the damned
 The Damned formed in London in 1976 when former undertaker Dave
Vanian (real name Dave Letts) met up with Rat Scabies (Chris
Miller), Captain Sensible (Ray Burns) and Brian James (real name
Brian Robertson).
The band were signed to the new Stiff label by Jake Riviera and
released the classic track New Rose, produced by Stiff
stablemate Nick Lowe, becoming the first punks to release and
chart with an album (the enduring Damned Damned Damned -
also produced by Lowe) in 1977. One of the classic punk debuts,
the LP pogoed and thrashed through a collection of 3-chord
wonders.
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.
 On April 8 1977, The Damned became the first UK punk band to
play in the USA - at CBGB's naturally. It was the start of a small
venue "toe-in-the-water" tour that provoked a healthy
response amongst college kids but failed to convince record
companies and mainstream radio that punk had anything significant
to offer.
The group's 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 for pastures new.
Although future Culture
Club man Jon Moss was drafted in briefly as a replacement, the
band splintered early the following year.
In September 1978 the band played a concert as Les Punks (with
Lemmy from Motörhead on bass allowing Captain Sensible to stand
in on guitar for Brian James who could not be tempted back). They
decided to re-form permanently, but as James owned the name they
had to perform as The Doomed while they engaged m'learned friends
to get their old moniker back.
 The original band regrouped as The Damned 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 later that year. A third single, I Just
Can't Be Happy Today, followed.
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 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.
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 3.
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.
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