The Specials: "Ghost Town"

11 June 1981

"A tune full of Eastern promise about towns going west, due to the current rate of unemployment."

— Fred Dellar

From 1979 to 1981, The Specials were the finest group in the world. They were a killer live act (and still are by all accounts). They looked like the part of the coolest people who were in the coolest band, just the sort of unit that young musicians have aspired to be a part of. The pop video was still in its infancy but they proved to be masters of cutting a sweet promo. They stood for something. Oh, and their first two albums — The Specials and More Specials (the mundane title of the latter won't do at all: it is anything but more of the same) — are brilliant, their run of hit singles is flawless and their B sides are as good as any you'll find.

Before I get to praising "Ghost Town", I'd like to discuss its pair of stellar flip sides. While the record's A side is rightly seen being the zeitgeist of early-eighties' Thatcherism, "Why" and "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" are equally potent throwbacks to that era — even though they both remain sadly relevant to this day. Being the age of the Rock Against Racism, one might have expected Specials' guitarist/singer Lynval Golding to have composed a bitterly angry treatment in opposition to the rise of the National Front and neo-Nazis; instead, "Why" is sad, as if written from the perspective of an innocent black or brown child confronted with prejudice for the first time. (The Specials themselves would record a much clearer anti-racist jab with "Racist Friend" though it is much more earnest)

The Kinks-esque character in "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" is an interesting counterpoint to "Why". There's nothing to suggest that the protagonist in this Terry Hall-penned number harbours any ill-feeling towards minorities but it does suggest that whites who feel like others have taken their jobs might want to consider making their own lives a little less dreary. White people who drink all the time to dull their senses really have no business considering others to be inferior. A sort of sequel to "Nite Klub" but with the mindless hedonism of old having given way to being resigned to just how empty his life is ("wish I had lipstick on my shirt, instead of piss stains on my shoes"). Yet, it's a song not without a sense of humour. Hall had begun to find his way as a songwriter to be reckoned with.

A duo of outstanding B sides but they're both bonuses. No one bought "Ghost Town" for anything but the A side and rightly so. As I have already mentioned, much has been made of it capturing that period of riots and strikes and the sheer misery of Thatcher's Britain but it's also a remarkable single in its own right. (Tom Ewing has made that very point much more elegantly that I ever could: "even if the grim energy of “Ghost Town” hadn’t fitted the times so well, even if the song had remained simply a lament for a scene (and a band) in breakdown, it would still be a gothic masterpiece") While I tend to prefer much more concise 7" mixes/edits of pop records, this is a very obvious exception: three-and-a-quarter minutes of running time does not do it justice; six minutes better allows for build-up and an appreciation for its unsettling atmosphere. Having more time to listen to "Ghost Town" forces the listener in to experience ghastly neighbourhoods and New Towns and streets of nothing but urban decay. The shorter version is great but only with the extended mix does the listener grasp the full scope of Jerry Dammers' vision.

Famously, The Specials imploded while "Ghost Town" was still riding the charts. Having the E.P. The Special A.K.A Live go to number one a year earlier was a feat that the Coventry septet could enjoy together; this time, however, there was a distinct lack of joy in spite of having the most popular record in the country, one that would be a near-unanimous pick for single of the year. Golding has said that he knew the band was finished while performing it on Top of the Pops. What should have been their crowning moment became a bittersweet valedictory address.

Golding, Hall and fellow Special Neville Staple were off to form Fun Boy Three, a group that would similarly go out on a high note two years later with their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Guitarist Roddy Radiation and bassist Sir Horace Gentleman would also quickly depart. Associate Special Rico Rodriguez was allegedly convinced that he shouldn't be playing in a largely white group and he and his trombone headed back to Jamaica. Keyboardist/songwriter/bandleader Dammers and drummer John Bradbury would carry on with the respectable In the Studio album and a memorable hit single "Nelson Mandela". Dammers was a well-known group dictator in the mold of Kevin Rowland but where the Dexys leader thrived in spite of sacking virtually everyone he ever played with, the series of resignations crippled the dentally-challenged one's empire. He built up a formidable group that was briefly the best in the world but it was one that had to come undone once it had reached the top. They were too good to remain together.

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Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Spellbound"

Dellar describes "Spellbound" as a winner and he's right on the mark. John McGeoch tends to hog the critical spotlight (his 12-string playing is a clear influence on Johnny Marr on The Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again") but his bandmates are right there with him. Dellar seems to reckon that Siouxsie drags things down a touch but this is a vintage performance from her and a classic example of her innate ability to take command of a song. For his part, Budgie's relentless drumming holds everything together as was typical for them. "Spellbound" is one of their finest singles and deserved a whole lot better than a routine Top 30 performance. It even deserved to be Single of the Fortnight, if only for a peak-of-powers Specials getting in their way.

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Christine" / The Stranglers: "Who Wants the World?"

12 June 1980

"Barely recognisable as the Banshees."

"After a clutch of weak singles, the Stranglers totally reverse their position, and along with the Banshees shine out as this week's single of the weekers."

