SO COOL!| FIRST TIME HEARING The Specials - Ghost Town REACTION

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ย. 2024

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  • @benshafer5198
    @benshafer5198 ปีที่แล้ว +800

    2-tone ska from Coventry, UK. Three of the members were Jamaican nationals and were part of the main Jamaican wave of immigration to UK from the mid 50's through the late 60's. The reason reggae/ska was such a significant influence in UK pop/rock in the 80's and beyond. RIP Terry Hall 🙏

    • @baconbutt7367
      @baconbutt7367 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Three? There was only ever Two Black Guys in the Specials?

    • @DazzleMonroe
      @DazzleMonroe ปีที่แล้ว +35

      @@baconbutt7367 Rico Rodriguez

    • @LibraKing3121
      @LibraKing3121 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      ​@DazzleMonroe Came here to see if anyone was going to mention Rico. Good on ya!

    • @jonathanmartin4125
      @jonathanmartin4125 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Terry Hall massive legend

    • @fayesouthall6604
      @fayesouthall6604 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      My era

  • @1889jonny
    @1889jonny ปีที่แล้ว +441

    You finally came across UK Ska. When I was a young teenager, Ska did more for integration than any government program etc. had ever hoped to do. Working class white kids and kids from West Indian backgrounds found a common ground, became friends and allies. I still love Ska music and through the UK Ska revival, I got really into Rocksteady and Jamaican Ska. Jump down the rabbit-hole, you'll love it. Tis the music of Jah!

    • @carolwaller9605
      @carolwaller9605 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Loved Ska, best and most refreshing sound, still my favourite even now

    • @lotuselise4432
      @lotuselise4432 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Back in the day we where "all mates" and colour blind as it did not matter where you where from, 50 years on there is more racial tension the ever.

    • @nigeldepledge3790
      @nigeldepledge3790 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      At the time, I thought of The Specials as two-tone.
      What is it that distinguishes UK Ska from two-tone?

    • @1889jonny
      @1889jonny ปีที่แล้ว +23

      @@nigeldepledge3790 Two Tone was basically just the independent record label started by Terry Hall and Jerry Dammers (The Specials) but they were the only label willing to take on young UK Ska bands at that time. Madness only made one 2Tone album and then signed to Stiff, and The Beat signed to Chrysalis making them essentially not 2Tone but still UK Ska. The UK Ska revival was just either white working class kids like me that had grown up together with kids from West Indian backgrounds, and their West Indian mates, combining Jamaican Ska and Rocksteady with more punkier beats. I love it..... Wrote a lot more than I had meant to lol

    • @1889jonny
      @1889jonny ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@lotuselise4432 Maybe with the younger generation, not so much with mine, but it might be different depending on where you live. I'm still "colour blind", but I do sense more tension, mainly with Asians. Not so much with whites and West Indians.

  • @andymageen5308
    @andymageen5308 ปีที่แล้ว +611

    Jay and Amber you got a LOT of people excited with this reaction. The British Ska movement of the late Seventies early Eighties was not as well recognized outside of the UK. This was a dead on social commentary on the death of industry going on that time. Their other songs were much more upbeat, try another social commentary song, You’ve done to much, much too young. Two Tone Forever. ✌️

    • @bibakroll8999
      @bibakroll8999 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      I still listen to Ska, still bop around the kitchen to it! :)

    • @patrick3926
      @patrick3926 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Yesss🎉🎉🎉

    • @timdyer5903
      @timdyer5903 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      2 Tone always!

    • @timdyer5903
      @timdyer5903 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Too much too young!

    • @michaelburggraf2822
      @michaelburggraf2822 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      I think it resonated well in Germany as far as I can remember. Some of my friends and I were huge fans of that music.
      Particularly industrialized areas of Western Europe were affected by a decline of the steel and mining industries. And even some car manufacturers weren't doing well. Many economies were experiencing a combination of high inflation and stagnating business which received the name "stagflation". The UK was additionally affected by overzealous efforts of Margret Thatcher's government to introduce a new economic policy called monetarism, to drastically reduce the influence of trade union and to promote the UK economy to become more based on services, particularly on financial services.

  • @sweetnightmares2498
    @sweetnightmares2498 ปีที่แล้ว +186

    The 2Tone movement was a Godsend to us working class urban kids in 1979. It represented the true multicultural nature of the UK. The mainstream hated 2Tone even more than Punk because it was bringing the inner city kids together, regardless of their ethnicity. The Specials are Gods!

    • @lastspud7030
      @lastspud7030 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I think it was more about integration. Multiculturalism was is a very divisive idolagoagy and the sooner we grow our of it the better.

    • @guywilletts2804
      @guywilletts2804 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      ​@@lastspud7030???? Integration and multiculturalism are two sides of the same coin. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to exploit you. Without both multiculturalism there would have been no ska: without integration ska wouldn't have turned into two-tone.

    • @edmann1820
      @edmann1820 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@guywilletts2804 No you've got it the wrong way round. Today a band like the specials might get accused of cultural appropriation. Multi means more than one, which means separate and competing. If you have one culture which adopts and integrates other cultures then it's a mono culture. That is natural human behaviour. Multi culturalism is unnatural since by definition it seeks to maintain separation. Don't confuse multicultural with multiethnic. Cultural adoption and integration strengthens a society, it creates unity and harmony. Take the example of fish and chips. A most quintessential English thing. Brought to and popularised by Jewish immigrants. Not an English innovation but something that was adopted by the English. If we decide to go for fish and chips I'm not going to say to you 'lets go for a Jewish'. Compare that to vindaloo which was created in Britain, by British citizens. Yet if I were to suggest that you and I get a vindaloo I would say 'lets go for an Indian'. Which is better? Which style does more to destroy racism? One where we're all separate and different or one where we have integrated the best bits of each others cultures?

  • @sonsofthesportsguy
    @sonsofthesportsguy ปีที่แล้ว +602

    Their cover of A Message to You Rudy is a MUST.

