The Damned: British Punk Sensations Reveal Their Fave Colors, Loves, Hates & More!

The Damned circa 1982: Roman Jugg, Captain Sensible,

Paul Gray, Rat Scabies & Dave Vanian (photo from the I Had

Too Much To Drink Last Night bootleg)

Meet The Damned!

In 1982, four members of the Damned agreed to fill in this silly questionnaire for 

Rave-Up issue number 3. Dave Vanian wisely declined to participate and clearly some

of the guys took the task more seriously than others (hello, Roman!).

* You can read my 1998 interview with Captain Sensible here:  devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2016/12/captian-sensible-interview
* You can also read my 1985 interview with Dave Vanian & Roman Jugg here: devorahostrov.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-damned-rendezvous-at-alice-in-wonderland

A Rendezvous At Alice In Wonderland With The Damned

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 scene rather than 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 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

In 1998, I Spent My Birthday Seeing The Damned & Interviewing Captain Sensible!

By Devorah Ostrov

My autographed Damned 45 ❤

In 1998, I spent my birthday seeing the Damned at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco, and I interviewed guitarist and founding member Captain Sensible while he ate his dinner prior to the show. 

The interview should have been published in an issue of Teenage Kicks, but it wasn't, and I have no idea why. I recently came across the transcript in a box, so here it is.

Teenage Kicks: I've read that you put together a couple of bands with your brother before the Damned formed. What were those bands called?

Captain Sensible: Genetic Breakdown and the Johnny Moped Group. Genetic Breakdown was really the only one.

Teenage Kicks: And that turned into the Johnny Moped Group?

Captain Sensible: Yeah... My brother had a band called the Cowards, and they were the original band to do "Antipope." I've got a tape somewhere. I've been playing it.

February 1998 calendar for the Maritime Hall,  

including the Damned gig on my birthday!

Teenage Kicks: When did they do it?

Captain Sensible: God... That would've been about '77. I liked the song so much...

Teenage Kicks: You stole it!

Captain Sensible: Stole it, yeah!

Teenage Kicks: Did your brother write the song?

Captain Sensible: Him and a bloke called Mark wrote the entire song — lyrics, music, everything! But we gave him a songwriting credit. So, we didn't rip him off entirely. Only a little bit.

Teenage Kicks: What's your brother doing now? Does he have a band?

Captain Sensible: He works for the police force up in Newcastle.

Teenage Kicks: I've also heard that Paul Gray was supposed to be back with the Damned, but he doesn't seem to be hanging around. Is his return just a rumor?

Captain Sensible: Well... Dave and me concocted this new lineup after we'd done a gig at the Mean Fiddler in London. Paul Gray was playing in my band.

Teenage Kicks: Punk Floyd?

Captain Sensible: Yeah... So, Paul rejoined the Damned again. But then... We were doing an important gig in London, and Paul arranged a gig in Cardiff, which is his hometown, as a warm-up for the important gig in London. So... Dave didn't turn up for that gig.

Captain Sensible's "Happy Talk" single

(A&M Records 1982)

Teenage Kicks: Why not?

Captain Sensible: You're asking the wrong person. But he didn't turn up, and Paul was very upset. He had a shouting match on the phone with [manager] Chris Ampofo and said, "I'm not working with that..." blah, blah, blah "... again." So, that's what happened there. But in actual fact, he did work with us once more. He did the important gig in London. But that was it.

Teenage Kicks: What's Punk Floyd like?

Captain Sensible: They do my songs.

Teenage Kicks: No Pink Floyd covers?

Captain Sensible: No! God's sake, no! I hate Pink Floyd! They're shit! I like Syd Barrett. When he was in Pink Floyd, they were great. But he was only in it for five minutes and then they turned into the most boring band in the world.

Teenage Kicks: So why call it Punk Floyd?

Captain Sensible: Because it's got a kind of... There's a bit of Syd Barrett in there. It's anarchic and psychedelic. And the punk bit because... Well, my songs are a bit punky.

Teenage Kicks: Will you be able to do Punk Floyd and the Damned at the same time?

The Captain's calling card

Captain Sensible: No. Punk Floyd is on ice.

Teenage Kicks: Are there any Punk Floyd records?

Captain Sensible: We did one called Mad Cows & Englishmen. That's Punk Floyd, really. It's on Scratch Records, but you'll never find it.

Teenage Kicks: And the drummer [Garrie Dreadful] and keyboardist [Monty Oxymoron] currently playing with the Damned are from Punk Floyd?

Captain Sensible: Hmmm... [between chews] Yeah.

Teenage Kicks: What prompted this reunion of the Damned?

