The Damned

The Damned are a London punk band formed in 1976. The core original line-up consists of Dave Vanian on lead vocals, Brian James on guitar, Captain Sensible on bass and later guitar, and Rat Scabies on drums. The group remains active and has undergone many line-up changes over the years, with members including Roman Jugg, Bryn Merrick, Alan Lee Shaw, Patricia Morrison, Monty Oxymoron, Pinch, Stu West, Paul Gray, Kris Dollimore, Garrie Dreadful, Lu Edmonds, Moose Harris, Jon Moss, Paul Shepley and Algy Ward.

Early punk years

The band is among the earliest UK punk acts to record and release major milestones. It is the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, with New Rose, and the first to issue a studio album, Damned Damned Damned. It also tours the United States early in its career. Their follow-up album, Music for Pleasure, is critically dismissed, and the band briefly dissolves before re-forming without Brian James for Machine Gun Etiquette.

Sound and later developments

Although rooted in punk rock, the group’s music moves across styles including post-punk, gothic rock, dance-rock, deathrock, horror punk, new wave and pop. During the 1980s, the band releases The Black Album, Strawberries, Phantasmagoria and Anything, with the later records marking a shift towards a gothic rock sound. Captain Sensible leaves in 1984, so he does not appear on the last two of those albums. Lead singer Dave Vanian’s baritone voice, dark lyrics and vampire-themed stage image help establish the group as one of the first gothic rock bands and a major influence on goth culture.

Reunions, line-up changes and later releases

Brian James and Captain Sensible return for reunion performances in 1988, and one of those shows appears on the live album Final Damnation. The band reforms again for a tour in 1991. Later studio albums include Not of This Earth, Grave Disorder, So, Who's Paranoid?, Evil Spirits and Darkadelic. Evil Spirits reaches the UK Official Charts top 10, and Darkadelic also enters the top 10. Monty Oxymoron, Pinch and Stu West form a long-running line-up with Vanian and Sensible from 2004 to 2017, after which West leaves and Paul Gray returns. Pinch leaves in 2019, Will Taylor replaces him in 2022, and Rat Scabies later returns.

Influence and chart success

Nine of the band's singles reach the UK top 40. Their fast, direct punk style is cited as an influence on the development of hardcore punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the UK and the US.

Labels

The Damned record for Bronze, Chiswick, InsideOut, MCA Records, Nitro Records, Stiff Records and The English Channel.