Review: The Damned – Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2016

Images from the Internet

The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead

Directed by Wes Orshoski

Cleopatra / Three Count Films (TCF) / MVD Visual

110 minutes, 2015 / 2016

www.mvdvisual.com

Even in their earliest days, the Damned were a damned fine live band. They played a few in CBGBs betwixt 1977 and 1979. Probably, I saw them half a dozen times, usually with the Dead Boys opening. They never failed to entertain, and if they could keep the audience interested after seeing Stiv, Cheetah and the boys, that alone is enough to show their draw.

Like the Dictators being signed before the Ramones here in the States, the Damned were the first acknowledged punk band to be on a major label before either the Clash or the Pistols. It’s hard to explain to most mainstreamers how important the band was to the U.K. scenes at the time. They weren’t political like most of the Brit bands in 1976, but were just fast and loud, with good hooks, quite adept playing, and a front man who easily stood out; two if you include the guitarist, and I certainly would.

As with the Who, each member of the first incarnation of the band actually brought something that made them special. Underrated guitarist and vocalist Captain Sensible, who would also have a solo career with great songs like “Wot” and a cover of the South Pacific nonsensical “Happy Talk” fueled the engine, stoked the rest of the band. He wore outrageous outfits of bright colors (including wild wigs), white sunglasses and a red beret (the latter two becoming his trademark). Rat Scabies was the ginger drummer who was a powerhouse; watching him play was exhausting (in a good way), as he put so much into each beat. Guitarist Brian James seemed the most nondescript, but he was the songwriting maven that gave them most of the material for their first records, such as “Neat Neat Neat” and “New Rose.” These songs still hold up today. Up front was Dave Vanian, who would single-handedly set the standard for the look of the coming Goth movement. Usually – especially early on – his black hair was slicked back, his face plastered white with dark circles around his eyes and dark lipstick, be it black or blazing red. He moved around the stage like an insane panther, and was not only interesting to watch, but had a decent voice as well, especially considering he never sang before joining the band. In time, he would have longer hair and a white streak that I’m sure was used by Johnny Depp in the Tim Burton mediocre film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

But the Damned’s influence was not only for the Second Wave punk movement (i.e., British). As the band progressed and grew, its style changed and morphed into more…drama and emotion, being on the forefront of Emo and Goth. There is little doubt that they are to the Goth genre what the New York Dolls were to the New York (First Wave punk) underground sound that followed. And like the Dolls, their recognition factor did not go much above the fan base.

I believe part of the problem of the Damned was not necessarily their occasional infighting (e.g., Rat and the Captain), or even their revolving drummers and bassists – Lemmy did a stint early on, when the band temporarily changed their name to the Doomed – but rather their talent. The Damned would not be tied down to a single genre. Their catalog includes powerpop, disco (though they may call it something else, like Euro-pop), psychedelia and even some level of prog rock, as evidenced by the 17-minute “Curtain Call” from The Black Album (1980).

As documentaries go, this is a better than most (and also available in Blu-Ray). Yes, there is the mixture of old and new in both still images and performances, and interviews mixed in, but director Wes Orshoski takes a bit of a different approach. Among the talking heads, there is more of a philosophy of the band mixed in with the history, which almost comes secondary. I like this. The band doesn’t just become “I was the bassist from year X to year Y,” but rather shows the person behind the playing, what made the band a force, and also keeps them as individuals. Also, most members of the band through the years are interviewed, including Scabies and James, who jumped ship pretty early. While some of the personal bitterness comes to the surface through bits – and there is no shying away from the who and what and why – the humor is definitely there in a non-contiguous way, that shows even though they are not in the same band anymore, and possibly never will be, there is a bond that still hold them as being one of the Damned.

That being said, the documentary doesn’t limit itself to the Damned as a singular. They also follow a second group that is made up of the Damned’s other original members, called Scabies and James, who also play Damned, Damned, Damned while on tour in France, with another (American) punk cult singer fronting, Texas Terri. James takes over guitar rather than bass and shows himself to be quite spectacular in his own right.

This is also not a one-sided, “The Damned Rool” kind of approach used by too many, as we see the peccadillos, such as Rabies anger, the Captain’s insanity, James’s rambling and Vanian’s sometimes subtle power dynamics that led the band to break up its original form for good in 1991. This, of course, will only increase the myth them, but again, what I admire so much about this film is the humanizing of them. Not as punk gods, not as just in musician pantheon, not even villains, but makes them incredibly human, with frailties of pride, fear and uncertainty.