Captain Sensible: It was that gig I did with Dave in London. The Phantom Chords and Punk Floyd did a double-headliner gig. And we found out that we ah... you know... kind of liked each other. I always liked Dave, you know. I always liked his voice. I would prefer to stand there and play guitar with him singing, rather than singing myself.

Teenage Kicks: Really?

Captain Sensible: Oh, yeah. I never liked being a frontman. Never liked it in the slightest. Well, I did like some parts of it — like the birds chasing you down the road!

Teenage Kicks: Are the Damned going to record any new material?

Poster for the Damned's 1977 debut LP

Captain Sensible: Definitely!

Teenage Kicks: Do you have anything worked up yet?

Captain Sensible: A lot of song ideas... [lost in chewing and mumbling] Yep... yep. I've written a whole bunch of stuff. Dave's working on stuff. Patricia's [Morrison, bassist] done some stuff. Even Monty's come up with a couple of ideas.

Teenage Kicks: Do you have any song titles?

Captain Sensible: I have. But I tell Dave, "Change anything you want." So, he might change it. But I wrote one about Fergie [Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York]. You won't understand the joke. In Britain, we have a chocolate bar called a Yorkie bar. The song's called "The Duchess of Yorkie Bars." 'Cause she's... you know... It's mean, really.

Teenage Kicks: She does Weight Watchers commercials now. She's not fat anymore.

Captain Sensible: I know! We'll have to scrap that song. There's also one called "Till the End of Time."

Teenage Kicks: That sounds pretty.

Captain Sensible: It's very dark. It's the darkest love song I've ever written. I wrote it for my new girlfriend.

Mad Cows & Englishmen (Scratch Records 1996)

Teenage Kicks: Wait! Rachel Bor [from Dolly Mixture] isn't your girlfriend anymore?

Captain Sensible: She's my official girlfriend.

Teenage Kicks: But there's another one?

Captain Sensible: Yeah...

Teenage Kicks: And she doesn't mind?

Captain Sensible on the cover of Record Mirror

Captain Sensible: No, she does mind. I'm going home to a very unusual domestic arrangement. It's going to be difficult. I love Rachel, me official girlfriend.

Teenage Kicks: How did you meet Rachel?

Captain Sensible: She worked with me for three years as a backing singer.

Teenage Kicks: She's on "Happy Talk," isn't she?

Captain Sensible: Yeah. We went all over Europe doing those stupid songs. One day we were having a drink in a pub, sort of holding hands and giggling, and we started kissing. Neither of us had really thought about it, but we were very fond of each other.

Teenage Kicks: And you have three children?

Captain Sensible: Yeah. Fred, Daisy, and Syd — after Syd Barrett.

Teenage Kicks: I've heard that you live in Brighton now. And Brian James has moved there as well, hasn't he?

Captain Sensible: That's right! Isn't that great? It's really good to have him there because Brian likes to drink, and so do I.

Teenage Kicks: Could you ever work with Brian again?

Captain Sensible & the Softies

"Jet Boy, Jet Girl" 45 (Polydor 1978)

Captain Sensible: Brian likes things to be done his own way. And Brian's ideas are very rock 'n' roll. In fact, he uses that expression quite a lot. And I detest rock 'n' roll. I remember when we did that Final Damnation thing... We were sitting in the studio, and Brian was mixing the stuff he played guitar on. He set the control desk up, and he said, "Right, nobody touch those controls." And the engineer said, "No fading up the guitar for the guitar solo?" Brian said, "No." He said, "No effects?" Brian said, "No. Nothing. That's it. Rock 'n' roll." I was kind of shocked. When it got to the second half of Final Damnation, where I'm playing guitar, I was putting all sorts of effects on, turning up the guitar for solos, all that! That's what you do in a studio; you make it sound as good as possible. But I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't work with Brian, not with that attitude. But I do like him as a bloke.

Teenage Kicks: What's been the most fun gig on this tour?

Captain Sensible: I liked all the gigs in New York. We played Coney Island High. It was a dive, but it had a really good atmosphere. It was really small. We played it for four nights. Good people who run it; they kept coming down with pitchers of Sam Adams for us.

Teenage Kicks: How many shows are you doing?

Captain Sensible: We've played 40 dates, at least. We've been all over the place!

Poster for "Smash It Up!" 
(Chiswick/EMI 1979)

Teenage Kicks: I'd like to talk a little bit about the pre-Damned history. Were you guys friends before the group formed?

Captain Sensible: I knew Rat. He lived in Croydon, same as I did. We worked together. He was a floor cleaner with a mop and bucket, and I was a toilet cleaner at a concert hall. And he went off one day to answer an advertisement in the Melody Maker. It was Brian's ad.

Teenage Kicks: What did it say? Something like "drummer wanted..."

Captain Sensible: Oh, God no! I didn't see it myself, but he might have used the expression kickass. "Kickass rock 'n' roll band!"