    • @gabrielmcdonnell8699
      @gabrielmcdonnell8699 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Classic MTV. 😎 So loved discovering music from 🇬🇧. ✌🏽

    • @seanswinton6242
      @seanswinton6242 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Monkey Man and Pressure Drop!

    • @bobholtzmann
      @bobholtzmann ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I have that album - it was produced by Elvis Costello.

    • @DerekDominoes
      @DerekDominoes ปีที่แล้ว +6

      and "Stupid Marriage"

    • @paul.kristoff
      @paul.kristoff ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yes! Also "Little B**ch", which contains a Rolling Stones sample they'll be sure to recognise. And following that, Dandy Warhols "Bohemian Like You" for a new (to them) 90s band (yes I know the song came out in July 2000) which uses the same Stones sample.

  • @applin121
    @applin121 ปีที่แล้ว +231

    This song was released in 1981 when the UK was experiencing both severe economic hardship and civil unrest; cities were on fire. So it perfectly captured the zeitgeist.

    • @jon-paulfilkins7820
      @jon-paulfilkins7820 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      I am just old enough to remember it, it dropped in the middle of major riots in the country. Same old causes (sadly the song is as relevant today as it was then). Same with the B-side "Why".

    • @myredroom
      @myredroom ปีที่แล้ว +6

      You took the words out of my mouth!

    • @ejbbur4673
      @ejbbur4673 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      l remember it well

    • @blackcountryme
      @blackcountryme ปีที่แล้ว +16

      the de industrialisation, the ending of manufacturing in Coventry that built cars, motorcycles, engines, bicycles.. all gone in a very short time. leaving a lot of unemployment. I remember it. I was only a kid though

    • @bionicgeekgrrl
      @bionicgeekgrrl ปีที่แล้ว +3

      ​@@blackcountrymecompare the city in the video and now and some things are worse whilst others such as older run down concrete buildings, have gone or are going soon. But then virtually every city or town centre is a ghost town these days.

  • @J_Gamble
    @J_Gamble ปีที่แล้ว +317

    Nice! I don't think any other reactors have dipped into the ska/two-tone UK music movement much yet.
    A few notes--the Specials and Madness and others were part of the ska and two-tone music scenes when England was going through some rough economic times, industries closing, and austerity economics. Violence was breaking out in some areas. This multi-ethnic groups were coming from areas and neighborhoods of ethnic diversity. Particularly Caribbean immigration. And the music was a part of this whole scene.

    • @heathcornbeef
      @heathcornbeef ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Maybe but i like new younger people who might not get exposed to our old PUNKROCK SKA AND REGGAE too have a Crack at it too and as long as people are listening to our music from the stone age it won't die and fossilize into something a geologist or archaeologist will have to try and interpret in the future 😉

    • @jco207
      @jco207 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Thanks for adding that context. I just want to add that because bands like The Specials attracted an interracial audience, skinheads started showing up at the shows and starting fights. Over time, venues stopped wanting to book bands like them, another reason it was becoming a ghost town. Hence the line, "bands don't play no more, too much fighting on the dance floor."

    • @heathcornbeef
      @heathcornbeef ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jco207 Skinheads were a constant threat to us punkrockers here in Aotearoa New Zealand in the late seventies through to the early nineties they hated us i think because the punkrock scene is inclusive anyone is welcome as long as your not a Racist/ Bullie/or just a plain old asshole
      Funny thing is Forty years after getting my first mohawk I've still got one red at the moment
      And a lot of those skinhead assholes are dead👏👏👏

    • @punkpopnotdead
      @punkpopnotdead ปีที่แล้ว +3

      madness where not a tow-tone band a very good band tho

    • @alicecobb7763
      @alicecobb7763 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm hearing you, thank you 🌺

  • @debianowns4393
    @debianowns4393 ปีที่แล้ว +140

    The Specials are a national treasure here. Glad you liked it :)

    • @donach9
      @donach9 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yes, this was a huge No 1 hit and loved to this day

  • @cliffpooley930
    @cliffpooley930 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I just remembered a classic piece from a sitcom we had in the UK father Ted. The DJ only had this song so they had to keep playing it - even when they stood for the Irish national anthem😂😂

  • @PeterMoore66
    @PeterMoore66 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    Thanks for reacting to this. For many of us who grew up in the UK in the late 70s and early 80s, this single summed up the way we felt about the depressing way that the country was heading at the time. It's often held up as one of the most important songs released during the 80s.

    • @vikingpsg
      @vikingpsg ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Don't forget "Maggies Farm" by them which reflected the Thatcherite governments attempt to get young people into work by introducing YOP/YTS (Youth Opportunities Program/ Youth Training Sheme). 🙂

  • @bearballin
    @bearballin ปีที่แล้ว +154

    Moody, ominous and foreboding... Ghost Town is a classic example of 80s ska music. During the pandemic lock down I had to work daily as an essential worker. That first week of riding public transportation, this song kept echoing in my head as it seemed I was the only one out in the streets. Creepy asf!

    • @lolalilolily
      @lolalilolily ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I had it on repeat while walking the dog during lockdowns

    • @kf9346
      @kf9346 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lolalilolily This song came back into my playlists during lockdown too! And when at one point when it seemed this might be the new norm and the world would change forever, I was like, on the bright side we might finally get some awesome new musical/cultural anti-mainstream movements again!

    • @kendon81
      @kendon81 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Same was an essential government worker during the pandemics never stopped working the 2 years of the lockdown and this song was the song of the pandemic especially once you got to the inner city and everything closed and no-one around but the homeless it was like a zombie apocalypse

  • @KC-gy5xw
    @KC-gy5xw ปีที่แล้ว +47

    RIP Terry. The Specials were second coming of Ska/Two Town in the late 70's/80's but they also mixed it up with other musicians. Our LIps are Sealed, brilliant song. The Beat, Madness also of this genre.

    • @Mr2at
      @Mr2at ปีที่แล้ว

      Our lips. has always been in my top 5

  • @combabus
    @combabus ปีที่แล้ว +89

    "Gangsters" and "A Message to you Rudy" are two other favorites from The Specials.