On a personal note, and I do mean this lighter than how I am going to say it, with a finger to the nose, there is a theme of “why didn’t they become as famous as the Pistols or the Clash?” I’m sure this is a question that has been following and plaguing them over the decades. I saw a hint of possibly just a part of why that may be: at one point, Vanian makes a comment about getting “a Jewish type of lawyer.” Now, this may sound like a yikes moment, but it brought back a very specific memory. In 1977, during a showcase at CBGBs, I was involved in an interview with Captain Sensible at one of the front tables between sets (HERE). After the show, we went backstage, to thank the good Captain, as we had kinda tricked him into it. I have a distinct memory of holding my thumb over the mouth of my beer bottle, knowing the Dead Boys’ reputation. As we were entering the dressing room, I did that side-to-side dance with Vanian as we tried to get by each other. He grumbled “Get outta my way,” to which I responded jokingly, being the obnoxious Brooklyn Boy I was, “It’s okay, I’m a Jew,” and rather than laughing or even smiling, Vanian smacked me in the back of the head with his palm, pretty hard. Yeah, even then I knew I deserved it, but perhaps it fed into something deeper with him? Considering the number of Jews that were deeply involved with running music business back then from the likes of record companies to promoters (e.g., Seymour Stein, David Geffen, Bill Graham), a reputation like that could have been career hindering.

There are lots of good interviews included, among many from musicians, most of them thankfully brief, from both sides of the Atlantic, including Lemmy (d. 2016, RIP) Chrissy Hyndes, two members of Blondie, fan Fred Armisen, Keith Morris, the omnipresent Ian MacKaye (of course; what no Henry Rollins or Dave Grohl?), Steve Diggle, Don Letts, Mick Jones of the Clash, and even Jesse Hughes, the idiot lead singer of Eagles of Death Metal (who actually makes at least one really good point that the band should get over their differences and get back together in their original form).

Five extras are included with this documentary, most of which could be considered deleted scenes. The first is the 5-minute “Captain Sensible and Fred Armisen: Nobody Busks in L.A.” This is a fun piece with Armisen meeting Sensible, and then both of them going out on the streets and them playing “Smash It Up” on acoustics with a small but enthusiastic crowd watching. Second is the 17-minute “Captain’s Tour of Croydon,” which is much more than it appears. It starts off as an extended scene from the opening of the film, with the Captain talking about his job cleaning toilets at a music hall, and this leads into showing where he saw bands, his first home as a child, where he and his first band, Johnny Moped, would hang out, and he brings us to the studio where the band recorded in some little dive/apartment. Here we get to meet Andy Gierus, one of the engineers who still works there. The whole thing is fun, thanks to the good Captain’s extroverted personality.

Next is the important 12-minute “The Anarchy Tour.” I noticed in the film that there wasn’t much talked about how the Damned were kicked off the infamous McLaren-Bernie Rhodes designed tour with the Pistols, the Heartbreakers and the Clash, but as I said, history was secondary to philosophy and personality in the feature. This is an important deleted part explaining what happened from the inside. Scabies makes a good point that with the Pistols getting banned a lot, “the Pistols’ reputation was from not being seen, the Damned’s reputation was from being seen” (i.e., touring a lot). I also find it interesting that the band talks about how the Clash went with McLaren advice and refused to talk to the Damned (unlike the Pistols), and yet there he is being interviewed for the main film, and a snippet shown here. Hmmm.

Number five is the 8-minute “The Doomed / Henry Badowski.” The viewer is introduced to Henry, a bassist / keyboard player who had been in bands such as Chelsea and Wreckless Eric, as well as having a subdued solo career. For a brief time he joined the post-James Damned when they were the Doomed. We meet him, who discusses the period, and why he was only involved a short time. Last up is the complete 4-1/2-minute multi-camera professionally-filmed performance of the song “Smash It Up,” from the Captain’s 60 birthday show in 2014, intercut with performances around the world.

As of this writing, the band, still containing Vanian and Captain Sensible, tour occasionally yet, and have a big following, especially in Japan (no surprise there). Their sets contain songs from all the periods, from their earliest to their latest, sometimes to the chagrin of band members. For example, they went on tour to do their entire first LP, Damned, Damned, Damned, and Sensible fought hard to not do the one Scabies song, “Stab Your Back,” due to the violent nature of it (as much as not wanting to have to give Scabies his royalty, I’m guessing). They remain dynamic if not presently important. But historically, they are one of the many great underrated bands of their generation, and most people will never realize the extent of their influence.

Damned Fans Talk to CAPTAIN SENSIBLE, DAMNED Bassist in N.Y.C. (at CBGB’s after first Damned Set [1977]

Text by Bernie Kugel / Big Star fanzine, 1977

Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015

Images from the Internet

This interview was originally printed in Big Star fanzine, issue #2, dated August-September-October 1977. It was written by its publisher, Buffalo Musicians Hall of Fame Inductee Bernie Kugel, who kindly granted permission for this reprint.

