The Damned
The curtain fell quickly soon after the band took to the small stage at The Nashville club that night back in 1976, following an offensive burst of something that could hardly be described as popular music - intensely loud guitars, screeching vocals, thundering drums - all played at breathtaking speeds.
The audience, there that night to see the band Salt, clucked their approval at the group's dismissal. Who was this upstart band? Who did they think they were, trying to upset a music scene that nightly recognised Elton John and Eric Clapton as being the top of the pops? Good riddance.
And then, from behind the curtain, came the band's bass drum ... launched into the deserving crowd of decaying hippies, overturning their tables and smashing their greasy pints of beer. An uproar ensued.
And the legend of The Damned was born.
Long after The Sex Pistols buckled under the puppet strings of Malcom McLaren and The Clash grew tired of singing the day's headlines, The Damned continue to this day to embody the punk ethic - the ability for a group of individuals, whether talented or not (again, preferably the latter), to grab a guitar, cop a microphone and some drums, and get up on stage and play - anything. And although they have been shunned at times by the recording industry, The Damned have built a rabidly loyal fan base over the past 25 years that continues to pack concert halls and clubs more than a decade after the band released their last legitimate studio album.
This History of The Damned is one of phenomenal success and bitter disappointment, drunken debauchery and dogged determination. As with all great epics, it began during a period of turmoil and upheaval, when things had to change.
In the mid-1970's, British popular culture was exhausted. Rapidly deteriorating economic and social conditions were begining to erode the big yellow smiley face of pop music. In London, groups of young, likeminded musicians were getting together in bars and clube to forge a sound they would call their own, a sound reflective of the explosive energy of hopeless youth.
It was within this pretematural goo that Chris Millar (soon to be known as Rat Scabies), Ray Burns (later christened Captain Sensible), Brian James and David Vanian (nee Letts) joined together to create a band that would play, as James described it, "chaos music."
The music, crude, exhilerating and raw, and influenced by such American acts as The MC5, Iggy and the Stooges and The New York Dolls, was unlike anything being performed in London at the time.
The Damned, so named by Brian James after a 1969 movie about pre-Nazi Germany, was actually the second time the Captain, Dave and Rat had worked together. They originally participated in a band that never moved beyond the practice stage, without making any live performances or recordings.
This "proto-Damned" featured Chryssie Hynde (soon to front The Pretenders) and a second singer, the white haired Dave Zero, who subsequently disappeared into the sands of time. As the prospects for this unnamed band grew dimmer and dimmer, the three quit the group and went off with Brian to launch a new band.
The first band to breakout of this scene were The Sex Pistols in late 1975, and with whom The Damned performed their first gig on January 6th, 1976.
Although the Pistols would go on to garner the lion's share of publicity surrounding this new thing called "punk rock", The Damned quickly differentiated themselves as a band of distinct individuals; the mysterious vocalist Dave Vanian, the dark and restless guitarist Brian James, the completely over the top Captain Sensible on bass and the irrepressibly destuctive Rat Scabies on drums. Even more importantly, The damned would prove that they could actually play music - well - and that they refused to wallow in the grim portrayals of society that other bands favored.
And the early Nashville performance, with its amazing flying drum kit, was just one sign of things to come.
Following their first few performances, The Damned performed at several emerging punk festivals in Britain and France, to growing acclaim from music critics and growing disdain from popular press.
It was during one of these early music performances that The Damned earned the unwanted and undeserved reputation from the British popular press as being a particularly violent band when one of their fans lost an eye from a glass thrown during one of their sets (John Lydon, in his book "Rotten", would later finger Sid Vicious as the perpetrator).
This event and the subsequent press coverage began to attract a perticularly violent element to punk concerts, including The Damned's, and furthered the growing controversy surrounding punk rock. As Brian james would later say, "That's chaos for the wrong reasons. Our gigs were like kindergarten chaos. It was lovely."
The first attempt to capture The Damned's unique form of chaos was the album "Damned, Damned, Damned", produced by Nick "Cruel To Be Kind" Lowe on an eight track recording deck over a period of ten days.
The first single off the album, "New Rose", clocked in at an amazing two minutes, and would go down in history as the first punk single. Most of the other songs on the albun, save for the brooding "Feel The Pain", are vintage punk rock - amazinglyfast, full of abrupt chord changes, pounding drums, and caustic lyrics. Needless to say, the album became an instant classic and strengthened The Damned's postition at the forefront of the burgeoning punk movement.
Around the time of "Damned, Damned, Damned", the group joined The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Heartbreakers on the infamous Anarchy Tour. A general lack of money and the recurring fact that the Pistols were banned at practically every performance while The Damned were not led to tension between the band's management. The Damned soon left the tour and went on to headline concerts of their own.
In April 1977, The Damned embarked on a tour of the United States. Although this tour was little more than a few dates in New York and California, The Damned achieved a milestone of sorts, becoming the first UK punk band to tour the States. It was during these tours in America and Europe that the group ferfected its legendary onstage performances.
The Captain became widely known for showing up at concerts wearing anything from women's clothing to nothing at all while Dave was busy perfecting his onstage persona - part Bela Lugosi, part Noseferatu - and Rat found endless fascination with setting his drumkit on fire often with explosive results.
It was also during this period that The Damned became synonymous with the much reviled act of "gobbing" - spitting between concert goers and the band. While Rat swore that the Sex Pistol's Steve Jones was as much to blame as The Damned for gobbing, the band's sheer outrageous energy fanned the growing publicity around the group.
Yet, during the second half of 1977, fissures were beginning to develope in The Damned. Following so many firsts, they were also about to become the first punk band to put themselves out of business.
Following the success of "Damned, Damned, Damned", Brian was eager to recruit a second guitartist to free him up to play more virtuoso material, a decision not everyone in the band agreed with. And songs for a follow-up album were slow in coming from Brian, the band's chief songwriter. It didn't help that some believed he was discouraging Rat and Captain from contributing material. Slowly but surely, the fun that propelled The Damned to critical acclaim was begging to seep away.
Brain won his argument for a new guitarist and the band hired Robert Edmunds (nicknamed Lu) to play. Lu began performing with the band as work started on the second album.
The second album "Music For Pleasure", was widely considered a disappointment. A combination of musical experimentation and punk rock, the album hinted at the expansiveness of The Damned's musical abilities but without any of the chaotic energy they had built their reputation on. The band originally attempted to get Pink Floyd's reclusive visionary Syd Barrett to produce the album but when he proved unavailable, they instead opted then for Pink Floyd's drummer, Nick Mason. This decision ensured that this albun wasn't going to be anything like their first album. According to Brian, "Nick Mason we learned after a couple of days wasn't really the man for us at all. He just did not know the band; didn't understand the energy we had before."
The lukewarm reception for "Music For Pleasure", along with growing tensions between Brian James and the rest of the band came to a boiling point when Rat decided to call it quits. According to Rat, "It was time to do something, anything, rather than become one of those awful, jaded groups that I despised for so long." The band staggered with several replacement drummers, including Jon Moss (who would go on to play with Culture Club) before Brian decided to break up the band unilaterally in February 1978.
The collapse of The Damned in early 1978 sent its members spiraling off like punk shrapnel. Brian formed Tanz Der Youth, did some solo work and then created Lords Of The New Church. Dave joined The Doctors Of Madness and the Captain teamed up with The Softies to release the infamous "Jet Boy Jet Girl". He then formed King, a short lived pop band. Rat Scabies performed some solo gigs and then formed The White Cats. Fortunately none of these projects, save for Lords Of The New Church, ever amounted to much.
It wasn't long before Rat and Captain, neighbours in Croyden, began trading ideas for a new project. Captain decided to move over to the guitar, while Rat would continue to play drums. They soon hustled Dave to rejoin them and recruited Henry Badowski (whom Captain had met while playing with The Softies) to play bass. They performed at select European dates as The Doomed, although the band's constant teasing of Henry cut his tenure short.
After the departure of Badowski, The Doomed recruited Algy Ward to play bass. Algy was a bit more amenable to the group's brand of mischief making, and accompanied them on a handful of French dates.
During this tour, Rat was arrested by the French police for nearly setting an hotel on fire and narrowly escaped being incarcerated for three months. After returning from France, Dave decided to disappear for a period, almost getting himself replaced by Peter Murphy of Bauhaus. Rat even had Gary Holten of The Heavy Metal Kids sing for a couple of shows.
By the end of 1978, The Doomed reverted back to The Damned and the band was as strong as ever. At a series of holiday concerts in Britain, the band began giving away copies of a new single containing the songs "Love Song" and "Burglar". The first song became a smash hit, and signalled the triumphant return of a band that wouldn't die.
With the success of "Love Song", The Damned put in two appearances on Top Of The Pops television show and began touring Britain yet again. Unfortunately, their misadventures in France and elsewhere preceded them and several concerts were cancelled by local authorities.
The band then scheduled a headlining tour in America for the summer of 1979 during which time they blew out their last manager, Rick Rogers, who reached the end of his stick trying to control the group as they played gigs in New York, Los Angeles and sundry places in between. In spite of almost constant partying and diminishing funds, the band made it to the final concerts out on the West Coast.
Having successfully 'conquered' America once again, Rat, Dave, Captain and Algy hightailed it back to Britain where they started to put down tracks for their third album, "Machine Gun Etiquette".
"Machine Gun Etiquette" was the first of several albums to reveal the sheer expansive genius that is The Damned.
While "Love Song" is a classic piece of punk material, other songs on the album reveal dimensions of The Damned never before even hinted at. "Plan 9 Channel 7" is as hard driving as any heavy metal number while "Smash It Up" (banned by the BBC) combines both pop melodies and anarchic lyrics to bring a punk sensibility to the masses. "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" nods to a dimmer view of social conditions, yet the band's raucous cover of The MC5's "Looking At You" is carefree and boisterous. It's difficult to believe that the same band is performing all of the songs on the album.
With all the success the band was receiving on the release of their new album, the strain eas beginning to show itself between Algy Ward and Rat Scabies, coming to blows at one point. Concerned about the steady decline in his bass playing because of heavy drinking, the band dismissed Algy at the end of 1979.
The Damned started the new decade in a familiar spot - without a steady bass player. The nod went to Paul Gray of Eddie and The Hot Rods who had known the group since their earliest gigs. A very accomplished bass player, The Damned had been after Paul for a couple of years, and the time was right for Paul to leave the Rods.
The band commenced on yet another round of riotous touring around Europe, setting buses on fire, being threatened by mafia elements, and sneaking across borders to avoid further legal entanglements. Things got so out of hand at one point that Paul called his girlfriend in England and made his Last Will and Testament over the telephone.
In spite of the continuing crisis, or perhaps because of it, the band was hitting new creative levels. "Machine Gun Etiquette" had marked a turning point in that all of the band members were now encouraged to contribute material. This strategic move was going to yield more dividends with the band's next studio album.
"The Black Album" continued the groundbreaking efforts seen in "Machine Gun Etiquette" and demonstrated The Damned as mature musicians who were not afraid to move beyond what had made them successful in the past. A double album, key tracks included the edgy "Wait For The Blackout", "Silly Kid Games" (with Captain on lead vocals) and Vanian's dramatic "Curtain Call", a 17 minute tour de force including haunting organs and bouts of symphonic caucaphony. About as far from "New Rose" as you could get while still calling it The Damned, and for many fans, their best album so far.
Yet for all its artistic merit, "The Black Album" failed to show the commercial strength seen in earlier Damned albums. This fact lead to strains between the band and their recording label.
Seeking a way out of their recording contract, the band produced the "Friday The 13th" EP on a new recording label which promptly went out of business. As the hunt for a permanent home continued, Roman Jugg (who met the band through Paul Gray) added keyboards to the line up.
Through efforts by Paul Gray's girlfriend, The Damned were able to sign a new contract with the Bronze label to record their next album, "Strawberries".
The album, released in the summer of 1982, though perhaps not as pioneering as "Machine Gun Etiquette" or "The Black Album" proved to be vigorous and listenable. Tracks like "Ignite" and "Stranger On The Town" solidified the band's strong commericial potential in the top 20, a first for the band.
For the continued positive energy that surrounded the recording of "Strawberries", tremors began to rattle in the relationship between Rat Scabies and Paul Gray. Due in part to Paul's drinking as well as Rat's growing dislike for Paul's girlfriend (who had become involved in the band's business), the bass player's days with The Damned were numbered.
The growing tension between Rat and Paul coincided with the unexpected success of one of Captain's solo projects. Around the time of "Strawberries", Captain released a cover of the South Pacific number "Happy Talk". Amazingly, the single climed all the way to number one, making the Captain and instant celebrity.
The Captain's success did nothing to improve the morale of The Damned, although his growing stature as a household name certainly gave "Strawberries" a boost.
With the release of the new album, the band began another furious round of touring. For this tour, Dave created a stage set which included stained glass windows, pillars, and three dancing "Naughty Nuns" - sort of the Gospel according to The Damned. The feedback from the audience was very strong, leading Dave to say, "To feel the way I feel on this tour is what I've been working for all these years."
The success of "Strawberries" and The Nuns Tour signified something of a peak for The Damned at the time. Following performances in Europe, the band embarked on a tour of America which turned out to be a fiasco. Because of financial mismanagement during the tour, the band members ended the string of dates in a dingy hotel, sharing a hamburger between them.
The catastrophe that was the American tour, coupled with the Captain's solo success and the disharmony growing between Rat and Paul, was like a bucket of cold water on the band. Paul Gray ultimately left the band in February, commenting "It wasn't the same band that I'd joined three years before. The people had just kinda changed. The close camaraderie had gone".
Scrambling once again to find a new bass player for another upcoming tour, the band recruited Bryn Merrick, a friend and musical aquaintance of Roman Jugg, to replace Paul on their spring 1983 tour. Gray went on tour with rockers UFO.
In the spring of 1983, The Damned found itself in a familiar situation: without a recording contract. The band left the Bronze label right before it collapsed, and struggled through the rest of the year trying to gain control of their financial situation.
They did, however, continue to perform sporadically. Noteworthy was one show they did in July when they were supported by Lords Of The New Church, formed by Damned pioneer Brian James. Otherwise, 1983 was a year of entropy for the group as Captain struggled to maintain his relationship with the rest of the band members while dealing with the hangover of his solo celebrity status.
By the end of the year, bad blood was flowing rich and crimson between the band members, with Dave nearly finding himself sacked for not cooperating with the current efforts to revive the band. Captain's non-performance on his songwriting obligations also gave reason for despair. Things weren't looking good...
The band got their act together long enough to perform on "The Young Ones" television program and put out a single, "Thanks For The Night" b/w "Nasty". Captain continued to falter in his obligations to the group, and soon quit the band in order to pursue his solo career. Roman Jugg moved from behind the keyboard to become the new Damned guitarist.
After a couple of shows without the Captain, the remaining band mates, Rat, Dave, Bryn and Roman, decided to spend their last remaining funds in the recording studio. This may have been the best money the band ever spent.
With the strength of the demo tapes recorded during this session, The Damned were able to land a major record deal with MCA. This was done with great trepidation on MCA's part, however, as many believed The Damned were through. The general rowdiness of the group, which the rumor mill had built into mythic proportions, and the departure of the succesful Captain didn't exactly build confidence.
Much to everyone's surprise, The Damned stated 1985 in a far better condition than they started 1984. They had just signed a major label deal, and were anxious to record a bevy of new songs that were in development. although they had lost the song writing abilities of Captain, Roman was now contributing more ideas...
The first single to come out of MCA was the Dickensian "Grimly Fiendish", which climbed to 21 on the UK charts. The fact that it didn't chart higher was something of a disappointment to both the band and the lablel. Undaunted, The Damned went back into the recording studioto lay down tracks for their sixth studio album, "Phantasmagoria".
Although more restrained and pop-orientated than even "Strawberries", "Phantasmagoria" was more memorable for tracks such as "The Shadow Of Love" and the sepulchral "Sanctum Sanctorum", arguably the finest 'slow' song The Damned have produced. Another tour immediately followed the release of the album.
The "Phantasmagoria" tour was notable for MCA's insistence that the band members adopt Dave Vanian's frilly shirt and lace wardrobe, a bud that inadvertently put The Damned in league with the "goth" movement. Not that the band resisted terribly, but for some, this commercialization of The Damned represented a big move away from the rough and tumble image of their youth.
As they enjoyed the success of "Phantasmagoria", The Damned scored their highest charting song ever with a cover version "Eloise", originally written and recorded by Paul and Barry Ryan. The siccess of this single, which went as high as number two, brought with it an even greater demand for live appearances and touring.
The Damned toured Europe, America and the Far East, and by the middle of 1986, were busily working on their follow up album for MCA, "Anything", in Denmark. It was going to be the last studio album the band would produce for a very very long time.
Like "Phantasmagoria", the album "Anything" demonstrated that the band had travelled quite a distance from the era of "Damned, Damned, Damned". The sound of this albumis more polished and controlled, as evidence by the catchy melodies of the Barrettesque "Gigolo" and the wistful instrumental "The Portrait".
Yet beyond thesen efforts, a few tracks on the album reveal that the spark of The Damned is still burnigng bright - the hard hitting "Psychomania" is an energizing shout fest as strong as any song on "Machine Gun Etiquette" as is the driving title track, while the popular cover of Love's "Alone Again Or" skillfully uses trumpets and classical guitar to bring an Iberian feel to this ballard of tortured love. This track also became one of the few Damned singles ever to receive extensive airplay in the United States.
With the release of "Anything" and the touring which followed, the band had reached a significant impasse.
The coming years for The Damned were to witness continued struggles,
with old friendships being destroyed, new partnerships
being formed, old friendships being resurrected...
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