View source for Horace Panter

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name              = Horace Panter
| image             = Horace Panter performing in 2019.png
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = Panter in 2019
| image_size        = 
| background        = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name        = Stephen Graham Panter
| alias             = Sir Horace Gentleman
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1953|08|30|df=y}}
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}}
| origin            = [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]], England
| genre             = [[New wave music|New wave]], [[ska]], [[Rock music|rock]]
| occupation        = {{flatlist|
* Musician
* artist
* teacher
}}
| years_active      = 
| label             = 
| associated_acts   = [[The Specials]], [[General Public]], Malik & Pettite, The Tones, Box of Blues, Blues to Go, Dirt Road Band
| website           = http://www.horacepanterart.com/
}}

'''Stephen Graham "Horace" Panter''', (born 30 August 1953) also known professionally as '''Sir Horace Gentleman''', is the bassist for the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[2 Tone (music genre)|2 Tone]] [[ska]] band [[The Specials]].

==Early life==
Panter was born in [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]] and spent most of his formative years in [[Kettering]], [[Northamptonshire]] starting a one-year art course at [[Northampton College]] in 1971. In 1972, he began studying fine art at Coventry's [[Lanchester Polytechnic]] (now [[Coventry University]]).

==Music==
{{Update-section|date=July 2015}}
In his second year at Lanchester Polytechnic he met [[Jerry Dammers]] and together they formed The Specials. The band started playing in Coventry bars and clubs before releasing their first single, 'Gangsters' on their own record label (2-Tone). Following the break-up of The Specials in 1981, Panter went on to play with [[General Public]] with [[Dave Wakeling]] and [[Ranking Roger]] from the original Beat, and then with the reformed Specials in the 1990s. Panter then joined forces with [[Neol Davies]] of [[The Selecter]] to form a Blues band, Box of Blues. Today, he is a full-time member of the reformed Specials and is also in a blues combo, called 'Blues 2 Go'. He has also played with Malik & Pettite (formerly The Tones), and is in the process of getting together a ska orchestra called 'The Uptown Ska Collective' who began touring in 2014.{{update-inline|date=December 2020}}

Panter has been playing with The Dirt Road Band since 2022, although an earlier incarnation of the band briefly appeared in 2017 and played the odd gig in the Midlands. The band have recently released their debut album, ''Righteous''.

==Teaching, autobiography and art==
During the 1990s, Panter qualified as a teacher and taught art to special needs children at Corley Special School in North Warwickshire from 1998 to 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/feb/03/specials|title=School reunion|last=Arnot|first=Chris|date=3 February 2009|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref> 

He has written an autobiography, ''Ska'd for Life'', in which he described his involvement in the creation of the punk-ska hybrid that became known as '2-Tone, and described his experiences since the band's creation.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.2-tone.info/2tone.pl?display524 | title=Ska'd for Life | publisher=www.2-tone.info | access-date=8 October 2013}}</ref> 

An occupation of Panter's alongside his performing with the Specials is art. He has been a professional artist since 2010 and has exhibited throughout the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accordingtomcgee.com/gallery/horace-panter-icons-and-iconoclasm/ |title=Horace Panter |publisher=www.accordingtomcgee.com |access-date=18 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419011923/http://www.accordingtomcgee.com/gallery/horace-panter-icons-and-iconoclasm/ |archive-date=19 April 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> His work is based on traditional forms of iconography fused with the sensibilities of British [[pop art]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horacepanterart.com |title=Horace Panter Art – Icon Inspired Art |publisher=Horacepanterart.com |access-date=11 August 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110226092441/http://www.thespecials.com/ The Specials]
* [http://2-tone.info/ 2 Tone website]
* [http://www.horacepanterart.com Horacepanterart.com]

{{The Specials}}
{{General Public}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panter, Horace}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:People from Kettering]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:English rock bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Male bass guitarists]]
[[Category:The Specials members]]
[[Category:General Public members]]
[[Category:English new wave musicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Coventry University]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from Surrey]]
[[Category:English ska bass guitarists]]
[[Category:British pop artists]]
[[Category:English autobiographers]]
[[Category:Special educators]]
[[Category:21st-century British autobiographers]]
[[Category:20th-century English diarists]]
[[Category:British male bass guitarists]]


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