 

I feel lucky to have seen the first generation of the Damned (i.e., pre-Goth) a few of times at CBGB’s in the 1970s, usually with the Dead Boys. For the interview below, Big Star publisher and good friend Bernie Kugel wanted to interview them for his Buffalo-based fanzine (I hadn’t started mine yet), so Bernie, his college roommate and The Good original bassist Steve Lum, and myself headed down to see them play. Somehow, Bernie managed to get the Damned’s bassist Captain Sensible to sit down at a table with us along the north side brick wall and talk. He was not aware there was a tape recorder right there, so he was in Raymond Burns mode, rather than the aggressive, punk Captain, and we actually got some straight answers off of him. That is, until he realized the tape recorder was on and taping, and with a surprised, non-verbal WOT! he took off in seconds flat. When Bernie published the interview, he took the questions asked by Steve and myself and listed us as “Kid at CBGB’s.” I asked the Ramones question, natch, and Steve asked the others. [Quick note from Bernie: We have not been able to ascertain the whereabouts of Steve Lum for a few decades, so if he reads this please contact this Website.”]

 

In its latest incarnation, Captain Sensible and lead singer Dave Vanian are the two remaining original members. – RBF, 2015

Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies, Brian James, Captain Sensible

 The Damned came to America, saw lots of stuff (most of which they didn’t like) and if they did not quite conquer the place, they at least played some really alive rock and roll. They’re now in England again and after finishing a tour with the Adverts (where it was advertised that the Damned know three chords and the Adverts know one, so you should come to the concerts and hear all four!) they have put out a new single [“Stretcher Case Baby” – RBF, 2015] and are supposed to be working on their second LP [Music for Pleasure – RBF, 2015]. Meanwhile the first album [Damned Damned Damned – RBF, 2015] contains many stunning cuts and their “Neat Neat Neat” and “New Rose” singles are a couple of the best songs out of the new wave; all their stuff stands up well, even after large doses. The only complain I might have with these guys is that they sometimes don’t seem to really want to talk, and most of the interviews done with them in the States seem to reflect that type of attitude. But when a bunch of Damned fans cornered Captain Sensible, Damned bassist, after the very first Damned set in the U.S., he spoke openly, happily, and had some really interesting things to say. Here’s the conversation…

 

Bernie Kugel: We hear that all you guys like the Damned and Clash can’t play in England anymore…

Captain Sensible: Well, we can’t play in London. There’s nowhere we can play in London apart from the Roxy, which is a crappy, silly little club a little bit bigger than this place. But around the country we can play. We can’t play in London because of the GLC, the Greater London Council, who won’t have any punk bands because it threatens the morality of the children or something stupid like that. [Of course, since this conversation the Damned have been playing in major halls in London and in all of England – BK, 1977.]

 

Bernie: Do you have a favorite band that you like?      

Captain: Yeah, sure. My favorite band is the Sweet and Abba and…

Kid in CBGB’s: Whadda ya think of the Ramones?      

Captain: I like them but they’re not my favorite band. I like Gary Glitter, people like that.

 

Bernie: Have a favorite British New Wave band?

Captain: Yeah… Ever hear of a group called Chelsea?

 

Bernie: Yeah… What about this group called Eater?

Captain: Eater are young kids. I like Eater ‘cause they’re young kids and they put two fingers up [like saying fuck you – BK, 1977] to their school. They put their two fingers up to the headmaster who don’t want them to do music or anything. They’re working on stage when they should be doing their lessons.

Kid: Hey, are you gonna do “One of the Two” in the second set?

Captain: Yeah, we are…

Kid: Uhh, “Fish”?

Captain: Yeah…

Kid: “Born to Kill”?

Captain: Yeah… My favorite.

Kid: “Stab Your Back”?

Captain: Yeah…

Kid: Then you’re gonna do the rest of the album?

Captain: Yeah, all the rest of the album.

 

Bernie: Got any future singles planned?

Captain: Well, I’ve got a song I’ve written, but we haven’t done it yet on stage. The first song I’ve ever written for the group.

 

Bernie: What’s it called?

Captain: I haven’t got a name for it yet. It’s all about normal things like how fuckin’ materialistic the world is and all that shit, ya’know? Like we don’t usually do political songs as you probably know, and my song isn’t political, it’s just about how the media in one form or another, i.e., either television, newspaper or anything like that, molds and brainwashes people. It’s like non-stop propaganda and the masses don’t realize just what mucks they’re taken for. Now, you tell me, if there’s 5-1/2 million people in Britain, how can they have 1-1/2 million people unemployed who don’t kick up fuckin’ hell about it? All the people I’m friends with are unemployed now. We were all unemployed when the Damned formed, ya’know? I was unemployed for two years.

