The Damned: A Rendezvous At Alice In Wonderland With Dave Vanian & Roman Jugg

Originally published in Rave-Up #10 (1985)
Interview by Devorah Ostrov

Dave Vanian
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Shortly after the Damned independently released (and had a Top 50 hit with) "Thanks for the Night," Rave-Up arranged to rendezvous with keyboardist/guitarist Roman Jugg and vocalist Dave Vanian at their fave London haunt, Alice In Wonderland.

Roman was the first to arrive...

Rave-Up: After seeing the Damned recently in London, the group seems to fit in more comfortably with the Alice In Wonderland psychedelic scene rather than with the death-rockers at the Batcave. But if someone didn't know you, they would probably think it was the other way around.

Roman: Well, it depends on if you know what the Batcave and Alice In Wonderland are all about. The Batcave started off as a good idea, but unfortunately, it's attracted the pseudo-gothic-punk worshippers. And you've got loads of bands playing down there with this gothic sort of image, who haven't done anything. It's just an image. They don't believe in what they're doing.

Rave-Up: Does it bother you that all these new gothic-punk bands are getting so much attention and press, while the Damned have been at it for so long without getting the attention they deserve?

Advert for the "Thanks for the Night" 45 and EP

Released on Damned Records (1984)

Roman: I suppose it annoys us a little bit. I wouldn't mind if the bands were doing something worthwhile, but unfortunately, they haven't. They just surface for a very short period of time, and the fact that they split up so quickly speaks for itself. They don't have any belief in what they're doing.

Rave-Up: Exactly! Whereas the Damned has always kept going in one form or another.

Roman: I think our strength comes from... If you believe in what you're doing, you find strength in that and you can carry on. You've got to believe in what you're doing to carry on through the hard times.

Roman Jugg

Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Rave-Up: It seems like the Damned has had a harder time than most other bands.

Roman: We've had a very hard time! I think it's been a case of bad luck upon bad luck. But the fact that we've stayed together and carried through it... I mean, the last two years have been very, very hard for the band. But I believe that by getting through that, hopefully, it'll strengthen what we're doing.

Rave-Up: Are you going to continue releasing your material on Damned Records, or are you still looking for a major-label deal? [They have since signed to MCA Records.]

Roman: Well, it's very strange. The only reason we put that single ["Thanks for the Night"] out on Damned Records was because eight months earlier, we couldn't get a deal with any record company. So, we decided to do it on our own.

Rave-Up: And you've actually had something of a hit with the song!

Roman: The fact that we had a Top 50 hit made a mockery of all the major record companies. It got to #43 in the British charts and stayed in the Top 50 for four weeks! Since then, we've had all the majors queuing up to sign us.

Dave Vanian
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Rave-Up: I've heard you say that record companies won't sign the Damned because they don't take the group seriously.

Roman: Well, that was one of the excuses they gave us. When we started taking demos in, half of them wouldn't see us. Then, we'd take the demo tape in and not tell them what group we were. They'd say, "Fantastic! Who is this? We gotta sign them!" We'd say, "It's the Damned." And they'd say, "See ya later." They're scared of us.

At this point, Dave Vanian made his appearance, and the conversation turned to mutual hero, Sky Saxon.

Dave: Last I heard... A couple of years ago, we were in Chicago, and it was like he'd turned vegetarian and thrown his dog out of the house because it wouldn't eat vegetarian food. We were hoping he'd come down; we were going to do a few numbers with him. But he never did. You said you've got a tape of his new stuff?

Rave-Up: A demo tape. It's pretty bad.

The tape recorder picks up an unidentified voice from the other end of the table.

Voice: ...Sky doing that song with Dave?

Rave-Up: No! What!?

Dave: Outrageous! Outrageous!

The Damned's lineup at the time of this interview

L-R: Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, Roman Jugg & Bryn Merrick

Voice: It wasn't very good.

Rave-Up: Do you have a copy of this recording?

Voice: It's on a bootleg somewhere.

Dave: Is it? I'm always the last to know about bootlegs.

Dave Vanian
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Dave flicks through a copy of Rave-Up #9 laying on the table and pauses at the horror trivia page.

Dave: Some of these questions are quite difficult because we don't get to see these films very often over here. There's been a kind of resurgence of very bad films lately.

Rave-Up: They've become trendy.

Dave: Yeah, it's a shame in a way. The things that I like have become a little bit of a cliché. I always wanted to get, if there's any videotape, a copy of Vampira's original show. I've got a couple of Life magazines from 1954 and a few articles about her. One of the tracks on Machine Gun Etiquette ["Plan 9 Channel 7"] was actually written for her. She sent a letter to me when I was in the States... It was funny, this guy was going back and forth between us. She didn't want us to meet in case my illusion was shattered. You know, she's gotten older.

Rave-Up: Have you ever thought about doing a movie starring the Damned?

Dave: Often. We did a video for "Plan 9," but it was never shown anywhere except Italy. It was shot in Surrey at some farmer's place — all overgrown, with smoke everywhere. Laurie [Dave's wife] was done up as Vampira...

Rave-Up: That sounds amazing!

Dave Vanian
Photo: Devorah Ostrov

Dave: The funny thing about it was, we did lots of things that I thought would look good in the video — we actually shot it on film, not video. A year later, I got the Life magazine and some of the stills from the film [Plan 9 from Outer Space] were identical to things I had done. There was a scene where Laurie blows out a candle, it's a side view, and there was the exact same photo of Vampira! It was very strange.

Rave-Up: I was talking to Roman about the problems the group has had getting signed to a major label. He said that now you've had a hit record, they're all interested!

Dave: Yeah, about six months ago, they weren't interested whatsoever. They thought we were washed-up. Since we've proved that we're not, there's about four companies fighting to sign us!

Rave-Up: Being signed to a major label would certainly make it easier for the Damned to tour the States. The last time you were there, it seemed like things were quite bad financially.

Dave: It always has been. We're on a real shoestring over there. There was one time when we were in San Francisco, and we couldn't get to Los Angeles to do our last gig because all the money was gone. If anyone had anything to hock, if anyone had a credit card, any money we had... It was really funny because, at the beginning of the tour, we were met by these limousines. We thought, "Man, this is it!" And then here we are in San Francisco with all these bags trying to get on a bus.

Rave-Up: But through it all, the Damned has persevered.

Dave: I enjoy it!

* * *

You can read my teen 'zine Damned questionnaire here:  devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-damned-british-punk-sensations

You can also read my 1998 interview with the Damned's Captain Sensible here:

devorahostrov.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/captain-sensible-interview