The Damned are an English punk rock and later gothic rock band formed in London in 1976. They were the first punk band from England to release a single ("New Rose"), put out an album (Damned Damned Damned), and tour the United States. They are considered one of the founders of gothic rock.

The Damned have incorporated many different styles into their music and image; such as garage rock, psychedelic rock, cabaret and the theatrical rock of Screaming Lord Sutch and Alex Harvey. Vanian's vocal style has been described as similar to a crooner, which is unique for a punk rock vocalist. Throughout their history, The Damned have dissolved and reformed many times, with singer Dave Vanian as the sole constant member. However, the lineups have always included either guitarist Captain Sensible or drummer Rat Scabies (or both). The line-up currently includes original members Vanian and Sensible.

Pre-formation

Original Damned members Dave Vanian (David Lett), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), and Rat Scabies (Chris Miller) had been members of the Masters of the Backside, which included future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde. Original Damned guitarist Brian James (Brian Robertson) had been a member of the punk band London SS, a band that never played live, but included members who later found fame in The Clash and Generation X. Rat Scabies tried out as drummer for London SS, but was rejected. While the band were auditioning for a frontman, James and Scabies had invited two men who agreed to try out; Sid Vicious and Dave Vanian. Only Vanian showed up and thus became the frontman of the Damned.

Mid-1970s early punk phase

The Damned played their first gig on July 6, 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club. They were the first of the London punk bands to release a single on the independent record label Stiff Records. That single, "New Rose", was described by critic Ned Raggett as a "deathless anthem of nuclear-strength romantic angst." Vanian's deadpan intro — "Is she really going out with him?", was borrowed from The Shangri-Las' 1964 "Leader of the Pack." The B-side of "New Rose" was a faster version of The Beatles' "Help!". Their first album, Damned Damned Damned featured "I Feel Alright", an adaptation of The Stooges' "1970". Scabies' powerful drumming is prominent. It was the first album released by a British punk band, and it included several minor hits.

In March 1977, The Damned opened for Marc Bolan and T. Rex on Bolan's final tour. The Damned then recruited a second guitarist, Lu Edmunds; a move inspired in part by the dual guitar sound of MC5, and possibly engineered by Brian James in order to keep Captain Sensible on bass, where he wouldn't overshadow James. This expanded line-up unsuccessfully tried to recruit the reclusive Syd Barrett to produce their second album Music For Pleasure. They settled for Barrett's Pink Floyd bandmate, Nick Mason, who they reported was generally uninterested in the task. The album featured an appearance by free jazz saxophone player Lol Coxhill. Music for Pleasure flopped critically and commercially and the band broke up, ending their relationship with Stiff Records.

Late 1970s

James, until then the band's main songwriter, left in 1978 (later co-founding The Lords of the New Church). The band splintered, and a series of brief side projects and solo recordings were released, making little commercial impact. The Damned soon tentatively reformed, blaming James for their decline and split; performing at first as The Dimmed and The Doomed to avoid potential trademark problems. Sensible had switched to guitar and keyboards. After a brief period with Lemmy of Hawkwind and Motörhead on bass for studio demos, the position was filled by Algy Ward, formerly of The Saints. The band recorded more demos, gained a deal with Chiswick Records, and went back to the studio to record another album. The collaboration with Lemmy Kilmeister resulted (in 1979) in an outfit which was periodically billed as MotorDamned.

The Damned released a series of singles leading up to 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette, which has Farfisa organ on several songs. Sensible had become the band's main songwriter, and played keyboards on the album as well as lead guitar. The Damned had been recording at Wessex Studios at the same time 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 describe it as "A great record by a band many had already counted out."

With the arrival of Ward, the band was operating with a full, tight rhythm section. Vanian's vocals had expanded from the high-baritone barks of the early records to a smooth, proto-Gothic crooning style. The Damned had established a dark, melodic style that was sometimes fast and loud, and other times relaxed with dominant keyboards. Although their records were only sporadically available in the United States, The Damned had a sizable cult following in that country. A version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" was released as a single, with a new Damned song, "Rabid", on the B-side.

1980s goth image

1984 appearance on The Young Ones.

From nearly the beginning of The Damned, Vanian had a vampire-like appearance onstage, with chalk-white makeup and formal dress. With The Black Album, the band turned into a proto-goth ensemble. The Album's centerpiece is Dave Vanian's 17+ minute goth rock Magnum Opus "Curtain Call." Ward had left at this point, and was replaced by Paul Gray, formerly of Eddie and the Hot Rods. The band released the album Strawberries (featuring new full-time keyboardist Roman Jugg) in 1982, and a series of non-LP singles released without a record deal in 1983 and 1984. Sensible played a last concert with the band at Brockwell Park (from which a bootleg was issued, called Captain's Last Stand), before he left to pursue a solo career. Jugg took over the guitar slot. In 1984 The Damned performed "Nasty" live on the BBC Television show, The Young Ones.

The next album was a one-off side project, a soundtrack to an imaginary 1960s movie called Give Daddy the Knife, Cindy. This limited run album of 1960s cover songs had the band billed as "Naz Nomad and the Nightmares". As Ned Raggett writes, "Dave Vanian becomes Mr. Nomad, while Roman Jugg turns into Sphinx Svenson, and Rat Scabies into Nick Detroit." With Sensible gone, Vanian's Gothic influence took over unimpeded, and Raggett insists that "Vanian's smart crooning and spooky theatricality ended up more or less founding goth rock inadvertently (with nearly all his clones forgetting what he always kept around -- an open sense of humor)."

