Ghostown is a critically acclaimed 1978 album by Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

/new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band The Radiators From Space

The Radiators From Space

The Radiators From Space are an Irish punk rock band. The band formed in 1975 in Dublin, originally under the name Greta Garbage and the Trashcans, and consisted of Philip Chevron , Pete Holidai, Steve Rapid, Jimmy Crashe and Mark Megaray. They were one of the earliest punk rock bands...

.

The Radiators from Space recorded two albums in the group's original incarnation, of which Ghostown is the second and final. Their first album was TV Tube Heart (1977). Some members of the band would regroup to release Trouble Pilgrim in 2006.

Reception

Ghostown is something of a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

, documenting the sense of social and cultural isolation felt by many Dubliners throughout the 1970s, sometimes noted as literary and "difficult", especially for a snappy record from a punk band.

The best known song from the album is probably "Song of the Faithful Departed", written by Philip Chevron, which was originally released as a B-Side but is the Radiator's song that tends to appear on overview collections such as 101 Irish Hits (from IrishMusicMail.com) or compilations that hope to be critically representative such as Dave Fanning

Dave Fanning

Dave Fanning is an Irish rock journalist, DJ, retired film critic and veteran broadcaster. He currently hosts The 11th Hour on RTÉ Two and two radio shows: Drivetime with Dave on RTÉ Radio 1 and The Dave Fanning Show on RTÉ 2fm. He also fills in for other presenters on RTÉ Radio, including acting...

's Fab 50.

In 2008 The Irish Times

The Irish Times

The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

 named Ghostown the third best Irish album of all time (jointly with I Am the Greatest by A House

A House

A House was an Irish band from the 1980s to the 1990s, recognized for the clever, "often bitter or irony laden lyrics of [frontman] Dave Couse ... bolstered by the [band's] seemingly effortless musicality". The single "Endless Art" is one of their best known charting successes. A House were managed...

), behind Loveless

Loveless (album)

Loveless is the second studio album by alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Released on 4 November 1991, Loveless was recorded over a two-year period between 1989 and 1991 in nineteen recording studios...

 by My Bloody Valentine and Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative...

 by U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

.

At the time of its release the record had also received rave reviews. The ambition and literacy of Ghostown may have, however, impacted on its popularity on the charts (although "Million Dollar Hero" was a "near hit")
and when performed live, effects amplified by its release having been delayed by about a year into 1979. Thus, the entry for Philip Chevron on The Pogues

The Pogues

The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...

 website ruefully notes that despite Ghostowns positive critical reception, "unfortunately the reviews were too late, and shortly after the release the group broke up".

Ghostown turned out not to be the final album of The Radiators. In the 2000s, mainstays Chevron and Holidai reformed the band with original founding member Steve Rapid, and new members replacing Crashe and Megary with , Johnny Bonnie, and Jesse Booth; Cait O'Riordan

Cait O'Riordan

Caitlín O'Riordan is a British musician. She played bass guitar for the British-Irish punk/folk band The Pogues from 1983 to 1986. She later played with Elvis Costello, her husband from 1986 to 2002, as well as several other projects....

 was also involved for a time. This line up has since released some EPs and the album Trouble Pilgrim.

Personnel

For Ghostown the nom de guerre of The Radiators from Space was shortened to The Radiators. The personnel of "The Radiators" on Ghostown was as follows:

• Philip Chevron: guitar, synthesizer, vocals
• Mark Megaray: bass, keyboards, vocals
• Jimmy Crashe: drums, vocals
• Pete Holidai: vocals, guitar

Main song writing duties were shared by Holidai and Chevron, but every member of the band contributed song writing to the album.

Why Were the Radiators No Longer from Space?

The shortened version of the name seems to represent the fact that founding member Steve Rapid had left the band after TV Tube Heart so that The Radiators were now a four-piece, with Chevron taking responsibility for lead vocals on Ghostown. The band had also moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, partly because they suffered fall-out following the death of an audience member at a punk festival they had organized in Dublin, so the different name for this record might represent an attempt to escape that memory.

Production

The Ghostown recording sessions in London were overseen and produced by Tony Visconti

Tony Visconti

Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...

. Visconti also provides piano, synthesizer, organ, and string arrangements. Mandolin on the song "Ballad of Kitty Rickets" is played by one "Antonio Visconti". Ruan O'Lochlainn contributes saxophone on many of the tracks. John Ryan, Stephen Rapid, and Mary Hopkins are the other guest musicians.

Cover

The cover of Ghostown is based on a still from Murnau's Nosferatu the Vampyre. A different cover would be used for the 1989 re-release of the record (a photo of the band silhouetted against the bright waters of a docklands scene), with the original again restored for later re-releases.

Track listing

Ghostown was released by Chiswick Records

Chiswick Records

Chiswick Records was a British record company. Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label" to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era"...

 in 1978 (catalogue number CWK 3003). A re-released tenth anniversary version from 1989 (catalogue WIK 85) added two extra tracks and rearranged the track order; some songs on this release have slightly shorter names (the album cover is also different). A 2005 reissue (catalogue CDWIKM 292) restored the original track listing (and cover).

All tracks produced by Tony Visconti except as noted.

1979 version

Side 1

1. "Million Dollar Hero" (3:06) (written by Pete Holidai)
2. "Let's Talk About the Weather" (4:19) (Holidai, Philip Chevron)
3. "Johnny Jukebox" (2:46) (Chevron)
4. "Confidential" (2:51) (Holidai, Chevron)
5. "They're Looting in the Town" (4:01) (Holidai, Chevron)

Side 2

1. "Who are the Strangers?" (3:13) (Holidai)
2. "Ballad of Kitty Ricketts" (3:55) (Chevron)
3. "Song of the Faithful Departed" (4:44) (Chevron)
4. "Walking Home Alone Again" (3:05) (Jimmy Crashe, Chevron)
5. "Dead the Beast, Dead the Poison" (3:25) (Crashe, Mark Megaray, Chevron)

1989 version

Side 1

1. "Johnny Jukebox"
2. "Million Dollar Hero"
3. "They're Looting in the Town"
4. "Under Clery's Clock" (Chevron) (produced by Holidai, Chevron)
5. "Confidential"
6. "Faithful Departed"

Side 2

1. "Let's Talk About the Weather"
2. "Who are the Strangers?"
3. "Kitty Ricketts"
4. "Plura Belle" (Chevron) (produced by Holidai, Chevron)
5. "Walking Home Alone Again"
6. "Dead the Beast, Dead the Poison"
   • "Under Clery's Clock" is a Chevron song which first appeared as part of a one-off concert and live mini-album in support of an AIDS charity (Dollar for Your Dreams: The Radiators Live!) in 1987.

Worldwide releases (Original LP)
GHOSTOWN (Chiswick, UK/CWK-3003) LP: Second Edition

• • Printed inner sleeve/"Pick-up Arm" labels

GHOSTOWN (Chiswick, UK/CWK-TC-3003) MC
GHOSTOWN (Mulligan, Ireland/LUN 036) LP

• • Poster Sleeve

GHOSTOWN (Mulligan, Ireland/LUN 036) LP

• • Imported UK sleeve with Mulligan Records sticker

GHOSTOWN (Metronome/Chiswick, W. Germany/0067.064) LPP

• • with Insert

GHOSTOWN (Ariola/Chiswick, Netherlands/200352) LP

• • Printed inner sleeve

GHOSTOWN (Nippon Columbia/Chiswick, Japan/YX-7241-CW) LP

• • Lyrics insert

GHOSTOWN (Polygram/Chiswick, Greece/40.003) LP

• • Printed inner sleeve