The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead (2015) - full transcript

- [Voiceover] Go ahead and
take everything out of your

pockets, place it
right on this table.

This is everything?

Alright, go ahead and
step right back up here

in front of me,
turn around for me.

- [Voiceover] What do you
guys know about The Damned?

- I don't really know that
much about 'em (chuckling).

- Pass.

- Yeah, we don't know
much about The Damned.

- First Punk record
I ever bought,

used bin, Cheap-o
Records, Minneapolis,



four dollars and 20 cents.

- Let me see.

- Just pioneers, man.

I mean, come on.

First off, Lemmy
played for The Damned.

You know?

Lemmy?

Motorhead?

- I've heard of The Clash,
I've heard of The Sex Pistols,

but I can't say I'd ever
heard of The Damned.

- It's kind of one of
those Punk Goth bands

that I think you have
to give credit to,

actually changing
a genre of music

and doing something that
was a little bit different.



But I'm a big fan,
I've, you know,

being a vampire singer, why not?

- Whether you'd like
to admit it or not,

or whether you
liked them or not,

they changed a very large chunk

of the underground scene,

which bled up.

- It seems like certain bands

got mainstream attention
and others didn't.

- (mumbling) about you,
five minutes to four,

we have Captain
Sensible in the studio.

The 37th year of The Damned,

the first punk single, New Rose,

Smash It Up, Bound by the BBC,

the Damned, Damned, Damned
album from early 1977,

first Punk band to play CBGBs,

and they're still going.

They broke up, they
got back together,

and now the birthday show.

Did you ever think you'd
make it this far, Captain?

- Nah, 60 year old O-A-P,

Old Age Punk, i'n it, I think?

As much as I love Punk
rock and everything,

I didn't think it would
last five minutes,

I thought these chaps
like Rick Wakeman

would be back on top again,

after a few weeks

and Punk would have
run its course.

I mean, it was old
going a bit stadium,

wasn't it, really.

You would watch a band from
half a mile away on a screen

and Punk rock came along
and it was, all of a sudden,

you were right in the
face of the audience,

and it was a great
leveler, really.

- Alright, if you had
to pay a friend to.

Shut up!

If you had to pay a
friend to (mumbling).

- [Voiceover] No.

- Do you like it, would.

Well, my name's Peter
Frampton, ladies and gentlemen.

It's so nice to be here.

Alright, hold on a minute.

You think I'm an idiot?

You're the idiots, you
paid money to see me.

Shut up!

You stinkin' American
asshole shitcans.

(fast-paced Punk rock music)

♪ Be a man, can a mystery man

♪ Be a doll, be a baby doll

♪ It can't be fun, not anyway

♪ It can't be
found no way at all

♪ A distant man can't sympathize

♪ He can't uphold
his distant laws

♪ Due to form on that today

♪ I got a feelin'
then I hear this call

♪ I said, neat neat neat

♪ She can't afford the cannon

♪ Neat neat neat

♪ You can't afford a gun at all

♪ Neat neat neat

♪ You can't afford a cannon

♪ Neat neat neat

♪ You can't afford a gun

♪ Neat neat neat

- This is going
out the door music.

This is, hey, fuck,
you gotta duck

so they don't get
the proper height

when you're goin'
out the door music,

that's what The Damned
always was to me.

It's backdrops to crimes.

- It was just balls out,

and it made me feel like
I belonged to something.

- They're kind of like
the voodoo scientists

of rock and roll, dude.

- i always thought the Damned
were the true punk band.

- They were better musicians
than the other bands.

Musicianship was not
a dirty word to them,

they wanted to play.

- But the Damned had it
all, though, I mean they

had serious attitude, like,

when we saw them on
TV, we were like,

"Woah, fuck, what
the fuck is this?"

- Dave Vanian's like,

"I gotta be Casanova in
order to be a lead singer,

"but I'm a little
into Dracula, so, uh,

"we should make
that happen, too,

"like that's awesome."

- But they had a bit of a
reputation for having a good time,

it was quite raucous,
the whole thing.

- They might have been silly,
but they could deliver.

- [Voiceover] They had
great, great songs.

- Those early singles, you know,

just cut straight through.

- These songs are gospel
in many ways to me.

(fast paced Punk rock music)

♪ Be a man can a mystery man

♪ Be a doll and a baby doll

- When people talk
about Punk rock,

it's the Pistols and the Clash,

and the truth be told, The
Damned were there, too.

They just didn't have all this
political stance and anger.

They came to party,
and I'll tell you,

they rocked the house.

- They were like this
arty, oddball, weirdo band.

- You go to a Damned gig
and it was so exciting.

You knew it, you know,
you're gonna have

a crazy night.

- Wherever you look, there
was somethin' good going on.

Wherever you looked, there
was something good to hear.

- We weren't getting
anything like that here.

We needed the excitement,
we needed the energy.

We needed the vibe.

- Few things at the time

were more obnoxious.

You want to drive
somebody stuck in the '70s

clear out of your house and
have them never come back,

put on the Damned.

- [Voiceover] Two-two,
can you come up to me?

- [Voiceover] Okay.

- [Voiceover] I'll bring
up your, I'll start

bringing things up.

Two one two.

Two.

Two one two, two.

- No, it's not.

- Watford four, Palace nil.

Prediction.

(hissing)

(laughing)

- Meanwhile, in the London fog.

(chuckling)

I never actually wanted to go

in the music business at all.

I was gonna be a graphic artist.

And so I was floating
around London

looking for something to do.

I think I was talking to
Chrissie and a few other people

and they were saying
about they're looking

for people for a band,

and I just basically lied.

I said I'd been in a band,

but never done
anything, you know.

(chuckling)

So I'd never sung in my life.

- Really.

- Yeah, so I lied my
way in. (chuckling)

- Well I was hanging out
with Malcolm Mclaren,

and he said, "I met this
terrific little drummer,"

who he'd actually
never heard play,

but Malcolm didn't
need to hear anything,

he just could meet
people and he could tell.

- Malcolm wanted me to be in
this band with Chrissie Hynde

called Masters of the Backside.

- It was a very loose band,

it never played any gigs.

With Chrissie Hynde on guitar,

there was another
singer called Dave,

who was kind of a
negative of me, he was,

I was tightly black, black hair.

He had pure white hair.

- He was very blonde
and effeminate.

