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.

~~~~~

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.

Prefab Sprout: "Hey Manhattan!" / Bomb the Bass: "Don't Make Me Wait"

29 June 1988

This entry is the start of an occasional series in which pop groups review the singles and fail to agree on a favourite. The results of this are mixed but Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles of The Communards prove up to the task by choosing the two best records available. This would also prove to be one of they final print appearances together. Somerville would release a pretty good solo album a year later and Coles would go on to becoming a renowned man of the cloth.

~~~~~

"People may say they're namby-pamby but I love them!"

— Richard Coles

They may deny it now but 1988 in Britain was all about loving America. People were flocking to Disneyworld and spurning France and Spain as holiday destinations. American football was growing in popularity and looked to be the next big thing. Pop stars and famous actors who would visit the UK were treated like royalty and even someone as innocuous as Sylvester Stallone's mother fawned upon on the popular talk show Wogan. American-themed restaurants were all over the country too. And if all this wasn't enough, I was subjected to the question "are you Amer-eee-can?" (emphasis on the third syllable just as they liked in Essex) wherever I went.

Rock and roll being American, it's easy to see why so many British pop stars fell for the US. Many of them live there, including some who've moaned about the UK being too American. The Rolling Stones embodied the idea of being English yet wanting to be a Yank but luckily they had Mick Jagger to send it up even as they were drowning in Americana. Others haven't had lead singers as clever. Being pro-American is one thing but losing one's Britishness is another.

America has always been at the heart of Prefab Sprout's work. Paddy McAloon's heroes are Burt Bachrach, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector so this would naturally have led him to look across the Atlantic. At first, references to the US were subtle. Their debut album Swoon includes a song about chess legend Bobby Fisher ("Cue Fanfare"), as well as opening with a puzzling number about their neighbour to the south ("Don't Sing": "don't blame Mexico"). "I Never Play Basketball Now" deals with a popular sport that the British hadn't really taken to. Their follow up album Steve McQueen had been named after the great American actor and it opened with a number "dedicated" to country crooner Faron Young (a SOTF back in 1985).

But it was on their third album From Langley Park to Memphis that America became the focal point. "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" would prove to be their biggest hit and it dealt with an aging rocker still clinging to fame due to his one novelty hit. Its subject may or may not be American (I suspect he's British which makes the whole tale even sadder) but it is loaded with references to the US. "Cars and Girls" was an undeserved flop that took the mickey out of Bruce Springsteen. And with "Hey Manhattan" (aka "Hello Manhattan" as Smash Hits erroneously has it) you've got a wide-eyed youngster who has just arrived in New York and has big plans for success — or so he thinks.

What makes this trilogy wonderful — you know, aside from them all being brilliant songs — is how distinctly British their take on America is. The British singer from the fifties with that one solitary hit probably never went to the US — or he flopped spectacularly if he did. Springsteen did much more than make records about "Cars and Girls" but that was the reputation he got lumped with, especially on the other side of the pond. NYC was this destination where dreams either came true or went to die and this is what's celebrated here. The hopeless hopeful who arrives in the States is initially "star struck, Uncle Sam" before admitting that his struggles and failure is down to "bad luck". The promise of making something of himself is dulled by the feeling that he's already being chewed and is about to be spat out by the Big Apple.

