The Damned Celebrate Forty Years At Gramercy Theatre – Saturday 10-29-16 as well as Sunday 10-30-16

The Damned vini, vidi, vici’d two sold out shows at a grand old theatre.  The interview occurred in between sets on Saturday night which is the most manic time imaginable to conduct an interview.  Singer Dave Vanian and guitarist Captain Sensible’s comments struck me as perfect.  They spoke of the DIY spirit of punk and the breadth of its impact.  They spoke about the importance of punk without taking themselves seriously.  

Damned Damned Damned will be re-issued next year by the way and a limited edition pressing of New Rose was just unleashed to mark it’s 40th birthday.  They’ll be playing Damned Damned Damned in its entirety on a big tour next year!

The first time I heard The Damned was on the brilliant and short lived British comedy series The Young Ones.   (I have the DVDs!) MTV used to show episodes when I was in high school in the mid 80’s.  It induced a big grin when Dave introduced Nasty by mentioning what a pleasure it was to appear on the pioneering show whose musical guests also included Motorhead and Madness.  It was also lucky that Nasty was one of the songs I was given permission to shoot.  Dave said his favorite part of the experience was when Alexei Sayle did his thing about being a driving instructor from Johannesburg…

The funniest bit I couldn’t put on TV because of an F bomb but through the miracle that is the interwebs, here is it is along with two other bonus bits.  The subjects include why the debut album Damned Damned Damned holds up so well and the scoop on a new album.