Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers[1]GCOT (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band the Specials (also known as the Special A.K.A.) and later the Spatial AKA Orchestra. Through his foundation of the record label Two Tone, his work blending political lyrics and punk with Jamaican music, and his incorporation of 1960s retro clothing, Dammers is a pivotal figure of the ska revival. He has also been acknowledged in his work for racial unity.
He left India at the age of 2, first living in Sheffield, then moving to Coventry at the age of 10. His initial music influences were '60s bands like the Who, the Small Faces and the Kinks, which made him want to be in a band, and he was also influenced by soul music.[3]
Dammers was a young mod in the 1960s while at school[4] then became a hippie, before becoming a skinhead.[5] Dammers decided at the age of 10 he was going to have a band, and spent his teenage years learning music and writing songs. He played in a range of bands, from reggae punk, to country and western.[4] Dammers had been a member of the Cissy Stone Soul Band, however he could not get them to play any of his work.[6] He studied art at Coventry's Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University), where he met Horace Panter.[5] Frustrated at only doing covers, Dammers was asked to leave the Cissy Stone Soul band, and then played keyboards with Hard Top 22, a reggae band that had many members that would later become the Selecter.[6]
While at a gig in his teens, someone threw a pint glass at his face, knocking out his two front teeth, which he never had repaired.[citation needed]
The Specials
Dammers was one of the founding members of ska revivalist band the Specials. Previous to the Specials, Dammers had played with Neol Davies and other reggae musicians who would later form the Selecter. He had written songs in his teens, and his idea in forming the Specials was that it would combine reggae and punk.[7] He formed the band, initially called the Coventry Automatics, with vocalist Tim Strickland, guitarist/vocalist Lynval Golding, drummer Silverton Hutchinson, and bassist Horace Panter in 1977. He then asked Terry Hall to join. Hall was doing vocals with Squad and Roddy Radiation, both of whom were part of the local Coventry punk scene.[2] Dammers has said that anti-racism was a key element of the band, and the Rock Against Racism movement was formed at the same time. He also saw the Specials as an opportunity to integrate white and black people through the same music, and he picked members to make the band multi-racial.[8] Until this time, white British people mainly played rock, blues and jazz; black British people played reggae, jazz, and soul. The Specials was an opportunity to have black and white people in the same band, something unusual at the time, through playing ska.[2]
GQ editor Dylan Jones noted that the Specials differed from other ska bands at the time because of Dammers’ political messages in the Specials' lyrics.[9] After talking their way onto a tour with the Clash, then a better-known group, Dammers pushed the Specials to adopt the mod/rude boy fashion sub-culture,[7] and this look was copied by fans of the band.
They released their eponymous first album, The Specials, which was successful, and then their second album, More Specials, which was less so.
After some issues with Roddy Radiation not being able to play,[10] Neville Staple, Terry Hall and Lynval Golding at this point left the band to form Fun Boy Three.
The Special AKA and "Free Nelson Mandela"
The band changed its lineup and rebadged as the Special AKA, releasing another album and the single "Free Nelson Mandela". Dammers then dissolved the band. "Free Nelson Mandela" had a role in the downfall of apartheid, as it raised awareness of the issue, and became an anthem of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.[11][12]The Guardian referred to it as "one of the most effective protest songs in history."[11]
Dammers had at times attempted to re-join the re-formed Specials, but in 2008 he stated that things had not worked out, and his attempts were not welcome.[13]
Two Tone Records
He founded 2 Tone Records,[14][15][16] as a ska version of the Motown label,[17] the main label that kick started the ska revival of the late 1970s/1980s. Dammers got graphic artists to do specific art for the label, including the iconic man in the suit graphic, which was based on a photo of reggae musician Peter Tosh.[15][18][19] The label was a sub-label of Chrysalis Records, but still independent. The era saw a lot of racism, and Two Tone Records was a bulwark against that, celebrating racial unity and combating the rise of the National Front. The whole two-tone scene took off, and the label released early singles for bands that would end up becoming major hits, including Madness, the Beat and the Selecter. The Selecter left the label, and Dammers strayed from the ska influence to bring jazz influences, most particularly on the album More Specials[19] However, by 1984 the Special AKA were the main artist on the label, and Dammers was the only original member left.[7] Dammers almost destroyed the label under the cost of the release of the Special AKA album, but was saved when the single "Free Nelson Mandela" became huge internationally, while also bringing enough light onto apartheid that it was a factor in the end of the regime.[19][20] He got into a lot of debt,[21] and towards the end of the label he had to stop recording because of funds. Dammers finally shut down the label in 1985,[20] seven years after it was founded,[22] though the message of racial unity imparted to its many followers was a positive effect on society.[21]