"Hey Manhattan!" gave Prefab Sprout their third Single of the Fortnight but once again it failed to connect with enough people to get it into the Top 40. It's difficult to say whether their less-than idealistic take on the American Dream kept the punters away since they'd had plenty of flops that didn't hit a similar nerve. If anything, it only reinforced the narrative that they were "too clever by half" (whatever that means) and that they were only able to capture fellow musicians and pop critics. There was already a small but loyal cult of Sprout out there and it's one that remains to this day but they couldn't quite catch on the way we all thought they deserved. Oh well, it's their loss.

~~~~~

"Ah, this is more like it. A great dance record. Fab."

— Jimmy Somerville

The singer from The Communards is none too impressed with "Hey Manhattan!" and opts instead for the second single from Bomb the Bass. A project helmed by young DJ Tim Simenon, it first came to attention in the early part of 1988 with "Beat Dis", a sampled-filled acid house single which reached number 2 on the charts. Coming in between "Pump Up the Volume" by M|A|A|R|S and "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express, it should have joined them as chart toppers but it failed to dislodge Kylie Minogue's massive "I Should Be So Lucky" from the top spot.

Being DJs, Simenon, Mark Moore, The Beatmasters and Coldcut struggled to make pop music a top priority. They had raves to appear at and they were all in demand to produce and/or remix other people's records. They didn't dream of pop stardom and didn't chase it. While Smash Hits and Top of the Pops had difficulty presenting them as performers and pinups, they in turn weren't as accessible and didn't seem aware of how to play the pop game. As a result, follow ups were slow. Not to mention the fact that for the talk of sampling being "theft", piecing together these jigsaw puzzle records proved to be tiring, thankless work. In any case, churning out the product was better left for the likes of Stock Aitken Waterman.

This review of "Don't Make Me Wait" is from the 28 June edition of Smash Hits. The single, however, wouldn't appear on the charts until just shy of two months later, debut at 20 in the last week of August. Did ver Hits get their copy too early? Did Bomb the Bass' record label Rhythm King decide to hold it back? Or were they trying to build up hype? It's impossible to say but it's more than a little odd that a "group" that was taking its time releasing records would have their hotly anticipated second single delayed.

There's another curiosity surrounding this release and that's the status of the other song. The single would eventually be released as "Megablast"/"Don't Make Me Wait" and was a double A-side. Somerville doesn't mention this other track, nor is its title printed on the singles review page. To be fair, I don't blame his nibbs from The Communards. "Don't Make Me Wait" is absolutely superb and it didn't need another tune on the flip to prop it up. A case could even be made that "Megablast" itself was more than good enough on its own and they wasted two potential Top Ten hits by throwing them onto the same record.

Being potentially viewed as "Beat Dis, Part 2" may have made those concerned cool towards "Megablast" so I suppose the more pop friendly "Don't Make Me Wait" had the upside of being something different and unexpected. That said, the former also had a radically different version with British rapper Merlin (who introduces it by asking "who's in the house?" which will crop up when he guested with The Beatmasters the following year) which could also have had single potential of its own. Nevertheless, the single version of "Megablast" is extraordinary and could have been the single of the year had it got the notice it deserved. It is an absolutely thrilling record with all the samples placed with care

Though I do prefer "Megablast" there's no arguing with "Don't Make Me Wait" either and the two could very well be the finest double A-side cut by anyone since The Beatles. With Lorraine McIntosh (not to be confused with the singer from Deacon Blue) on vocals, it has the appearance of a pop song but this can't disguise the devastating sounds within. Simenon would go off the rails slightly with the follow up — a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Say a Little Prayer" — but this once he found a balance between sample-heavy house and dance-pop. Somerville wants nothing more than to dance to it but it's also a great pop song that can be appreciated by those of us who have no interest in doing so. Though they were slow to take to the pop world, the house DJ's of the time proved more than capable of bringing the clubs and the raves into our homes.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

The Special AKA featuring Ndonda Khuze & Jonas Gwengwe: "Free Nelson Mandela"

