one single.

1. racial otherness (72-73) – Gilroy suggests, intensified fears that immigrant communities might swamp Britain.
2. post-colonial melancholia (72-73)
3. the story of UK race relations post W.W. 2 (72-73)
4. Legacy of the Empire (77-79)
5. The Search for Albion (77-79)
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