    • @ythomitnellum
      @ythomitnellum ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Too Much Too Young as well. I was at college in their hometown when this came out and they played an anti racist gig that remains the best I’ve ever been to.

    • @TFEnright5
      @TFEnright5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Rat Race is another good one

    • @eggy1962
      @eggy1962 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Excellent choices for follow up songs as they essentially were the bands first two hits

    • @nealc.6927
      @nealc.6927 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Let's face it; Both the 1st & 2nd albums are amazing, not a single bad track on 'em.
      I was a 'grebo' at the time, long hair, denim, heavy metal - you know the score - but that whole Ska movement just fuqqin rocked. Good times . . .

  • @Mamawaffa
    @Mamawaffa ปีที่แล้ว +54

    Amazing group! Ska of the 80’s❤This group is very much a huge part of my childhood 🙏🏼❤️This song describes the days of ‘Thatcherism’. I live in Scotland and I’m old enough to remember it was grim up north👌

    • @Anglo-Saxon-96
      @Anglo-Saxon-96 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shut up you scottish old hag no one care 😂😂😂

    • @jos3g679
      @jos3g679 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Here…here!
      As seen in the video (City of London & Rotherhithe Tunnel).
      It struck a welcoming chord with me during it’s released…as a reminder what we are going through then.

  • @bassvibasics479
    @bassvibasics479 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    YES!! Now we're talking! The Specials and the whole 2-Tone movement are very important in British music.

  • @trevorberridge6079
    @trevorberridge6079 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    A legendary British band with a legendary song and video. Unfortunately we lost leader singer Terry Hall this year. He was a major influence on music in the UK and elsewhere. A unique and special individual. The band was rightly name The Specials. They were one among an explosion of British music talent that still influences music across the globe over 40 years later.

  • @keithroberts4952
    @keithroberts4952 ปีที่แล้ว +90

    Great song choice! Rest in peace to the lead singer Terry Hall who co wrote the Go go's hit, our lips are sealed! The Specials are from Coventry in England and were very influential back in the late 70's, early 80's. This was a big hit for them back in 1981.

    • @PaganPunk
      @PaganPunk ปีที่แล้ว

      Terry Hall had another band Called 'Fun boy 3' They Brought 'Our lips are sealed' out in the UK too....Was a Fantastic single....way better than the Go Go's version....❤

    • @AmethystDew
      @AmethystDew ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@PaganPunk I loved Fun Boy 3's version so so much. One of my favourite songs ever. So many happy memories go along with it too.

    • @PaganPunk
      @PaganPunk ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AmethystDew ❤️

  • @petebrown6356
    @petebrown6356 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I was growing up in the UK during this time. It was a violent time. Mods, Rockers, Punks, Skin Heads, Rude Boys, Casuals, Trendies....lol. They would all fight. Clubs would close. Hence, "Ghost Town". This genre, while reggae like, didn't really exist outside of the UK...but one of my favs. They have a many great songs.

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว

      Best comment ever and was like that right uptil Rave as was part of the 1980s Scooter Scene and you Skinheads, NF Skins and Psychobilly...mental but good times.

  • @LaptopLarry330
    @LaptopLarry330 ปีที่แล้ว +115

    This music video was among the first music videos ever shown on MTV in 1981. As an American, I really identified with the music video, because in my home towns in Youngstown, Ohio and Warren, Ohio, they were also becoming ghost towns, after the closing of the steel mills here at that time. The Specials, in my opinion, were probably the best Ska band that ever existed in the UK, and influenced so many Ska bands around the world in the 1990s, 2000s, and up to today.
    Another song/music video by The Specials that I highly recommend for the both of you to react to, is for their cover of “A Message To You, Rudy”.

    • @Isleofskye
      @Isleofskye ปีที่แล้ว +9

      They closed all the streets @ 5am to film there, to make it seem deserted which is ironic as it is a hive of activity during the day.
      That nearby Tunnel is The Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is one of the tunnels connecting South East London to East London near where I was born and lived for my first 29 years, just 3 miles away/
      ...The Ghost Town,in question,is their Hometown of Coventry in The East Midlands of England.

    • @flybobbie1449
      @flybobbie1449 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Isleofskye Wouldn't be hard back then Sunday closing streets were deserted on early Monday morning.

    • @Chris-mf1rm
      @Chris-mf1rm 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Spot on Larry. It represents what happened to industrial areas all over UK, Europe and US in that period. Mass unemployment (especially young people). Add in a massive dose of racism in the police and riots broke out across the country.
      We don’t always learn the lessons.

  • @jezzthesecondhandman
    @jezzthesecondhandman ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The ghost town they are referring to is probably their home city of Coventry. Lead singer Terry Hall died recently. It was a great shock he was taken far too soon.

  • @denisemeredith2436
    @denisemeredith2436 ปีที่แล้ว +69

    This is 2-Tone Ska from Coventry nr Birmingham England. Rest in Peace Terry Hall the lead singer who passed fairly recently. Another 2-Tone Ska band to listen to on Female Friday is The Selecter with their lead singer Pauline Black - On My Radio is a good song to react to. Both The Selecter and The Spevials, The Beat aka The English Beat were from Birmingham.
    I used to hang around with these bands during my early 20's.
    More Specials' songs to react to A Message to You Rudy and Nelson Mandela, also Too Much Too Young.

    • @fin1131
      @fin1131 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Bet you went to see them at Tiffanys in Cov then, now just a library. great times.

    • @denisemeredith2436
      @denisemeredith2436 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@fin1131 Sure did. I used to know Ranking Roger from The Beat and Astro from UB40. I remember going to a private party at The Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath and seeing UB40 for the first time. There is a big 2-Tone gig at The Hare & Hounds soon but I don't know if I will go yet.

    • @fin1131
      @fin1131 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@denisemeredith2436 mixing with some legends there

    • @grassygnoll3345
      @grassygnoll3345 ปีที่แล้ว

      Much to Young is soooo gooood.

