The Damned

Though seldom ranked among the paramount acts from Britain's opening punk surge or hailed as its prime innovators, the Damned nevertheless hold a legitimate claim to several pioneering milestones. In 1976 they issued the country's first punk single, pairing the original "New Rose" with a brisk reading of "Help," and followed it the next year with the debut U.K. punk album, Damned Damned Damned. They also became the first British punk act to cross the Atlantic for live dates. Early dissolution came swiftly, yet they later reversed course and reformed ahead of most contemporaries. Over the ensuing decades few peers matched the length or circuitous route of their history. Beginning as a fierce, leather-clad quartet whose sound blended menace with humor, the group soon folded in psychedelic and garage elements on 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette, shifted toward expansive pop laced with progressive touches on the 1980 double album The Black Album, and embraced a melodic yet forceful strain of goth on 1985's Phantasmagoria. Throughout these shifts Dave Vanian's measured, articulate vocals stayed constant while personnel rotated through repeated splits and returns. A steadier configuration finally coalesced in the 2000s around Vanian and founding guitarist Captain Sensible, yielding polished yet energetic blends of pop, rock, and goth on later releases including 2008's So, Who's Paranoid?, 2018's Evil Spirits, and 2023's Darkadelic. Their knack for treating the music earnestly while refusing to treat themselves with comparable solemnity sustained an uncommonly devoted audience.

The band's origins trace to 1974, when guitarist Ray Burns and drummer Chris Millar crossed paths working backstage at London's Croydon Fairfield Hall. Retaining contact through the mid-decade lull in the local scene, the pair—soon better known as Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies—saw their paths converge with punk's emergence when Scabies secured an audition with London S.S., the loose collective whose members would later populate the Clash, Generation X, and the Boys. There he encountered guitarist Brian James; around the same period he also met theatrical vocalist Dave Vanian, whose fixation on the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper remained undiminished. Vanian's background reportedly included performances of "I Love the Dead" and "Dead Babies" while employed as a gravedigger, yet his poised voice and commanding presence suited the frontman role perfectly. Sensible was introduced to both Vanian and James, and the Damned took shape, with Sensible switching to bass, James handling guitar and primary songwriting duties, and Scabies on drums.

Their public debut arrived in July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club. A handful of additional performances drew the notice of fledgling independent label Stiff Records, which sought irreverent acts possessing a sense of wit. The Damned matched that profile, prompting an immediate studio session with producer Nick Lowe that captured the frantic "New Rose" alongside a rapid cover of the Beatles' "Help." Issued in October, the single reached shops five weeks before the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K."

While media attention transformed punk into either a commercial phenomenon or a cultural outrage, the Damned's visibility increased, earning them a place on the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy" Tour alongside the Clash and Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers. Following the Pistols' notorious on-air exchange with presenter Bill Grundy, numerous dates were canceled; the Damned withdrew after clashing with manager Malcolm McLaren. In February 1977 Stiff released the full-length Damned Damned Damned, and the band secured an opening slot on what became T. Rex's final U.K. tour. They then embarked on a short American trek highlighted by a Los Angeles performance that left a strong impression on the emerging Hollywood punk community.

Eager for a rapid follow-up, Stiff and the now-expanded five-piece—augmented by second guitarist Lu Edmonds—sought Syd Barrett as producer, yet the reclusive Pink Floyd founder remained unavailable, leaving drumming duties to Nick Mason. The resulting Music for Pleasure, released in November 1977, satisfied no one; Scabies departed, Jon Moss stepped in briefly (later joining Culture Club), and Stiff ended the association. Disillusioned, the group disbanded in February 1978.

Sensible launched the retro-psych project King, while Vanian joined glam ensemble the Doctors of Madness, yet neither venture proved fulfilling. Although James declined to participate in any reunion, the remaining three members discovered they still enjoyed collaboration. After performing incognito in late 1978 and resolving naming rights, the Damned reconvened with Sensible moving to lead guitar and Algy Ward of the Saints assuming bass (later succeeded by Paul Gray of Eddie & the Hot Rods, then Bryn Merrick). Vanian's incisive croon and gothic theatricality helped shape the emerging goth-rock style, while Sensible demonstrated superior riff craft and melodic facility compared with James, doubling effectively on keyboards when required. Scabies' thunderous, Keith Moon-inflected drumming supplied both spectacle and precision. Their return, Machine Gun Etiquette, appeared in 1979 and featured enduring tracks such as "Love Song" and "Smash It Up," displaying increased sophistication without abandoning punk irreverence. The 1980 double album The Black Album pushed further, incorporating denser production, experimental composition, and the seventeen-minute goth-prog piece "Curtain Call." Strawberries followed in 1982 to modest notice, though Sensible unexpectedly scored a U.K. number-one single with his version of "Happy Talk" from South Pacific. His concurrent solo career briefly overshadowed the band, which gradually lost momentum beyond its core following; Sensible exited in mid-1984, prompting second guitarist Roman Jugg to assume lead duties.

