The Damned Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Damned are a punk band from the United Kingdom. First formed in 1976, The Damned have dissolved and reformed many times, and gradually incorporated other elements in their music, most notably gothic rock.The Damned played their first gig on 6 July, 1976, supporting The Sex Pistols at the 100 Club in London. They were the first of the London punk bands to get a record deal and release a single, New Rose.
Original Lineup
- Dave Vanian (David Lett) - vocals
- Brian James (Brian Robertson) - guitar
- Captain Sensible (Ray Burns) - bass (although for most of his career with The Damned he played guitar and sang vocals)
- Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) - drums
Their first album, Damned Damned Damned was produced by Nick Lowe, and featured a stomping cover of The Stooges' "1970," retitled "I Feel Alright." Scabies' powerful, Keith Moon-style drumming is prominent throught. James wrote much of the material.
In March 1977 The Damned toured with Marc Bolan and T Rex on Bolan's final tour. There are two interesting links between Captain Sensible and Bolan's original co-founder of Tyrannosaurus Rex Steve Took which are detailed on Captain Sensible's page.
The Damned recruited a second guitarist, Lu Edmunds, a move inspired in part by the ferocious dual-guitar attack of The MC5. This expanded version recorded their second album Music For Pleasure, which was produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and featured an appearance by free jazzer Lol Coxhill. Critical and commercial responses were mixed, and James, lead guitarist and main writer on the first album, left the group in 1978.
The Damned collapsed for a brief period, then reformed, performing as "The Dimned" and "The Doomed" to avoid potential trademark problems. Sensible switched to electric guitar, and after a brief interlude with Lemmy Kilmister of Hawkwind and Motörhead playing bass, the position was filled by Algy Ward of the Australian punk band The Saints.
This version of The Damned recorded 1979's Machine Gun Ettiquite. This was the first album featuring Sensible on guitar.
From the beginning of The Damned, Vanian had demonstrated a degree of goth culture influence: he usually affected a vampire-style appearance onstage, complete with chalk-white makeup and cape. They began incorporating greater elements of goth rock, but one critic has written of 1985's Phantasmagoria, " Vanian thankfully has never seen fit to simply ape those (goth rock) clichés, steering his own powerful path." [1]
James rejoined temporarily for a few live appearances, some of which appear on 1989's ''Final Damnation."
The Damned have remained active, usually centered aroud Vanian and Sensible. Patricia Morrison, previously bass guitarist for The Gun Club and Sisters of Mercy joined, and is married to Vanian.
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