# The Specials — Ghost Town

The Specials’s Ghost Town (1981) is No. 1 in our Two-Tone ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1981
- **Label:** 2 Tone
- **On one list:** Two-Tone
- **Updated:** 2026-08-31
- **Artist:** [The Specials](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-specials/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/the-specials--ghost-town/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Two-Tone](https://waxonia.com/genre/two-tone/)

Number one while English cities were actually burning, and the band split the week it topped the chart. A haunted-house organ, a wailing horn, and the most precisely timed record in British pop.

## Analysis

8 sections, no single moment the energy jumps to, 12% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 143.6 BPM — holds throughout
- **Key:** C minor
- **Dynamic range:** 6.4 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master
- **Length:** 3:43

- `0:00` A · **intro** (bar -4), instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, other
- `0:40` B · **build** (bar 21), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:06` C · **peak** (bar 36), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:30` D · **peak** (bar 51), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:52` A · **breakdown** (bar 63), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, other
- `2:15` B · **peak** (bar 77), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `2:44` C · **peak** (bar 94), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `3:07` A · **outro** (bar 109), instrumental — the closing fall — playing: drums, bass, vocals

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Specials%20Ghost%20Town) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.