He was like a hair dresser
from Essex, or something.

- But he didn't want to
be a singer in a band,

but that didn't
deter Malcolm at all.

For Malcolm, this guy
was definitely doing it.

- And I think Chrissie
wanted to call the band,

Mike Hunt's
Dishonorable Discharge,

which didn't go down
too well with the guys.

- We got together to rehearse.

Just me on guitar,

the drummer kid's
named Chris Miller,

came down and he
brought a friend of his,

who had this really
long, thick wavy,

like hippie-ish hair,

named Ray Burns.

And he said, "I got my
friend who can play,"

so Malcolm was like,
"Well, whatever."

So I waited to see
what was gonna happen,

and then I never
heard anything else.

- We never got past
the rehearsal stage,

and then Rat said, "I want
you to meet this guitarist."

(scratchy electric
guitar playing)

- [Voiceover] When you
first met the other guys

that would become the Damned,

what was the music
scene like in England?

- It was so fucking boring here,

you couldn't get a gig.

No one was interested in
high energy rock and roll

and stuff like that.

There was this thing
starting to happen.

I'd met these geezers,
Mick and Tony,

and they knew about
some of the people

that I was into, like
Iggy and the MC5.

So then we started
up the three of us

looking for drummers
and singers.

That's when I found Rat.

- This I had kept on a
period and appearance,

so I called it up, and I
spoke to Bernie Rhodes,

who was a complete asshole

and started giving
me shit about,

"What did I know
about New York."

I haven't got any money,
I'm a kid, you know.

And he said, "Well the
ad says we need someone

"who knows about
New York sound,"

I said, "You either want
the fucking greatest drummer

"in the world to come down
with you or you don't,"

'cause I'd had enough
of him at this point,

and he just completely
turned 'round and went,

"Okay, be here at this
time and this date."

- This guy comes down
with ginger hair,

shabby old overcoat,

and he was itching
and scratching,

I said, "Oh, what's
a matter with you?"

He said, "I've got scabies."

So, I think Tony, the
bass player, Tony James,

he immediately got a newspaper

and stuck it on the drum stool,

so then someone
else would catch it.

- Then like a rat
ran out in the room,

and I think Tony bricked it.

- [Voiceover] And Mick
said, "Oh, Rat Scabies."

- [Voiceover] that was
how Chris got his name.

- [Voiceover] We were playing
and they were really very

disinterested in
what I was doing,

or certainly were
pretending to be.

- We were, but it
was kind of a device.

- So I was disinterested
back (chuckling).

And there was a war movie on.

And Brian was copying
what was happening

on the screen with a guitar.

So it was like (groaning).

Imagine you've got these
four musicians that

are all pretending that they
don't really care what the

others are doing.

But in this fucking
massive volume.

(energetic rock and roll music)

- I got fired from the band

'cause I only wanted
to play fast songs,

and I didn't really want to
do a slow one in the middle.

Brian was just full of energy.

Suddenly it was like,
yeah, there you are.

I've been looking for you.

- And they want
something out of me

that I hadn't really
tapped before, if you like.

- As I remember it, they
didn't think we were up to it,

Tony and I, and they went off,

come on, we're going off,
and then they found Brian

catch him afterwards.

I guess they didn't think
we were heavy enough

or something.

- [Voiceover] The London
SS never did a gig.

It was a bit like
a melting pot then,

'cause from that Damned
style that me and Rat,

Clash started with Mick,

and Tony went on
to do Generation X.

- I was workin' at Fairfield
Halls with the Captain.

I'd be put on normal
staff duties, and he'd be

put on sort of patrol.

The foreman there hated
the Captain with a passion.

I remember him asking me
if I had any interest,

and I said I was a drummer.

And he said, "Oh, you'll get
along with our Ray, then,

"he reckons he's a guitarist,"

and all of the people in
the room started laughing.

And then he came in, there
was just this absolute

unkempt mess of

like doormat fucking hairstyle,

it was right down there with a

roll up coming out of
his thing, you know.

Just this fucking aberration
walks in through the door,

and he didn't really
say anything to anybody,

he was really (groaning).

- 14 toilets I had
to clean every day.

14!

Mind you, after you've cleaned
a toilet, in a concert hall,

there's nothing much
to do after 10 o'clock,

'cause nobody uses them,
'cause the concerts are

all in the evenings.

So I used to bring my guitar in,

and I'd find somewhere
quiet to practice

for the rest of the day.

Here you go.

Just check to see if it's
up to my high standards.

Rat was the floor cleaner,
he was very good at it,

and I was exceptional
toilet cleaner,

as you can probably imagine.

We didn't like the bloke
who cleaned the walls much,

and he was a bit of an asshole,

so in fact he was the first
thing that endeared me

to Chris Miller, to Rat Scabies,

was that he said, "That
wanker, I'll tell you what,

"I'll give him something
to fucking clean."

And he got his monkey
boots, and he went

way, right up the side
of the wall like that,

and a huge, black mark,

in an arc.

And he said, "That's
fucking good, what it,"

and so he went up all the walls

putting these fucking big,
black marks up the walls

and I think the bloke, I mean
his job was fairly difficult

for the next few weeks.

One day I found a turd
that would not flush.

It was really a
solid one, you know,

so it was built to last.

It would not go down,
I flushed and flushed.

What can you do?

So I had to go down
to the canteen,

I'd an idea, i got
a knife and fork

and I came back and sliced
it up like a sausage,

and flushed it
down, there you go.

Quick rinse of the
old knife and fork

and put the cutlery
back in the tray

down in the canteen
where I got it from.

What a job, eh?

Just hanging around in
toilets all day. (laughing)

George Michael'd love that.

Chris went off to answer

one of these advertisements.

He came back the next day
with his hair all cut off,

which I thought was a
bit dubious, really,

'cause if you had
no hair in 1975,

no girl would
really look at you.

And he said, "By the way, he's
looking for a bass player,"

I thought, blimey, I'm not
goin' up there, you know,

I'll come back shorn with
a Mark Bolan haircut.

So anyway, I went
up to meet Brian,

and sure enough, he
did have a really

interesting kind of new
style of music on the go.

And he was a visionary,
and he was passionate,

and I thought wow,
something happening here,

so I joined.

- [Voiceover] And then I
went and did an audition,

basically.

- [Voiceover] What was
that audition like?

- No one else came.