Dammers' founding of Two Tone Records, which launched Madness, the Specials, the Bodysnatchers, the Beat and the Selecter among others, his push for the punk ska cross genre of music that the Specials had played, and his suggestions for the adoption of retro 1960s mod/rude boy clothes were a key element in starting the ska revival of the late 1970s[23][24][25] and the two tone ska/punk sound specifically.[26]
In 2006, Dammers started his new band, the Spatial AKA Orchestra, playing his own compositions and tributes to Sun Ra and other experimental jazz artists. The band generally features up to 20 musicians on stage, with Dammers asking various people to join, including established jazz musicians Zoe Rahman, Larry Stabbins and Denys Baptiste. They perform in elaborate Ancient Egyptian and outer space-themed costumes, and share the stage with bizarre props such as model alien heads and mummysarcophagi. Trombonist Rico Rodriguez also featured in a number of shows.[citation needed] The band plays new material, as well as some of Dammers' Specials songs.[28]
Work with other artists and solo work
In November 2006, Dammers was awarded an honorary degree from Coventry University, celebrating by DJing at the launch party of the Coventry branch of the Love Music Hate Racism organisation. In the same month, he attended a private viewing of a Harry Pye curated art exhibition in east London that featured paintings of bands and singers that had once been championed by the late BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Dammers read out a four-page poem, in which he thanked Peel for helping his own band, and for supporting black musicians.[citation needed]
Carl Barât of the Libertines included a Dammers composition, "Too Much Too Young", on his personal compilation album Under the Influence. Pete Doherty, former member of the Libertines, namechecked "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" on Down in Albion, the first Babyshambles album. The song "Merry Go Round" contains the lyrics "He says, 'What I like most about you, Pete/Is your girlfriend and your shoes.'" Those who have recorded a song written by Dammers include Tricky ("Ghost Town"), the Prodigy ("Ghost Town") and Elvis Costello ("What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend").
Dammers still regularly DJs in English nightclubs.
Awards
Dammers has been recognised widely by his peers and music critics for his role in making ska music popular in the 1980s, his creation of ska/punk fusion, and for his role in race relations and the anti apartheid movement. Mojo magazine referred to him as "The Ska Punk Wizard",[29] while the Clash's lead singer, Joe Strummer, referred to him as the Tzar of Ska. GQ magazine referred to Dammers as the Paul McCartney/John Lennon of Ska.[9]
Dammers has received a number of awards for his services to anti apartheid/human rights and music:
The South African Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo in silver award, a national honour, for his role in the anti-apartheid movement (received In April 2014, Dammers received). "It feels fantastic. It is a real honour to be considered for this, especially when I compare what little I did to the work of those who sacrificed their lives, I am humbled," he said.[30][31]
Radio 1 DJ Award, for his work with Two Tone Records and the Specials (1979)
"Solitary Tower" (3:50) – on Monsterism Night (CD, Lo Editions LOCD-22, 2009)[36]
"Free Nelson Mandela" (with Simple Minds) – on Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (VHS/Secam, CMV Enterprises 49011, 1989)[37]
Related Research Articles
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
Madness are an English ska and pop band from Camden Town, north London, who formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s two-tone ska revival, they continue to perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up. Madness's most successful period was from 1980 to 1986, when the band's songs spent a total of 214 weeks on the UK Singles Chart.
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. The band wore mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits ". Their music combines the danceable rhythms of ska and rocksteady with the energy and attitude of punk. Lyrically, their work presented overt political and social commentary.
