Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - D
    Artists - D Music - 1970s Music - 1980s 3 Mins Read

    Damned, The

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    The Damned formed in London in 1976. Former cemetery worker and aspiring graphic artist Dave Vanian (abridged from ‘Transylvanian’; real name Dave Lett) teamed up with Rat Scabies (Chris Millar), Captain Sensible (Ray Burns) and Brian James (born Brian Robertson) and the band were signed to the new Stiff label by Jake Riviera.

    The group released the classic track New Rose (1976), produced by Stiff stablemate Nick Lowe and became the first punks to release and chart with an album, the enduring Damned Damned Damned (1977). One of the classic punk debuts – and clocking in at just over 31 minutes – the LP pogoed and thrashed through a collection of three-chord wonders.

    Neat Neat Neat, the band’s second single released simultaneously with the album on 18 February 1977, supercharged an old Eddie Cochran riff into an instant pogo-friendly classic.

    damned_21

    Live, the band were one of the major attractions on the London scene with Vanian’s Goth affectations, Sensible’s beret-topped antics and Scabies’ demented drummer persona all competing against each other. The Damned were indeed a motley crew.

    Their musical assault was bolstered later that year by a second guitarist, Lu Edmonds, who debuted on the flaccid Music For Pleasure (1977). The album was universally derided and Scabies left, broke and broken.

    Although future Culture Club man Jon Moss was drafted in briefly as a replacement, the band splintered early the following year.

    The original band regrouped early in 1979 and emerged rejuvenated into the UK Top 20 with Love Song. With Algy Ward completing their line-up, the band scored a second chart hit with Smash It Up, releasing their lauded Machine Gun Etiquette album (1979) later that year. A third single, I Just Can’t Be Happy Today, followed.

    damned33

    The perpetual adolescence of The Damned on stage masked how they had been growing up in the studio. Machine Gun Etiquette was an album that punk bands were simply not making: complex, contentious, and hugely ambitious. Throw in tunes and velocity and you have Motörhead meets The Beach Boys.

    Paul Gray replaced Ward for 1980’s Untitled (known as ‘the Black Album’), an even more surprising ambitious double set which flew in the face of punk convention with its rampant experimentation. The poppy Strawberries(1982) marked the last stand of Captain Sensible who had scored a solo hit with the annoying Happy Talk earlier that summer (from the musical South Pacific).

    Vanian and Scabies continued on with Roman Jugg and Bryn Gunn, enjoying major chart success with a string of extremely commercial pseudo Goth rockers, the biggest of which was a cover of Barry Ryan’s Eloise which made the Top Three.

    Phantasmagoria (1985) became their biggest selling album to date, catering to a whole new generation of fans. By now, The Damned had changed almost beyond recognition (with Vanian adopting a Zorro persona in place of the old Goth) and finally faded in the late 80s.

    TRIVIA
    When Croydon’s Ray Burns joined the band he wanted to be called ‘Duane Zenith’ but was instead christened Captain Sensible.

    damned12

    Dave Vanian (Lett)
    Vocals
    Brian James (Robertson)
    Guitar
    Captain Sensible (Ray Burns)
    Bass, guitar, keys
    Rat Scabies (Chris Millar)
    Drums
    Dave Berk 
    Drums
    Lu Edmonds
    Guitar
    Henry Badowski 
    Bass
    Jon Moss
    Drums
    Algy Ward 
    Bass
    Paul Gray
    Bass
    Roman Jugg 
    Guitar, keys
    Bryn Gunn 
    Bass

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Jane Aire & The Belvederes
      Jane Aire & The Belvederes
      Jane Aire (real name Jane Ashley) was another talented singer from Akron, Ohio whose career really got started outside her…
    • Nick Cave
      Nick Cave
      Melbourne (Australia) born Nick Cave is one of the most celebrated and enigmatic performers of the post-punk era and boasts…
    • Moodists, The
      Moodists, The
      Emerging from the provincial South Australian town of Mount Gambier in the late seventies, The Moodists were at odds with…
    • Anti-Nowhere League
      Anti-Nowhere League
      In good punk tradition, the Anti-Nowhere League formed in Kent, England, in 1980 out of sheer boredom. The band members…
    • Saints, The
      Saints, The
      Australians Ed Kuepper (guitar), Chris Bailey (vocals & bass) and Ivor Hay (keyboards) formed a high school band called Kid…
    • Dr Feelgood
      Dr Feelgood
      Although they never strayed from their gritty R&B based sound, Dr Feelgood was a fixture of England's Pub Rock scene since the…
    • Stiff Records
      Stiff Records
      Memorably described by Pete Waterman as "a crepe soles and roll-ups operation" Stiff Records was set up by industry managers…
    • Huey Lewis & The News
      Huey Lewis & The News
      It makes sense that San Francisco sextet Huey Lewis & The News were one of the most popular American bands of…

    Punk
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleDave Clark Five, The
    Next Article Carla Thomas

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • ABC Funfit
      1 9 8 5 – 1 9 8 6 (USA) 5 minute episodes This five-minute […]
    • All-New Super Friends Hour, The
      1 9 7 7 – 1 9 7 8 (USA) 15 x 60 minute episodes Batman, […]
    • Follow The Sun
      1 9  6 1 – 1 9 6 2 (USA) 30 x 60 minute episodes Debuting […]
    • Cracksman, The (1963)
      This endearing comedy attempted to transfer comedian Charlie […]
    • Kinvig
      1 9 8 1 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes Absent-minded dreamer, Des […]
    • Longboatmen, The
      Formed in Sweden in 1965, originally under the name Steampacket, […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.