(laughing)

Sid Vicious was
supposed to come.

They wanted him to
try out for the part,

and I went about
half an hour earlier

to see what the
competition would be,

but he never turned up.

- [Voiceover] 52.

- Did you see that?

The ice tea's not happening.

Is that the curse of
the Damned, or what?

Or curse of Captain Sensible?

Same thing really,
maybe it's me.

What do you think?

I break strings every night,

the bloody projector
went down last night

in the most important
song, Curtain Call,

yeah it's terrible,
in't it, really.

Lots of things
happen to this band.

Have you heard about
the conspiracy?

The curse of the Damned?

I'm starting to think it's true.

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ I can't recall the time or day

♪ I beat a lot a
lot of crime away

- [Voiceover] Punk was
born out of frustration,

anger, and a general feeling,
as John so eloquently put it,

as of no future.

- [Voiceover] At that time,
England was in the grip

of a really bad recession.

- [Voiceover] The strikes,
major unemployment,

rise of the National
Front, three day weeks.

- It was gray, it was miserable,

it was shit.

- But, the music of
the time didn't really

reflect the feeling
on the street.

- [Voiceover] There was a
lot of progressive rock bands

- And a lot of boring
bands from California

that smoked too much dope.

- It took a whole
side of an album

to make some kind of statement

about mushrooms in the sky,
or something or another.

And that soon became
irrelevant, you know,

people said, "Hold on,
there's a real world out there

"that we're dealing with.

"We need something that
pertains to our lives."

- [Voiceover] They set about
creating their own soundtrack,

that's the bottom line.

Of the people, for the
people, by the people.

It was about what
was on their minds.

- [Voiceover] Okay
guys, hi, good morning.

Welcome to Rock and
Roll tour London,

my name's Bob.

Just slightly younger
than some of the punks,

but I remember in 1972-73,
we had a lot of trouble

with the government
and the unions

all fighting for an issue
promising these contracts.

And you've got government
officials and you've got

union guys saying,
"It's your fault,

"and the youth
has got no future.

"The youth of today
are gonna suffer."

And the youth of today
are normal people

we grew up with, so
it did not take much,

when we've been told
consistently every night,

for 18 months, in
our formative years,

we've told we've got no future,

we're pretty angry kids.

And that's really the anger,

the winter of discontent
that Punk was born out of.

- [Voiceover] It is the newest
music from the country where

Handel composed The Messiah.

This is Punk rock, and it's
purpose, one observer says,

is to promote violence,
sex and destruction

in that order.

The message is that the world

and everything in it stinks.

Punk is their music,
working class music

played by working class youth

for working class youth.

These are the Damned.

The song is, Fan Club.

♪ Well you send
me pretty flowers

♪ While I'm slashing my wrists

♪ Read those little letters
through my slashed out mists

♪ The dream I shock
you is my nightmare ♪

- When suddenly,
you hear this thing

that's sort of 1,000
beats a minute,

it was like a flying
saucer from another planet,

and then actually
something got out.

- It was a very
difficult band to resist,

particularly at that
period where there was

so kind of feral and hungry

and incredibly loud. (chuckling)

- The concerts were just
like absolutely crazy,

it was just free for all.

- [Voiceover] This is a band
that really don't give a fuck,

and we didn't give a fuck,
'cause we didn't have anything

to lose.

All we had was that group.

- [Voiceover] Don't you like us?

Well then fuck off!

- I saw the Damned for the
first time at the Starwood,

I went with Joan Jett,

I remember we were
up in the balcony and

all hell was breaking
loose on stage

and Rat was lightin'
his cymbals on fire

and I think Captain
Sensible came out

with the tu-tu on,

I think he slipped
and fell on his ass.

- They dragged some
female photographer

out of the audience and
pulled her clothes off, and...

- Shut up!

- Joan like had a
studded belt on,

she took it off, started
whipping her belt around,

we were like whoopin'
and hollerin'

and flames are going
off on the cymbals,

and it was pretty
much perfect chaos.

- Rat was a fantastic drummer.

He's a lot to answer
for for the spittin',

because I'm sure it
was him who started it.

(mumbling)

And fucking middle
class assholes.

We're a fucking Punk band,

and fucking proud of it!

- At the beginning,
you had sort of, maybe,

four or five bands,
but they were all

totally different.

Now, they might have the
same kind of attitude.

- [Voiceover] Damned were
kind of like black comedy.

- [Voiceover] While everyone
else kind of had this kind of

right on stance, whether it
be feminist or political,

or just blind rage,

they seemed to be tapping
into a kind of tradition of

'60s psychedelia, a
bit of vaudeville,

there's a bit of
theatrics in there,

and they put all of that
together in a kind of a party.

- You know, we didn't
want to be the fastest,

most furious Punk band,

we just wanted it to be right.

And I think the
Damned wanted to be

the fastest, most furious thing.

- They represented the zeitgeist

as much as any of
the other bands.

But, they weren't
taken very seriously,

probably because they
weren't talking about social

change or about unemployment,

or about politics in any form.

- But you can't be taken
too seriously, the bloke's

got a tutu on, you know.

- We've got to fight together
and make something special

like working classes
stick together

and fuck the pope, can't do
the dull cues of discontent

on tour, it's just not me.

- [Voiceover] I think they
didn't have any problem with

having fun, that was probly
what set the Damned apart

from the Pistols or the Clash

and a lot of the other bands.

- [Voiceover] If
you're a Damned fan,

you're very proud that they
did get the first record out.

- It did seem
significant that they

put the first single out,
'cause it's like a breath of

fresh air, and you
could actually get it

and play it at
home all the time.

- We've got just down
here on the left hand side

in an old garage,

three great first singles,

and three bands that were
to go on to great things.

This is where Elvis
Costello, My Aim is True.

Where the Damned, A New Rose,

and Dire Straights,
Sultans of Swing

were all recorded, and
they're all first singles.

This studio down here
is sometimes called

the delivery room of Punk music.

The Damned is the birth of Punk.

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ I got a feelin' inside of me

♪ It's kinda strange,
like a stormy sea

♪ I don't know why,
I don't know why

♪ I guess these
things have gotta be

♪ I've got a new
rose, I've got it good

♪ Yes I knew that I always would

♪ I can't stop to mess around

♪ I got a brand
new rose in town ♪

- I heard that
record on the radio

and it was just like
throwin' itself at you

straight through the
speakers, you know.