    • @seanmurphy1704
      @seanmurphy1704 ปีที่แล้ว

      Is that Birmingham NR London or another one ?

  • @gperch
    @gperch ปีที่แล้ว +12

    1981 was an incredible year for music, I remember hearing Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" at the youth club just a mile away from where I am now (I was 10) so it was quite emotional to see her sing it live last weekend :D
    This alphabetical list of 1981 UK hits might be missing some and also have a couple of guilty pleasures in there :D
    "(Do) The Hucklebuck" Coast to Coast
    "Can You Feel It" The Jacksons
    "Don't You Want Me" The Human League
    "Einstein a Go-Go" Landscape
    "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" The Police
    "Fade to Grey" Visage
    "Flash" Queen
    "For Your Eyes Only" Sheena Easton
    "Ghost Town" The Specials
    "Girls on Film" Duran Duran
    "Hold On Tight" Electric Light Orchestra
    "I Go to Sleep" The Pretenders
    "In the Air Tonight" Phil Collins
    "It Must Be Love" Madness
    "Jealous Guy" Roxy Music
    "Just Can't Get Enough" Depeche Mode
    "Kids in America" Kim Wilde
    "Kings of the Wild Frontier" Adam and the Ants
    "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" The Human League
    "Making Your Mind Up" Bucks Fizz
    "One Day in Your Life" Michael Jackson
    "One of Us" ABBA
    "Open Your Heart" The Human League
    "Prince Charming" Adam and the Ants
    "Reward" The Teardrop Explodes
    "Souvenir" Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
    "Stand and Deliver" Adam and the Ants
    "Swords of a Thousand Men" Tenpole Tudor
    "Tainted Love" Soft Cell
    "Under Pressure" Queen & David Bowie
    "Under Your Thumb" Godley & Creme
    "Vienna" Ultravox
    "Woman" John Lennon

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      UK Charts were great from the middle of 1977 to middle of 1983

    • @elspeff
      @elspeff ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Not a shabby selection at all, min. Not. At. All.

  • @jameskneubuhl9115
    @jameskneubuhl9115 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    The Specials were one of the leading lights of the Ska revival of the early '80s, and they made two albums before splintering. This single was the last one by the original lineup. Some of this lineup went into a subsequent band called The Special A/K/A who had a hit with the song "Free Nelson Mandela". Ohers went into a short-lived but popular band called Fun Boy Three. Then in the 2000s all the original members got back together ***except*** the keyboard player and main songwriter Jerry Dammers. The lead singer, Terry Hall, passed away just recently.

    • @MardyGit
      @MardyGit ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Please, please, please do "Free Nelson Mandela". It was a major UK hit, when our government wasn't exactly against apartheid South Africa. And such a great song.

    • @didukknow
      @didukknow ปีที่แล้ว

      argh, I had forgotten he died. shame on me

  • @EllOfAWalk
    @EllOfAWalk ปีที่แล้ว +35

    Great choice of song/group. I grew up in this era in Thatchers Britain. This was 81, the year of riots throughout the country. There was high unemployment and racism. This song was a masterpiece (in particular the extended version) and there were many other groups in the two tone/ska movement with strong messages that gave the youth a voice(The Selector, The Beat, Madness, Bad Manners, The Bodeysnatchers). Great channel.New subscriber here.

    • @richardstevens2306
      @richardstevens2306 ปีที่แล้ว

      Haha ! Thatcher’s Britain. Lol. Typical brainwashed leftie. She inherited a country destroyed by Socialism. Who / what destroyed our industries & the railways ? Socialism, The unions & the fascist nationalisation of them. Go read some history

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว

      I wis The Specials never split and had another 2-3 years in them as did The Jam

  • @r2aul
    @r2aul ปีที่แล้ว +8

    The Specials, “Message To You, Rudy” !!!! You’ll love it!

  • @Whisper_and_Sigh
    @Whisper_and_Sigh ปีที่แล้ว +9

    The Specials were the greatest ska band of the 80s. So much great music.

  • @markstryshak539
    @markstryshak539 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    SKA, precursor to Reggae in Jamaica. The Specials are from England and were know as a 2 tone band. It was a record label but also referred to the bands having both black and white members.

  • @pjnolan7989
    @pjnolan7989 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Singer was Terry Hall, who sadly just passed away last year.
    Great band. They did a really good version of "A Message To Rudy"

  • @maxlipovore
    @maxlipovore ปีที่แล้ว +51

    I saw these guys live at the Toronto Police Picnic in Aug 1981. They did this song as their last number and at the end they managed to "disappear" off the stage just as the song was ending. Nobody saw it coming and the crowd went nuts.

    • @danhurley2274
      @danhurley2274 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I was at the Police Picnic 1981 also. The Specials put on an amazing set!

  • @ianbarker6456
    @ianbarker6456 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The "Ahhhhs" are very appropriate if you'd ever seen/been to Coventry in the 80's!! Five nights a week delivering and picking up opposite the Pink Parrot nightclub at chucking out time was enough to make you go "Ahh" I can tell you.

  • @paullecomtenz
    @paullecomtenz ปีที่แล้ว +43

    Thanks for playing this, one of the most influential Ska bands of all time. RIP Terry Hall.

    • @emeraldscorpio
      @emeraldscorpio ปีที่แล้ว +1

      And RIP John Bradbury

    • @gavst79
      @gavst79 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ska needs a come back.

  • @kerinsian8844
    @kerinsian8844 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I saw them playing in Cardiff as a support band for the Clash a very long time ago. Hardly anyone there had heard of them before, but they had the entire place dancing and asking for more! The Clash played a blinder of a set too, so all in all it was a great night. They came back about a year later and shared the bill with with Selector and Madness. 😊

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว

      You lucky bastard

    • @kerinsian8844
      @kerinsian8844 ปีที่แล้ว

      @chrisr5499 I agree 👍 I'm grateful that my teens and early twenties had so much going on musically.