— Deanne Pearson

There's none of that 'Record of the week'/'Personal record of the week' stuff going on this fortnight (though someone really ought to have informed the reviewer that she was writing for a fortnightly publication), Deanne Pearson simply has two favourites that she is unable to choose between. This time, there's also less of a divide between her choice cuts: an elegant Cole Porter standard by Ella Fitzgerald and a burst of post-punk energy from The Flowers couldn't have been more different; while there certainly is plenty separating Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Stranglers, both groups came to prominence at a similar time, achieved comparable levels of success and would probably be similarly remembered today. Fans of one may well have been into the other, even if they hardly go hand-in-hand.

Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin had been members of the famed Bromley Contingent, a noted pack of Sex Pistols fans that likely had more talent than the band they followed. While Billy Idol made a career out of this association, Sioux and Severin were quick to distance themselves from the punks. She had started off the notorious Filth and the Fury TV interview with Bill Grundy but it wasn't long after that the pair stopped attending Pistols' gigs. They had already formed a band a year earlier and had used a young John Simon Richie (aka Sid Vicious) to drum for them at their first show. She received a great deal of attention following the Grundy debacle but rather than capitalize on the notoriety, she stepped back and got to work on making The Banshees into a much better group than the one she had attached herself to.

Meanwhile, The Stranglers were being lumped into a scene that they were merely running parallel with. Drummer Jet Black was born two years before John Lennon but their reputation for being elder statesmen of punk was overstated. With both Ian Dury and Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs being in their mid-thirties, The Stranglers' drummer being over forty wasn't that out of the ordinary. A number of American punks — Patti Smith and Debbie Harry just to name two — were also past their twenties and Stranglers Hugh Cornwell and Dave Greenfield fit into that generation. Not everyone was like the nineteen-year-old Siouxsie Sioux.

Having said all that, the real reason The Stranglers never quite fit in with punk was that they weren't really punks to begin with — or, at best, they were punks in the same way that Lennon and Keith Richards were punks (ie not at all). They played aggressively, sure, but garage rock had been around since at least the mid-sixties and the only thing punk about, say, "Louis, Louis" by The Kingsman is that people commenting on YouTube videos will claim that they're the first punk (even though they weren't). They may have done well as a result of punk and the genre's rise in popularity opened doors for them that had previously been locked tightly

"Hong Kong Garden" had already been a single-of-the-year candidate back in 1978 so The Banshees were hitting their stride right from the start. Their run of singles stretching over at least the next decade is outstanding, as good as any group of their time. As Pearson suggests, "Christine" is something of a turning point, as they began exploring sounds beyond the bleak and doom-laden. The lineup of Sioux, Severin and Budgie (maybe I'm just not much of a Banshee follower but I often forget that they were just a trio; a lot of five-piece groups would have struggled to match their power and layers of sound) are synched up so well. Siouxsie's voice is confident and only she could do S&M goth rock but I do wish she could be a little more playful, not unlike the way Robert Smith is able to coyly flirt with the listener on The Cure's "The Lovecats". Groups like Strawberry Switchblade and The Belle Stars were swiftly finding a home merging post-punk wastelands with glorious pop but this was beyond the reach of Siouxie Sioux, assuming she ever even wanted it. Nevertheless, "Christine" is a fine track that takes a proud place in The Banshees' admirable discography.

While The Banshees were on a roll, The Stranglers were struggling following their superb early singles like "Peaches", "No More Heroes" and "Nice 'n' Sleazy" which all did well during punk's golden age. While younger groups (so much for their age not being an issue) were progressing, developing as songwriters, trying new things, their more recent material had begun to stagnate. "Who Wants the World?" does have some of that old energy but I'm not as convinced by it as Pearson. The Stranglers boxed themselves into a corner: they were better off when their songs were kept simple but, as a result, this often meant that their records sound incomplete. As she says, Wakefield's organ is as brilliant and distinctive as ever but the rest is lacking. A reasonable stab at their patented brand of dirtbag rock but an unmemorable one. They weren't quite ready to move on from not being punks but the near-number one success of their 1982 single "Golden Brown" would be just what they needed. It only goes to show they weren't new wavers either.

In a Smash Hits singles review that also features an appalling Sex Pistols' cover of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone", it is clear that some were having trouble letting go from the heady days of '77. Then again, post-Lydon Pistols were all about ripping people off: some of their fans may not have known what was going on but a flash-in-the-pan band was happy to exploit them. The Stranglers had never been punks, Siouxsie & The Banshees weren't any longer and the Sex Pistols were busy proving that punk was just a brand. Maybe no one was punk and no one had ever been punk: now there's a thought.