- That was huge, because
most kids in England

had never heard guitar
playing like that.

- You could tell it
was gonna upset people.

- You'd even change the
(mumbling) age at the time.

This thing was happening
on the streets, man.

And they all panicked,

the carpet was pulled
from under them, you know.

- We hadn't even got
to the point where we'd

signed a record deal
by the time the Damned

already had the record out,

and it put some pressure on us.

- [Voiceover] There's a kind
of a funny feeling that goes

with being the only one,
because you don't know

if it's any good or not.

You may think it's
good, you don't know.

- People say, "Is
it a love song?"

And I say, "No, not at all,
it's like I had a new girlfriend

"I was over there
moanin' about."

It's more to do with the
scene, the emerging punk scene.

And that is the new rose.

♪ Or it won't be too late

- There was a movement,

an attitude, but, there was
a lot of it that was crap.

- Didn't matter if
you could play or not.

The punk scene was
a lot more ideas

and you'd have like one
guy that was the poet,

and then you'd
have a few guys who

really couldn't play, but
they went for it anyway.

- The band could play.

There was a big
musicology there.

I think a lot of people
missed that in the moment.

The first album is
a perfect example,

it stands up really well.

- They were kids off the street,

but they were
still good players,

and they were showing
you you could do it.

We could make our own records,

and on our own terms,
because that's what

they were doing with Stiff.

It was another thing that
sort of gave you hope.

- It was accessible
and it was doable.

I didn't feel right in school,

and I was told at that
school, repeatedly,

"Gahan, you'll
amount to nothing."

And that seemed like that
was gonna be kinda true.

Dave Vanian was the first
performer that I saw

where I was like, "I
could fuckin' do that."

A mate of mine, come to see us,

couple of years back.

We started talking
about the Damned.

He said, "You know, now
it all makes sense,"

every once in a
while he's saying,

there's a bit of Jagger in
you, bit of this, bit of that.

He said, "but it's
Dave Vanian, i'nt it?"

(laughing) I was like, "Yep.

"That's it."

I loved everything about him.

(bluesy guitar solo)

- Damned, Damned,
Damned is the one

that started the
UK Punk movement.

It's the one that
beat the Sex Pistols

and the Stranglers and
all these other people.

It's supposedly, quite
an important album

in Punk terms.

I mean it's a null,
rasping kind of noise,

isn't it, really.

When you listen to
it, it's not really

what you call produced.

It says, "Produced by
Nick Lowe" on there,

but all he did was
bought us bottle after

bottle of Scrumpy Cider.

That was his idea of
production, he did nothing!

You listen to the guitars,
they sound so null,

destroyed.

If you listen to some of
these albums, Punk albums,

the guitars sound pristine,

but you listen to the
first Damned album,

it's just disgusting
noise, you know.

But gloriously so.

- It made me feel like
they were making music

that was not, at least
not in this country,

there was no
commercial application.

And that was deeply
refreshing at the time.

- [Voiceover] We
never really preached.

- I think the very fact
that we were actually there

was political.

D'you know, it was by our
actions of what we did,

rather than having
to state the obvious,

if you like.

Everybody was looking
for something.

I think there needed
to be bands that could,

in a way, be escapist for
people to forget that drudgery,

but also, there were things
in the songs which were

messages or whatever.

We just didn't pound
people over the head

with a hammer with it.

- It's like Neat Neat Neat,

no more cops, no one
left to push you around.

It's a social kind of thing,

but it's not kind of an in
your face politics thing.

It's just like bein' on
the streets, a street song.

- Bottom line is, at some level,

primal rock and roll, Punk rock,

fuck you, blow the
doors off the place,

break the windows, smash it up.

That's rock and roll
like Jerry Lee Lewis

is rock and roll.

You're never gonna have a
good political discussion

with Jerry Lee Lewis,

but any Punk rock
band who don't got no

Jerry Lee in 'em, is
not really Punk Rock.

- You just want it across here,

don't you, like that.

That's it, i'nt it?

(laughing)

- I was a teenager when I first

found out about the Damned.

And cover art for the Damned,
Damned, Damned record,

that really did it to me.

I really thought that
was an amazing image.

It reminded me of
the Three Stooges

type of stuff or
slapstick type of stuff,

so I knew immediately
that these guys

might be called the
Damned, but they weren't

taking themselves
100% seriously,

which was true.

They were clowns
that could deliver.

If their music was
no good, who cares?

Ultimately, if you don't
have the chops to back it up,

it doesn't matter what you do.

I think a song like
Neat Neat Neat,

sounds as fresh and viable
today as it ever did.

It was amazing to begin with.

They had it.

I think if I had to pick
one song, that's the song.

It's like a cup of coffee
in the morning, you know.

You put it on and
you're ready to go.

(audience applauding)

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ I'll be a man,
can a mystery man

♪ I'll be a doll,
like a baby doll

♪ It can't be fun, not anyway

♪ It can't be
found no way at all

♪ A distant man
can't sympathize ♪

- People's jaws would
drop to the floor

when me and Rat
walked in the room.

We used to do things like,

we'd shimmy along
the ledge, you know,

on the seventh or eighth
floor of some hotel

just to get in somebody's
room and shit in their bed.

Brian'd just be going like
this, when you walk in.

He couldn't tell us how
awful we'd been last night,

so his girlfriend used
to tell us. (chuckling)

She said, "You guys were
out of control last night.

"You should listen
to what Brian says.

"Brian writes the songs,
you guys are lucky

"to be with him."

- They always gave
the impression that

something bad could
happen at any moment.

They were three explosive
characters, or four,

or five, or however many were
in a room at the same time.

- You got to understand
that these were

four young chaps,
and they'd just risen

on the wave of this enormous
folk culture phenomenon.

- It's a rude awakening.

- And there they were,
they were big stars.

And they became what they are

in that, the furnace
of those few months.

(laughing)

- Quite right as well.

- It was very chaotic, and
what was especially chaotic

was that the people around us

encourage the chaos,
they wanted more

scandalous madness to happen.

- Our biggest single issue

is people throwing
pints on stage.

But if it does happen,
I need your guys

on the barrier,
to be conspicuous

and look like they're
been on stage,

on stage, you get the
(mumbling) guys on the ground,

that tends to be the pit
in the board, but if you do

see who does it, get some
directions and somebody,

get 'em out, absolute, no
second chances, zero tolerance.

