The Specials - Ghost Town - London 1981
Having done all their Record Covers I had a great rapport with the seven members of the Specials who were a truly exceptional Band, I was fortunate to be able to go just about anywhere with them including the making of their videos. My dear friend, the late Barney Bubbles was chosen to direct the Video for Ghost Town, their song about living in Thatcher's Britain. It was to be shot at night, with the band driving around a deserted City of London in a vintage car. We got cooperation from the Police and were able to get some of the Tunnels under the Thames to close to other traffic long enough for us to film the Band in these empty tunnels as well as other parts of the City. The filming took all night and as dawn broke we wound up on the banks of the Thames just East of Tower Bridge. The band walked to the edge of the water and started throwing stones into the river, I grabbed about three frames before they dispersed and moved away from each other. This photo really is the last one we took of the original line up, they split up after this single, Terry, Lynval and Neville formed the Fun Boy Three, Jerry Dammers continued with the Specials for one more album. But this photo also catches them at play, showing their individual characters as well as showing them as a group and serves as a fitting final tribute to this very special Band.