麻豆约拍

Punk was a short-lived musical phenomenon (if you discount all the bands that claim to have kept its spirit alive since 1978) quickly outgrowing its three-chord strictures and beautifully morphing into a host of other new genres and sub-genres. One of these emerged from the West Midlands, taking an anti-establishment attitude and melding it with multi-ethnicity, sharp suits (with attendant pork pie hats) and the rocksteady beats of ska (a precursor to reggae) to produce 2-Tone.

Like many of the acts featured on The People鈥檚 Songs, The Specials 鈥� the band who masterminded this ska revival 鈥� were heavily politicised: their material addressing the weighty topics of the time that were affecting Britain鈥檚 youth. Teenage pregnancy (鈥楾oo Much Too Young鈥�), inner city violence and racism (鈥榃hy鈥�) and urban deprivation (鈥楥oncrete Jungle鈥�) all made appearances along with some deeply catchy singles. Yet none encapsulated the sense of seemingly endless decline that gripped the country at the end of the 鈥�70s like 鈥楪host Town鈥�.

By 1981 Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 divisive Tory government had been in power for two years. The previous summer had seen rioting in Brixton and Bristol. By 鈥�81 the rioting had spread to 35 locations across the nation, and when bandleader and keyboardist Jerry Dammers saw elderly women selling their possessions on the Glasgow streets he knew that 鈥渟omething was very, very wrong鈥�. After 10 days in a small studio in Leamington Spa 鈥楪host Town鈥� was born.

Filled with eerie diminished chords and ghostly wailing the song merely hints at the full political turmoil that was polarising the UK at the time, but mere mentions of night clubs closing down and 鈥榥o jobs to be found in this country鈥� instantly connected to young people, not just from Coventry but across the whole nation. Has a grimmer ode to post-industrial decay ever reached number one?

鈥楪host Town鈥� proved to be the band鈥檚 last massive hit, but in their hometown of Coventry it won them a fair amount of ill feeling for writing off the once bustling hub of a motor industry as a town in terminal decline.