"Ghost Town" is a song by American rock band

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American Rock music, rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, ...

, released in 1988 as the third single from their tenth studio album '' Lap of Luxury''. It was written by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. War ...

and guitarist

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...

, and produced by

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

. The song reached number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Ghost Town" dated back to 1981 when Nielsen recorded a demo of the song during sessions for the band's ''One on One'' album. The song remained undeveloped until the sessions for ''Lap of Luxury'' when Warren added some contributions to the finished song.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by

Nick Morris Nick Morris is a British film maker better known for directing music videos in the 1980's. Career Nick Morris began writing and making amateur films at school, one of which was shown at the NFT. His professional career began in the 1980s with m ...

and produced by Fiona O'Mahoney. It achieved heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' commented, "What starts off sounding like vintage ELO develops into a yearning plea highlighted by Zander's vocal." '' Cash Box'' listed the single as one of their "feature picks" during November 1988. They stated, "A fine bit of writing by Nielsen and Warren, delivered with gusto by Zander on lead vocals. Cheap Trick is one of the most underrated bands ever." In a review of ''Lap of Luxury'', '' Spin'' noted the "great vocal arrangements" and a "George Harrison soundalike guitar solo". Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described the song as a "grandly romantic power ballad".

Track listing

7-inch single #"Ghost Town" - 4:02 #"Wrong Side of Love" - 3:59 7-inch single (US promo) #"Ghost Town" - 4:02 #"Ghost Town" - 4:02 12-inch single (US promo) #"Ghost Town" - 4:02 #"Don't Be Cruel" - 3:08 #"Wrong Side of Love" - 3:59 CD single (US promo) #"Ghost Town" - 4:02

Personnel

Cheap Trick *

Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...

- lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

- lead guitar, backing vocals *

Tom Petersson Thomas John Peterson, better known as Tom Petersson, is an American musician who is best known for being the bass guitar player for the rock band Cheap Trick. Career Before joining Cheap Trick, Petersson played in a number of bands, including t ...

- bass, backing vocals * Bun E. Carlos - drums, percussion Production *

- producer * Phil Kaffel - engineer, mixer * Jim Champagne, Bernard Frings, Mike Tacci, Bob Vogt, Toby Wright - second engineers

Charts

References

{{authority control 1988 songs 1988 singles Cheap Trick songs Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Richie Zito Songs written by Rick Nielsen Songs written by Diane Warren Epic Records singles