 

Bernie: What do you think of what you’ve seen of America so far [being basically New York City]?

Captain: I love it. I’ve only experienced it in one other place: Edinburgh, Scotland. Like when I went to Edinburgh I was knocked out by the people, by how so over the top nice the people were. Like in London, they’re all poseurs, ya’know? When you talk to a poseur in London they’re all “cool” and all. They’re into their pose. They’re into status, right? By status I mean one person is high up on the status thing than another person ‘cause they’re either a journalist or a rock star or a rock promoter or something in the music industry. There’s so many people like that in London. They come to our concerts, they go to other concerts and you see them there. They make you sick, ‘cos they have nothing to do what I think is honest and real. Like, I don’t know if we’re honest and real, maybe we’re poseurs on a stage; offstage I don’t know.

 

Bernie: What was the trouble you had with being kicked off the Sex Pistols’ tour?

Captain: That was a mix-up. I’ll tell you the true story about that. Starting out, there were four bands on the tour: us, the Pistols, Clash, the Heartbreakers. Pistols topped, us second, Heartbreakers third, Clash fourth. Now, the Pistols needed us on the tour to pull the punters in the seats, ‘cos we’re as big as the Pistols in London and (the rest of) England at the time. At the time, they needed us. Then the Pistols started getting into the press by doing bizarre things like any group does – like swearing on TV, we wouldn’t have done it – or smashing up flower pots in hotels, sticking things out a window, which we do; we’ve done that, it just so happens that the press aren’t there when we do it. Like maybe they were conscious acts, maybe they weren’t. They got a very, very shrewd manager who I respect tremendously, Malcolm McLaren [d. 2010 – RBF, 2015]. He used to be my manager. And I know how clever the geezer is and I know how he’s a genius ‘cos he’s made the Sex Pistols the biggest, most popular thing in the whole world. I mean, who do you wanna see? You wanna see the Sex Pistols. So do I, I’d love to see them. But that was before the controversy, so they needed us. There were 3,500 seat halls and they couldn’t fill that.  Sex Pistols could get about 500, we could get about 500; they needed us. So they got all that publicity, front pages for about a week in all the British daily press, so they didn’t need us anymore. Also, the fact that we’re sort of a hot band and we’re better musicians, anyway. They’re good because they got a real good attitude, you know? I mean they really don’t care. I don’t think we care, but they really don’t care, you know? In fact, they’re real chaos. When they’re good, they’re great. In fact, the worse they are the better it is to watch ‘em. Incredible. Like, we played one gig with them, we blew ‘em offstage completely; we were on the tour then. I think we blew ‘em offstage anyway, and they were getting booed off. So they didn’t need us anymore, we were too good to play before them so they said, “No, you can’t play with us.” Also, the fact that we agreed to do the gig like you said. [Meaning that they would do a demonstration of their set before a local council so that the council would let the concert go on. The other groups refused to do that. So that just about cinched the Damned getting thrown off the first – and possibly last? – Sex Pistols UK tour – BK, 1977.] But we had a bomber manager at the time – he’s not our present manager – called Rick Rodgers, and it blew the whole thing for us. It cost £2,000 to get on the tour, so we lost £2,000. That’s why we’re very poor. We’re selling a lot of records, but it costs money to play gigs. We just done a tour with Marc Bolan & T. Rex we lost £1,000 on. We’re losing a £1,000 coming over here. We lost £2,000 on the Sex Pistols tour and that’s wiped out anything we’ve earned from the album.

 

Bernie: There was a band called SS Something…

Captain: London SS.

 

Bernie: Yeah. Who of the band was in that?

Captain: Brian [James], the guitarist, Rat [Scabies] on drums, Mick Jones from the Clash, and Tony James of Generation X. And they didn’t like Rat so they threw Rat out, and Brian went with Rat ‘cause Brian liked Rat. Then I got together with the two of them ‘cause I used to work with Rat. I used to be a toilet cleaner with him. It’s an easy job, toilet cleaning. Then we got Dave [Vanian] in. We picked him out of an audience. Not when we were playing but thought that guy was the best, weirdest lookin’ guy we could see.

 



More recent: Vanian and Sensible

Bernie: Was he dressed like he is now, with makeup and all?

Captain: Yeah, he was. And we went up to him and said, “You wanna join our group?” and he said, ”Doin’ what?”  We said, “Singing,” and he said, “But I’ve never sung before,” and we said, “Yes, great, sounds good.”

 

Bernie: He was a gravedigger before, I hear?

Captain: That’s true, really. And I was a toilet cleaner, that’s true.

 

Bernie: Meet a lot of people as a toilet cleaner?

