Damned

The Damned can be credited with two major achievements, one historical and one artistic. The historical one was recording the first punk rock album in England (a few months after the Ramones), and the artistic one was interpreting the violence of that music in a comical way, reducing the punk phenomenon to a parody of horror movies. In this sense, they were more children of old glam rock than of punk itself, whose nihilistic intransigence they never identified with.

The first punk band in London was London SS, a phantom band formed in Malcolm McLaren's boutique that never made it to the recording studio but included members of the future Clash (Mick Jones) and Generation X. Among the members were drummer Rat Scabies (Chris Miller) and guitarist Brian James. Hippie bassist Ray Burns, aka Captain Sensible, transformed them into the Subterraneans. When, in July 1976, the vocals were entrusted to a former undertaker named Dave Vanian, the band renamed itself The Damned. They were discovered by Nick Lowe in person, who produced their first single, New Rose (written by James), in October, which was the vinyl debut of British punk culture and the "gospel" of the hyper-kinetic frenzy of the era. In early 1977, the single Neat Neat Neat (typical of their acrobatic rock and roll with Black Sabbath-style hard rock inflections, beat choruses, and heavy doses of humor) and the album Damned Damned Damned (Stiff, 1977), with a parade of wild and breathtaking New York Dolls-style tracks such as Born To Kill and Fish, established them to such an extent that they were even invited to CGBG's in New York.

However, their adventure was already coming to an end and James, the band's songwriter, left the group after a mediocre second album, Music For Pleasure (Stiff, 1977). The Damned of Machine Gun Etiquette (Chiswick, 1979) were Sensible's vehicle, now also a guitarist. Meanwhile, the Damned continued to reap valuable singles such as I Just Can't Be Happy Today (1978), Love Song (1978), Noise Noise Noise (1979), Smash It Up (1979).

Musically speaking, they gave their best on the double Black Album (Chiswick, 1980), characterized by a more melodic and electronic power rock (Wait For The Blackout, Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, the anthemic History Of The World) and containing the 17-minute Curtain Call. Disco Man, on the EP Friday 13th, is one of their most famous (reminiscent of Peace Of Mind by Family).

Having lost any transgressive ambitions after the inferior Strawberries (Bronze, 1982), The Damned settled on melodic and psychedelic hard rock, reaching commercial heights with the triad of Phantasmagoria (MCA, 1985): Grimly Fiendish, Sanctum Sanctorum and Is It A Dream, dominated by Vanian after the departure of Sensible (who went on to a solo career fueled by Martin Newell's songs).

After another artistic flop, Anything (MCA, 1986), the band broke up.

Rat Scabies and Dave Vanian reformed the Damned to record Not Of This Earth (Cleopatra, 1997), an album that would have been a masterpiece in 1977 (Shut It, for example). Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian are the original members on

Grave Disorder (Nitro, 2001) is a little more predictable, possibly too faithful to their vintage style (best exemplified by the energetic, youthful Thrill Kill, Neverland and Looking for Action), but also featuring the odd dance groove of W and the lengthy nightmare of Amen.

Brian James resurfaced with the Dripping Lips and the album Ready To Crack (Fishhead, 1998).

Brian James died in 2025.