He went on to argue that a map of Covid’s biggest impact now and a map of child deaths in 1850 would look remarkably similar. He specifically mentioned Bradford, Leicester, parts of London and the north west, that have been hard hit over the last 15 months but also areas where deprivation is most noteworthy. He argued that the areas of the country where COVID had hit hardest, were clearly defined, and invariably featured, during periods when infections rose. Speaking to an NHS Confederation conference on 17 th June, Whitty made a rare foray into historical contextualisation.
An indication came from the unlikely source of the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty. As the article notes the Specials concept was ‘black and white musicians, clear, unambiguous politics, defiance’ Speaking to the Financial Times (3 rd July) Terry Hall argues that Love Music Hate Racism is not enough just as a slogan ‘You Have to Fight It’. In short Ghost Town is a history of 2021 as much as 1981. The pandemic of the last year has had a specific impact but before that 10 years of Tory austerity had seen the pattern of joblessness, crumbling high streets and racist policing reassert itself, after the limited, pre-2008, adjustments of the New Labour years.
The specials ghost town free#
It seemed like the music and the political reality were matching.ĭammers went on to produce the political anthem Free Nelson Mandela in 1984 before pursuing wider anti-racist music and cultural work.Ĥ0 years on the re-release of the song is a reminder of the times in 1981 but also that life under another Tory Government is not significantly different. Unemployment had risen to 2.5 million and the Metropolitan Police were engaged in the racist policing exercise branded ‘Operation Swamp’ The following year saw the first reaction to this with riots, starting in Brixton in April 1981 and by the summer when Ghost Town was to be heard coming from car radios, in June and July 1981 a much wider area. They saw the first impacts of Thatcherism, with closed shops and businesses and people begging on the streets. The idea for the song, both the lyrics and the musical style came to the Specials Jerry Dammers as the band were touring the UK in 1980. It speaks to an experience of particularly younger people under a Tory Government that is not so different in 2020 despite the passage of four decades. It has been re-released to mark the anniversary but its significance goes far wider than the music charts. Recorded in Leamington Spa and produced in Tottenham, the single is now part of social history capturing the disaffection and impact of the first years of the 1979 Thatcher Government. It went on to spend three weeks at Number One in the charts in the summer of 1981. June 2021 marked the 40 th anniversary of the release of the Specials single Ghost Town.
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