- There's nothing worse
than out of the darkness

a glass full of liquid
flying at your face

which you can't see
and can't avoid.

There's been various
theories about

people getting planted
in the audience to do it

deliberately from
certain ex-members.

It may have happened.

(crowd applauding)

It wasn't one pinch,
I had about five.

I'm not puttin' up with it.

Can you throw the person out
who's throwing stuff at me?

- [Voiceover] I absolutely will.

- So what are you
doing about it?

Don't tell me, tell them.

- No no, I'm going, I'm going.

- Tell your security people.

I'll be fine, as long as
you throw the person out.

- [Voiceover] I threw the
first one, not the second.

- Would you mind
leaving, because you're

gonna ruin it for
everybody, okay?

(crowd cheering)

- The first, not the second.

- [Voiceover] And the other
one, who's the other one?

- Not me, I threw the first.

- We're all grown ups
now, we're not kids.

Okay?

Please, okay.

(mumbling)

We're grown up, okay?

(crowd chattering)

Okay, and now the
show can start, now.

(crowd applauding)

- The first album was the
result of three or four years

of Brian James' work.

- [Voiceover] Come by the second
album, I don't think he had

quite as many songs and
plus he realized that

we were all

wanting to work and
write ourselves.

His vision of what
it was was changing,

and he didn't want that.

- Stiff records asked
him for an album,

gave him like two days to
write the material, so,

of course it's not gonna be
as good as the first album.

- They weren't the
best songs, but,

the power and the
energy was still

absolutely there.

And the tempo of virtually
everything was about

10 times anything I'd
ever played in my life.

I'll never forget the business
of two takes of something

and me saying to Captain,
"Well, should we do it again?"

And he went, "Why?"

(laughing) And, I mean,

we were doing backing
tracks in the time it took

just to sort of put
together a drum sound

for a Pink Floyd record.

- We went back out on the road.

I wasn't particularly happy

sittin' in a shit
van all the time.

I didn't think it
was going anywhere.

The breaking point was
when I got beaten up

in the hotel.

As I lay on the floor,
gettin' me head kicked in,

(chuckling)

I remember looking up
and seeing the band

all just standing there.

I thought, that's not what
my gang should be doing.

This has shifted my
perspective on what we are.

- By the time I joined
them, there were getting

a bit more psychedelic,

and I enjoyed that.

But Brian was definitely

slightly detached.

- You gotta remember, me
and Rat started the band

and it was like
energy of our playin'

which was the central
thing of the early Damned

for me.

In another time frame if I
was to say have met Captain,

we wouldn't have signed
the band to go play.

If I'd have met Dave,

very doubtful that we'd have
started the band together.

So, I'm missing the guy that
I started the band with,

and I think what
happened is that

it just ran it's course.

- It becomes so safe,
the whole thing.

There was bands
copying the first band,

and it'd be like, the
scene is over, it's fucked,

it's a drag, and
it ain't rebellion

in the slightest.

What am I doing here now?

So, I went and did
something different.

And that was it, but I
remember very, very well

that it was at our rehearsal

and I just turned
'round to them and said,

"Look, I think that's
it, really guys,

"I want to split the band up."

And I know, Captain in
particular really took it hard.

It was the most emotional
that I'd ever seen Captain,

and it shocked me to
be quite honest, yeah.

- I was just just walking down
the road sobbing. (laughing)

The big girl that I am.

I was so devastated,
I had to get

out of the street, you know.

There was a cinema,

and I ran in and whatever
they were showing,

I just wanted to
hide in the dark.

They were showing Abba:
The Movie, and it was

absolutely full of Abba fans,

and I was sittin' right
in the middle of 'em,

with me Punk rock garb on,

crying me eyes out.

It's true.

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ We've been crying
now for much too long

♪ And now we're gonna
dance to a different song

♪ I'm gonna scream and
shout 'til my dyin' breath ♪

Brian was the boss,

we used to call him
The Riffmeister,

or The Fuehrer, even, you know,

behind his back.

- 'Cause he was the
creative force in the band,

didn't really matter what
anybody else thought.

- He wasn't lettin'
us write songs,

and so as soon as we
decided that we would

keep the band going and
just have Captain on guitar

and get a bass player in,

the gloves were off, basically.

- For me, that's when the
musical adventure started.

♪ Ooh smash it up

♪ Smash it up, smash it up

♪ Ooh smash it up

♪ Smash it up, smash it up

Scabies phoned me
up one day and said,

"Why don't we try
the band out again?

"You know, you can
switch to guitar

"and we find a bass player."

And we found Lemmy, who
was always floatin' around.

- I always knew that Captain
wanted to play the lead,

'cause he said so every
opportunity, you know.

And nobody knew if he could
do it, 'cause we never heard

him do it, but obviously
he could run rings around

a lot of people.

- He instantly said yes, he
would do some gigs with us,

and we called it the
Doomed, 'cause we thought we

might get sued.

- [Voiceover] Are
ya ready, ya chaffs?

- [Voiceover] Mr.
Vanian, Mr. Sensible,

Mr. Scabies, Mr.
Kilmister, the Doomed,

ladies and gentlemen.

(fast paced punk rock music)

- You were not meant to
have a long haired rocker

on stage with you as punks,

but the Damned didn't
give a fuck about that

and neither did Lemmy.

They were mates.

- We were a little bit
nervous as to whether

the audience'd like it.

- [Voiceover] It was
chaotic as always and loud.

- [Voiceover] It went
bloomin' well, actually.

- I was very drawn to join.

They never actually
asked me formal,

I sort of had the
impression that I could

join whenever I wanted,
but we were busy

with Motorhead at the time.

- [Voiceover] That was so
amazing, so successful,

that from that we were
able to sort of go,

"Come on, let's do it,

"let's just be the Damned."

- [Voiceover] They're
back together.

Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible,

Dave Vanian and a
new bass player,

Alasdair

Ward!

(giggling) They just
made a new album

and very kindly
consented to join us

in the studio tonight

to play a selection from it.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the Damned.

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ I'm going back
to church tonight

♪ Just like back
when I was raised ♪

- [Voiceover] When I listened
to Machine Gun Etiquette,

I thought it was a revelation,

there's not a weak track on it.

- They rose from the
ashes, Phoenix-like.

