Music: The Damned

What can you say about The Damned, one of the original punk bands?

Plenty it seems… The first band to release a ‘punk’ single, New Rose was dropped on the market on 22 October, 1976, all 1 minute and 59 seconds of it, led off by the iconic opening of lead singer Dave Vanian saying, ‘Is she really going out with him’? a homage of the Shangri-Las song Leader of the Pack.
Dave Vanian (Dave Letts), Brian James, Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), and Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) formed The Damned out of the ashes of Masters of the Backside (who had featured one Chrissie Hynde, later of Pretenders fame, on lead vocals). James had been a member of the proto-punk band London SS – who had never played live – and he and Scabies, who had declined an invitation to join London SS, looked to form their own band, inviting both Sid Vicious and Vanian to audition. Only Vanian turned up, and with Sensible on bass, The Damned were born, playing their first show in July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club in London.

Such was the initial scare-mongering (perhaps partially justified) around the punk scene, that when The Damned were invited to be part of the Sex Pistols infamous Anarchy Tour in late ’76, less than half of the tour dates were fulfilled, with organisers and local authorities getting the fear and/or getting their arms twisted by the ‘authorities’.
It didn’t seem to matter as far as The Damned were concerned. They released the first full-length punk album, which included the classic punk track Neat, Neat, Neat, opened for T-Rex on their final UK tour before the death of Marc Bolan, and became the first British punk band to tour the US.
Although their second album Music For Pleasure was roundly criticised, and the band briefly fell apart, they resumed in the spring of ’79, released the much better Machine Gun Etiquette and started to enjoy some hits including Love Song and Smash It Up. And In 1986 they had their own top ten hit, Eloise.
Vanian and Sensible are with the present line-up of The Damned, and along with Monty Oxymoron on keys, Pinch on drums, and Stu West on bass, they can still rock like punk rockers.
Assembly Hall, Worthing, Fri 14 August, 7.30pm, £21