Dammers was a Mod in the 1960s, then became a hippie, before becoming a skinhead. To me, Dammers was the Lennon and McCartney of ska, one of the most important voices of the postpunk movement, a man who always appeared to be carrying his generation's hopes and dreams on his. An appreciation by Jerry Dammers, founder of The Specials and 2 Tone records. With all the original members, too, strangely apart from the drummer, who had no doubt died in a bizarre gardening accident in what the rest of the band at the time thought was a misguided, if not completely unfunny, homage to Spinal Tap. Our extremely brief romance resulted in the song Our Lips Are Sealed, which will forever tie us together in music history. It was easier for her to stand back, aghast. The founding member of the 1970s ska group, who will not be part of their 30th anniversary shows, released a statement claiming the band are trying to "rewrite history". The South African government said his award was for writing the 1984 hit and his. Founder of Two-Tone Records and core member of The Specials. He has hours of material in the can, as he says, but needs time to get it into shape. He wanted to do one date, in (the bands native) Coventry, in front of 30,000 people, at the football stadium [The Ricoh Arena], added Hall. The fact that it became popular when it did was just a weird coincidence. Yes, there was a royal wedding, in sharp juxtaposition to inner-city decay, a wedding that would produce a genuine royal superstar, yet the riots the worst for a century would resonate throughout the country for years. A notable recording artist, Jerry Dammers is a pioneer and keyboardist who has been dynamic in the melodic world for over forty years. At its last concert in Berlin the orchestra, containing some of the cream of Britain's jazz players, had expanded the scope of its repertoire. Please enjoy your records. Recording simply in mono really helped the instruments balance themselves." Just over 30 years ago, in March 1984, Jerry Dammers released Free Nelson Mandela with his band the Special AKA, and this straightforward, cheerful but angry demand for the release of South Africa's most celebrated political prisoner became a top 10 hit in the UK, a bestseller across Europe and a no 1 in New Zealand. They would turn out to be temporal, but they left their mark in the same way The Clash did, or The Undertones, by connecting. Urban deprivation for us was a backdrop to a new world, one in which we knew we were going to have to fend for ourselves. I saw the reformed Specials support Blur at their gig in Hyde park in 2012 and the band looked like a bunch of fiftysomething cab drivers and sounded like the musical equivalent of a Sunday morning football match. Even though the polices stop and search powers were about to be curtailed by a government who could see that they werent working, many in the force had become almost institutionalised, especially in their attitudes towards black youth. Youth unemployment was rife as the country felt the bite of Thatchers cuts and riots were erupting all over the country, riots that appeared, with eerie synchronicity, at the same time as Ghost Town. He taught me so much about what a proper musician is supposed . All of a sudden the country appeared to be spiralling into an endless cycle of violence, framing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the villain. It felt as though everyone had been shipped out to the country, as the city shimmered with silence. One policeman said it looked like World War III. Brads drumming was the powerhouse behind the Specials, and it was seen as a key part to the 2 Tone sound. Everywhere there was tension. Having no safety net meant we encouraged each other to be more entrepreneurial than perhaps we would have been otherwise, although none of us were the kind of people who would have pursued jobs for life. This was urban decay writ large, accompanied by a kick drum and a muted horn. Man behind song that became an anti-apartheid anthem to receive award for outstanding work benefiting the country, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Jerry Dammers said the award was a 'fantastic honour'. He went on to find happiness with second wife, director Lindy Heymann, and their son Orson, eight. Jerry Dammers. Scroll Down and find everything about the Jerry Dammers you need to know, latest relationships update, Family and how qualified he is. The shots of the band in the car were achieved by attaching a camera to the bonnet using a rubber sucker: Panter recalled that at one point the camera fell off (briefly seen in the finished video at 1:18) and scratched the car's paintwork, to the displeasure of the car's owner. The 1981 riots happened just a quarter of a mile from where I lived in The Oval, while the 1985 riot happened right outside my front door. Refrigerators, dryers, you name it, said one observer. I even saw one lady hold up a piece of carpet and ask if anyone knew whether it was 6ft by 4ft.. Discover Jerry Dammers's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person. Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers, (born 22 May 1955) is a British musician who is a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A. Their first, a live recording of Too Much Too Young, was essentially The Sex Pistols Bodies gone ska, but the intervening year saw The Specials ditch that punky-reggae template. Jerry Dammers has come out swinging with scathing allegations that the Specials reunion is "a takeover, rather than a proper reunion," claiming he's been kicked out of the . The riots were more than a collection of urban disturbances, they were a media flashpoint that drew international attention to the huge rift in ideologies between the left and the right in the country, as well as the gap between perception and reality in terms of how the government were coping with the economy. Simple Minds. Free Nelson Mandela feat. Anything for cash. The 1980s riots were devoured so much by the international media that the burning oil drum became as much a part of modern British iconography as the white suits in the 1981 television adaptation of Evelyn Waughs Brideshead Revisited and for a while seemed to appear in any film about the British underclass, surrounded by a gang of Rada-trained professional cockneys and a smattering of generic gangsters, drug dealers and punky fishnets molls. The record does not so much end as lose the will to go on, sinking back into the fog. [17] The original Ghost Town car can be seen (and sat in) at the Coventry Music Museum. The genesis of the song started back in 1980, after Dammers had witnessed the St Pauls riots in Bristol. No noise. Originally, the lead part was done on Jerry's guide organ before the flute was dropped in on the brass track. Voted single of the year in 1981 by NME, Melody Maker and Sounds, Ghost Town topped the UK charts for three weeks and sold more than one million copies. The look, which Dammers described as "defiant, Jamaican and hard", infiltrated all 2-Tone artwork, from sleeves to posters, T-shirts to badges. And it wasnt quiet, so much as mute. It was like another country. At one point a double decker bus found itself weaving into the rioters; its conductor was quickly assaulted, its driver dismissed and, having been commandeered, was then driven at speed right into the police line. Apr 09 2010. The area soon went back to normal, although the fact that there were even more boarded-up windows in the market and along the high street just made you think that whatever forms of gentrification were taking place, Brixton was never going to get any better as, every time it did, there would always be those who would find a way to destroy it (most of whom lived there). She gives the civil servants hell, said one observer soon after she became prime minister. I had already barricaded our own front door with various pieces of random furniture, although this was largely to try to appease my girlfriend, as I knew that any concerted push from the other side would have caused them to come tumbling down the corridor as the door flew open. The riots themselves felt contemporary and weirdly particular. Jerry Dammers will be playing a DJ set from his unrivalled collection of library music records,later in the night will be showcasing a new composition recorded by Jerry accompanying the paintings of Turner Prize-nominated Coventry artist George Shaw. In the end I spent most of the day there, doing emails, making more video calls and mostly cancelling things. As news of the attack spread, so hostilities began and the police lost control of the area for two days, during which time dozens of fires were started and shops looted, photojournalist David Hodge died a few days later, after a gang of looters he was trying to photograph attacked and beat him. I wanted the drums in mono on one track, the bass in mono on another and the rhythm that shuffle organ and Lynval's DI'd guitar on another. He was butchered to death. More importantly, it was heard in South Africa where it was banned but became an anthem in the fight against apartheid. The record companies were happy to leave two-tones problems behind.. Ghost Town. As the Economist pointed out at the time, this was largely due to black flight. Dud Thud. Founder of 2 Tone Records. Jerry Dammers will be given the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo, at a ceremony in Pretoria on Sunday. You got to free. She writes these brusque, caustic notes accusing them of woolly thinking and they are absolutely terrified of her. The cabinet were terrified too, as her treatment of her colleagues was appalling. I think he hid that a bit in his statement. The ska . 10 of the best GQ-approved first watches money can buy, Mushroom coffee is the latest obsession in the great shroom boom, How to really get rid of those forehead wrinkles, NFL star Efe Obada's fitness diary: Your mindset is everything it's your windshield, Simone Rocha is the incumbent Cool Guy brand, The 2023 GQ Food & Drink Awards shortlist, 37 clothing essentials for every mans wardrobe, The alternative guide to travelling in Europe this year, Print copies & Digital access for only 1. We went clubbing together, spent a few memorable New Years Eves in Bristol (where his parents were from), spent birthdays together and once DJd together at a miners benefit at the Wag Club in 1983 (he played politically correct funk while I played right-of-centre disco). Jerry Dammers attended King Henry VIII School, Coventry. London, Clapham Common. Thank you Jerry Dammers for bringing this to the world. Bradbury joined The Specials in 1979, and continued with The Special AKA. My thoughts are with all his family.. No sound. Born May 22, 1955 Add or change photo on IMDbPro Add to list More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Known for Mystery Men 6.1 Soundtrack ("Gangsters") 1999 [25], "17 rock-reggae crossovers that work and three that don't", "Ghost Town: The song that defined an era turns 30", "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981", The Specials: How Ghost Town defined an era, "Ghost Town - The Specials | Listen, Appearances, Song Review", "The Specials 'Ghost Town' Classic Tracks", "Ghost Town/Why?