Captain: I cleaned toilets in a concert hall, so I met people like Glen Campbell and what’s-his-name, Bert Kampfert [d. 1980 – RBF, 2015], and all shitty people like that; and Mrs. Mills [aka Gladys Mills, British singer, d. 1978 – RBF, 2015]. And just a load of really different people. Wrestlers, boxers, all that lot. Really interesting. We got sacked.

 

Bernie: Are you gonna do “Singalonga Scabies”?

Captain: No, we’re not gonna do that. Have you heard that?

 

Bernie: Yeah, it’s really good.

Captain: It was my idea. Why are you taping this?

 

Bernie: We’re from a fanzine here, Big Star.”

Captain: Send us a copy.

 

Bernie: Sure. See ya.

DVD Review: THE DAMNED Tiki Nightmare: Live Live Live in London 2002

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2013
Images from the Internet

THE DAMNED Tiki Nightmare: Live Live Live in London 2002
Directed by Robin Dextor
Weinerworld Productions.
86 minutes, 2012
Weinerworld.com
MVDvisual.com

In 1977, I saw the Damned a number of times at CBGB on two separate tours, usually with the Dead Boys opening. Each night was magical (it was also the first shows that I found you needed a reservation to get into the club). Hey, once I co-interviewed guitarist Capt. Sensible between sets, with Bernie Kugel for the Buffalo-based ‘zine Big Star. Hell, vocalist Dave Vanian even smacked me on the back of the head in the dressing room for saying something obnoxious. Then, they were a group to be reckoned with, a forceful British punk band who would pioneer the Goth movement. Ironically, it was the Goth stuff that made me lose touch with their sound.

Gratefully, I have now had the chance to see this July 31, 2002 performance at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire club in London, and catch up a bit.

Dave and Sensible still front the band, with the addition of others including the Gun Club / Sisters of Mercy's buxom bassist (and future Vanian spouse) Patricia Morrison.

Dave’s voice in 2002 was still solid. He’s gained some weight, but the slicked-back ‘50s-ish hair, wrap-around sunglasses and attitude remain. Damn (pun intended), he actually is a good singer. Better than many of the post-psychedelic sound (as it was called in the 1980s, for some reason). But I also see why I lost interest in the band. Their first few singles and LP (Damned Damned Damned) were fast and furious, with a tone of anger and angst that was refreshing. Over time, they became more and more theatric and, well, another well-played melodic rock band. While this DVD shows them at their finest post-beginning sound, it also left me a bit cold. It’s sort of like a cover band. Take “Disco Man,” for example. There is nothing wrong with the song, but it would fit perfectly on American Idol. I can’t imagine anyone on that show doing “New Rose.”

What I’m trying to say is that they sound kind of mainstream, with no sense of the scary. For example, no matter what stage you saw the Cramps, there was always an atmosphere of danger. While the Cramps’ sound changed over time, they still stayed true to their beginnings (for example, compare “Garbageman” with “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”). The Damned changed markedly, becoming more flamboyant in sound and style. It’s no surprise to me they retained a level of mass fame in Jolly Olde.

Of course, the banter between tunes is mostly by Vanian (mockingly calling Britney Spears the new disco, for example) and the ever jovial (but less noxious onstage) Capt., who openly promotes their then-new release, Grave Disorder. The Captain also shows beyond a doubt he knows his way around a fretboard, being the prog fan he admits to being.

Actually, my only real complaint about the DVD is the camerawork and direction. When the editing isn’t annoyingly active, the cameras are in nearly constant physical motion. It’s hard to enjoy, for example, any of the musicians’ playing when you can’t watch more than one or two bars at a time. Most of the camera is given to the Captain and Dave, with the rest of the band relegated to quick shots. Like many “found footage” film, I found myself having to turn away from the screen to keep from getting queasy.

I will fully admit I was living in the past watching this, and while I sat through the whole thing, I was waiting for their early material, like “Neat Neat Neat” (cut 13) and “New Rose” (cut 15). And these songs are covered strongly, but then again, as in the case of “Neat Neat Neat,” Dave’s doing it sort of like ’77 Elvis singing “Blue Suede Shoes.” And Sensible’s behind-the-back-of-the-neck guitarplay during the song with extended wah-wah sound was like watching the prog version.

There are some interesting touches here. One is a semi-raucous cover of Dylan’s “She,” and when the band leaves the stage for one-song break, the Captain stays and sings his bizarre British hit, “Happy Talk” (from South Pacific), complete with “island” dancers (personally, I’d rather have had him do “Wot”). I also found “New Rose” to be a pretty accurate to the original. Actually, from the point they return, they suddenly turn into a powerhouse group again (with drummer Pinch dressed in a full gorilla outfit for a few songs, and yet still drumming), including “Eloise,” “Smash It Up” (and Vanian sounds especially Elvis-ish here) albeit more in a lite metal way than punk (or Goth), and “Feel Alright.” I wish they had this energy throughout the whole concert. I would still be a convert. Makes me wonder what Stiv Bators would be like today.

