The Extremities Of Punk With CAPTAIN SENSIBLE From THE DAMNED

Interview by Kris Peters
While many bands proclaim to be the real deal when it comes to punk
rock, very few can say so definitively. Punk rock is/has and never
will be a style of music that caters to the masses or measures
itself on facts and figures. It is more music for the outcasts and
disenfranchised who have little in common except for a united love
of a brand of music that knows no boundaries.
But mention The Damned to anyone with even a sniff of knowledge
about punk, and you will invariably be met with the same respect
and admiration for a band who truly started it all.
They were officially the first ever punk band to release a single
when they put out New Rose five weeks before the Sex Pistols
released Anarchy In The U.K which led to them being the first
British punk band to tour the United States.
While undergoing several line-up changes in their 35-plus years as
a band, there is one that stands out to many as The Damned's
classic collection of musicians. Vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist
Captain Sensible, drummer Rat Scabies and bass player Paul Gray are
the quartet widely regarded as the best unit, releasing the albums
Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries while the
group was together and now, for the first time since 1989, those
four will share the stage together when The Damned hit Australia
for the final time later this month.
HEAVY managed to secure some rare time with Captain Sensible to run
through the tour and career of The Damned, with him starting by
revealing how he got his stage name.
"I acquired that name because I was a rabid drunk, actually," he
offered, "and not at all sensible. So I got the name thrust upon me
and have not been able to shake it off since. I'm getting old these
days, so the drinking's taken a back seat, but I've still got the
stupid name (laughs). The good news is over 40 years I've learned
to play the guitar and the band is sounding quite good at the
moment. If you like what The Damned do, we're doing a fair
representation of those records that we made back in the 70s and
80s."
"It's a great name, The Damned," he continued. "I think the Sex
Pistols originally wanted it, but we got it first."
We ask if it was hard getting the gang back together so to speak
for this tour.
"No, coz Rat and Paul have been working together on a project with
some Americans and me and Dave have been doing The Damned all this
time," he replied. "There was a bit of bad blood, that was the only
thing that could have got in the way, really. I mean, it was so
long ago, I can't remember what we used to argue about (laughs).
But it was all sorts of shenanigans, including fisticuffs,
attacking each other with empty whisky bottles and stuff like that.
As you do in punk rock bands, but we buried the hatchet, and we're
getting on okay now. It's interesting to see what they've been
doing all these years."
In the full interview, Captain Sensible talks more about the tour
and what to expect, why he thinks this line-up can be considered as
classic, what he expects from his crowds live, demanding the
Hard-Ons support the tour, his memories of recording them, the
early days of The Damned and the musical climate that gave birth to
them, beating the Sex Pistols to releasing the first ever punk
single, Sid Vicious wanting to join The Damned as vocalist, the
relationship between punk bands in the early days, how competitive
the scene was, the age-old belief that punk is all about the
attitude rather than the music, how punk music has changed over the
years, The Damned's contribution to punk, his top three
commandments of punk and more.