/Friday Night Saturday Morning", "The Specials' 'Ghost Town' Finds New Life Amid U.K. Lockdown", "2 Tone Records - Ghost Town - CHS TT12 17", "2 Tone Records - Ghost Town (revisited) - CHS TT30", "Specials, The / Special Productions - Ghost Town Revisited (Vinyl) at Discogs", The Irish Charts Search Results Ghost Town", A page about the single on a 2 Tone Records fansite, An interview about the song with John Collins, the producer, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ghost_Town_(The_Specials_song)&oldid=1137864343, "Ghost Dub '91" (credited to 'Special Productions'), "Ghost Dub '91 (Version)" (credited to 'Special Productions'), This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 20:58. It's hard to express how sad I feel about the death of Rico Rodriguez yesterday. Well, I had to put a piece of tissue under my chin because sweat was dripping off my face due to it being so scary one mistake and that would have been it! "What made 2-Tone different to everything else at that time was that Jerry directed all the visuals," confirms Storey. Some thought this was progress, although what was rarely advertised in the Sunday Times Home section was the fact that most of these new developments were nothing less than gated communities. The band announced the news of Bradburys death via Twitter earlier today [December 29, 2015]. He ran off with it, but then as soon as he passed an off licence, he stopped, turned around and then threw it through the window. I said free Nelson Mandela. [5][6][7] It was the 12th-best-selling single in the UK in 1981. I was thinking about Jerry Dammers recently. I told him, philately will get you nowhere!" The writer: Ghost Town was written by Jerry Dammers. - Jerry Dammers/The Specials (1984) It was a simple song that packed a mighty punch, a masterstroke of music and politics, wrapped up in four glorious minutes of ska-infused beats from the pen of Jerry Dammers, of the UK group The Specials. There was frustration about two-tone falling apart. When Mrs Thatcher first arrived in Downing Street in 1979, there were many who thought she would become as much a prisoner of the Whitehall machine as her predecessor, Edward Heath, yet she quickly used abrasiveness to slap down the mandarins. At the time, as far as music was concerned, there was nothing quite so au courant as nostalgia. was sampled in. Although the exact cause remains unclear, in early April, a riot erupted, involving nearly 2,000 people. 'Ghost Town' wasn't a free-for-all jam session. Its quite spooky walking about at night. Jerry Dammers experimented with lounge-noir on their second album, causing intra-band friction. I knew Dammers extremely well for about five years in the 1980s. The aural landscape is so vast that each member sounds disconnected from the next, says Dorian Lynskey, in his history of protest songs, 33 Revolutions Per Minute. Jerry Dammers has paid tribute to John Bradbury, the drummer with The Specials, who has died aged 62. . Racial tension was high, as the Afro-Caribbean community felt victimised. He also suggested the two-handed shuffle rhythm played by Dammers on the Hammond organ throughout the song. But it's important to remember that I did what any decent person would do in my position. Wrong!'"[4]. Jerry Dammers was born on 22 May 1955 in Ootacamund, India. The looters concentrated on the electrical shops, on the ghetto blasters, television sets and radios. Around the same time, if you had been reading the small ads in the arts pages of your favourite national newspaper, you would have seen that revival tours were all the rage. The worst were in Brixton, on 10-12 April. As I walked south, I may as well have been self-isolating, because I was completely, completely alone. I'm begging you, free Nelson Mandela. Cars blazing, people running everywhere, while another said it was like Beirut, not London. His initial music influences were 60's . 10th December 2008. Riot City. Jerry Dammers is a singer and pioneer songwriter of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials or The Spatial AKA Orchestra. Musician and arranger Delia Derbyshire, who died in 2001 and musician Ray King were also honoured with plaques. The founder of The Specials and 2 Tone, Jerry Dammers, has moved his Spatial AKA Orchestra on some way from its beginnings as a tribute to maverick jazz musician Sun Ra. He also founded 2 Tone Records. In 2002 Dammers told The Guardian, "You travelled from town to town and what was happening was terrible. [8], The tour for the group's More Specials album in late 1980 had been a fraught experience: already tired from a long touring schedule and with several band members at odds with keyboardist and band leader Jerry Dammers over his decision to incorporate "muzak" keyboard sounds on the album, several of the gigs descended into audience violence. Cryptic, droll, a heart of gold, and he could tackle like a donkey! A little more give and take and a few more people skills, it could have definitely worked out better.. View the profiles of people named Jerry Dammers. The Special AKA perform Racist Friend. "[10] The club referred to in the song was the Locarno (run by the Mecca Leisure Group and later renamed Tiffanys), a regular haunt of Neville Staple and Lynval Golding,[3] and which is also named as the club in "Friday Night, Saturday Morning", one of the songs on the B-side. I would regularly hitch up to Coventry to sit in sullen working mens clubs with him and his extraordinary circle of friends and acquaintances, discussing socialism (we differed), the provenance of Prince Buster and the validity of Heaven 17. The January 2016 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK featuring Paul Weller, David Bowie, Best Of 2015, Roger Waters, Father John Misty, Pere Ubu, Robert Forster, Natalie Prass, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Sunn O))), Jonny Greenwood, Arthur Lee & Love, Neil