Formed in 1976, this UK punk group comprised Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies (b. Chris Miller, 30 July 1957, Surrey, England; drums), Brian James (b. Brian Robertson, England; guitar) and Dave Vanian (b. David Letts, England; vocals). Scabies and James had previously played in the unwieldy punk ensemble London SS and, joined by Sensible, a veteran of early formations of Johnny Moped, they backed Nick Kent's Subterraneans. The Damned emerged in May 1976 and two months later they were supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club. After appearing at the celebrated Mont de Marsan punk fesiival in August, they were signed to StifF Records one month later. In October they released what is generally regarded as the first UK punk single, 'New Rose', which was backed by a frantic Version of the Beatles' 'Help'. Apart from being dismissed äs a Support act during the Sex Pistols' ill-fated Anarohy tour, they then released UK punk's first album, Damned Damned Damned, produced by Nick Löwe. The work was typical of the period, füll of short, sharp songs played at tremendous velocity, which served to mask a high level of musical ability (some critics, unable to believe the speed of the band, wrongly accused them of having speeded up the Studio tapes). During April 1977 they became the first UK punk group to tour the USA. By the summer of that year, they recruited a second guitarist, Lu Edmunds; soon afterwards, drummer Rat Scabies quit. A temporary replacement, Dave Berk (ex-Johnny Moped), deputized until the recruitment of London percussionist Jon Moss. In November their second album, Music For Pleasure, produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, was mauled by the critics, and worse followed when they were dropped from Stiffs roster. Increasingly dismissed for their lack of earnestness and love of pantomime, they lost heart and split in early 1978. The members went in various directions: Sensible joined the Softies, Moss and Edmunds formed the Edge, Vanian teamed up with Doctors Of Madness and James founded Tanz Der Youth. The second part of the Damned story reopened one year later when Sensible, Vanian and Scabies formed the Doomed. In November 1978 they became legally entitled to use the name Damned and, joined by ex-Saints bass player Algy Ward, they opened this new phase of their career with their first Top 20 single, the storming 'Love Song'. Minor hits followed, including the equally visceral 'Smash It Up' and the more sober but still affecting 'I Just Can't Be Happy Today'. Both were included on Machine Gun Etiquette, one of the finest documents of any band of this generation, äs the group again became a formidable concert attraction. When Ward left to join Tank he was replaced by Paul Gray from Eddie And The Hot Rods. The group continued to scrape the lower regions of the chart during the next year, while Captain Sensible simultaneously signed a solo con-tract with A&M Records. To everyone's surprise, not least his own, he zoomed to number l with a novel revival of 'Happy Talk', which outsold every previous Damned release. Although he stuck with the group for two more years, he finally left in August 1984 due to the friction his parallel career was causing. However, during that tinie the Damned remained firmly on form. The Black Album was an ambitious progression, while singles such äs 'White Rabbit' (a cover of Jefferson Airplane's psyche-delic classic) and 'History Of The World' revealed a band whose abilities were still well above the vast majority of their peers. Strawherries announced a more pop-orien-tated direction, but one accommodated with aplomb. With Sensible gone, a third phase in the group's career ushered in Roman Jugg (guitar, keyboards), who had already been playing on tour for two years, and new member Bryn Merrick (bass), joining the core duo of Scabies and Vanian. Subsequent releases now pandered to a more determined assault on the charts. In 1986 they enjoyed their biggest ever hit with a cover Version of Barry Ryan's 'Eloise' (UK number 3). Another 60s pas-tiche, this time a rather pedestrian reading of Love's 'Alone Again Or', gave them a further minor UK hit. However, the authenticity of the Damned's discography from here on in is open to question, while their back-cat-alogue proved ripe for exploitation by all manner of com-pilations and poorly produced live albums, to muddy further the picture of a genuinely great band. Phantasmagoria and, more particularly, the lacklustre Anything failed to add anything of note to that legacy. The band continue to tour into the 90s, sometimes with Sensible and lately without Scabies, and there are numerous side projects to entertain aficionados, but it is unlikely that the Damned will ever match their early 80s phase.
Copyright © 2004 Dennis Vihar. All Rights
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Date: 06. Jan 05