are an English Punk Rock and 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 also considered a foundational influence on both Hardcore Punk see the comments of Brendan Mullen, founder of the club The Masque , in Don Letts ' documentary ''Punk: Attitude'' and gothic rock.
The Damned have incorporated many different styles into their music and image; such as as the sole constant member. However, the lineups have always included either guitarist Captain Sensible and/or drummer Rat Scabies , both founding members. The line-up currently includes original members Vanian and Sensible.
American drummer Jeff Nelson described the Damned as " The Beatles of punk" -- a testament to their versatility and influence.Nelson quoted on page 141 of Michael Azerrad's ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991'', Back Bay Books, 2002, ISBN 0316787531
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. OctopusMediaInk.com
The Damned played their first gig on ' 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, establishing him as a leading drummer. 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 .
According to Brendan Mullen, founder of the L.A. club The Masque , the Damned's first tour of the U.S. in 1977 found them favoring very fast tempos, causing a "sensation" and helping to inspire the first wave of U.S. west coast Hardcore Punk .see Mullen's comments in the Don Letts directed documentary ''Punk: Attitude''.
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 Keyboard s. After a brief period with Lemmy of Hawkwind and Motörhead on bass for studio demos and a handful of live appearancessee the notes for ''Smash It Up - The Anthology 1976 - 1987'', the bassist 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 Kilminster 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 featured a strong 1960s Garage Rock influence; with Farfisa organ in 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."[ TrouserPress.com ]
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.
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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 ''.
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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 ," a cover of a 1968 hit by Barry Ryan , was a success in the UK, and that same year in the US, MCA included a Damned track (" In Dulce Decorum ") on the original soundtrack release of '' Miami Vice II'' (1987).
James rejoined temporarily for a few live appearances, some of which appear on 1988's '' 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 ".
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 . They also headlined the Bulldog Bash on the Saturday evening in the same year.
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 )
- 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 Japan ese 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 1980s 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.
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