"Anyone with any honesty will admit that all they want out of this business
is a a colour TV and £25.000 a year ".(Rat Scabies)

Eternally Damned

The Damned were originally formed way back in May 1976 by bassist Captain Sensible, guitarist Brian James, and drummer Rat Scabies.
After two gigs as The Subterraneans they discovered vocalist Dave Vanian standing at the bar of The Nasville Rooms, his almost Dracula-like appearance catching the band's eye.

The foursome's first proper gig came in July 1976 when they supported The Sex Pistols at London's 100 Club and a month later, along with the likes of Eddie & The Hot Rods and The Tyla Gang, they played the Mont De Marsan festival, in the south of France.
On the ferry of return journey they sign to Stiff Records and Ray Burns was christened Captain Sensible by Larry Wallis.
By November they'd become the first ever punk band to release a single- the thunderous NEW ROSE, produced by Nick Lowe.
The band became notorius through their concerts at London clubs like the Roxy, the Red Cow. With Scabies' demented drumming, Vanian's gravelidigger ghoul image, James' cuttinc psychedelic guitar and the Captain's over the top stage outfits, The Damned were simply and awesome live experience.
Too much so for the Sex Pistols, who kicked them off their support slot midway through thr "Anarchy In The Uk" tour, although they soon hit the mark with American audiences who lapped up the band's early 1977 dates- the first by a British punk band in the USA.

The group's hat trick of firsts came with the release of their debut LP, DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED, in Febrary 1977 which hit No. 34 in the UK Top 50 and was the very first punk LP to dent the charts.
The album broke into the mainstream as the band embarked on a 9-date tour with T Rex and then a lenghtier spell on the road with The Adverts under the banner of "the Damned know three chords, The Adverts know one, hear all four at...!".

Their second LP,MUSIC FOR PLEASURE, followed in November 1977. Produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, the album featured the singles PROBLEM CHILD and DON'T CRY WOLF, and marked the debut of second guitarist Robert "Lu" Edmunds.
Following an internal dispute, Scabies left the band soon after the album's completion to be replaced by ex-London stickman Jon Moss.

Early in 1978 they became the first of the main punk bands to split; James formed Tanz Der Youth, Sensible -King, Vanian -Doctor of Madness whilst Moss and Edmunds started The Edge (Moss later turning up in Culture Club and Edmunds in the Mekons).
But less than six months later, they were back together, with Scabies, Sensible (Now on guitar), and Vanian, along with Lemmy from Motorhead, playing a reunion gig at the Eletric Ballroom, apparently because they'd all been promised a couple of hundred quid each!
After they drafted in ex-Chelsea bassist Henry Badkowski and undertook a further tour as The Doomed, unsure of their rights to use the original name.

The Damned saked badkowski for Algy Ward ex bassist of The Saints (Follow the Leader) and signed to Chiswick Records in 1979.
Following a riotous Summer American tour, the band proved their versatily with their third LP, MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE, a potent mixture of metal, punk and pop sensibility.
Hitting nunber 31 in the charts, it yielded three hit singles: LOVE SONG, SMASH IT UP, I JUST CAN'T BE HAPPPY TODAY.
The SOUNDS a music journal define in this way the album: "......a bewildering mix of genius, garbage, taste, idiocy, noise, misjudgement, alcohol, aggression, wind-ups, grotesqueness, psychosis and awful clothes".

In the 1980, during a short tour of Italy, they left complete destruction in their wake. Paul Gray had taken over from Ward, and was experiencing a baptism of fire, at one point phoning his girlfriend during the tour to make out a will!!!!

On their return, recorded the single HISTORY OF THE WORLD part 1, and then travelled to Wales to make the double LP, THE BLACK ALBUM.
The critics were silenced again with some adventurous songs and a level of balance that added a new dimension to the band's live set. The album reached No. 29 in the UK charts.
1981 was quieter, they released only the FRIDAY THE 13th EP.

In 1982 , THE DAMNED signed a new deal for the bronze records, travelling in Wales to record STRAWBERRIES, with Roman Jugg now on keyboards.
The album includes more examples of the band's writing arranging skill and peaked at No. 15. The subsequent UK tour boasted an elaborated church stage set, including three dancing punk nuns, and it was christened "The Nuns' Tour".
Meanwhile, Captain Sensible had inked a solo deal with A&M and the single HAPPY TALK had gone straight to No. 1 in June 1982.Scabies released a solo EP LET THERE BE RATS.

One brief chart appearance at No. 42 in May 1984 with THANKS FOR THE NIGHT showed the world that they hadn't disappeared altogether, but by the end of the year announced the departure of Sensible, the recruiting of new bassist Byrn Merrick and the switching of Jugg from keyboards to guitar. Then Came a worldwide deal with MCA Records.
Like their period whit Chiswick The Damned's time with MCA, chartwise, proved equally succesful, if not more so. Whit a new 'Ewardian Urchin' image and a more mainstream pop style they scored immediate single success as GRIMLY FIENDISH and THE SHADOW OF LOVE hit No. 21 and 25 respectively.
Their first album for three years, PHANTASMAGORIA, gave them their biggest ever album when it hit No. 11 in September 1985 during a four month chart run.
The band had by chance become popular with the goth scene which had been captivated by Dave Vanian vampirical appearance. MCA were looking to promote the individual charathers whitin the band and Vanian was becoming more and more confident as the on-stage frontman.

After IS IT ADREAM had given the band their third hit of the year, reaching No. 34, The Damned released their biggest ever single in early 1986 with are-working of Barry Ryans's 1968 single ELOISE. Climbing to No.2 it spent over three months in the Top 75 and led to a flurry of media activity.
The band members found themselves caught between pleasing the record company and keeping the fans and themselves happy. Later in the same year, ANYTHING hit the single charts and the album with the same name peaked at No.40. Three more single from the album hit the charts in 1987 - GIGOLO (No. 29 Feb), ALONE AGAIN OR (No.27 May), which featured a surreal video with a horse, adancer and a motor-bike in a desert, and IN DULCE DECORUM (No. 72 Nov).

Now the Damned are playing a long tour date in the world, and we are standing for the great retun, standing for jump up and down.

Taken from Phantasmagoria.

Discography go here !!