Episode 431: Modcast #431: Jerry Dammers' Bootcamp

In 1980 musical currents were steeped in punk, post-punk, power
pop, and new wave. The Specials were riding high off the success
of their debut album, and founder Jerry Dammers pushed the band
to immediately record a follow-up, More Specials. But rather than
continue the DIY punked up ska and reggae they had mastered on
their first LP Dammers pushed for doing something entirely
different, something new and contrary to the popular sounds of
the era. In an interview in mid-1980 Dammers said: "It's time for
2-Tone bands to begin getting experimental. Some of the
home-grown ska has started to become a cliche. We've got to start
all over again." So he drove The Specials in hard left turn
creating an album of easy listening, exotica, lounge music. And
young mods like yours truly ate it up. [Updated June 2025. For
more modern exotica check out Modcast #582: Modxotica.]

We didn't realize we were cutting our teeth on lounge music and
that it was training us up for the coming cocktail revolution of
the 1990s. There's no doubt that Jerry Dammers trained mods to
like lounge, exotica, tiki and other incredibly strange music
that we embraced decades later. So who are the people Jerry
really trained? Who are the graduates of Jerry Dammers' Bootcamp?
DJ Ken from The Shingles joins me in highlighting a few of
Dammers contemporaries and his musical progeny.

As always find a complete track list over on the modcast homepage
at
http://www.mistersuave.com/2019/07/modcast-431-jerry-dammers-bootcamp.html


And keep up with me between modcasts:
Twitter -  @mistersuave
Facebook - facebook.com/modmodworld
Subscribe - iTunes
Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. Mod friendly music mixes since
2006.