Extras include lengthy and interesting interviews with the individual members of the band, lasting a total of 37 minutes. The rest is some small photos, DVD credits and songwriting acknowledgements.

Band:
Dave Vanian: Vocals
Captain Sensible: Guitar
Patricia Morrison: Bass
Monty Oxy Moron: Keyboards
Andy “Pinch” Pinching: Drums

Song List:
Street of Dreams
Amen
Democracy
Plan 9 Channel 7
Song.com
Wait for the Blackout
I Just Can’t Be Happy Today
Would You Be So Hot
Disco Man
Under the Floor Again
Ignite
She
Neat Neat Neat
Happy Talk
New Rose
Eloise
Smash It Up
Feel Alright
It’s a Long Song



As I remember them:

Punk Primer #2: The British Second Wave

Text © copyright Robert Barry Francos
Images and recordings from the Internet

Recently, I was asked by some friends (who are about my age) to teach them a little about the history of punk. For the first class, I played them some proto-punk and influences (Shangri-Las, Iggy, Velvets, MC5, Dolls, etc.). For the second, I did the New York first wave (Televisions, Ramones, Hell, Dictators, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc.).

The following is the list of records (both LPs and 45s) and CDs I played for them for a history of British punk, or the Second Wave, that are part of my collection. There is more I could have played, but I chose from my heart. Certainly, I could spin them all night, but I tried to keep it somewhat realistic. While many stories, both historical and personal, went with the airings, I will kept that to a minimal here. I have supplied videos for you, the reader, as many of the originals as I could find, with some exceptions (which will be noted). Feel free to leave comments at this blog about my choices, or alternatives, or additions.

1. Ian Whitcomb: Where Did Robinson Crusoe Take Friday on Saturday Night?
One aspect of British music that is generally missing from the US side is the dance hall sound that was a more risqué version of Tin Pan Alley. It is irreverent and usually bawdy with a lot of innuendo (much as some early Blues). As with British punk, this music was embraced more by the lower end of British working classes. Whitcomb, a musical historian, has written two books extensively on both this early period of music (After the Ball: Pop Music from Rag to Rock) and about the ‘60s (Rock Odyssey: A Chronicle of the Sixties, and I highly recommend them both.


2. Ramones: Beat on the Brat
The Ramones tour of England was important for spreading the minimalist anyone-can-do-it sound and initiative, but they also brought a level of (imagined) malevolence in the music, that would be interpreted as actual violence in many cases.


3. The Heartbreakers: Born to Lose (aka) Born Too Loose
The Heartbreakers’ tour of England also brought a nihilistic tone to music that was absorbed into the British scene. And, quite infamously, they also introduced heroin as the “cool” drug. Their other indirect import was Nancy Spungen, but that’s another story. The line I pointed out to the class was, “Living in a jungle, it ain’t that hard / Living in the city, it’ll eat / Eat out your heart.”


4. Nick Lowe: So It Goes
Despite being a strong pop tune, that it was the first release on Stiff Records makes it a turning point in the British punk movement, if not merely a touchstone.


5. The Damned: Neat Neat Neat
Getting signed before the Pistols is reason enough to put them here, but the fact their music was so interesting is a plus. I played three of their songs because (a) the length is short, (b) I saw them at CBGB’s a number of times on a double bill with the Dead Boys, and (c) it’s just so much fun.


6. The Damned: Stab Your Back


7. The Damned: Help
The song starts at 45 seconds:


8. The Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the U.K.
Do I really need to explain?


9. The Sex Pistols: God Save the Queen


10. The Clash: White Riot
The story goes that Joe Strummer was in the pub rock band the 101ers, heard the Pistols, and quit that band to form the Clash. Well, I liked the 101ers, but respect the early Clash as well. I played the singles version, as that’s the one I had and like best.


11. The Clash: London Calling
This is where the Clash end for me. Great song, but they went way too commercial and lost all appeal to me. Their releases Sandinista and Rock the Casbah were trifling.


12. The Adverts: One Chord Wonders
One of the bands I regret not seeing live. Always like their first few singles.


13. The Adverts: Gary Gilmore’s Eyes
This is slightly different than the Stiff single I played, and I feel this is a bit inferior.


14. Eater: Thinking of the USA
One of the first anti-USA songs in the punk canon, taking a shot at politics, and also at some of the musicians who brought punk over, including the Heartbreakers’ Walter Lure. This is not the single version I played, but rather a more sedate live version, with less bite.