  • @simonweedy4683
    @simonweedy4683 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    So great that you’re getting into The Specials. They were incredibly important band during a time of great social unrest and, in many areas deprivation, in the UK. Ghost
    Town captured perfectly what was happening in towns and cities everywhere. Terry Hall was an immensely gifted musician. He died last year of cancer, RIP.

  • @inserter400
    @inserter400 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    The Specials are the greatest group of our times, my favourite group ❤️
    Yes I was a skinhead back in the day and still at heart ❤️

  • @clash5j
    @clash5j ปีที่แล้ว +52

    The genre is called ska and it was developed in Jamaica. Jamaicans took R&B and made it into something that was uniquely their own. It was a musical predecessor to reggae. Bob Marley started off as a ska artist and he never left it behind entirely

    • @BGNOLA
      @BGNOLA ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It was influenced by the New Orleans R&B that Jamaica was hearing on the radio from the N.O. stations; I'm from New Orleans and was a fan of the Specials; their first show in the US was here (though I was too young to go) I prob. heard the connection with the 50s R&B dad was playing in the house. I remember when there was a news story pn the riots going on in Britain and they used this song as background music and showed the video...that was exiting. Saw them on SNL in 1980 too

    • @clash5j
      @clash5j ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@BGNOLA Although I also like Madness (and others), I think The Specials were peak English ska and I hope Rob will listen to more of them

    • @MrJeddYoung
      @MrJeddYoung ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Well done. You hit all the essential elements using the fewest words possible. Quite impressive.

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@BGNOLA Also Jamaica had it's own version of Calypso called mento plus had a massive Modern Jazz scene from the 1930's onwards but sadly no recordings of Jamaican Jazz.

  • @curleex3838
    @curleex3838 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I'm 55 and English and this was our kind of music when i was an early teen, our music was The Selector, The Specials and Madness etc, that was the music theme of my childhood.
    I went to school with Musical Youth and used to play paintball with UB40 amongst others! Great days and a great free era!

  • @hellokimmy68
    @hellokimmy68 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Woohoo! Another request fulfilled! Thank you! So, some of the members of Specials were in another band called Fun Boy Three, and they did a collaboration with Bananarama called "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" that was SO great.
    Specials were contemporaries with the Clash, both sharing their take on what was going on in England socially and politically around this time.

    • @etc7070
      @etc7070 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I loved Fun Boy Three's version of Our Lips Are Sealed!

    • @lawrencekelli
      @lawrencekelli ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@etc7070 The lead singer of Fun Boy 3 wrote this song with the bass or drummer from the Go Go's, They where seeing each other at the time on the side. They met when the Go Go's did a UK Tour in the 80's. It may have been released in the UK by FB3 just b4 the GoGo's in the USA.

  • @robmcluskie4557
    @robmcluskie4557 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    you're hooked to the song on the first note...a very cool ska track RIP Terry Hall

  • @andre.gorley
    @andre.gorley ปีที่แล้ว +28

    They're from England and they are a big part of the Ska and 2 tone revival scene. They are such a great band and along withThe Clash and The Stranglers they influenced so many bands. Thanks for this trip down memory lane.

  • @gdoggatl
    @gdoggatl ปีที่แล้ว +12

    They were great in the early '80's. Interesting story to tell to recommend another of their songs. You probably have heard The Go-Gos first hit single, "Our Lips Are Sealed". It was written by Jane Wiedlin and Terry Hall (RIP), the Specials lead singer here. They were having an affair, and the song was about it. The Specials (actually the Specials were done, and the three singers carried on as Fun Boy 3) version came out a couple years after the GoGos cut. I'm going to go play it now. Also these guys made Bananarama big, so I'd also tell you guys to play one of their collaborations like "Really Saying Something". THanks!!

  • @cphipps1969
    @cphipps1969 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Glad you finally hit The Specials. I think you’d really like “A Message to You Rudy”.

  • @oakfront
    @oakfront ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I'm from Coventry and they started the two tone scene, unfortunately i was too young to see them play the pubs but used to see them regularly on Saturdays shopping for clothes in the second hand shops. Such great down to earth guys.

  • @michaelbuhl4250
    @michaelbuhl4250 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    A great original by The Specials! They also did some great covers - "A Message to You Rudy" (originally "Rudy a Message to You" by Dandy Livingstone), "Gangsters" (originally "Al Capone" by Prince Buster), "Too Hot" (also originally by Prince Buster), and "Monkey Man" (originally by Toots and the Maytals).

  • @rrlg1
    @rrlg1 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Gangsters by them is an absolute banger. They did a famous SNL rendition that got alot of attention and fans.

  • @MrHws5mp
    @MrHws5mp ปีที่แล้ว +23

    When I went to secondary school, my parents bought me a radio alarm clock as a present, and on my first day, this was the tune that the radio woke me up with. Always been stuck in my mind ever since, and pretty much started my love of music, since I hadn't listened to the radio or much pop music up to that point. The Specials are generally regarded as a 2-Tone band, although this track has more of a straight reggae beat: 2-Tone and Ska are generally faster. 2-Tone was both a record label started by The Specials and a general style, which started as the fusion between reggae and punk which came out of British and Jamaican youth meeting in British cities. The word 'Ska' has been used for two distinct styles. Original Jamaican Ska preceded Reggae and was slower, however nowadays the word 'Ska' is used interchangeably with '2-Tone' to refer to the faster, more energetic style. Check out 'Get Smart' by The Melbourne Ska Orchestra for a good example of the modern 'fun' style of Ska.

  • @davidsmith8813
    @davidsmith8813 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    "my names Terry and I'm going to enjoy myself first ".
    Terry Hall. RIP
    The Specials- Ive been lucky enough to see this band live half a dozen times and were the BEST band live. So much energy.
    A Message to you Rudy or Enjoy Yourself, another classic (from late 40's) reggae song given the The Specials Ska treatment

  • @johnnieangel99
    @johnnieangel99 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Absolutely one of my fave bands of this era

  • @MrStickyfingers22
    @MrStickyfingers22 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    One of the coolest bands in my youth growing up, absolutely ground breaking time in the UK.