The band signed a contract with MCA, and the Phantasmagoria album followed. Phantasmagoria's official follow-up, Anything (1986), was another critical and commercial flop, which ended the band's record deal and original run. However, the non-album single "Eloise" became a UK hit and in the US, MCA included a Damned track ("In Dulce Decorum") on the original soundtrack release of Miami Vice II (1987). "Eloise" was a cover of a hit originally recorded by Barry Ryan in 1968.

Later years

James rejoined temporarily for a few live appearances, some of which appear on 1988's Final Damnation. The Damned name was afforded homage during the 1990s, when two 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 would enjoy major label distribution and create more exposure to the Damned sound, sometimes to a younger audience unfamiliar with the group. In 1993, a new line-up of The Damned appeared featuring Scabies, Vanian, guitarists Kris Dollimore, and Alan Lee Shaw, and bassist Moose Harris in 1995. They toured regularly for about two years the release of a new full-length album, Not of This Earth. 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.

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 The Bags, The Gun Club, and The Sisters of Mercy. In 2001, the band released Grave Disorder and this has been followed by continual touring. Morrison and Vanian were eventually married and they have a daughter, Emily, born on February 9, 2004. While she has been replaced by ex-English Dog Stu West, her return to the band's lineup in the future has not been ruled out. The Damned had a mini-tour around Tokyo, Japan in mid-2005, playing mostly sold-out small venues that held between 500 and 1000 people.

In 2006 The Damned released the new single "Little Miss Disaster", and the live DVD MGE25 documenting a 2004 Manchester concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of Machine Gun Etiquette. On October 21, 2006, BBC Radio 2 broadcast an hour long documentary entitled "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 rock scene. Featuring interviews with Brian James, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies, Glen Matlock, Don Letts and Chrissie Hynde the program gave some new insights into the bands and personalities around the scene, particularly the ill-fated Anarchy in the U.K. tour. Another tour in mid November 2006 played clubs in California and included one date in Las Vegas. Also in 2006, The Damned's hit song "Smash It Up" appeared in the console based game, Driver: Parallel Lines. Their song Neat, Neat, Neat was featured in the game True Crime: New York City.

In 2007, The Damned finished a tour with Extatic. Dates all around the UK included those in Brighton, Liverpool, Cardiff, Cambridge, Oxford, Glasgow and finally Durham.

Studio albums

See also: The Damned discography

• Damned, Damned, Damned (February 25, 1977)
• Music for Pleasure (November 18, 1977)
• Machine Gun Etiquette (November 2, 1979)
• The Black Album (October 20, 1980)
• Strawberries (October 1, 1982)
• Phantasmagoria (July 15, 1985)
• Anything (December 5, 1986)
• Not of This Earth (November 11, 1995)
• Grave Disorder (August 21, 2001)

Members

2007

• Dave Vanian − vocals, theremin (1976-1978, 1978-present)
• Captain Sensible − guitar (1978-1984, 1989, 1996-present); bass (1976-1978)
• Monty Oxy Moron − keyboards (1996-present)
• Stu West − bass (2005-present)
• Pinch − drums (1999-present)

Former members

• Gary Holton - vocals (1978)
• Henry Badowski - bass (1978)
• Brian James - guitar (1976-1978, 1989)
• Lu Edmunds - guitar (1977-1978)
• Kris Dollimore - guitar (1993-1996)
• Allan Lee Shaw - guitar (1993-1996)
• Rat Scabies − drums (1976-1977, 1978-1996)
• Dave Berk - drums (1977)
• Garrie Dreadful - drums (1996-1999)
• Spike Smith - drums (1999)
• Algy Ward - bass (1978-1980)
• Paul Gray - bass (1980-1983,1989)
• Bryn Merrick - bass (1983-1989)
• Paul Shepley - keyboards (1985-1989)
• Jason "Moose" Harris - bass (1993-1996)
• Patricia Morrison - bass (1996-2005)
• Roman Jugg - keyboards (1981-1989) guitar (1984-1989)

Collaborators

• Lemmy - bass (1978)
• Robert Fripp - guitar (1990)
• Lol Coxhill - saxophone (1977)

References to The Damned in popular culture

• Bob Marley mentioned the band in his song "Punky Reggae Party", depicting a party including representatives of both movements, with the lyrics "The Wailers will be there. The Damned, The Jam, The Clash. Maytals will be there".
• The Japanese rock and roll band, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, is named after a mispronunciation of "Machine Gun Etiquette".
• William Gibson made a reference to their song, "New Rose", in the title of his short story, New Rose Hotel.
• There is a Damned poster on the title character's wall in the popular 1980's comedic movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• Similar to above, there is a Damned poster on the bedroom wall of a teenage boy character in the Ron Howard comedy Parenthood. In an interesting decision, the character's older sister has a poster of a band of the Damned's peers, the Cure in her room.

References

External links

• Official website
• Captain Sensible Live Blog
• Official site for Captain Sensible
• Official MySpace page celebrating 30 years of The Damned
• Damned Discography
• Eternal Damnation: A Damned Blog
• The Damned at MusicBrainz
• The Damned article by Chris Hunt, published in Q magazine, 2003.