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.

[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.

[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.

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.

"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.

The whole two-tone scene took off, and the label released early singles that would end up becoming major hits for bands including Madness, the Beat and the Selecter.

[7] Dammers almost destroyed the label through 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.

Dammers finally shut down the label in 1985,[21] seven years after it was founded,[23] though the message of racial unity imparted to its many followers had a positive effect on society.

[27] He became an anti-apartheid campaigner, helping to create Artists Against Apartheid in the US, and writing the song "Free Nelson Mandela" about the jailed African National Congress leader in South Africa.

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.

They perform in elaborate Ancient Egyptian and outer space-themed costumes, and share the stage with bizarre props such as model alien heads and mummy sarcophagi.

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.

He contributed "Riot City" to the soundtrack of the Julien Temple film, Absolute Beginners, and "Brightlights" to the compilation album Jamming: A New Optimism.