    • @allanmckeown8417
      @allanmckeown8417 ปีที่แล้ว

      It was, thank god for the end of the 70's, I saw them at Hammersmith Palais 1980, although I had to hide my quiff under a hat, there was a lot of skinheads there.

  • @mkmstillstackin
    @mkmstillstackin ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Love this song! Its just so layered with such cool unique, dramatic, and ominous mood swings. Such a prolific, well-respected 80's Ska band.

  • @someadvids5655
    @someadvids5655 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    HI all, just watched this vid and oh my god that is one mager classic tune you have there, brummie here through and through, grew up in brum uk in the 80's and this was playing everyware on the radio when i was in the arcades back then, the Specials and musical youth? (you heard of them?) are mager bands back in the 80's! loved them since day one! much love take care and have a great day all!!

  • @LoneRanger100
    @LoneRanger100 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Friday night, Saturday morning is a must by the specials. Great lyrics.
    Also Amber can feature more two tone on female Friday by playing The Selector, lead by Pauline Black, an icon in the uk.

  • @templetonpeck393
    @templetonpeck393 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Specials were from my City - Coventry (and Birmingham). This song is about Coventry and Birmingham during the Late 70s early 80s. I have met Roddy a couple of times, he's quite a quiet bloke.

  • @liaboyd8464
    @liaboyd8464 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    Wait, is this the first ska on the channel? I think it is! Ska is a mix of reggae and punk.

    • @avonlave
      @avonlave ปีที่แล้ว +16

      More precisely you're referring to 2nd wave, British ska. Original Jamaican ska preceded reggae and punk (which it had no connection with).

    • @ChelseaPensioner-DJW
      @ChelseaPensioner-DJW ปีที่แล้ว

      Sorry it isn't, SKA became a Skinhead Favourite style in 1968/9, and the Blue Beat label was about in the early 60s, so definitely a blend of Punk and Reggae. Crikey Emmanuel (Rico) Rodriguez MBE the trombone man with the Specials was a SKA legend from the 60s.

    • @liaboyd8464
      @liaboyd8464 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@avonlave very true, this is 2nd wave. Probably the only iteration likely to appear on this channel, but not the original meaning of the term

    • @joannalandingham788
      @joannalandingham788 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yessss!!

    • @liaboyd8464
      @liaboyd8464 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ChelseaPensioner-DJW yep, already clarified this is 2nd wave ska from the late 70s-80s, which is the reggae-punk version. Totally different from earlier definitions of ska. I wasn't specific enough in my first comment

  • @stevekenilworth
    @stevekenilworth ปีที่แล้ว +1

    another one from Coventry just 4 miles from me The Selector is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England. seen them live about 3 years ago they were great, specials think was the year before but they did not get main stage they in side tent, The Selector they got the main stage and they certainly got the crowd going wild. The Selector also has few songs with same name as The Specials

  • @mattparks2153
    @mattparks2153 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The Specials are a British Band. Enjoyed your reaction.

  • @cazzyuk8939
    @cazzyuk8939 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This was around when I was at school - also called two-tone here, Ska music originated in Jamaica. It reflected in the clothes, girls would wear black/white skirts /tops , boys would wear black & white & slim ties and parka coats. There were groups that typified this era/sound like the Specials/Madness/Bad Manners/Toots & the Maytals etc.

  • @tcarnold6425
    @tcarnold6425 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Ohhhhh excited! Rob Squad dips a toe into the early 80s ska scene and it's just the perfect way to begin! The US didn't really get into this much but in Britain it was huuuuuuge! If you're sticking with the Specials for now then perhaps Gangsters is the way to go next. But also look at the next evolution of the group and listen to Fun Boy Three - The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum. Plenty more original sounds with a message running through. LOVE you guys! ❤

    • @LoneRanger100
      @LoneRanger100 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      And terrys next band the colourfield!

    • @tcarnold6425
      @tcarnold6425 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LoneRanger100 absolutely! Thinking Of You would blow their minds!

  • @paulmiller7838
    @paulmiller7838 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The song had a dark sound to it because of the subject matter they were singing about. The message of the song was a rather dark one and thus the sound was appropriate. However, this is still by and far one of my favorite songs by The Specials. They were such an amazing band!

  • @HelenH-fk2jh
    @HelenH-fk2jh ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Ohh, so glad you're doing the Specials (highly recommend Gangsters and A Message To You, Rudy) They are the BEST of the two tone wave in the UK, and a very late 70s unique sound from here that totally reminds me of my childhood. Still stands up today. (and RIP Terry Hall.)

    • @HelenH-fk2jh
      @HelenH-fk2jh ปีที่แล้ว

      Plus, Amber, connected to them (on a B side, I think) was the HUGELY popular "On My Radio" by a band called The Selector with a singer called Pauline Black, which I think a lot of us would recommend for Female Friday.

  • @wolfeflambe
    @wolfeflambe ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This was recorded in my hometown. About a mile from where I used to live. Woodbine Street studio in Leamington Spa.

  • @dalelawrence8374
    @dalelawrence8374 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    The Specials were an early Ska band from England. Tony Hall (one of the lead singers who just passed away in the last couple of years) and two others from the group, split off to become Fun Boy Three (who had hits with Bananarama).

    • @XtheMystic244
      @XtheMystic244 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Terry Hall

    • @dalelawrence8374
      @dalelawrence8374 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@XtheMystic244 Correct. Terry, not Tony (sorry about that).

    • @seanswinton6242
      @seanswinton6242 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      That need to react to Fun Boy Three, English Beat, and from the U.S. West Coast, The Untouchables.

  • @jonahart777
    @jonahart777 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Terry Hall, legend...RIP. His version of "Sense" is a joy to behold.....The Specials are held in justified high regard in the UK....

  • @robertcrawford1791
    @robertcrawford1791 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Absolute legend of a song, and band

  • @coinneachmaclellan3121
    @coinneachmaclellan3121 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Makes me think of being in London in 1975 in Islington where there were blocks and blocks where old housing and buildings had been demolished except for a few streets of empty, grimy, red brick row houses and warehouses that you could walk through...it was a bit creepy.

