Jerry Dammers, founding member of the recently reunited Specials, has refuted claims that he was invited to join his bandmates.
The keyboard player has issued a statement after singer Terry Hall recently said that "the door remains open" to Dammers, who is the only member not taking part in the 30th anniversary tour next year.
The statement reads: "Jerry has a duty to inform anybody who may be interested of the true situation, which is that he was not invited to take part in this proposed tour, or even told about it.
"He also has to say that claims that 'the door is still open' to him fail to mention that Jerry has been driven out every time he has attempted to get involved over the last year. He also wonders why this appears in the newspaper when former bandmates have his phone number?
"Attempts to imply that any proposed tour has Jerry's 'blessing', at this stage, are also highly misleading. These seem to be part of a wider attempt to rewrite the whole history of the band, in order to try and justify what is currently going on.
"Jerry does not wish to go into too much detail at this point, except to say that for over 25 years he had dreamed that his former bandmates might come back one day, and was deeply shocked to find that when they did, for some of them, it was apparently to kick him out.
"A meeting was called to which Jerry was not invited. Jerry turned up anyway and played the music he had started recording, and suggested starting serious rehearsals, but was subjected to a severe dressing down from people who had barely spoken to him in 25 years.
"Apart from the recording, Jerry wanted to try and aim for a proper reunion and 30th anniversary celebration, including [performing] the best part of both Specials albums, 'The Ghost Town' EP and a small amount of new material, in proper concerts, in venues worthy of the band's status and legacy.
"Jerry sees this whole thing as a takeover, rather than a proper reunion... At the moment this is not the proud reunion and 30th anniversary celebration Jerry had hoped for."
The Specials recently announced the following dates:
APRIL
22 Newcastle Academy
23 Sheffield Academy
25 Birmingham Academy
26 Birmingham Academy
28 Glasgow Academy
MAY
3 Manchester Apollo
6 London Brixton Academy
7 London Brixton Academy
For ticket availability, check here.
The Specials Official Site
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