A musical legacy or a refusal to live in the present?

The revelation that The Specials’ Ghost Town has been chosen as the best song out of Coventry has caused something akin to outrage in the Harris Lamb office this week…

The Belgrade Theatre launched a campaign to find the favourite song performed by Coventry and Warwickshire artists to help launch its new musical Godiva Rocks, which opens next month and celebrates the city’s musical history.

The public were asked to vote for their favourite from a choice of 34 top ten hits, and Ghost Town proved top of the pops.
But Coventrian David Walton, our Head of Retail, has taken it very personally.
“This song relates to a period of depression in the 1970s, and while it’s a catchy tune it doesn’t stand the test of time to reflect the high street and the growing population in the City today.
But Jerry Dammers, a founding member of The Specials and writer of Ghost Town is the first to acknowledge that, saying: “Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Ghost Town as the best record to come from Coventry. I really do appreciate that, it means a lot to me.
“It’s a shame it had to come from the bad situation of unemployment all over the UK and let’s hope we don’t return to that situation again.”
Thank goodness Away From Here by The Enemy didn’t come out on top. Who knows how David would have taken it?!
Image: iStock by Getty Images/gldburger
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