- You heard Captain on
guitar, you wondered

why he'd ever played
bass, you know.

- [Voiceover] He was kind of
like a Punk rock Jimi Hendrix.

- [Voiceover] It was
like, this is a new band.

A more creative band.

A band that's moving on.

♪ Never what he says

♪ Don't you wish
that we were dead ♪

- [Voiceover] The stories
around the American tour

are quite interesting.

- [Voiceover] We were
absolutely berserk at the time.

- [Voiceover] We'd
discovered cocaine, drinking.

- [Voiceover] Rat was
really drinking a lot

from early in the morning.

- [Voiceover] Captain pissing
in the monitors was a,

a kind of daily occurance.

- [Voiceover] Algy used to
carry a hammer in his pocket,

and bang the hammer on the bar.

And if they didn't
have any decent beer

he'd start smashing stuff.

- [Voiceover] Give me drinks!

- You guys are fuck all with.

- [Voiceover] The song's
called Grabbing Tits.

And it's wrote for any
women in the audience

who wanna suck my cock.

- Okay here's the average night.

We arrive in town.

Rick Rogers, the tour
manager go in and speak

to the club owner,
and they asked them,

do they realize what's
likely to be happening

on the stage that
night, with this band.

Sometimes they just
gave him the money,

and sent us away,

and the other times
they'd say, "Okay,"

and a lot of stuff got trashed.

And other shows, where
there'd just be like

fire engines, police, dogs.

And in the middle
of this would be us

literally throwing water
over, knocking on Rick's door.

Rick, Rick, Rick.

Quick, (chuckling)

he'd open it and he'd
just let him have it.

We were just at
our absolute worst.

- [Voiceover] There was this
sudden rush of creativity

as well, I mean they
were really writing

and writing great stuff
all of a sudden, you know.

Captain is an amazing
guitar player,

getting something like
Plan 9, you can see that

he knew where he was
going with it always,

he knew like lines ahead
what he was going to

be playing, you know.

So he would do six guitar lines,

and it sounds like one.

He could do those little
symphonies, you know.

- [Voiceover] Good evening
Belfast, how you doin'?

(crowd cheering)

Let's see your hands in the air,

I wanna know you're in here!

Alright, it seems like
1976 was a good year

for four million
amazing Punk rock bands.

This is no exception,
we're gonna give you

the Damned!

♪ I'll be the ticket
if you're my collector

♪ I've got your fare
if you're my inspector

♪ I'll be the luggage baby,
if you'll be the porter

♪ I'll be the parcel
if you'll be my sorter

♪ Just for you,
here's a love song

♪ And it makes me glad to say

♪ It's been a lovely
day and it's okay ♪

- I was really surprised
when I heard Love Song.

That was the first song I heard

when they got back
together again

and they put it out as a single,

and they had a hit.

- [Voiceover] I remember when
I heard it, just thinking,

yeah, that one's right.

Dave very rarely would
come up with a lyric,

and so usually that would be
left to whoever had a pen.

I've done the lyrics for
that and when Captain came up

with a riff, and I said,
what have you got for words.

He said, we'll use yours.

That was that.

♪ Been a lovely
day and it's okay

♪ Wipe out

- Algy was really
part of what I call,

The Chaos Years.

He wouldn't open his bass case

unless he was given
a bottle of whiskey.

- At first I thought it was
just 'cause he was trying

to live the rock
and roll lifestyle,

but I think it was a more
deep seeded problem than that.

- He would crash
out before gigs.

He would have to be woken up

and force fed coffee
and brought 'round.

We were losing studio time,
'cause he would arrive

and then he'd just
immediately be drinking.

- [Voiceover] We
were doin' our video,

if I smash it up it just
ended up in a punch up.

He had a bottle
fight, him and Rat.

Everyone probly
thought, you know,

here we go again, another
bass player (laughing)

leaves the Damned,

it's like a conveyor
belt of bass players.

They last like a few gigs
then you get another one,

it was just nonsense
when it really, you know.

We lost some really good people.

- I kept seeing different
doctors all the time

as you do over there,

'cause I had a cough
like for about a year

that just wouldn't go.

And he stuck this
camera up me nose,

and he said, "Ooh,
oh yeah I can,

"oh, this is interesting,
do you want to have a look?"

- I said, "No, I don't
want to see anything."

- And he said, "Oh, it's
a funny looking thing,"

anyway it was cancer.

So me doctor said, "What
group do you play with?"

So I told him well
Captain Sensible had been

in the Damned before.

And he sort of jaw
physically kind of dropped.

And he said, "I'm treating
someone else in the Damned."

We both had the same consultant

for the same bloody disease.

I think the same week.

Very similar treatment.

So we used to see each other

kind of like once a week.

- Going to Valindra
for my radial therapy,

my friend Andy turned
'round to me and said

that um, someone put on
Facebook, "What fucking drugs

"were they giving the
bass players in the Damned

"in the '80s?"

And I said, "What's
all this about?"

And that's when Andy said to me

that you have cancer.

I said, "That's mad."

My problem, I had a
little spot on my neck,

and as soon as you
looked and felt it

I just knew straight
away myself,

this is cancer.

'Cause he went, "Oh."

It was just the
way he went, "Oh."

My primary cancer
was in my tonsil.

And so what they had to do,

they had to take my
breast (mumbling)

up through my body

and fill the hole.

But they had to take
so much off from there,

that's why I've got this here.

And of course they keep
saying, it's a (mumbling),

'cause you don't use
anything up here.

It'll die down.

But that doesn't happen, 'cause
every time I go like that,

play my guitar.

- And what were you
sayin' about that,

the first time you
put the bass on you?

- Yeah, it works.

So, I'm making it myself
bigger and bigger.

So, I am turning into
the Elephant Man,

but with a name like
Merick, what can you say?

- Yeah. (laughing)

- Apparently, it
can take between

five and 40 years
for a cancer to grow.

So, even though
I stopped smoking

back in 1990, it could
have still been that.

- I put this down

to all the years I spent

with that group like yourself,

with the amount
of gob and phlegm

I have swallowed
over those years

down my throat.

- You know, you might
have a point there.

- Because who knows what
the guys and girls had,

you know, all around
Britain, what have you,

gob in it, and
you're swallowin' it.

Come on now.

It was so lubricated,
you couldn't even

play guitar sometimes.