  • @PedroConejo1939
    @PedroConejo1939 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Straightaway I'm glad you got the video version of this, gotta love that Vauxhall PA. The Specials were the one of the founders of 2 Tone - a brilliant time for British music. In the face of a nasty wave of racism, they represented the real kids in the Midlands. The mixture of English and Jamaican accents was part of our lives. They capture the social state perfectly with Ghost Town.
    Great live, The Specials encouraged people onto the stage but like a lot of their fellow bands, had problems with violent elements in the crowd - who were definitely _not_ part of the Mod-Ska scene. The problem was that the original skinheads were an outgrowth of the Mods and nothing like the thugs everyone knows as skinheads, but the latter thought that the Specials were in tune with their view of things (how they failed to notice the mixed band and fans is a mystery). There were some tense, blood on the floor, gigs back then. Me, I love Gangsters and Skinhead Moonstomp, not forgetting Maggie's Farm. Also, try The Selecter, another 2 Tone band that still rock the house.

  • @davidgorman994
    @davidgorman994 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    A classic song. No Doubt would occasionally drop snippets of this song into their live sets

    • @sisterdebmac
      @sisterdebmac ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Terry was in one of their videos and Gwen was in one of his. I gotta look those up. God, I love that dude.

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 ปีที่แล้ว

      No Doubt are just american MTV shit...never put them in the same sentence as 2 Tone

    • @klaxoncow
      @klaxoncow 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@chrisr5499 You might not like No Doubt and Gwen Stefani, but they did grow up listening to the ska and 2tone from the UK.
      (Indeed, Gwen tells a story about how they just had the vinyl record imports over in California, at a local record store, so she actually had no idea, for the longest time, that Madness were white. Particularly over in America where music is still suffering the segregation of the "black music charts" - kept away from the white music and white radio stations (even MTV wouldn't show black artists at first, until the record companies forced them to play Michael Jackson) - the thought that "black music" was being made by white artists, and that there were lost of bi-racial bands in the UK (such as the Specials) was just not a thought that would occur to a Californian "valley girl" as even being possible.)

    • @chrisr5499
      @chrisr5499 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Fair do's :)@@klaxoncow

  • @Guildofarcanelore
    @Guildofarcanelore ปีที่แล้ว +12

    A message to Rudi!!
    This is SKA!

  • @comeonman8191
    @comeonman8191 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This was number 1 in the UK on the week of Charles and Diana’s wedding which told you more about the UK at the time. There had been summer riots in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. It was a people’s anthem.

  • @samhainkid
    @samhainkid ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Known for their upbeat dancehall-ready tunes, this is generally viewed as The Specials' best song. It's eerie vibe goes so well with the mood and apocalyptic lyrics and really stands apart in their catalogue. So happy to see you guys dive into other genres and bands that other reactors haven't touched yet. Once you step away from the mainstream, you find whole new worlds of sounds and styles.

  • @buckrichard7690
    @buckrichard7690 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I was born in Coventry and grew up in the 80’s. The Specials and Ska in general was a massive influence at the time.

  • @gabrielmcdonnell8699
    @gabrielmcdonnell8699 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Jay and Amber, I really like the range of artists from 🇬🇧 that you guys react to. Keep it up. Thanks! And shout out to Team “A Message To Rudy”! ✌🏽

  • @russbillington6291
    @russbillington6291 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My favourite band of all time, grew up on SKA in the late 70s and 80s finally got to see them live when they got back together around 2009 or 2010..Best gig I've ever been to...RIP Terry Hall..

  • @jordanrochester5426
    @jordanrochester5426 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Good reaction to The Specials guys😀. I know how much you like Amy Winehouse Jay, so just to point out to you guys, Amy Winehouse did a live Duet with The Specials in 2009 of two of their songs (Ghost Town and You're Wondering Now). Amy Winehouse also loved The Specials that she did her own cover of (You're Wondering Now, Monkey Man and A Message To you Rudy) I loved Amy Winehouse too so I knew this might be of interest to you😊😊😊

  • @GrahamMilkdrop
    @GrahamMilkdrop ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I was born in Coventry where this band came from and grew up with lots of SKA and 2Tone music. This was a number 1 hit in the UK when I was 10 and it was pretty unique in terms of style. My personal favourite of theirs is 'Gangsters'. Nothing gets men dancing like SKA music! Check out the band Madness too if you like that kind of thing!

  • @chrino21
    @chrino21 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    THE SPECIALS!!!! “Monkey Man”, “Too Hot”, and well, EVERY SINGLE SONG on the first album is incredible!

  • @kath2934
    @kath2934 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember going to see The Specials ,Selector and Madness at the Top Rank club Sheffiled...what a night

  • @iandavis8755
    @iandavis8755 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    This song was used in the soundtrack of Snatch, as well as the soundtrack of Shaun of the Dead. It suited both movies perfectly!

  • @moominpic
    @moominpic ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Specials were from Coventry, an industrial town in the English midlands. In late 1970s- early 1980s therecwas a lot of unemployment and social upheaval, youth violence, riots etc. Coventry was a particularly rough place by all accounts.

  • @bartlettbigx
    @bartlettbigx ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I was 10 when this came out and it made a huge impression on me. It made me realise that there was a whole world of music outside pop and that music didn't always have to happy and smiley to be brilliant. Coming out as it did during Thatcher's era, it has huge significance for people of my generation in the UK. It partly explains why the recent death of Terry Hall was so keenly felt.

  • @paulgreed5248
    @paulgreed5248 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Always so great to see and hear people discovering Ska. Yes, their songs definitely carried a message but at this point in UK history, the makeup of the band was, in itself, a message!

  • @robbieorourke5534
    @robbieorourke5534 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The Ska bands were amazing in the day, the record label was 2 Tone, bands were The Selector, Specials, Madness, The Beat, Bad Manners, mostly the lads were called rude boys, wore two tone suits, Doctor Marten's and was completely mixed between Whites and West Indians, great days!!! They re-interpreted the old Jamaican reggae songs and put more of a beat into them.