A well-intentioned remake to mark Nelson Mandela's seventieth birthday but one that doesn't come close to the original "Nelson Mandela" from four years' earlier. There are some good ideas present and Jerry Dammers was right to bring in some African vocalists for this re-recording but it doesn't work. He may have been better off handing everything over to a crack group of singers and musicians from Africa to see what they could make of it. There's also a too-obvious attempt at keeping things current with some house music that just doesn't fit. The excitement of the original is nowhere to be found here but hopefully it still played well at the Mandela Tribute concert that summer.

Propaganda: "Dr. Mabuse"

15 March 1984

"It's all about "selling your soul" with lots of Germanic voices sounding mysterious over a Kraftwerk-style driving rhythm."

— Peter Martin

“...and that’s why I always say, the real authoritarians are now on the left.”

“Well, you’ve certainly shown me where the new fascists are. Alain Tremblay, thank you for joining us today, we really hope to see you again soon.”

“It’s always a pleasure, Kurt. Take care.”

The transmission ended. Kurt glanced off just to the left of the camera to Danielle, his Canadian girlfriend and producer. She smiled sweetly at him. She always had a warm smile waiting for him at the end of every show, even the odd time when he managed to screw up an interview.

“How was I?”

“Good. Really Good. I really think you’re getting the whole ‘make it look like you’re undecided and impartial’ thing we talked about.”

“Thanks.” Kurt was relieved to hear it. He kept hearing, and not just from the usual critics and trolls that dunked on him at every opportunity, that he was too quick to eat out of the palms of his guests. “Wanna get a coffee?”

“Let’s just have one here,” Danielle said, “we got a production meeting in fifteen minutes.”

“Do you really need me for it?”

“Kurt, one meeting a week won’t kill you. Anyway, it won’t take long.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and poured himself a cup of coffee. He typically got a high from finishing a taped interview but meetings nullified them. He went to the office he and Danielle shared to wait. Sitting down, he pulled out his phone and contemplated looking up his social media feeds but he wasn’t sure if Alice, his assistant, had already filtered out the negative comments. Instead, he played a game of cribbage on his tablet. He was about to skunk his opponent when everyone else came in for the meeting.

“I really think we should consider having him on,” Matti said to Danielle who clearly wasn’t listening.

“Matti,” said Alice, shaking her head, “not now.”

Kurt had some idea of who Matti was alluding to but he ignored it. It didn’t bother him unless he heard someone say his name. Or saw it written down. Or had it texted or tweeted at him.

“So,” Danielle began, “Kurt and I have some ideas for the show.” He seldom contributed much to these meetings, happy to have her do the talking. It always annoyed him at his previous jobs how no one would listen to him or how everyone would interrupt him or how, at best, they’d end up twisting every half-decent idea he ever had. Even though he was now the boss, he suspected that his employees would be every bit as dismissive of him. His silence, he reckoned, commanded respect. Danielle spoke for the two of them and they held the balance of power.

Danielle began reading notes and giving orders to Alice and Matti, the show’s new production coordinator. Kurt, doing everything he could to look like he was paying attention, sat with a serious look on his face, nodding along with whatever his partner happened to be saying and looking in the eyes of his staff.

“What time will Dr. Mabuse be coming, Danielle?” Alice enquired. Kurt’s eyes lit up. He didn’t know Mabuse was planning to visit.

“Soon,” Danielle replied. She cleared her throat and resumed. Kurt tried not to appear thrown by the news. He didn’t think the expression on his face changed but he suspected that Matti, sitting across from him, could tell that something was up. He took a sip of coffee and relaxed a bit. He liked Dr. Mabuse. They'd been on each other's shows and had gone for dinner a few times but it bothered Kurt that this was the first he'd heard of him visiting. Also, he couldn't quite relax and be himself in his presence.

"Alice, fetch me the dossier of the men's rights group that requested to appear on the show," Danielle order. "Matti, go see if the film crew is finished for the day."

"Why didn't you tell me Mabuse is coming?" Kurt whispered. They were now alone but he didn't want to chance anyone overhearing his loud voice.

"He called while you were interviewing Tremblay. He was attending meetings in Dusseldorf and decided to swing by."

Kurt nodded. He was always the last to know about Mabuse's visits. This made him even more uneasy and he was already intimidated by him. Libertarianism, free markets, conservative values, anti-political correctness, anti-progressivism: he wasn't sure how much he believed in all these but he knew Mabuse kept the faith. He lived and breathed it all - and he could sniff out a faker and a chancer. Someone who was just in it for the money and the celebrity and the status. Someone like Kurt.

"I'm gonna go to a cafe for a bit. Text me when Mabuse shows up."