I've still got visions of
Romo with this big thing

dangling like a
sheet from his arm,

I've had it in my eyes, my nose,

you name it, it's horrible.

- [Voiceover] Ugh.

- And that was Rat
Scabies' fault,

wasn't it, Rat?

(laughing)

I just remember sittin' down

outside my house just lookin',

thinkin' "Oh, man,

"wow, what next?

"Why am I going through this?

But we got through it.

- We got through it.

The only demo that

I've ever done

it was your history
of the world.

White rabbit, Jeckle.

The Damned was about
freedom of expression.

Absolute musical
freedom of expression.

You did what you wanted
to, and it worked.

It's not often as a
musician you can do what you

want to with other
people and it works.

♪ Can you taste the grit

♪ Between your teeth

♪ The heat of the lights

♪ The crack of the whip

♪ The snappin' sound

♪ Of someone's nerves

(mumbling)

- [Voiceover] We put
out the Black Album

to very mixed reviews

and a lot of the idiots,

journalists, they
thought it was sacrilege

to tamper with a
three chord formula.

- The audience that
comes to see us,

if they've learned to
expect the unexpected,

and funny enough, a
lot of people will

initially not like
it, and then turn into

the most rabid
fans of those songs

that they said they
didn't like, you know.

♪ And here I stand

♪ In my theater land

♪ Curtain call

♪ About to fall

♪ Oh woah

When we first started,

we thought there
were no rules at all.

And that's what punk was to us.

It wasn't about pigeon
holing anything,

and it was about
having a wide spectrum

of what you're interested in.

A lot of bands
narrowed their scope

and concentrated on just
one thing, you know.

I think the whole Punk movement,

in its second wave, if you like,

became known for that,

and a lot of the
creativity went out of it,

and it became just thrashers and

fast, no real singing,

you know and kinda,

I was a bit disappointed,
to be honest.

(atmospheric instrumental music)

This band, it was in love with

so many different
types of music.

We could have just made the
first album over and over

and over again, but it
wouldn't have been right.

We were just wanting to
enjoy what we were doing,

and push some barriers
ourselves, you know.

We were so prolific, I mean
we all had loads of ideas.

But when we all got
onto it individually,

it just starting
sounding like the Damned.

- [Voiceover] We had a desire
to continually progress.

We were always quite lucky
as a band, and why we

were able to progress
is because our audience

kind of went with us.

When we'd finished
The Black Album,

we thought we would
have no career left.

I thought that,
nobody's going to listen

to a 15 minute piece
of music that's

pretty close to prog.

I was always very proud of Dave

when he presented us with that,

'cause he was very,
very nervous and shy

about letting
people see his work.

And it was quite by accident,

we were having dinner one
day and I noticed a book

that he had, and I
asked him what it was,

and he actually decided to crush

the barrier and say,
these lyrics are for it,

and then I opened a
page, and the very first

thing I read was, "We're
coming up from the deep,

"the lizard sheds its skin,"

and it's like Dave for fucks
sake, you gotta do this.

- [Voiceover] That's the
track that you thought,

everybody who'd ever
seen us or followed us

in the past would hate.

But it turned out
to be the opposite.

- We were on
auto-destruct, almost.

Substance abuse wise. (laughing)

But somehow the
records got made.

♪ We're comin' up from the deep

♪ The lizard sheds its skin

♪ Night obliterates the day

♪ And all the fun begins

♪ Shadow boxing with yourself

♪ Just seems to get you nowhere

♪ And you don't want to cheat

♪ When playing solitaire

♪ Curtain call and
the lights go dim

♪ Tragedy love all lie within

♪ Each player takes
his chance to play

♪ Lives to fight another day

♪ The lizard sheds his skin

♪ He sheds his skin

♪ The night obliterates the day

♪ And all the fun begins

♪ Shadow boxing with yourself

♪ Just seems to get you nowhere

♪ And you don't want to cheat

♪ Playing solitaire

♪ Curtain call and
lights grow dim

♪ Tragedy, love all lie within

♪ Each player takes
his chance to play

♪ And he lives to
fight another day

♪ Another day

♪ One more day

♪ No more will I roam

♪ Give me one more day

♪ No more will I roam

♪ My childish dreams
I'll soon outgrow

♪ Curtain call

Thank you.

(audience applauding)

- [Voiceover] Happy 35th.

To us and especially to you.

Thank you very much.

- [Voiceover] I thought we
were gonna play them all,

whether we liked them or not.

And they've not played it again.

- [Voiceover] Tell me
about Stab Your Back.

On the 35th anniversary tour,

you didn't want to
play that song, why?

- Not a very good song.

- [Voiceover] There's more
to it than that, come on.

- There really isn't any
more to it than that.

So I don't think it
deserves to be on the album,

because it's kind of
something that was added

mainly to get Rat
some publishing.

- [Voiceover] You know,
there's so much tension

between you and Rat.

How much would be
fixed if the two of you

just got on the phone.

What would you want to hear

if he called you right now?

- Sorry for being such
a cunt (chuckling).

It's rubbish, I know, but.

- Thank you so much.

- Oh.

- Very good.

- I'm Johnny Rotten,

and I don't care.

- One more, please.

- One more.

- [Voiceover] Bye bye.

- [Voiceover] So what
are you mad at him for?

What is the cause of the
tension between the two of you?

- I'm not mad at Rat, I just
have trust issues, really.

He got hold of the licenses
of a couple of the early

albums, and

you're supposed to
pay the other people

who made the record, you know,

but he was licensing
it to labels

and not distributing the
money as he should have done.

So, I should have got a
royalty, I wasn't gettin' one,

so, didn't enamor me
to working with him.

In fact, it's all been resolved
now, and I do get paid,

is great.

- Well, here's how
bankruptcy works in England,

it's Stiff Records went bust,

and everything's that
Stiff Records owns

goes to the official receiver.

The official receiver
then offers it for sale.

We were offered it,
and we bought it.

Under UK law,

I'm not bound by their
previous agreements,

and the truth was the
fact that the Captain

gets anything at all,
even today in British law,

is by the grace of
myself and Dave.

- That's me, I think.

I wonder if they're gonna
invite me. (chuckling)

- Where are Brian
and Rat? (chuckling)

They're out on
the road somewhere

close.

- If they're playing in Leeds
on the 15th at the Well,

I don't know if
I'll come or not.