Teenage Kicks: And that was the advert for the Damned?

Captain Sensible: Yeah. Rat came back the next day with all his hair cut off, and he said they were looking for a bass player. I was a guitarist at the time, but I went to see Brian, and I had me hair chopped off. The funny thing was, all the people hanging around Portobello Road and Kilburn, which is where Brian lived, all used to hang out and drink in the same bars — people like Tony James, Billy Idol, some of the Pistols and the Clash, Chrissie Hynde, Lemmy... So, for a while, we had a lineup which was Chrissie Hynde on guitar, me on bass, Rat on drums, and Dave on vocals. We did three rehearsals like that, and then it was back to Brian. So, everything was kind of in the melting pot. Very interesting days, they were. We had to carry the drums and guitars on the top of a double-decker bus. We didn't have the money to hire a cab or get a van.

Teenage Kicks: Living in Croydon, were you and Rat aware of what was happening in London?

Vote for Captain Sensible!

Captain Sensible: There was nothing happening in London! What I mean is, we didn't know there was something going on in London because it wasn't in the music papers. What was happening in London was completely underground. The punk thing was very... not hush-hush, but it was only happening in this one little area. So, I had no idea until I went up there.

Teenage Kicks: I've also just recently learned that the Softies were your band. I've heard about this group, but I don't really know anything about them.

Captain Sensible: Hmmm... The Softies weren't actually my band. When the Damned split up [for the first time in 1977], Brian told us in his wisdom, "Right, that's it. The Damned's finished. I'm going on to do better things." I remember I went to see Abba: The Movie that day. I sat in the cinema and cried all the way through it. Being chucked out of the group and Abba's lovely songs just made me blub. So, I went over to see my friend Big Mick in Amsterdam. He'd been our roadie for a while. He had a band called the Softies, and he offered to put me up if I played guitar for him. So, I went over and played guitar for his band. We did quite a few gigs in Germany and Holland and stuff. And we did two singles. One was called "Killing Time in Soho," which had got Mick singing and me playing guitar. The other one was "Jet Boy/Jet Girl," which is me singing. I got paid £100 for that. I told him not to release it in Britain, but of course, they lied to me, and it was.

Teenage Kicks: Why didn't you want it released in Britain?

Captain Sensible: Because it's got rude lyrics.

Teenage Kicks: So what?

Captain Sensible's first solo album

Women And Captains First (A&M 1982)

Captain Sensible: Well... My parents... My relatives are Catholics. My auntie is Catholic. She's very strict on it.

Teenage Kicks: They must have known about the Damned! Taking your clothes off onstage doesn't bother them?

Captain Sensible: Umm... They didn't see that, to be honest.

Teenage Kicks: Wouldn't just the name of the group bother them?

Captain Sensible: No, I mean... I'm a nice bloke, so... Whenever they did come to see us, we toned it down a little bit.

Teenage Kicks: You kept your clothes on!

Captain Sensible: Yeah! Haha!

Teenage Kicks: It sounds like you're pretty close to your parents.

Captain Sensible: I've got one parent left, me dad, and we're very close. He's a lovely bloke. He lives around the corner from us. He makes me brew beer for him; I've got a little home brewing concern going. I make exceptionally good beer, I must say. If I'm good at anything, I'm a bit of a connoisseur of beer.

Teenage Kicks: What's your favorite beer?

Advert for the Damned's first 45 
"New Rose" c/w "Help" (Stiff Records 1976)

Captain Sensible: In America, I think me favorite is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which I actually saw in Safeway around the corner. It's bloody good! My second favorite is Wild Goose Amber Ale from Maryland. The third would be Sam Adam's Boston Lager. Very nice.

Teenage Kicks: Any plans to bottle your own?

Captain Sensible: No, it's a bit of a chore. I bung it in a barrel.

Teenage Kicks: Did your father ever tell you to get a real job?

Captain Sensible: Definitely! Yes! I was going to become a cartographic draftsman.

Teenage Kicks: Like maps?

Captain Sensible: Maps, yeah. And involved with street planning, town planning, stuff like that.

Teenage Kicks: That would have been a good job.

Captain Sensible: Yeah, I would've loved it. But I couldn't get the mathematics exam. I just couldn't do it. I had plenty of other qualifications but that one eluded me, unfortunately. But I've got a house full of maps. Drawers and cupboards full of them! What a boring bloke I am.

Teenage Kicks: Well, I'd just like to say that I'm happy to see you and Dave back together. You've made me very happy!

Captain Sensible: Ah, how nice. That's lovely.

* * *

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

You can also read my 1984 interview with the Damned's Dave Vanian and Roman Jugg here:  devorahostrov.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/the-damned-rendezvous-at-alice-in-wonderland