Young, Janis Joplin and more. It even felt like a riot, or rather how a riot felt just before it kicked off, or maybe just after it, when all the dust had settled. It was last seen in British general . Its strange times.. What many forgot about the peace process in Northern Ireland was that it was as much to do with prosperity as political and sectarian will. I spent the years between 1981 and 1987 knocking about in South London, living in various housing association flats in Brixton, Peckham, Herne Hill and The Oval. Evoking themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for being a hit at the same time as riots were occurring in British cities. . Dammers, who is not touring as part of the band's 30th anniversary shows, has issued . Internal tensions within the band were also coming to a head when the single was being recorded, resulting in the song being the last single recorded by the original seven members of the group before splitting up. Sites: jerrydammers.com, Wikipedia In Groups: Jerry Dammers' Spatial A.K.A Orchestra, Starvation, The Coventry Automatics, The Special AKA, The Specials, Tone Productions, Visionistics Variations: Viewing All | Jerry Dammers The ghost town is theirs to haunt., When I think about Ghost Town I think about Coventry, said the bands drummer, John Bradbury, who grew up in the city. Odd jobs were essential to supplement what you got from the government: film extra work, a spot of photography, retail conference stewarding, modelling for friends who couldnt find anyone else. Member of The Specials Buy. Why The Specials' Jerry Dammers was the Lennon and McCartney of ska, Why Swing Out Sister's Kaleidoscope World is an overlooked classic worth revisiting in 2020, Why Miles Davis' Bitches Brew is such an extraordinary record. The Specials ' founder Jerry Dammers has revealed to Uncut that he recorded new Specials material with original members Horace Painter and Lynval Golding in 2003. The Specials & 2 Tone Records founder Jerry Dammers, who didn't take part in band's reunion, wrote, "Terrys death is very shocking, horrible and tragic news," continuing, "Terry was so young and I feel very sad. We were watching a live TV broadcast of the Brixton riots and saw this bloke smash a camera shop window and grab the biggest camera he could find, which looked like a Nikon with a motor drive, says my friend Chris Sullivan, the former owner of the Wag Club. They were gigs, after all. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. To achieve the effect he wanted, Collins utilised a kit-built Transcendent 2000 synthesiser to create a "ghost" sound, which he used to fade in and out at the beginning and end of the track.[12][13]. The first thing I felt was guilt, being outside when I probably should have been indoors, but as I was completely alone this was a pretty futile emotion. Since the song had no proper beginning or ending during recording at Woodbine Street, Collins recreated the idea of fading in over a sound effect, which he had used previously on "Lift Off", the B-side of "At the Club". The Specials singer Terry Hall has denied the claims of founding member Jerry Dammers that he was kicked out of the band ahead of their forthcoming reunion. Lord Richard Attenborough, Director of Cry Freedom, Lord Neil Kinnock and music promoter Jerry Dammers writer of song "Free Nelson Mandela". [12][13] Following further conversations with Dammers, Collins travelled up from his home in London to meet the Specials at their rehearsal studio and agreed to produce their new single. Nineteen-eighty-one was a desperate year in the UK. His father (Horace) became Dean of Bristol Cathedral. Once and for all. I spoke to him for this article a few days ago and he is as disconcerted by the current crisis as all of us. Jerry Dammers. The kaleidoscopic Ghost Town didnt offer balm for a world-weary pop-culture; rather it was a political exhortation. Terrible news to hear this. The song was as much about the dissolution of the band as much as deindustrialisation and the toxicity of the streets. The buyer recently posted a note on The Specials community page looking for some further proof on the authenticity of the instrument he now owns. The Specials without Dammers were like The Doors without Jim Morrison, Queen without Freddie Mercury, or Morecambe & Wise without Morecambe or, er, Wise. [12] The studio, which consisted of a recording space in the cellar and a control room in the living room, was too small to accommodate all the members of the band, so rather than their normal recording method of playing all together, Collins recorded each band member playing one at a time and built up the songs track by track. To escape crime and to buy bigger houses and to get their children into better schools, they fled to suburbia, specifically to the areas on the outskirts of South East London. Dammers's politics dovetailed with his musical aspirations. I saw it develop from a boom town, my family doing very well, through to the collapse of the industry and the bottom falling out of family life. He was highly intelligent, had a very mischievous sense of humour which could be very funny, and he played the drums with an incredible amount of energy which was a very important part of the Specials sound and live shows. It is with deep regret that we say goodbye to our great friend, the world's greatest drummer, our beloved Brad. Jerry Dammers attended Coventry's King Henry VIII School. Unemployment was heading for three million and it was a very worrying time., It wasnt a surprise when it went to No1 most things two-tone became hits, said Pauline Black, the lead singer of fellow 2 Tone band, The Selector. 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