Contrary to expectations, commercial peak arrived after Sensible's departure. Signing with MCA, the group released Phantasmagoria in 1985 and scored a major British hit with their revival of Barry Ryan's melodramatic 1960s single "Eloise." The 1986 album Anything drew the harshest reviews since Music for Pleasure and sold poorly. A career-spanning anthology, The Light at the End of the Tunnel, appeared in 1987, followed by a series of farewell tours that occasionally featured both Sensible and James alongside the existing lineup. The final U.K. dates under the banner We Really Must Be Going took place at the close of 1989 with the original quartet.

True to form, the band reversed course and mounted the I Didn't Say It tour in 1991, welcoming back Paul Gray. Throughout the nineties a succession of live outings positioned the Damned largely as a nostalgia attraction, emphasizing early material for younger audiences. Following scattered 1992 performances the group went dormant, only to resurface in December 1993 with an almost entirely new roster: only Scabies and Vanian remained, joined by guitarists Kris Dollimore and Alan Lee Shaw plus bassist Moose. This configuration toured Japan and Europe for roughly two years and cut demos that Vanian described as intended for an album reuniting both Sensible and James. Scabies arranged a formal release of those recordings as Not of This Earth, which surfaced first in Japan in late November 1995.

Vanian, having renewed contact with Sensible through side project the Phantom Chords, responded by severing ties with Scabies, fully rejoining Sensible, and assembling a fresh incarnation that initially included returning bassist Gray, drummer Garrie Dreadful, and keyboardist Monty. Gray departed later in 1996 after an onstage outburst, replaced by Patricia Morrison, formerly of the Gun Club and Sisters of Mercy. Scabies responded with legal threats and public criticism, yet Vanian, Sensible, and their associates retained control of the name.

With disputes resolved, this lineup maintained a steady touring schedule despite frequent drumming changes—Dreadful exited at the end of 1998, succeeded first by Spike and then by Pinch in 1999. While Vanian continued Phantom Chords activities, the Damned gradually solidified into a functioning unit once more. In 2000 they signed with Nitro Records, founded by longtime admirer Dexter Holland of the Offspring (who had covered "Smash It Up" for the Batman Forever soundtrack). Morrison and Vanian also married, forming what many viewed as punk and goth's quintessential couple.

By 2001 the Vanian- and Sensible-led version appeared robust, issuing Grave Disorder on Nitro and touring to favorable response. The band's tangled past was documented across countless authorized and unauthorized compilations, live sets, and studio retrospectives. In 2005 both eras received attention: the current lineup toured while preparing new material, and the original configuration was celebrated via the three-disc Sanctuary box set Play It at Your Sister, which gathered the first two albums, John Peel sessions, and live recordings from 1976–1977. Their own next album arrived in 2008 as the sleek, pop-inflected So, Who's Paranoid? Extensive roadwork followed, and in early 2015 a documentary titled The Damned: Don't You Wish That You Were Dead premiered at SXSW with Sensible in attendance. Former bassist Bryn Merrick, who had been performing with a Ramones tribute act, succumbed to cancer later that year.

Marking their fortieth anniversary, the Damned performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 2016 and confirmed plans for their first studio album in nearly a decade. The following year Stu West departed, clearing the way for Paul Gray's return on bass. Recorded in New York by Tony Visconti, the eleventh album Evil Spirits appeared in 2018, preceded by the single "Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow." The band supported the release across Europe, the U.K., and a limited number of North American shows, including a headline slot at the Burger Boogaloo garage-punk festival. In October 2019 Pinch announced his exit, coinciding with the career retrospective Black Is the Night: The Definitive Anthology and the release of the final four tracks he recorded, issued as the EP The Rockfield Files. That same year the group staged a theatrical concert at London's Palladium, later preserved as the 2022 live album A Night of a Thousand Vampires. Also in 2022 the original Damned Damned Damned lineup reconvened for select British dates, documented on the limited live release AD 2022 (28th October London Eventim Apollo). In April 2023 Vanian, Sensible, Gray, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, and drummer Will Taylor delivered the twelfth studio album, Darkadelic, followed by two months of European and U.K. touring.