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Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Bob Marley & The Wailers: "Could You Be Loved"

I've long preferred The Wailers to Bob Marley & The Wailers: the original trio of Marley, Pet Tosh and the recently departed Bunny Wailer was a superstar unit and one in which no one individual deserved to hog the spotlight. (I have nothing against the post-Tosh/Wailer period though I resent reissues of earlier albums that use the latter credit) Now joined by Rita Marley and a bunch of people I've never heard of, it's only right that his nibs would take lion's share of the credit. His work following the Natty Dread album is inconsistent but the bulk of the singles are still pretty good. "Could You Be Loved" is one of those ones that I never need to listen to because I can always count on it winding up played in the mild of a film about backpacking the tropics or political prisoners or bloody romantic comedies since the Marley estate will allow the great man's stuff to spread as far out as possible. Punk had become a brand and the king of reggae would soon follow suit.

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Candyman"

26 February 1986 (and here)

"She sings with a lot of sex — that's what I like."

— Dave Gahan

Yes, I know. The lead singer from Depeche Mode is all about sex — my mind is blown too. All that S & M gear and songs about nasty bedroom role play and taking your clothes off. Still, at least he's keeping clear of the hard drugs...for now.

Dave Gahan has returned to review the singles, having previously done so almost two years earlier. In that time much has changed: the blond streaks have been grown out, his band has become much darker and pervier and the magazine is much glossier and its assistant editor from a year earlier is now on the cover. There are also a lot fewer singles up for consideration this time round. Where Gahan gave his thoughts on no fewer than twenty-seven brand new records back in 1984, he's only had to deal with fourteen here in '86. Then again, he seems to have much more to say here, a contrast to the brief rundowns given last time.

While he was largely unfamiliar with previous pick Cocteau Twins, he has opted for a longtime favourite this time ("I used to go and see them quite a lot when I was younger, when I was a punk rocker"). In both cases, however, he's found himself going with something pretty run-of-the-mill. In my write-up on "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops", I mention that there are better Twins numbers from around this time (including "Lorelei" which I am still shocked to discover was never a single); in Siouxsie's case it's even more apparent. "Candyman" was their thirteenth Top 40 hit and is from their seventh album so they'd been around a while. (And, you know, once a band is past their fourth or fifth album they've probably peaked creatively) In isolation, much of the material from Tinderbox seems first rate but it pales a bit alongside some of their earlier LPs. Similarly, "Candyman" is a strong enough single on its own (though not so strong that it couldn't get past number thirty-four on the charts) but doesn't really standout compared to the likes of "Hong Kong Garden", "Christine" and "Swimming Horses". This isn't to fault Gahan's taste since he had the records he had and picked what he liked and that's fair enough. It's just a pity that the best stuff isn't featured in this space. At least not yet.

But Gahan also acknowledges that they had a "formula" and it wasn't something they were about to abandon now. (You could argue that the Siouxsie-Budgie extracurricular project The Creatures was their attempt to stretch themselves out a bit) I think we tend to do mental word association with the term 'formulaic', picturing cookie-cutter pop acts, interchangeable Vegas lounge singers and Status Quo, but it may apply to even the coolest of indie groups. And why not? If you had a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice, a powerful drummer and an underrated guitarist with a sound all his own you might also want to keep dishing up the same intriguing and haunting post-punk goth rock that no one else is capable of. It's not exactly my kind of thing but I can definitely understand the appeal. Personally, though, I prefer when the formula is avoided or dispensed with. When Banshee allies The Cure began ditching goth in favour of a broader stylistic approach they came up with "The Lovecats" and "The Caterpillar" and The Top — and a poppier sound remained in much of their best work from then on. A shame Siouxie never bothered doing something similar but hats off to them for doing what they did best.

So, "Candyman" is a by-numbers Banshee track but a worthy one nonetheless. For Siouxsie to tackle the subject of child abuse is commendable and for her to do so with "a lot of sex" in her voice is particularly bold. Being a part of the "formula" this is nothing new for her but the clash with the song's subject matter is a decision not everyone would make. A year earlier The Smiths' "Suffer Little Children" had caused controversy by depicting the victims of the notorious Moors murders in a supposedly insensitive light — and Morrissey sang it in his typically glum fashion. Presumably, Siouxsie isn't recounting an actual tale of paedophilia and isn't naming anyone but her sensual voice (with childlike "na na-na, na na-na" that bring to mind Kate Bush) could easily have caused offense. It didn't and a good thing too since it was the right choice. I like to think that Siouxsie is trying to lure this disgusting loser: how about instead of going after some poor little kids you follow me and I'll show you something about sensuality. The woman who "sings with sex" really taking one for the team.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Kate Bush: "Hounds of Love"

For such an all-conquering album of the decade, the Hounds of Love album never managed to deliver the truck-load of giant hit singles that it deserved to. This, the title track, did manage to outperform its better-remembered predecessor "Cloudbusting" but even so its Top 20 placing seems disappointing. Oh well, I'm not one of those 'buy the single and the album' types so why should I retroactively lecture the punters on their consumer choices. Managing to get more out of a cello than Jeff Lynne ever did, this song sneaks up on the listener with poignant lyrics and subtle musical touches that grab one's attention and grows into an epic sound experience — and all in a very swift three minutes. Even alongside the eleven other great songs on her peerless masterpiece, "Hounds of Love" is an extraordinary work.