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Imani Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 1909
Location: Bradford
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Post subject: Horace Dammers |
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AKA Jerry's father... has a fascinating biography. A potted version can be found on Wiki. The following is a section.
'He was born in Great Yarmouth, on 10 July 1921 to a family of Hanoverian origin; his great-grandfather was Adjutant-General to King George V of Hanover. Dammers was educated at Malvern (where he was given the name 'Horace' in reference to his countryman's ruddy complexion) and Pembroke College, Cambridge.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Dammers
Today is Jerry's birthday, which coincidentally he shares with Sun Ra and Dennis Bovell. |
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Posted:
Fri May 22, 2020 6:30 am |
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Harry Too Hot
Joined: 03 Jan 2009 Posts: 1802
Location: London
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Happy 65th to Jerry!  _________________ I got one art O'level it did nothing for me |
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Posted:
Fri May 22, 2020 7:53 am |
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salmongang Ska Face

Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 62
Location: ghost town
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY!!! You're sorely missed in the current incarnation of your group!!! |
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Posted:
Fri May 22, 2020 9:26 pm |
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marigold Too Hot

Joined: 16 May 2010 Posts: 3301
Location: washington. d. c.
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Posted:
Fri May 22, 2020 9:40 pm |
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done donald Ska Face


Joined: 11 Jul 2009 Posts: 204
Location: Culmore
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Post subject: Re: Horace Dammers |
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Also shares his birthday with George Best...
Today is Jerry's birthday, which coincidentally he shares with Sun Ra and Dennis Bovell.[/quote] _________________ It’s A Wonderful Life. It’s a wonderful film, but the more I watch it the more I want Potter to succeed. Not least when that lot up the road come out into the street every New Year’s Eve, drunk on Ptolemy’s hock, hugging each other and going “Hee-haw, hee-haw”… |
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Posted:
Sat May 23, 2020 12:16 am |
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Imani Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 1909
Location: Bradford
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Yes, Dammers Sr. was a maverick in his own right, and it's obvious now there's a 'like father, like son' thing going on in terms of the work they've done in two very different fields. |
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Posted:
Sat May 23, 2020 6:25 am |
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Imani Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 1909
Location: Bradford
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Post subject: Re: Horace Dammers |
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done donald wrote: |
Also shares his birthday with George Best...
Today is Jerry's birthday, which coincidentally he shares with Sun Ra and Dennis Bovell. |
[/quote]
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Posted:
Sat May 23, 2020 6:26 am |
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Imani Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 1909
Location: Bradford
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As I recall, Jerry was always very reticent about speaking of his past during the Specials' heyday, and if you read about Joe Strummer's family background, it's similar in terms of being more privileged than the 'average Joe'. At the very least it was played down.
I can only guess this was because it wouldn't have fit in with their respective bands' rude boy/punk/working class rebel image. Saying that, some of Jerry's youth definitely did fit the mold. |
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Posted:
Sat May 23, 2020 8:06 am |
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Imani Too Hot
Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 1909
Location: Bradford
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Some of this may be familiar to anyone who may have read very early interviews, or was a member of the 2 Tone Fan Club back in 80-82, Willo's book etc. Or 'Hoolies: True Stories of Britain's Biggest Street Battles' by Garry Bushell, which has a very good section dealing with the birth of 2 Tone. Here's an excerpt:
'Dammers grew up in the Midlands, where his teenage years were turbulent. He rebelled repeatedly against his parents' expectations and their restrictive respectability. At 13 he was a mod. At 15 he'd run away to join a hippy commune. At 16 he was a skinhead. And at 16 he was drinking and vandalising heavily, smashing phone boxes, booting in shop windows and tearing the aerials off cars: dumb, bog-standard, bored teen excesses. Jerry's antisocial activities came to an abrupt halt only after he'd been dragged before a beak and fined £250 for kicking in the roof of a family motor [while the family was still in the car!] Scared of 'prison next time', he calmed down and directed his energies into music.' |
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Posted:
Sun May 24, 2020 11:25 am |
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