15. Stiff Little Fingers: Suspect Device
Punk spread far and wide on the Isle, and here is one of Ireland’s great contributions, a band named after a song by the group the Vibrators. I’m proud to say that myself and Alan Abramowitz introduced bassist Ali to sushi after interviewing him at Irving Plaza. The staccato of this song's chorus is just stunning.


16. Stiff Little Fingers: Barbed Wire Love
Could only find the live video, but it’s accurate.


17. The Buzzcocks: Breakdown
I definitely like the Howard DeVoto years better than the Pete Shelley period.


18. Anti-Nowhere League: I Hate… People
As time went on, more thugs found punk as a way to vent their anger, and A-NL are a perfect example. Interesting music, a bit on the heavy side, but I had no desire to see a show. And my class audience were not “So Wot” kinda people.


19. Mo-dettes: White Mice
Much as Blondie co-oped NY punk into New Wave, bands like the Mo-dettes make the sound a bit more palatable. Still, it’s a fun song.


20. Adam and the Ants: AntMusic
And a final nail was the public acceptance of Adam and the Ants. Yeah, the song was a shit-and-giggle, but was it punk?


21. Plastic Bertrand: Ca Plane Pour Moi
Sheer joyous insanity and abandon, and perfect for pogoing. The only decent version was did not permit embedding, so here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VE45LlwTvc&feature=related

22. The Descendants: I Like Food
As a preview to the next class, the third wave of American hardcore, I played this. But first, I read the lyrics out loud…


Some I brought, but due to time frame, did not play:

A. Eddie and the Hot Rods: Teenage Depression
Saw them at Max’s KC in 1977, and they were boring live, but I enjoy the single.


B. Elvis Costello: Accidents Will Happen
Actually like his current stuff more than his old material.
.

C. Chelsea: Right to Work


D. Cortinas: Fascist Dictator


Then there are the Strangers, X-Ray Spex, the Crass, the Mekons, the whole Manchester scene, and so on, but we didn’t have all night, y’know! Oi!

THE VIBRATORS: Into the Future

Text by Mary Anne Cassata
Images from the Internet
© 1985 FFanzeen

The following article/interview with British punk band The Vibrators was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #13, in 1985. It was written by Mary Anne Cassata. – RBF

The Vibrators. With a name like that, what else can it be put a punk era band? This brute British quartet reunited a little over a year ago and since then has continued to drive their audiences into a frenzy at each performance. The members, Knox (guitar / keyboard / vocals), John Ellis (guitar / keyboard / vocals), Eddie (drums / vocals), and Gary Tibbs (bass) have defied sensationalism by screaming at their audiences, incorporating bondage themes on stage, and smashing guitars and amplifiers.

The Vibrators, who original formed in 1976, consider themselves to be the only true innovators of British punk music. One of the group’s early performances resulted in the premier Punk Festival, in London, which also featured the Clash, the Damned, and the Sex Pistols. Their debut single, “We Vibrate,” caused quite a stir in Britain upon its release, and the album, Pure Mania, won the support of new fans in America. The second single from the album, “Baby Baby,” followed with massive European press and helped sell out shows all over the country.

[Pure Mania (1977)]
The music is extremely harsh on the ears, but the Vibrators equally satisfy an ever growing army of punk maniacs. Lead vocalist Knox, who refused to reveal his last name, was asked to comment on the group’s penchant for violence. “All this talk about violence is rubbish, really,” he stated. “It isn’t like that at all with us. Our music may be violent, but the people that come to our shows are there to have a good time and that is what we give them. That’s all.”

Sounds like a contradiction to me.

Recently, the Vibrators performed in the New York City area to highly enthusiastic fans. Knox and Eddie took some time out to speak with FFanzeen about their first arrival in America, and their Stateside album, Alaska 127 What entailed from the interview was a very open and frank discussion about the group’/s career and future plans.

["Baby Baby) (1977)]
FFanzeen: This is your first time touring in America. How do you think it’s going?

Knox: Tonight will be our third show in the States. The first shows we did were not very good. We didn’t like it too much.

FF: Why is that?

Knox: First of all, we are on a very punishing schedule. We are not used to the heating here in the hotels and all. You get laryngitis and colds. We are sort of knocked out. Everything has goon really well. There wasn’t a disaster or anything like that; it was more equipment failure than anything else.

FF: I heard you got a very good reception in Canada.

Knox: Oh, yes, the people really liked us a lot there. We have a domestic release there called “Baby Blue Eyes.” It is doing quite well on the charts there. I really didn’t like Toronto too well. There are a lot of expensive buildings there. I saw all these people on the streets begging for money. It made me very paranoid. All this money and the people are really poor.

FF: New York audiences are among the toughest to perform for. How did you feel about that?