More Specials is the second album by English ska band the Specials, released by 2 Tone Records in September 1980. After the success of the band's debut album, band member Jerry Dammers assumed the role as the band's leader and stirred them into expanding their 2 Tone sound into other genres of music, most prominently a lounge music and easy listening style inspired by Muzak. Several band members disagreed with Dammers' vision and brought their own influences to the album, including from northern soul and rockabilly, contributing to an eclectic sound palette. The relations between band members continued to sour into the album's accompanying tour and most of the band departed in 1981.
Two-tone or 2 tone, also known as ska-rock and ska revival, is a genre of British popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s that fused traditional Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae music with elements of punk rock and new wave music. Its name derives from 2 Tone Records, a record label founded in 1979 by Jerry Dammers of the Specials, and references a desire to transcend and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher-era Britain: many two-tone groups, such as the Specials, the Selecter and the Beat, featured a mix of black, white, and multiracial people.
Terence Edward Hall was a British musician who came to prominence as the lead singer of the 2-tone band the Specials, and later recorded with groups such as Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and Vegas.
Neville Eugenton Staple, sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, the pop group Fun Boy Three, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also performed with Ranking Roger in the supergroup Special Beat.
The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
Cecil Bustamente Campbell, known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary music and created a legacy of work that would be drawn upon later by reggae and ska artists.
The Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band the Specials. Released on 19 October 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2 Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene. Produced by Elvis Costello, the album captures the disaffection and anger felt by the youth of the UK's "concrete jungle"—a phrase borrowed from Bob Marley's 1973 album Catch a Fire—used to describe the grim, violent inner cities of 1970s Britain. The album features a mixture of original material and several covers of classic Jamaican ska tracks.
Horace Panter also known as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the British 2 Tone ska band The Specials.
2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records.
"Ghost Town" is a song by the British two-tone band the Specials, released on 12 June 1981. The song spent three weeks at number one and 11 weeks in total in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
Too Much Pressure is the debut studio album by English 2 tone ska revival band the Selecter. After the band's official formation in 1979 in Coventry, following the release of a song entitled "The Selecter" by an unofficial incarnation of the band, the band's hit single "On My Radio" prompted their labels 2 Tone and Chrysalis to ask the band to record their debut album. Working with producer Errol Ross, the Selecter recorded the album at Horizon Studios over two months. The album contains original material, mostly composed by band founder and guitarist Neol Davies, as well as numerous ska and reggae cover versions, in a similar fashion to the Specials' debut album.
Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The Specials and Rico Rodriguez. He also collaborated with bands such as Madness, Eurythmics, Fun Boy Three, XTC, Level 42 and The Pogues. In addition to a range of horns, Cuthell also plays bass, keyboards and percussion and is a composer and arranger.
"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by British musician Jerry Dammers, and performed by the band the Special A.K.A. with a lead vocal by Stan Campbell. It was first released on the single "Nelson Mandela"/"Break Down the Door" in 1984.
John "Brad" Bradbury was an English drummer and record producer. He is best known for having been the drummer in the English ska group the Specials.
Rhoda Dakar is a British singer and musician, best known as the lead singer of The Bodysnatchers, who were signed to the 2 Tone record label. She also worked with The Specials/Special AKA, and also other 2-Tone artists.
"The Boiler" is a single by Rhoda Dakar with The Special AKA. It was released in January 1982 on 2 Tone Records.
Reggae punk is a genre of music originating in England in the late-1970s. It is characterized by a fusion of reggae music with punk rock. The genre originated amongst punk rock artists who mixed in reggae elements into their punk rock sound. The most notable band to do this was the Clash, having done so on many records. They even covered reggae songs such as Toots and the Maytals' "Pressure Drop", released as the B-side to "English Civil War", both from 1978's Give 'Em Enough Rope. Bob Marley also gave a nod to this genre by writing and recording "Punky Reggae Party" in 1977.
↑ Reynolds, Simon (February 2006). "Chapter 14: Ghost Dance: 2-Tone and the ska resurrection". Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984 (paperback) (USed.). Penguin Books. ISBN1-4295-2667-X. But Dammers held out for a label deal, for 2-tone as an entity, and got one from Chrysalis. The alliance between the major label and the Coventry independent required Chrysalis to fund the recording of fifteen 2-tone singles a year and release at least ten.
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