  • @jonathanokeefe9783
    @jonathanokeefe9783 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    1981 - Unemployment was sky-rocketing in the UK, with whole industries shutting down. There was a prevailing sense of despair. This song captured that moment in time perfectly: a country rapidly spiralling out of control.

  • @StuartWilkie-xo7ju
    @StuartWilkie-xo7ju ปีที่แล้ว +5

    On My Radio by The Selector is another song by a Two-Tone band worth checking out

  • @billydonaldson6483
    @billydonaldson6483 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The City of Coventry where the group were located was at the heart of the car, motorcycle, tractor and aero engines etc. at one time. Countries such as Japan were building their own cars and motorcycles and built modern factories that out performed and out priced a lot British and European manufacturers which were often strike bound. Decades of underinvestment led to closures and unemployment.
    Paper Lace are another Coventry band that had a huge country music hit in the US with ‘Billy Don’t Be a Hero.’

  • @iangudgin6536
    @iangudgin6536 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    One of my all time favorite songs

  • @leedstown
    @leedstown 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The specials song Our lips are sealed is about Terry Hall relationship with Belinda Carlisle who was in the Go Go's

  • @888brancher
    @888brancher ปีที่แล้ว +8

    This was very much a song of its time, a Really Sad time for England & it’s inner cities, unemployment, bin-men strikes 3 day weeks & just the general running down of society. This song summed it all up so well. Coventry in the West Midlands of England was particularly worse off. Ty for the post & your reactions\Incite.

  • @stevemadrid6522
    @stevemadrid6522 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    THE SPECIALS!!!!! This band introduced me to ska! And I have never left! Great tune! #DontCallMeSkaFace

  • @emmahowells8334
    @emmahowells8334 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Great ive been waiting to see you react to this song, its a cool song.

  • @foxontherun6082
    @foxontherun6082 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Have seen them live a few times bck in the day simply fookin AWSOME LONG LIVE TWO TONE !!!!

  • @01thistledoo
    @01thistledoo ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Amber's definitely got an emotional intuition for music. She spots little nuances and usually understands the message

  • @OwainGlyndwr1927
    @OwainGlyndwr1927 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Specials are a Ska band. I saw the Specials at Sophie Gardens, Cardiff in 1979. Seven of us went down from the Rhondda valley valley in a mark 1 escort. Six of us packed in the car and one of the boys went in the boot.
    Great days.
    ( Wales is not England )
    we are a country.

  • @chrisbutler5975
    @chrisbutler5975 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Nice selection, I totally forgot about this song. Nice rediscovering with ya’ll.

  • @craiden4346
    @craiden4346 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Ghost town was from 1981. The specials are from my home city of Coventry, England. One of the best Ska bands ever (in my opinion).

  • @AM-yq8ht
    @AM-yq8ht 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I’m from Woodstock Ga, so I feel like you are giving me a shout out, secondly The Specials are a second wave ska band

  • @markzalubas5793
    @markzalubas5793 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Music is awesome. In the last three weeks I've seen Alicia Keys, the National Symphony Orchestra with Natalie Merchant, and The Cure (yeah, we're making up for lost time during COVID). The audiences were somewhat different. The music was different. But, what was the same was that music was bringing people together. That's what you do on your channel. You employ music to bring people together. That's a great purpose. Your channel has enriched my life and I thank you for that. I just wanted you to know.

  • @somedipshtinthecomments2507
    @somedipshtinthecomments2507 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    'Ghost Town' is a song that's deeply rooted in the recent history of the West-Midlands town of Coventry (so, the middle area of England, just east of Birmingham) and understanding that is really key to understanding the feel of the song.
    During the 1970s and 80s, right around the time of the UK Ska revival movement (of which the Specials were an important part), Coventry and many other small cities and towns throughout England were going through a period of significant economic and social decay as a result of the gradual process of de-industrialization that was taking place at the time in the UK. As a result, many towns like Coventry (where the specials, in part, originally hailed from) had become emiserated shells of thier former selves, plagued by economic hardship and social difficulties like high unemployment, sub-standard housing and significant income inequality. The song pays homage to the feeling of living in and coming from a town like Coventry at the time: a deep sense of bitter sorrow and weariness at the feeling of living in a place where 'all the clubs have been closed down' and 'Bands don't play no more (too much fightin' on the dance floor)'. None the less, the song references the bittersweet nostalgic memory of better times: 'Do you remember the good old days before Ghost Town?' and the haunted pride of living in a place that was once so vibrant, yet now is afflicted with an intense stagnation and shame.
    My Dad (who comes from Coventry himself, and actually MET the Specials outside a gig at one time) has always said to me that, although the song could refer to any such town that has experienced bad times, for him the song perfectly captured the feeling of living in and hailing from Coventry specifically, and that the themes it deals with are an important part of the identity not just of the city itself, but of the people who both live in, and hail from it, to this day. I love this song deeply and it's an affectionate part of both my own family history and regional identity and I'm so glad you got a chance to listen to and reflect on it.

  • @bobbygoromajima
    @bobbygoromajima ปีที่แล้ว +14

    I know you guys love Amy Winehouse, you should check the live stuff she did with the specials, “your wondering now” is particularly good. Nice to see some 2tone on the channel, you should do more!

    • @fayesouthall6604
      @fayesouthall6604 ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh she loved two tone and the specials. She used ska on regular album tracks too.

    • @PorkyBorky
      @PorkyBorky ปีที่แล้ว

      Here it is
      th-cam.com/video/RTJV6-zT72k/w-d-xo.html

    • @tonygorham
      @tonygorham ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Great suggestion

  • @hamsternibbler5582
    @hamsternibbler5582 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Huge hit in the UK. Two tone music at its finest, from the same stable as the Selector, Madness and the Beat.

  • @NedKelly1967
    @NedKelly1967 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Been a fan since the 70s RIP Terry. Thanks for the memories. ❤️