Until the bitter end: The story of Daily Terror and Pedder Teumer

vbdgfhbdfh

Few readers, aside from fans of old-school European punk, will have heard of Daily Terror. Yet in the 1980s they were an important West German punk group – and later, they arguably became the best skinhead band the country ever produced, even if Böhse Onkelz were more popular.

Truth be told, it’s hard for me to be objective, because the matter is to some extent personal. I’m Polish but spent part of my upbringing in Germany. Daily Terror were the first Oi band I saw live as a young teenager. They were playing on stage in front of me when I kissed a girl for the first time… Many years later, when I learned that their vocalist Pedder Teumer had died from complications linked to lung cancer, I smoked my last ever cigarette that same day.

To write about Daily Terror means to write about Pedder, who pulled the band into the skinhead scene and was its sole consistent member. As we will see, he later distanced himself from certain aspects of his skinhead years. Did he feel regret? Or was it just that times had changed and he wanted a quiet career in the punk music industry?

I’ll try to approach the matter in my usual way: firstly, no censorship – unlike most anti-fascists, I don’t believe that suppressing speech is the best means to counter bad ideas. Secondly, no self-censorship: I’ll tell you as honestly as possible what I make of it all.

Finally, I should add that this account isn’t meant to be the ‘definitive’ Daily Terror story. I didn’t know Pedder personally. What you’re reading here is what I’ve pieced together from memory and from various sources, and I’ve tried to put everything in context. If I got something wrong, or if you think that I have misrepresented Pedder, be my guest and let me know.

I would like to dedicate this series to Pedder’s daughter Charley, who contacted us when the first few parts were originally published.

Part 1 – The punk years 1979-83

Part 2 – Transformation

Part 3 – Emotion, toughness, alcohol

Part 4 – On a forelorn mission

Part 5 – Playing with fire

Part 6 – A turning point 

Part 7 – Till the bitter end – coming soon!

Text: Matt Crombieboy

pedder-1980
Pedder Teumer (right) at the Bambule squat in Braunschweig, early 1980s

by Categories: Music, Skinhead historyTags: , , , , , , 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “Until the bitter end: The story of Daily Terror and Pedder Teumer”

  1. Pingback: Daily Terror part 2: transformation – creases like knives

  3. I listen to OI for 30 years.I never meet someone who called them an Oi or Skinhead Band.The Punks i know loved them and the were not much into Oi”.

    Also this Palestinian thing is common sense in the Leftwing Scene,the most are against Israel and Pro Palestine because of the propaganda.

    Like

    Reply

  4. Pingback: Daily Terror live in 1984 video – Creases Like Knives

  5. Pingback: Podcast RC#106 | Terror Diario – Condenado Fanzine

  7. Thanks for finding and publishing the original text. For me, as a “fashion punk,” Daily Terror represented the original form of angry young men’s music.
    Pedder had incredible charisma, and I saw him as a kind of “leader” of the punks, since he worked behind the scenes with several bands. I was lucky enough to see Daily Terror live twice in Hamburg. To avoid military service, the band then “fled” to Berlin. Pedder even wrote me a long letter once, shortly after his daughter was born.
    Unfortunately, my sister sold the Daily Terror and other punk records, including the letter, at a flea market just as I was emigrating to Namibia.
    Sunny greetings from Namibia, Carsten Möhle

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment