Wes Orshoski - The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead [Film] | Punknews.org Wes Orshoski Wes Orshoski: The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead [Film] The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead [Film] (2015) Three Count Films Reviewer Rating 4 Dave Vanian, Brian James, Captain Sensible, and Rat Scabies formed The Damned in 1976. Over the years this lineup constantly shifted with Vanian being the only consistent member, and the others coming and going multiple times. This original lineup released the first UK punk single, album, and was th... Login to Rate Dave Vanian, Brian James, Captain Sensible, and Rat Scabies formed The Damned in 1976. Over the years this lineup constantly shifted with Vanian being the only consistent member, and the others coming and going multiple times. This original lineup released the first UK punk single, album, and was the first to tour the United States.

After then-primary songwriter Brian James left the group, the band achieved nine top 40 UK singles with remaining members incorporating elements of goth, new wave, and psychedelia into the sound. This is quite a resume. But despite being loved in the punk community, it becomes apparent in The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead that all four members are pissed that they don't have the same mainstream recognition as The Clash and Sex Pistols, as well as pissed at each other. Of the many documentaries on bands that I've seen, this comes closest to Spinal Tap in terms of peeking in at the sheer dysfunction between band members. Unlike the Ramones' End of the Century, where these feuds were already well-known, or Metallica's Some Kind of Monster, which is a shouting match between Jamess Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, this paints a complex, bitter, and sometimes hilarious relationship between band members, previously unknown to fans like myself. When he's not pursuing a career as a novelty pop musician or checking himself into mental institutions, Captain Sensible really hates Rat Scabies.

We get to see him before a show trying to convince the current formation of the band not to play "Stab Your Back", a song Scabies wrote on Damned Damned Damned, despite the fact that the band is embarking on a tour playing the album in its entirety. Dave Vanian, who according to one former bandmate rises mechanically from bed like Dracula from his coffin, maintains a working relationship with Sensible, the only other original member in the current lineup. In fact, Vanian seems to maintain as little contact with others as he can, at one point having a look-alike fill in for him at an autograph signing. Rat Scabies only keeps in touch with Brian James, at one point teaming up with him to do their own Damned Damned Damned full album tour, in what seems out of spite towards the official one. The other members have few nice things to say about him, claiming he mismanaged the band's finances and did not properly pay them. The relationship between the others and James isn't much better. Brian admits to being insecure, to the point where we see him stop playing with the band in dramatic fashion.

His final performance with The Damned ends at a 1991 show, walking off-stage mid-set after Captain Sensible jokingly refers to his song "New Rose" as being written by Guns N' Roses. Then there's the long line of former bassists that are dug up for interviews. This ranges from their first fill-in, Motorhead's Lemmy (who sounds so incoherent that I wish he'd been subtitled), to current member Stu West, and plenty in-between. While none of them have spontaneously combusted, two of them meet up years later after realizing they're being treated for cancer by the same doctor, which one blames on being spat on so much. Despite all the bickering, with the exception of Scabies and his questionable business ethics, all members come off as likable. Sensible seems to be a sympathetic figure who has a life of the party stage persona, but is a tortured individual outside of it. Vanian is a vampiresque loner, occasionally breaking face with a clever comment, or to speak to a fan whoâ€™s husband recently passed. James is a somewhat socially awkward three-chord songwriting genius. The film also does a decent job at providing a timeline on the band.

I say decent because certain things are touched upon too briefly or not at all. I would have loved to hear more about two of the band's notable early tours. However their first trip to America is mentioned in passing, while the infamous Anarchy Tour with the Sex Pistols and Clash (which ended with Malcolm McLaren kicking them off) is not even noted. Furthermore, no music past 1995's Not of This Earth is mentioned. I don't want to give the impression that the film is all about the individual musicians, because itâ€™s just as much a celebration of hearing the music that they created. From the opening montage set to "Neat Neat Neat", to the finale of a live performance of "Ignite", the movie is full of awesome tunes pulled together from studio cuts, rehearsals, live performances, and music videos throughout the years. For those unfamiliar, the documentary does a nice job showing their evolution of sound from their punk standards, to the 17-minute Jim Morrison-esque "Curtain Call", to the pop hit "Eloise". In addition to the interviews with numerous members of The Damned, there are plenty with musicians who were their contemporaries, or were influenced by them.

While these provide some cool insights, I feel they could have been used better. Mick Jones and Glen Matlock reflect on the early punk scene, but we do not see them questioned about the Anarchy Tour, or their thoughts on The Damned feeling like they've been reduced to a footnote compared to their respective bands. Big Audio Dynamiteâ€™s Don Letts talks about how he thinks the band greatly influenced early California punk, yet Jello Biafra, Jack Grisham, and Keith Morris also appear in the film and are never asked about the influence of seeing those shows. We've got Dexter Holland, but nothing about him releasing the Grave Disorder album, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason talking extremely briefly about producing Music For Pleasure, and GNR's Duff McKagan having no thoughts on how he strangely contributed to Brian James' departure. Don't get me wrong; this is a great documentary and a must-watch for fans of The Damned and rock music in general. But ironically with the complaints of being looked at as second-tier to their peers, I couldn't help but compare this to The Filth and the Fury and End of the Century, which are both superior documentaries.

I just wish the four members realized that's nothing to be ashamed of, because musically and through this film, what The Damned have created is fucking great.

The Damned (band) | Pop Culture Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Add Image The Damned are an English rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies.[2] They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976),[3] release an album, Damned Damned Damned (1977),[4] and tour the United States.[5] They have nine singles that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.[6] The band briefly broke up after Music for Pleasure (1977), the follow up to their debut album, was critically dismissed.[7] They quickly reformed without Brian James, and released Machine Gun Etiquette (1979).[8] By the 1980s, they evolved into one of the forerunners of the gothic rock genre.[9] That decade they released four studio albums, The Black Album (1980), Strawberries (1982), Phantasmagoria (198

5), and Anything (1986).

The latter two albums did not feature Captain Sensible, who had left the band in 1984.[10] In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined to play what was said to be The Damned's final live show. This was released the next year as the live album Final Damnation.[11] The Damned again reformed for a tour in 1991.[12] In 1995, they released a new album, Not of This Earth, which was Scabies's last with the band.[13] This was followed by Grave Disorder (2001), and their most recent album, So, Who's Paranoid? (2008). Despite going through numerous lineup changes, the current formation of Vanian, Sensible, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, drummer Pinch and bassist Stu West, have been together since 2004. The Damned are one of the most influential punk groups, contributing majorly to gothic rock and being one of the first bands to play in the genre, as well as influencing future hardcore punk bands with their fast-paced, energetic playing style and attitude.

Along with the Sex Pistols and The Clash, they helped to spearhead the punk movement in the United Kingdom. They are sometimes referred to as British punk's "band of firsts," having made accomplishments mentioned previously, as well as other "firsts" like the first punk band to break up and come back.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation and Stiff years (1976–1978) 1.2 Reformation and Machine Gun Etiquette (1978–1979) 1.3 Shift towards gothic rock (1980–1989) 1.4 Second and third reformations (1990–1995) 1.5 Return of Captain Sensible and new lineup (1996–2003) 1.6 Current lineup (2004-present) 2 Discography 3 Band members History Edit Formation and Stiff years (1976–1978) Dave Vanian (David Letts), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns) and Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) had been members of the band Masters of the Backside, which also included future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde.[14] Brian James (Brian Robertson) had been a member of London SS, who never played live, but in addition to James included musicians who later found fame in The Clash and Generation X.

Scabies knew James through a failed audition as drummer for London SS.[15] When the two decided to start their own band, with James on guitar and Scabies on drums, they invited Sid Vicious and Dave Vanian to audition to be the singer. Only Vanian showed up, and got the part.[14] Sensible became the band's bassist, and the four called themselves The Damned.[16] Chrissie Hynde would later write that "Without me, they were probably the most musically accomplished punk outfit in town".[17] The Damned played their first show on 6 July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club.

A lo-fi recording of the show was later released as Live at the 100 Club.[18] As part of London's burgeoning punk scene, The Damned again played the club on 20 September, for the 100 Club Punk Festival.[19] On 22 October, five weeks before the release of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K.", Stiff Records put out The Damned's first single, "New Rose", thus making them the first UK punk band to release a single. The single's B-side was fast paced cover of The Beatles' "Help!".[20] New Rose was described by critic Ned Raggett as a "deathless anthem of nuclear-strength romantic angst".[21] When the Sex Pistols released their single, they took The Damned, along with The Clash and Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, as openers for their December "Anarchy Tour of the UK". Many of the tour dates were cancelled by organizers or local authorities, with only seven of approximately twenty scheduled shows taking place.

Before the tour ended, The Damned were kicked off it by Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren.[22] On 18 February 1977, The Damned's first album, Damned Damned Damned, was released. Produced by Nick Lowe, it was the first full-length album released by a British punk band, and included a new single, "Neat Neat Neat".[23] The band went on tour to promote the album, in March opening for T. Rex on their final tour. Later that spring, they became the first British punk band to tour the United States.[24] According to Brendan Mullen, founder of the Los Angeles club The Masque, their first tour of the U.S. found them favouring very fast tempos, helping to inspire the first wave of west coast hardcore punk.[25] That August, Lu Edmonds was added as a second guitarist.[18] This expanded line-up unsuccessfully tried to recruit the reclusive Syd Barrett to produce their second album.[26] Unable to get Barrett, they settled for his former Pink Floyd bandmate, Nick Mason.

In December, this album was released as Music For Pleasure, and was quickly dismissed by critics. Its failure led to the band being dropped from Stiff Records.[27] Scabies was also displeased with the album, and quit the band after the recording. He was replaced by future Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, who played with The Damned until they decided to break up in February 1978.[28] Reformation and Machine Gun Etiquette (1978–1979) The former members of the band worked on a series of brief side projects and solo recordings, all making little commercial impact. Scabies formed a one-off band called "Les Punks" for a late 1978 gig: Les Punks was a quasi-reunion of The Damned (without Brian James or Lu) that featured Scabies, Vanian, Sensible and bassist Lemmy of Hawkwind and Motörhead. The Damned tentatively reformed with the "Les Punks" line-up in early 1979, but originally performed as The Doomed to avoid potential trademark problems.

Captain Sensible switched to guitar and keyboards, and after a brief period with Lemmy on bass for studio demos and a handful of live appearances,[29] and a slightly longer period with Henry Badowski on bass, the bassist position was filled by Algy Ward, formerly of The Saints. During a December 1978 tour of Scotland, Gary Holton filled in for Vanian.[30] The band officially went by The Damned again, playing their first gig under that name in April 1979. Vanian's vocals had by now expanded from the high-baritone of the early records to a smoother crooning style,[31] while the band established a melodic style that was at times fast and loud, and other times relaxed with dominant keyboards. The Damned signed a deal with Chiswick Records and went back to the studio. They released the hit singles, "Love Song" and "Smash It Up", followed by 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette, and then a cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", with a new Damned song, "Rabid", as the B-side.

Machine Gun Etiquette featured a strong 1960s garage rock influence, with Farfisa organ in several songs. Recording at Wessex Studios at the same time as The Clash were there to record London Calling, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones made an uncredited vocal appearance on the title track. Fans and critics were pleasantly surprised, and Machine Gun Etiquette received largely positive reviews; Ira Robbins and Jay Pattyn described it as "A great record by a band many had already counted out".[32] Shift towards gothic rock (1980–1989) Ward left the group in 1980, to be replaced by Paul Gray, formerly of Eddie and the Hot Rods. The Black Album was released later that year, with three sides of the double album consisting of studio tracks, including the theatrical 17-minute song "Curtain Call". Side 4 featured a selection of live tracks recorded at Shepperton. It was their last album for Chiswick. In 1981, The Damned released "Friday the 13th", a four song E.P.

on NEMS which featured original tracks "Disco Man", "Billy Bad Breaks", "Limit Club" (a tribute to late Malcolm Owen, former lead singer of punk band The Ruts) and a cover of The Rolling Stones '60s song "Citadel". In 1982, The Damned released their only album for Bronze Records, Strawberries The band had now expanded to a quintet, with the addition of new full-time keyboardist Roman Jugg. At this time, Sensible was splitting his time between The Damned and his own solo career, which had seen success in the UK with the number one hit "Happy Talk" in 1982. Consequently, the group's next album was a one-off side project recorded without the unavailable Sensible: a soundtrack to an imaginary 1960s movie called Give Daddy the Knife, Cindy.[33] This limited-run album of 1960s cover songs had the band billed as Naz Nomad and the Nightmares.

In 1984, The Damned made a live performance on the BBC Television show The Young Ones performing their song "Nasty", featuring new bassist Bryn Merrick (replacing Gray) and both Jugg and Sensible on guitar. Sensible played a last concert with the band at Brockwell Park, before leaving to pursue his solo career full-time, Roman Jugg taking over his spot as guitarist. Jugg's first appearance with the band live was when they headlined Nostell Priory rock festival in West Yorkshire on 24 August 1984. The somewhat confused crowd repeatedly chanted 'Where's Sensible?' but it soon became obvious that the Captain was not part of the band - for the time being. Vanian in 2013. From the beginnings of the band, Vanian had adopted a vampire-like appearance onstage, with chalk-white makeup and formal dress.[34] With Sensible gone, Vanian's image became more characteristic of the band as a whole. The Damned signed a contract with major label MCA, and the Phantasmagoria album followed in July 1985, preceded by the UK No. 21 single "Grimly Fiendish".

Another hit from the same album was "The Shadow of Love" with its gloomy sound. In January 1986, the non-album single "Eloise", a cover of a 1968 hit by Barry Ryan, was a No. 3 chart success in the UK, the group's highest chart placing to date. However, Phantasmagoria's November 1986 follow-up, Anything, was a commercial failure, although MCA did include one of its tracks ("In Dulce Decorum") on the soundtrack release of Miami Vice II. The epic "Alone Again Or" was also released as a single. Late in 1987 The Damned began to work on a new album for MCA, but the result of these sessions remain unreleased as the record contract was dissolved. Two of the new songs ("Gunning for Love" and "The Loveless and The Damned") were later re-recorded by the Dave Vanian and the Phantom Chords side project.

James and Sensible rejoined the group temporarily for a few live appearances including a concert at the London Town and Country Club in June 1988 which was released the following year as Final Damnation - The Damned Reunion Concert. Following a farewell concert at London's Brixton Academy supported by The Milk Monitors, Horse and Claytown Troupe the band disbanded again. Second and third reformations (1990–1995) Although officially on hiatus, the group issued two singles in 1990. The first, "Fun Factory", was a song recorded in 1982 by the Sensible/Vanian/Scabies/Gray line-up; intended for single release at the time, the bankruptcy of their record company prevented the issue of the record for 9 years. The year's second single, "Prokofiev", was recorded by Scabies, Vanian and Brian James, and was sold on a 1991 reunion tour of the US.

In 1993 the group reformed again with a new line-up featuring Scabies, Vanian, guitarists Kris Dollimore (formerly of The Godfathers), Alan Lee Shaw, and bassist Moose Harris (formerly of New Model Army). Around this time, two prominent modern rock groups each covered a Damned song: Guns N' Roses recorded "New Rose" for their "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993), while The Offspring covered "Smash It Up" for the Batman Forever soundtrack (1995). Both cover versions enjoyed major label distribution and create more exposure to the Damned sound, sometimes to a younger audience unfamiliar with the group. The reformed Damned toured regularly for about two years and released a new full-length album, Not of This Earth in late 1995. Promoted with a series of long tours prior to its release, by the time the album was released The Damned had yet again split, partly as the result of legal battles: Vanian and Sensible accused Scabies of releasing Not of This Earth without proper authorization.

Return of Captain Sensible and new lineup (1996–2003) Sensible rejoined Vanian in 1996 and yet another formation of The Damned appeared. This initially featured bassist Paul Gray, who was later replaced by Patricia Morrison, previously of Bags, The Gun Club and The Sisters of Mercy. By 2000, The Damned consisted of Vanian, Sensible, Morrison and new recruits Monty Oxymoron on keyboards and Andy (Pinch) Pinching, a founding member of English Dogs, on drums. Garrie Dreadful, another recruit from Sensible's solo band, played drums from 1997 to 1999 then gave way to Pinch. In 2001, the band released the album Grave Disorder, on Dexter Holland's Nitro Records label and promoted it with continual touring. A spring tour of the United States was planned in 2002 supporting Rob Zombie. However the band dropped off after a few shows with Captain Sensible saying, "gothic punk was completely lost on the predominantly metal crowds".

They came back to America that summer to play the Vans Warped Tour.[35] Current lineup (2004-present) Captain Sensible performing live with The Damned at Cleethorpes in August 2006 Morrison and Vanian eventually married and had a daughter, Emily, born on 9 February 2004. Around this time, Morrison 'retired' from performing with the band, though she remained involved with The Damned as the band's manager. Her replacement on bass was Stu West. In 2006, The Damned released the single "Little Miss Disaster", and a live DVD MGE25 documenting a 2004 Manchester concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of Machine Gun Etiquette. On 21 October 2006, BBC Radio 2 broadcast an hour-long documentary titled Is She Really Going Out With Him? concerning the recording of the Damned's first single "New Rose" and the group's place in the 1976 London punk scene.

Featuring interviews with James, Sensible, Scabies, Glen Matlock, Don Letts and Chrissie Hynde, the programme discussed the bands and personalities around the scene, particularly the Anarchy in the U.K. tour. On 28 October 2008, The Damned released for download their tenth studio album, So, Who's Paranoid?, followed by a conventional release on the English Channel label on 10 November (UK) and 9 December (US).[36] To promote the album, the band made back-to-back appearances performing on the CBS network TV broadcasts in the US on Halloween eve and Halloween on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[37] The band undertook a 23-date UK tour to promote their new album, supported by Devilish Presley and Slicks Kitchen. The band then played a set and conducted a short interview on the Cherry Blossum Clinic on WFMU on 16 May 2009.[38] In November 2009, the band supported heavy metal band Motörhead on the UK leg of their world tour. On The Damned's official website, Captain Sensible is quoted as saying: "Ha ha.....

we're working with Lemmy again are we? Excellent! He's the real deal, the absolute antithesis to all that the likes of Simon Cowell stand for. And for that we should all be grateful. This tour will be a celebration of all things rock 'n' roll..... pity the poor roadies is all I can say!" Continual touring occurred throughout the UK and Europe over the next few years. In 2012, they played South America for the first time, with dates in São Paulo (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). They returned to the Rhythm Festival, one of only four headline acts to return over the festival's seven-year history. In 2012, The Damned announced that they would return for 2013's Rebellion festival alongside The Exploited, The Casualties and others. In November 2012 The Damned received recognition for their contribution to British music when they were awarded the Classic Rock outstanding contribution award for services to Rock music over 36 years.[39] On 7 November 2014 Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.

In 2015, The Damned were featured in a documentary by director Wes Orshoski called The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead. The documentary charts the history of the band against a backdrop of interviews and tour footage from 2011 to 2014, and was edited together rough to make the film feel more like The Damned's first album. Shortly after the release of the film, on 12 September 2015, former bassist Bryn Merrick died of throat cancer.[40] Merrick had played on Phantasmagoria and Anything. At the time of his death he had been playing in a Ramones tribute band, the Shamones. Discography See also: The Damned discography Damned Damned Damned (1977) Music for Pleasure (1977) Machine Gun Etiquette (1979) The Black Album (1980) Strawberries (1982) Phantasmagoria (1985) Anything (1986) Not of This Earth (1995) Grave Disorder (2001) So, Who's Paranoid?

(2008) Band members Edit Current membersDave Vanian − vocals (1976–present) Captain Sensible − bass (1976–1978); guitar (1978–1984, 1989, 1991, 1996–present) Monty Oxymoron − keyboards (1996–present) Pinch − drums (1999–present) Stu West − bass (2004–present) Former membersBrian James − guitar (1976–1978, 1988–1989, 1991) Rat Scabies − drums (1976–1977, 1978–1996) Lu Edmonds − guitar (1977–1978) Dave Berk − drums (1977) Henry Badowski − bass (1978) Jon Moss − drums (1978)[41] Lemmy - bass (1978) Algy Ward − bass (1978–1980) Gary Holton − vocals (1

978) Paul Gray − bass (1980–1983, 1989, 1996) Roman Jugg − keyboards (1981–1985) guitar (1984–1989) Bryn Merrick − bass (1983–1989; died September 12, 2015) Kris Dollimore − guitar (1993–1996) Alan Lee Shaw − guitar (1993–1996) Jason "Moose" Harris − bass (1993–1996) Garrie Dreadful − drums (1996–1999) Patricia Morrison − bass (1997–2005) Warren Renfrow - bass (2002) Spike Smith − drums (1999) The Damned - Music on Google Play The Damned About the artist The Damned are an English rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies.

They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose", release an album, Damned Damned Damned, and tour the United States. They have nine singles that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40. The band briefly broke up after Music for Pleasure, the follow-up to their debut album, was critically dismissed. They quickly reformed without Brian James, and released Machine Gun Etiquette. In the 1980s they released four studio albums, The Black Album, Strawberries, Phantasmagoria, and Anything. The latter two albums did not feature Captain Sensible, who had left the band in 1984. In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined to play what was said to be the Damned's final live show. This was released the next year as the live album Final Damnation. The Damned again reformed for a tour in 1991. In 1995, they released a new album, Not of This Earth, which was Scabies's last with the band. This was followed by Grave Disorder, and their most recent album, So, Who's Paranoid?.

1 $9.49 So, Who's Paranoid is the tenth studio album from The Damned. Released in November 2008, it was their first album in seven years and to date is their last studio album. Musically, the album draws f... 1 1 $9.49 Final Damnation is a live album by The Damned. The album was recorded at The Town & Country Club in London on 13 June 1988. It was originally released in August 1989, and was later re-released on D... 1 1 $14.49 Phantasmagoria is the sixth album by The Damned, released by MCA records in July 1985. Special editions were available on white vinyl or picture disc — some versions included a free 12" of their No... 1 1 $12.49 Strawberries, originally titled Strawberries for Pigs, is the fifth studio album by English punk rock band the Damned. It was released in October 1982 by record label Bronze.

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The original Dammed consisted of Brian James on guitar, drummer Chris Millar, better known as Rat Scabies, bassist Ray Burns aka Captain Sensible and vocalist David Letts, who styled himself Dave Vanian. The group were christened The Damned in reference to two movies: a Dirk Bogarde flick and Village Of The Damned. As with several London bands of the time, they spurned a contemporary music scene which they considered stultifying in the extreme. Pretty soon, these young, disaffected musicians began to coalesce into a movement, and the movement was given a name. The Dammed were less inclined to wrote political songs than punk contemporaries like the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Explains Scabies, “I’d just always grew up thinking it was out of my hands and you can’t beat the system. Also we’d seen all our previous heroes like The Beatles, the Stones and The Who and Led Zeppelin, all those groups – and Bob Dylan – they all threatened this political or sociological change but it never really materialised.” Sensible, though, adds, “It also depends on what period of The Damned you’re talking about.

Brian was writing apolitical songs, yeah, he was saying, ‘Fuck politics, let’s have fun’. I’ve always been very political. I’m a red hot socialist.” The Damned achieved the accolade of putting out the first UK punk single in ‘New Rose’ (October 1976), a staggeringly exciting two-and-three-quarters minutes of lust-fuelled anarchy. When the Sex Pistols released their long awaited debut release ‘Anarchy In The UK’ the following month, Sensible was distinctly unimpressed. Sensible: “If you take Rotten off the first single, it’s a solid kind of chug rather than an explosive chaotic mayhem fuelled statement.” Nor did The Damned feel like second best as a live attraction when they accompanied the Sex Pistols on the Anarchy in the UK tour of Britain that December along with the Heartbreakers and The Clash. “They basically put us on the bill because they needed bums in seats,” says Sensible. The Damned were shortly kicked off the bill following a dispute. The Damned’s debut album – also the first UK punk album – was released in February 1977 and entitled Damned Damned Damned.

The twelve songs were almost all written by Brian James and almost all sounded like despatches from the fires of hell, albeit melodic ones. It remains a punk classic and to many is the band’s masterpiece. Sensible has no hesitation in agreeing with that assessment. “No wonder Jimmy Page loved it,” he says. “We’d be playing the Roxy Club and you’d see Jimmy Page standing at the back, behind all these pogoing punks.” The album had such energy – particularly for the time – that a rumour has persisted that the master tapes were vari-speeded by producer Nick Lowe. Both Scabies and Sensible deny this. Sensible: “If you came to see us live we played it twice as fast as that anyway.” Scabies: “I personally don’t think so, having got the original multi-tracks to ‘New Rose’ back recently and, listening to them, they’re not sped up. I wasn’t at the mixes, Nick did ’em, but I don’t think he did. They’re all in normal tuning.” The Damned – spurning the year zero attitudes of the Pistols – went on a UK tour with old guard star Marc Bolan.

Meanwhile, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason produced their second album, Music For Pleasure (November 1977), which also featured a new second guitarist, Lu Edmunds. Sensible: “We’d done a pretty good punk album and we thought that the next one, we’d do punk tinged with psychedelia and weirdness and a little bit of freeform, because Brian’s into jazz and stuff.” For Scabies, the making of the album was a mistake: “I was beginning to get disillusioned with the whole kind of group thing. It was as much to do with the business end. And Brian hadn’t had a chance to write any more songs – we were beginning to call up tunes that we’d already rejected. Working with [saxophonist] Lol Coxhill was brilliant and the track he’s on – a song called ‘You Know’ – I’ve always thought worked really well, so it wasn’t a complete disaster but it wasn’t actually the kind of thing we envisaged.” James himself became disillusioned not long afterwards. Sensible: “Brian split the band up.

He said, ‘We’ve done a much as we can with The Dammed’ and he’s moving on to other things and he wished us all the best. When we had that meeting, I just went off and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll form another band’. I thought it was that easy… We all went off and we started other bands.” It turned out to be far from easy and after a period the band re-coalesced, though – sacrilege to some – without James. (Sensible switched to guitar and Algy Ward joined on bass.) Reasons Scabies, “I think me, Dave and Captain remaining in the thing gave it a thread that continued.” However, he adds, “But we definitely went into a different phase just because the writing changed, so instead of it being all Brian with his much more MC5 guitar roots, it suddenly became a thing where we had some different chords out there and just trying to write songs that were melody based rather than guitar based.” Machine Gun Etiquette (1979) and The Black Album (1980, with Paul Gray now on bass) were a pair of fine albums.

Though the former boasted a Damned anthem as perennial as ‘New Rose’ in the unhinged form of ‘Smash It Up’, there was also some more sophisticated stuff going down. Scabies: “We were always very conscious of the criticism that was levelled at us that we were just a one dimensional punk band. We just wanted to show that we had other sides and it wasn’t just 90 miles an hour all the time and that we were more capable musicians than the perception was at the time.” Sensible: “Machine Gun Etiquette was almost what I wanted Music For Pleasure to sound like. I’m not talking about the songs, I’m just talking about the tinged-with-psychedelia kind of production.” Such development didn’t go down well with the purists at a time when third wave punk bands like The Exploited were to some to be returning to punk’s core values.

Recalls Sensible, “Certain journalists who were really into Oi and punk and wanted to keep it pure – i.e., moronic – slagged us off for the experimenting we were doing in the studio, so we ended up calling one of our albums Strawberries, which is short for giving strawberries to a pig.” The aforesaid Strawberries (1982) was another good album but in a way the end of an era for before long a totally unexpected event changed the inter-band dynamics completely. Earlier in ’82, Sensible had stumbled into a solo deal and his cover version of the South Pacific number ‘Happy Talk’ soared to number one upon its release. Sensible: “It was very strange for me because I didn’t necessarily ever want to be a singer.. My heart was in twanging a guitar in The Dammed.” Scabies: “In reality, just hearing it on the radio, it was, ‘Good luck to him, well done Captain’. But the reality of it was much, much harder to survive as a band with him along for the ride. It was just getting really boring. It would be ‘The Damned starring Captain Sensible’ on the posters.

Just the work schedules alone were a nightmare, as he’d be off opening a supermarket somewhere and we’d all be sitting there waiting to do the gigs. It was just imbalanced on the road. Captain had a fortune and we were sharing burgers. It turned into being a destructive element for the band but in other ways it meant then that we could move on and shape shift again into another kind of group altogether.” The departure of Sensible that Scabies alludes to occurred in 1984. Sensible: “I was knackered and I think I collapsed and I stopped doing the Captain stuff and I stopped doing The Damned at the same time and I had to take about six months off.” Roman Jugg took over Sensible’s role and the band – inspired by some menacing make-up they’d used in a guest spot on the Young Ones TV show just before Sensible’s departure – went off in a Goth direction. With two vital original members gone, some were assuming the band was staggering on in vain but the group amazed everyone in 1986 when their cover of ‘Eloise’ went top three, their highest chart position of all time.

Scabies point out, “I was [recently] reading the first interview we ever did in Sniffin’ Glue and Dave says in that he wanted to cover ‘Eloise’.” This line-up released two albums, Phantasmagoria (1985) and Anything (1986). The succeeding years have seen a bewildering series of personnel changes, including a short-lived live reunion of the original line-up, the return of Sensible and the departure of Scabies. Though he made the pretty good album I’m Alright Jack And The Beanstalk (aka Not Of This Earth; 1996) with Vanian, Scabies was no longer finding The Damned fulfilling. Scabies: “We weren’t picking up [a] new audience so it was all these old blokes in leather jackets that didn’t fit them. It just felt like, ‘I’ve done that for twenty years, it’s time to go off and do something else’.” The line-up of the band now features Sensible and Vanian. Bass duties are handled by Patricia Morrison, formerly of the Gun Club. Having a female in the band has brought about changes.

“None of us would dream of mooning out of the window of a transit van anymore,” says Sensible. “There’s less talk about football and motorbikes and more intelligent discussion.” The current line-up released a fine album in 2001 in the shape of Grave Disorder. However, their main income now derives from live work and it can’t really be denied that the band are mining a nostalgia circuit for punk that nobody would ever have imagined being within punk’s value system in 1977. However, Sensible isn’t one to agonise over this. “I’m an ex-toilet cleaner,” he shrugs. “I like playing the guitar occasionally. What people think of it is up to them.

I’m always amazed at how lucky I’ve been.” Watch Trailer For Documentary On Legendary Punk Band The Damned « LIVE 105 Filed Under: Punk , The Damned , The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead British punk legends the Damned and their nearly 40 years of punk rock are the subject of a new documentary called “The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead.” The Damned may not be a household name like their contemporaries the Sex Pistols and The Clash but their place in the eyes of punk historians and musician is high. The Damned were the first U.K. punks to release a single (“ New Rose “), a punk album (“Damned Damned Damned”), and the first to tour the U.S. The doc features archival and new footage with participation from all original members of The Damned (Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian, Brian James and Rat Scabies) plus commentary from from the long list of punk and rock luminaries.

Included in the film are appearances from Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Mick Jones (The Clash), Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), Fred Armisen, Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks/OFF!), Dexter Holland (The Offspring), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi/Minor Threat), Chris Stein and Clem Burke (Blondie), Buzz Osborne (the Melvins) and many more. “The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead” premieres at SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 19. Watch the trailer below (BEWARE: Trailer contains some explicit language): . The Damned - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music Read more about sharing. The Damned Biography (Wikipedia) The Damned are an English rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies.

They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release an album, Damned Damned Damned (1977), and tour the United States. They have nine singles that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40. The band briefly broke up after Music for Pleasure (1977), the follow-up to their debut album, was critically dismissed. They quickly reformed without Brian James, and released Machine Gun Etiquette (1979). In the 1980s they released four studio albums, The Black Album (1980), Strawberries (1982), Phantasmagoria (1985), and Anything (1986). The latter two albums did not feature Captain Sensible, who had left the band in 1984. In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined to play what was said to be the Damned's final live show. This was released the next year as the live album Final Damnation. This entry is from Wikipedia , the user-contributed encyclopedia.

It may not have been reviewed by professional editors and is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License . If you find the biography content factually incorrect or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia . Find out more about our use of this data. Show more The Damned (Music) - TV Tropes The Damned You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share The current Damnednote From L-R: Captain Sensible (guitar), Pinch (drums), Dave Vanian (vocals), Stu West (bass), Monty Oxy Moron (keyboards) Noise is for heroes (Heroes!!!) Leave the music for zeroes (Zeroes!!!) Noise, noise, noise is for heroes (Heroes!!!) Aww yeah "Noise, Noise, Noise" The Damned are one of the original British punk bands, although they have mutated beyond punk rock in the decades since they were first formed in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Dave Vanian (Vocals), Brian James (Guitar), Captain Sensible (Bass), and Rat Scabies (Drums).

They released both the first British punk single ("New Rose") and British punk album (Damned Damned Damned) before becoming the first British punk band to tour The United States . Interestingly enough they were not the first British punk band to break up (that was the Sex Pistols ; The Damned were second) but they were the first to re-form. The subsequent line up had Captain Sensible replacing the departed Brian James on guitar and whatever bassist they could find note Henry Badowski, Motï¿½rhead 's Lemmy (!), Algy Ward, Paul Gray, Bryn Merrick, Jason Harris, The Sisters of Mercy 's Patricia Morrison, and Stu West that week replacing the Captain on the bottom section. It was during this period that the band — which thanks to their vampyric crooning frontman Vanian had always dabbled in the dark — began to take on a more gothic sound, which helped give birth to the Gothic Rock subgenre. The band broke up again in the early nineties but re-formed (again) in time for the new millennium and are still performing and occasionally releasing music.

The current line-up includes Vanian, Sensible, Monty Oxy Moron, Pinch, and Stu West. Their current sound can be described as Gothic Neo-Psychedelic Punk Rock. In November 2012, the band were awarded the Classic Rock Outstanding Contribution Award for services to Rock music, possibly the first award they ever got in their long career . In 2015 they were the subject of Wes Orshoski's documentary The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead.

Principal Members (Founding members in bold, current members in italic): David Vanian - lead vocals, theremin (1976-present) Raymond Burns (Captain Sensible) - bass, guitars (1976-1984, 1996-present) Christopher Millar (Rat Scabies) - drums (1976ï¿½1996) Brian James - guitars (1976-1978) Monty Oxy Moron - keyboards (1996-present) Andrew Pinching (Pinch) - drums (1999-present) Stu West - bass (2004-present) Roman Jugg - keyboards, guitars, backup vocals (1981-1989) Discography Of The Damned: (1995) Not of This Earth (2001) Grave Disorder I Just Can't Be Happy Today 1980 The History of the World Part 1 There Ain't No Sanity Clause 1981 A Nation Fit For Heroes Compilations of The Damned: Tropes of The Damned: Badass Baritone : Dave Vanian's vocal style from The Black Album on.

Breakup Breakout : Sensible had a surprising bout of solo success in the 1980's (UK only), though he remained in the band until after Strawberries. He would eventually leave the band to focus on his solo work, but he returned in the late '90s . Chick Magnet : "Dozen Girls." Christmas Songs : "There Ain't No Sanity Clause," with tongue firmly in cheek. Cloudcuckoolander : Sensible is an infamous looney. Vanian dressing as a vampire 24/7 made him come across as one as well. Cool Old Guy : All of them as of the 2010's. "Help!" by The Beatles as the B-Side for "New Rose." "1970" by The Stooges (renamed "I Feel Alright") for Damned Damned Damned. "Looking at You" by MC5 for Machine Gun Etiquette. "Citadel" by The Rolling Stones for Friday 13th EP. "Eloise" by Paul Ryan as a non-album single, later included on reissues of Phantasmagoria. "Alone Again Or" by Love for Anything.

Dead Artists Are Better : The subject of "Would You Be So Hot (If You Weren't Dead?)." Deadpan Snarker : Sensible snarks at anything, especially if he's in front of an audience. "Curtain Call" (17:13) from The Black Album. "The Dog" (7:25) from Strawberries. "Amen" (7:55) from Grave Disorder. "Dark Asteroid" (14:02) from So, Who's Paranoid?. Evil Laugh : Briefly in "Noise, Noise, Noise." Full-Frontal Assault : Captain Sensible would occasional finish out early shows in the nude, as seen here . Goth Rock : Their 80s output helped to develop Goth Rock , and their 1985 album Phantasmagoria was full-on Goth. Instrumentals : "Singalonga Scabies," instrumental version of "Stab Your Back" from Damned Damned Damned, titled due to it being Scabies' song in the first place.

"Smash It Up (Part 1)" from Machine Gun Etiquette, as well as the rarely found parts 3 and 4, and an instrumental version of part 2 titled "Singalonga Damned." "Trojans" from Phantasmagoria. "The Portrait" from Anything. "Go to the window / What do I see / Go to the window / The killer is me" Laughing Mad : "These Hands", being sung from the perspective of a Monster Clown . Topped off with: " Stop laughing! " Long Runner : Still performing and recording, despite dissolving and reforming several times. Long-Runner Lineup : Type 4. They've had several lineups, but they've maintained their current one of Vanian, Sensible, Monty Oxy Moron, Pinch, and Stu West since 2004. Lyrical Dissonance : "Life Goes On" from Strawberries sounds awfully sad for such life-affirming lyrics. The Masochism Tango : "Torture Me", a B-side to the "Dozen Girls" single.

Mondegreen : If you're not familiar with the British pronunciation of 'rabid'* ray-bid, then the chorus of "Rabid (Over You)" sounds like 'raving', 'raiding', or, worse, 'raping'. Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness : On their first few albums (especially their debut), they were mostly a solid 5, with the occasional song reaching a 6 (and a few that go lower). From The Black Album on, the rules pretty much go out the window, with songs being anywhere from a 2 (or even an arguable 1, in some cases) up to a 6. They became quite eclectic , after all. Monster Clown : The narrator of "These Hands" from Machine Gun Etiquette. "These are the hands of a demented circus clown..." New Sound Album : They have a few, most notably Machine Gun Etiquette, which incorporated Psychedelic Rock influences, and The Black Album, which moved in a more Post-Punk / Goth Rock direction, and Phantasmagoria, which was a full-on Goth Rock album. Anything backtracked a bit from this a bit, being similar to The Black Album in sound.

Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly : From their third album Machine Gun Etiquette on, they've mixed Punk with classic Rock, Pop, Psychedelic Rock , Goth Rock , and even incidental film music. Non-Indicative Name : "Anti-Pope" is more about church-going hypocrites than the pope. "I got nothing against the church / Only the people who go there" "Idiot Box" from Music for Pleasure is in the style of Protopunk band Television . It was written as a Take That after Television refused to perform with The Damned due to their rambunctious reputation. Friday 13th EP is largely in the style of '60s Rock and Psychedelic Rock . Punk Rock : The first British Punk band to release a single, release an album, and tour the United States. Revolving Door Band : They never went more than two albums without changing their bassist, with Stu West lasting longer than any other just by sheer years, and Vanian is the only member to maintain his position since the band's founding. Sampling : "Curtain Call" incorporates a long-since-forgotten recording of a violin from Scheherazade.

Self-Deprecation : Often called themselves ugly in front of their audience. "The Dog" is about Claudia from Interview With The Vampire . "Smash It Up (Part 1)" is an instrumental tribute to the then-recently-deceased Marc Bolan . "There Ain't No Sanity Clause" takes its title from a scene in the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera . "Grimly Fiendish" is about 1960s-80s children's comic character Grimly Feendish - The Rottenest Crook in the World, with his name altered for copyright reasons. "Melody Lee" was based on a comic strip in a British girl's magazine Captain Sensible and his then-girlfriend liked. And when we say "based", we mean it: the lyrics were taken outright from the strip. Sensible admitted that in hindsight he's surprised he never got sued over it. "Rabid (Over You)" is a shout-out to....something. It's not clear what it is, other than it's a film. It seems to involve werewolves, space battles between heroes and monsters, a gun-toting father, and spiritual enlightenment.

But whatever it is, Dave Vanian certainly seems to like it. Silly Love Songs : "New Rose"note though Word of God says it's a love song to the punk music scene, not a girl and "See Her Tonite" from Damned Damned Damned, "One Way Love" from Music for Pleasure, "Shadow of Love" from Phantasmagoria, non-album single "Eloise", "She" from Grave Disorder, "Little Miss Disaster" from So, Who's Paranoid?. "Love Song" from Machine Gun Etiquette is a sarcastic parody of this. Skunk Stripe : Vanian had one in the 80s to complete the vampire look. Spin-Off : Naz Nomad and the Nightmares - A one-off Garage Rock and Psychedelic Rock album from the 1984 lineup made to look like a (fake) soundtrack album from 1967. Dave Vanian and the Phantom Chords - a Gothabilly project born out of the 1989 breakup. Last active in 1999.

The Sensible Gray Cells - A 2013 Psychedelic Rock collaboration between Captain Sensible and former bassist Paul Gray with drummer Ant Thickett. Stage Names : Dave Vanian (David Lett), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), Rat Scabies (Christopher Millar), Monty Oxy Moron (Montgomery Gillan), Pinch (Andrew Pinching).note So yes, Stu West is the only current member who doesn't use one. Captain Sensible takes over vocals for "Silly Kids Games" from The Black Album, "Life Goes On" and "Don't Bother Me" from Strawberries, and the B-sides "Take That" and "Torture Me". Then-guitarist Roman Jugg sings "Edward the Bear" from Phantasmagoria. Rat Scabies sang on the b-side "Burglar". Take That : The title of one of the B-sides to the "Dozen Girls" single. Includes several lines that apply to the trope as well, such as "You're feeble and fat". "Idiot Box" from Music for Pleasure, directed at New York Punk band Television for refusing to play with the band.

"Anti-Pope" from Machine Gun Etiquette, though more towards religious hypocrites than the pope himself. "Bad Time for Bonzo" from Strawberries is this to Ronald Reagan . "W" from Grave Disorder is this to, no surprise, George W. Bush . Those Wacky Nazis : "Generals". It's sung from the point of view of the surviving Nazis in bombed-out Berlin, knowing the Red Army is coming for them in retaliation for Operation Barbarossa. The Damned Tickets, Tour Dates 2017 & Concerts – Songkick The Korova San Antonio, TX, US Biography Led by lead vocalist, Dave Vanian, The Damned is a punk rock/ goth rock band from London, England founded in 1976. Previously of the band Masters of the Backside, Dave Vanian (David Letts), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns) and Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) joined together with Brian James (Brian Robertson) to form The Damned in 1976. They played their first show as support for The Sex Pistols during the summer of that year.

On 18 February 1977 the band released their first album, “Damned Damned Damned” and went out on tour to promote the album; during the spring, they became the first British punk band to tour the United States. After the release of “Music For Pleasure” and a few lineup changes, the band decided to break up in February 1978. While apart, the members worked on various solo and side projects; and in late 1978 with a quasi-reunion of The Damned (without Brian James or Lu) that featured Scabies, Vanian, Sensible and bassist Lemmy (of Hawkwind and Motörhead) under the name Les Punks.

The band once again adopted the name The Damned in 1979 and signed a deal with Chaswick Records followed by the release of three singles “Love Song,” “Smash It Up” and “Machine Gun Etiquette.” After experiencing a lineup change, the band released The Damned released “Strawberries” in 1982 followed shortly by a soundtrack to an imaginary 1960s movie called “Give Daddy The Knife.” In July 1985 the band signed a contract with MCA and quickly released “Phantasmagoria.” While working on another album, the material that was recorded was not released due to the dissolving of their contact with MCA; consequently the band once again disbanded in 1988. In 1993 the band reformed with a new lineup, extensively toured for two years and released an album entitled “Not Of This Earth.” However, at the time of the release of the album, the band once again called it quits.

By 2000, The Damned consisted of Vanian, Sensible, Morrison and new recruits Monty Oxymoron on keyboards and Andy (Pinch) Pinching, and in 2001 the band released “Grave Disorder,” and in October 2008, The Damned released their tenth studio album, “So, Who's Paranoid?” 15/09/06 - The Damned/C.J. Ramone - The Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA This was a weird ticket purchase. According to the venue, C.J. Ramone was headlining. Why a replacement bassist for a defunct U.S. group was headlining for a seminal U.K. punk band with a string of hits was perplexing. I was fine with it, thinking if C.J. sucked we could leave early. No such luck. C.J. was the opener and did a fine job of attempting to imitate The Ramones, Social Distortion and establishing themselves as a great All-American power-punk band. What they don't get is that the power-punk era is over. Just play Ramones songs and collect your check.

They couldn't get the sold-out crowd to dance, mosh or show any enthusiasm. They played a few Ramones songs (mostly obscure ones) and left the stage before the applause stopped. The Damned were a different story. This show went straight back to their pre-Phantasmagoria punk roots. They did 'I just Can't be Happy Today', 'Love Song', 'New Rose', 'Neat, Neat, Neat', 'History of the World - Part I','Wait for the Blackout', 'Silly Kids Games' and a host of other 'early' numbers. My complaint - They did "Alone Again Or" (a cover) instead of "Anything" or "In Dulce Decorum" from the same album. The crowd in front of the stage moshed and moved even though these were songs from almost 40 years ago! And me... I was lost in nostalgia for the Great American Music Hall at which I used to work. Jazz art prints on the walls, chandeliers on the ceiling, drinks served in glasses, and a manual spotlight operated from the balcony. Good times.

Question: Dave Vanian, Brian James, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies were the original members of which punk band?
Answer: The Damned