[V2 (1978)]
Knox: We knew it would be. It was alright. We came in from Cincinnati and ended up here only in time for the soundcheck. We have hardly had any sleep at all. We thought we played well, I guess. It wasn’t really an over-the-top show, but that is how we wanted it. We know we are capable of doing much better than we did. Besides, it wasn’t the right kind of place to do our show. We like it to be a certain way. There wasn’t enough fooling around. It seemed more like a presentation than anything else.

FF: In 1976, what was it like to perform at the very first Punk Festival, in London? I can imagine all the violence that night.

Knox: Oh yes, it was very violent that night. We didn’t get any proper reviews on that show either. Such a shame; a real pity and all. People just thought it was distasteful, but it put punk on the map. Just to talk about it is very exciting. Punk music, more or less, just had to happen. It was really always in the air. It was a new kind of music that brought people about that were bored with the old stuff.

Eddie: Punk means a different thing now than it did before. It used to mean to be individual, to be yourself. It is very much a one-dimensional thing now. Personally, I think we belong to it now just as much as we did before.

FF: How has punk music changed over the years?

Eddie: Today, every song is played in 2/4 and it is fast and furious. There is little room left for craft anymore. As it stands in 1983-1984, it means a different thing altogether. It is up to us to make the music and let the people fit into their little bags. I have heard kids say we are an amazing band.

Knox: If you look at early pictures and styles of punk, they have changed quite a bit. The hardcore look and the hardcore sound has changed. In those days, it was better and more inventive. We were before the Clash and the Pistols – no, we were about the same time as the Pistol. We knew all these people from before. We started our band in school. We had always talked about starting a band. Most of the successful people in punk seem to have gone through the art school syndrome. I did.

FF: What events led to the band’s breakup in 1980?

[Alaska 127 (1984)]
Knox: Some of the people in the band began to go off in different directions. Some got into drinking and things like that. All they did was fuck it up for the rest of us. It was more like a family splitting up, or a marriage gone wrong. It is one of those things that is very difficult to talk about. Sometimes when you become very successful and our, you find out some people aren’t really into doing a lot of that. The band never really reached its full potential.

Eddie: We just carried it on and on ‘til it came to a grinding halt. When the others left, I kept going. When we got together last year we put out an album called guilty. Our latest album is Alaska 127.

FF: Eddie, why was “Baby Blue Eyes” released in the States and “Flying High” in England? Why not the same song for both countries? It’s harder for us to obtain British imports.

Eddie: It wasn’t us, it was the record company. They thought it was the best thing to do. But we think “Baby should be a better choice for America.

FF: Do you usually write the songs as a unit?

Eddie: We usually come out with ideas between us and work on them together. It seems to work out fine between us. We get four different varieties; sort of like the Beatles.

FF: Judging on what music is popular today, is there a remote possibility of the Vibrators becoming more mainstream rock?

Eddie: We seem to be moving in an upward direction and punk, so to speak, seems to be going down a blind alley. Punk music has moved away from where we are now. We have sort of retained a position where we have created music that is exciting and intelligent, as well. I think punk has moved away from being an intelligent source of music. Hopefully, it will move in a forward direction again. What we are trying to do is experiment with new ideas without losing that sort of flavor.

[Guilty (1989)]
Knox: We have run over rocky ground before, so we are used to it. We are very adaptable and getting better all the time. Punk people don’t realize that without change it becomes stale, or a dead form of expression. We have to change our music to get better. Punk music is just another type of rock music, and one day it will be assimilated into ordinary rock.

FF: Do you still spit on the audience?

Eddie: Yeah, but the audience spits at us, too. When we first started out in London, there was a lot of spitting and things like that. It has sort of died out now.

Knox: Those kids had really gotten good at gobbing from 20 feet away. We used to let them gob and shake their hands.

FF: While on stage, why all this aggressiveness toward the audience?

[Pure Punk (2009)]
Eddie: We have a tremendous amount of energy. If there is violence, it is done in a constructive way. From time to time we do break tings on stage. It’s the excitement and all.

Knox: I can get reasonably aggressive now. I am very much into playing. The violence at our shows is very small. When the violence is done on stage it seems like the right thing to do. Sometimes I think I can really smash this bloke one in the head.

FF: Then the audience still plays an integral part in your performance?

Eddie: Yes, the people are there to enjoy themselves. They dance and jump around, leap and scream. That is why they are there. Wee don’t want them to sit and politely clap. We want them to have a good time at our shows.

Knox: If you go to our concerts the kids really go crazy knocking each other about. It looks like they are fighting but when they leave they wring out their shirts, and take a deep breath and stagger on home. I want to give the people that come to our shows the buzz that the Who gave me.