When The Specials recorded Ghost Town singer Neville Staple never imagined it would remain so concerningly relevant more than 40 years on.
Detailing social collapse and alienation, Ghost Town was released in 1981 amidst an economy in meltdown.
Focusing on urban disaffection there is a cloud of impending doom within the mournful song which topped the charts in summer 1981.
Fast forward more than four decades and it still touches a raw nerve as the nation is gripped by a cost-of-living crisis.
Neville will celebrate the enduring legacy of Ghost Town with a show at The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, on Friday October 28.
He said: “Ghost Town is still relevant. Nothing has changed. It’s gotten worse, I think.
“That’s just how life is going now. You think it should be getting better but since Covid everything has turned on its head.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Unified stance against racism
Neville, aka The Original Rude Boy, has recorded an extended remix of Ghost Town on his band’s latest album From The Specials and Beyond.
Formed in Coventry in 1977, The Specials represented a voice for the dispossessed and alienated.
A multi-cultural, multi-racial band they were a ground-breaking amalgam of ska, punk and mod subcultures.
Ghost Town, the band’s second number one, addressed racial tensions within the UK.
The Specials set up the label 2-Tone which was an assertion of black-and-white unity against racism and the far-right National Front.
The 2-Tone movement helped to transcend and defuse racial tensions
Neville said The Specials and 2-Tone hoped to bring some positive change.
He said: “Nightclubs were brilliant but then it started declining.
“You could see clubs and factories being closed, it all slowly going down.
“At the same time, you have to realize that The National Front were also around.
“We knew there was trouble going on.
“There were two types of skinheads. The National Front ones and the good skinheads.
“A lot of people get them mixed up.
“Racism is still here now but not as prevalent as it was then.
“When we formed it was kind of saying we are black and white and have got together in a band and socially.
“Skinheads listened to the music and were dancing. Then they started listening to the words.
“So the bad skinheads, The National Front, started to listen to The Specials and not be racist.”
‘It was surprising when Ghost Town went to number one’
Ghost Town spent three weeks at number one culminating in a Top of The Pops appearance on July 9 1981.
In the dressing room at Top of the Pops following that appearance the band split.
Some members would continue as Special AKA whilst Neville, Terry Hall and Lynval Golding would form Fun Boy Three.
In 2009 with Britain in another recession The Specials, including Neville, would reform to play a sell-out tour.
Neville said: “We didn’t think Ghost Town was going to have such an impact on people.
“When you do music you don’t think you are going to get a number one, you just do it.
“It was surprising when Ghost Town went to number one.
“You don’t write a song thinking we’ll do this because we want to get to the top of the charts.
“We just did the music we wanted. Nowadays many artists want to get to number one.
“We did the music and if people liked it, then they liked it.
“We never begged to be in the charts, we didn’t do music for that.”
Playing all The Specials classics
Neville’s show in Aberdeen will see him perform classics such as A Message To You Rudy, Gangsters, Too Much Too Young and many more.
Joining Neville and his highly-celebrated band will be Buster Shuffle.
Having been deprived of live shows for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdown Neville is loving being back on stage.
Scotland! You're up next 😎🏁🎶https://t.co/q6C3PcjhHA @NevilleStaple #FromTheSpecials @SugaryStaple @thegigcartel @MidnightMango #ORIGINALRUDEBOY #40yearsofghosttown #2tone #ska #gt40@LIQUIDROOMS @APAWhatsOn @Garageglasgow pic.twitter.com/229nsrNnaF
— From THE SPECIALS Neville Staple (@NevilleStaple) October 17, 2022
He said: “I’m getting back in the swing after the Covid lockdown and can’t wait to play.
“You have been doing what you love for ages, being on stage and touring.
“Then all of a sudden that stops.
“When we got back playing live it was quite emotional.”
Working with legend Derrick Morgan
Neville’s extraordinary musical career began with The Coventry Automatics and his Jah Baddis Sound System, before The Specials.
He continues to release music.
Recent album From The Specials and Beyond boasts appearances from legendary foundation deejay Clint Eastwood and ska/rocksteady icon Derrick Morgan.
Neville said: “When we go to Jamaica we visit Derrick who is a very good friend.
“Sugary my wife introduced me to Derrick. She puts on a ska event in Yarmouth twice a year and brings all these legends over.
“That’s how I met Derrick Morgan. I played him on my sound system and it was great to meet him.
“Clint Eastwood I have known for a long time. ”
For more information and tickets for Neville Staple’s gig at the Lemon Tree on Friday October 28 go to aberdeenperformingarts.com
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