I love The Damned. While they aren’t one of my all-time favorite bands, of the “classic” punk rock scene of the late 70s in England, they are my favorite (besting even The Clash and The Sex Pistols). Why? They weren’t afraid to mix it up and have fun. Stylistically they started out as straight on punk, but with a sens of humor. Then as time went on they changed style but always true to their roots.
“New Rose” (as covered by Hammerbox)
I don’t remember exactly what it was that got me into the band, but I do remember being interested in the band by the time 1987’s Light At The End Of The Tunnel came out. That compilation album, a double album gathering up singles, albums tracks, B-sides, and other tracks remains the definitive document of the band’s early career. It also showed just how wide of a variety of styles this punk band would cover not only in their first 10 years but throughout their entire career.
The group has gone through a number of lineup changes, but interestingly the group has been pretty stable for the last 10 years. After a brief time (or two) away Captain Sensible who started out on bass then switched to Guitar has been the primary mainstay with the band along with frontman Dave Vanian. These two were there are the beginning and are still there.
“Shut It”
Several years ago (1992 I think) several Seattle area bands got together and did a regional compilation album, which was all the rage back then. These things were cropping up all the time. The gimmick this time would be all the songs were covers of The Damned. Another Damned Seattle Compilation featured such acts as The Young Fresh Fellows, Love Battery, The Accused, The Posies and more. This is where the Hammerbox cover of “New Rose” came from (as featured above) and Flop’s version of “Disco Man”.
“Disco Man”
“Disco Man” (as covered by Flop)
I got to see The Damned once, but that is part of another story.