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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.
Unfortunately, the reign of the Specials as ska kings was short. Their second studio album, More Specials, was released late in 1980 amid rumors of internal strife, which the record confirms, lacking the joy and intensity of their debut.
“Ghost Town” marked the end of the Specials
the Specials had participated in the Rock Against Racism movement in England of 1981 at Dammers’s urging
The gardian
by contrast, British reggae remains half-forgotten and little praised, represented mainly by the Specials’ “Ghost Town” as the default tune for any retrospective on the bleak, Thatcherite early 80s.
A key element of that story was police use of the hated “sus” laws, which allowed people to be picked up on “suspicion” of committing a crime, while hostility to the police was stoked by the deployment of phalanxes of cops to protect National Front marches through black areas.