~~~~~

Kurt sat at a table in his favourite cafe just a couple blocks from the studio. He thought about his time with Progress Now!, a left-wing media organization for whom he'd previously worked before going independent. They were all about labour rights and trans rights and minority rights and rights for damn-near everyone. He recalled being convinced by it all in a way he didn't feel about the stuff he was peddling now. It was stuff he vaguely believed in. He'd never been especially political and only ever marched in one protest when there had been talk that the German government might join that ridiculous war in Iraq. But he was pro-rights and the guys that ran Progress Now! got him to go along with their ideas.

But now he was an ally of the right. He supported free speech and didn't have much time for people who were trying to suppress and he disliked political correctness but he didn't feel the same passion for these topics that he had when he was on the left. He knew this grift was potentially lucrative but he also knew that he had to be a true believer. He started off by claiming to still be of the left but wanting to change some of its more poisonous aspects. Then he began claiming that he hadn't left the left at all, the left had left him. The more he made up excuses, the less convinced he was by it all.

Not long after going independent, he was contacted by representatives of Dr. Ernst Mabuse, head of Germany's leading right-wing think tank. He was excited to meet with him and thrilled to be offered a partnership. His show, The Centre Field with Kurt Waldheim, would receive funding from Mabuse, who, in exchange, would choose certain guests to be interviewed. Danielle, always more sympathetic to right wing causes than Kurt, jumped at the chance to be part of such a show. For his part, Kurt was simply dazzled by the numbers that Mabuse dangled. They signed up immediately.

The show remained much the same for a while. Some of the guests Mabuse had picked out were people Danielle had already been trying to book so having his name and checkbook at their disposal made it all the easier. Kurt was always a pretty good interviewer, offering up friendly chit-chat with the occasional hard-hitting question to prove his bona fides. Fearing that he might have to change up his style, he was relieved to discover that his new partner just wanted him to keep doing what he was doing. The topics remained the same, there was far less hassle getting guests to come on, it was all easy. A shame he had this guilt nagging away at him but he could usually block it out by thinking of the money they were raking in, the new studio that he and Danielle were having built and the plaudits he was getting from people who mattered.

mabuses here.c u my love

Kurt didn't bother replying.

~~~~~

"So, here's the man I've been waiting for!" 

"Dr. Mabuse! How are you?"

"Very well. I have some excellent new guests lined up for you. I've already given them to your new assistant." Matti held up a Manila file, his face unwilling to hide a fake smile.

"That's great! Thank you so much."

"Not a problem. Listen, I was hoping we could have a word in private."

"Sure." He looked at Danielle, who he thought might look put out by such a snub but she simply nodded in encouragement. He suspected something was up since they always went to meetings together. "Let's go to my office."

Kurt sat down at his desk. Mabuse had that friendly smile on his face that always left him feeling uneasy. He felt like he was in trouble at school or that his dad was angry with him.

"I'm enjoying the show. You're treating my hand-picked guests well, only challenging them on trivial matters and letting them get their points across. And Danielle's managing to find other guests who I didn't even know about. But the time has come for you to start showing how much you've changed. You gotta cut the stuff about being open to legalizing drugs and abortion and marriage equality and atheism. Our audience has heard you say all that a number of times and it worked for a while. It showed that a well-spoken young man from a progressive background could engage with the other side. But you have to begin to be more like your guests and our audience. You have to start showing them how far you've come. You gotta become a conservative."

~~~~~

Danielle and Kurt went out for dinner that night and they talked about everything but the show and Dr. Mabuse. He figured that she must have already known what was coming down since she didn't ask him about how the meeting went. They went home and Danielle turned on the computer so she could communicate with a pair of potential guests in the United States. Kurt turned on the TV but quickly grew bored. He pulled out his phone and contemplated looking at his Twitter account.

Alice had Kurt's Twitter but she only monitored it during work hours or if she got a special request from Danielle. He had several notifications. Though many were positive, he kept noticing a common thread to several others:

Debate ______ ________, you fucking coward!

Baby Kurt Waldheim is hiding from ______ ________!

Free speech fraud Kurt Waldheim won't have ______ ________ on his show: hypocrite!

That was the name. The name he couldn't handle. The guy who dunks on him at every opportunity on his lousy show. 

He thought about Mabuse. Mabuse was good to him, he gave him an opportunity, he helped him advance. Mabuse was a friend. And these online goons want him to interview a jerk who belittles everything he says?

"Yeah, the real authoritarians are on the left," he said, shutting down his mobile. He had to get started on some new material.

~~~~~

Also of some cop

The Special AKA: "Nelson Mandela"

AKA The Specials with AKA "Free Nelson Mandela". It's a testament to this single's power to raise awareness that Martin felt the need to explain who its title character is ("...a black, South African political prisoner") with an added featurette in the same issue's Bitz section to provide more info — it's easy to forget that the man wasn't always the cause célèbre that he would soon become. Their run of unbeatable hit records must have seemed a long way off by this time but this is a brief return to form with some tight playing and a zippy tune to instantly sing along with. Martin likes it enough but doesn't see it getting much of a chance over the wireless. Happily, his prediction was wrong and the infectious chorus got them their first Top Ten hit in nearly three years which then led to the formation of Artists Against Apartheid, demonstrations and concerts, the gradual acceptance of sanctions against South Africa on the part of Western democracies and the eventual release of one Nelson Mandela. Well done, Jerry Dammers!