Home / Arts and Entertainment / Ghost Town Bass Fetches Over £11,000
Ghost Town Bass Fetches Over £11,000
11 Mar
Summary
- A 1971 blue Fender Precision bass guitar was sold for £11,376.
- The instrument was used by Horace Panter for The Specials' hit 'Ghost Town'.
- The bass was previously bought for a few hundred pounds.
A 1971 blue Fender Precision bass guitar, integral to The Specials' iconic 1981 hit 'Ghost Town,' recently sold for £11,376 at Gardiner Houlgate auctions. This instrument, played by Horace Panter during the recording of the single, represented a remarkable return on investment for its previous owner, who had purchased it for a mere few hundred pounds from a music shop.
'Ghost Town' achieved significant chart success, reigning at number one in the UK for three weeks and spending 11 weeks within the Top 40. Panter continued to use this bass after The Specials disbanded in 1981, employing it with the new wave supergroup General Public, which saw success in the US in 1984 with their track 'Tenderness.' Auctioneers had anticipated strong interest, noting the bass's connection to a culturally significant song reflecting a period of social unrest in Britain.