- There you go.

- Go support your old mates,
Rat and Brian, they're lovely.

Hang on to your wallets, though.

(laughing)

- Oh.

- This is Brian's
from one of the two.

- What, you want to
see my bag? (chuckling)

Fucking look at my mail, or.

- [Voiceover] No, I was
just gettin' what you were

sayin', Rat.

- Yeah, yeah, sure you were.

And that's good, you
want personality.

You want the character
to come through,

don't you, Wes.

You want somebody who displays,

not this evil person
who everybody just

mumbles about, and says,

"Oh yeah, that rotten bastard,

"do you know what he did?"

Well I know them stories,
and none of them are true.

- Over the years,
me and Rat have been

getting together and
doin' the odd thing

and it was a lot
of fun, you know.

I ain't knockin' the current
Damned at all, believe me,

but they haven't got the
energy that me and Rat have.

They announced that
they would be playing

Damned, Damned,
Damned in its entirety

to mark the 35
anniversary, or something.

- [Voiceover] That is
a very famous record

that Brian and I feel
more responsible for

than Dave and Captain.

It didn't seem fair that we
couldn't do the same thing.

- [Voiceover] Number
one, they're my songs,

and I wrote them
in a particular way

and people are kinda
used to that way.

- [Voiceover] You
know, they are ours,

and we do have the
right to play them.

- Without being unpleasant,

only Brian can play those songs

the way they should be played.

- I mean, what people say is,

God, it reminds me
of back in the day.

They kind of say, it's a
shame that Captain and Dave

ain't here, but they dig it,

'cause they get
off on the energy.

- There's a chemistry
there, there's a telepathy

when they're playing,
the same kind of thing

as Jimmy Page and Jon
Bonham, they can play

by the seat of their pants.

- Not many people saw
the original lineup.

Only together for a year before

it all kinda went wrong.

A lot of people
never heard Brian

playing those songs.

The Damned.

The premier Punk single,

the premier Punk album, the...

- In England?

- In the world.

- Of the world?

Or so, I should Youtube of it.

- [Voiceover] Brain
James, when are we going

to the US, man?

- I'd love to.

- Let's go.

- But, no you can't,
because you aren't gonna

make no money.

It's easier for
me and Rat alone.

- And why don't you want
to make another run of

the UK?

You're just over it?

- Done it.

- Been there, done that?

- Yeah.

- One of the things that
makes Punk brilliant,

and why you're still
bothering to talk to me

35 years after the event,

is, when you buy a guitar,

it's difficult to play.

It's difficult to play a
song all the way through.

But when you learn
a Ramone's song,

you can play it in minutes.

That's why Punk is still alive,

is because it's a
great starting place.

It's easy to do,
you can emulate it,

and from the
emulation you can then

develop into something
bigger and better.

- You're alright, mate.

(laughing)

- Bless.

So what are you doing now?

What's happening to the Buzzies?

- We go to Poland next week,

we've been doin' a lot of,

you know, we've been
doin' a lot of gigs,

in Moscow, big
festivals, all that can.

And then between that, I've
been doing this acoustic thing,

you know.

- You don't like to put
up with a fucking band

moaning and complaining.

- No, no, no.

- This van's not good enough.

- You don't have to
split with yourself,

unless you have to see a
psychologist (laughing).

Musical differences.

- Musical differences.

- My left side of
the brain don't agree

with the right side.

I got a problem, Doc,
you know what I mean?

- Tell me something.

Why do people draw cocks

on dressing room walls?

Every fucking dressing
room in the world

has got a fucking
great nob on it.

- Yeah but, somebody said
they read that Rod Stewart

part, and he used to, like
drawing a cock everywhere,

you know.

- He did it in someone's
passport, didn't he?

- Yeah, apparently he
sold (mumbling) yeah.

- We always felt, if
you're a young (mumbling),

do your own graffiti.

- Yeah.

- So we used to put
it front of the band,

U2 was here, the
monitors were shit.

(laughing)

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ Out of my mind
on a Saturday night

♪ 1977 babies rollin' in sight

♪ Radio's burning up above

♪ Beautiful baby, be my love

♪ Alright

♪ Feelin' cool always

♪ Alright

♪ Feelin' cool always

♪ I feel alright

- We didn't plan on
it lasting, it was for

a fucking moment at a time,

you know, it's like,
you ain't gonna be here

years later doing it.

- [Rat] Well, I
thought three months.

- Then, when you realize

the fucking music was
powerful, you know.

- I couldn't forget,
they weren't popular.

- No.

- When it come out,
it wasn't something,

Punk turned up today,

it (mumbling) Punk turned
up and changed the world,

and it fucking didn't.

- (mumbling) commercial
music in the world.

- Everyone hated us.

All our bands and music papers,

all them groups that was fucking

knocking the pub circuit...

- They all stayed alive,
that's the main thing.

♪ Feelin' cool, alright

- These are the
cities where I've been

to follow the Damned in England.

And it's got all over,

Scotland, I done the
Siouxsie a 100 times.

UK Subs 350 times,

but the Damned has always been

my favorite band.

582.

Every time I go to a Damned
gig, I still get nervous now.

It's an anxiety, i'nt it.

Exciting, you're going
to see the Damned again.

If I miss a Damned gig, it's
like missing the Lottery.

Every Damned gig I went to,

used to get in trouble
with skinheads,

used to cause trouble.

Got beat up at Reading,

and the Damned came next
day to see me in Hospital.

And gave me the money
to get back to Lester.

My wife got killed 45 years ago,

in a motorbike accident.

Got run over,

didn't find the
person that did it.

But the bloke that
took the mick out me

on a building site,
he knew my wife

and he said my wife was a slag.

So I hit him with a pick axe.

I meant to knock him out,
I didn't mean to kill him,

and I got 10 years.

Came out of Brixton prison

1976,

that's when I went
to see the Pistols,

Screen on the Green,

and i went to see the
Damned with T-Rex.

Once I'd seen the
Damned, I said,

that's for me.

People ask me why I
do follow the Damned.

'Cause I like the music.

And I like the people.

- [Voiceover] What
do you get out of it?

What does it do for
you at this age?

- Well, it makes me younger.

Captain Sensible keeps me going.

Think anything happened
to one of the Damned,

I think I'll pack it up.

- Jonathan!

I got the wrong dressing room,
this is Jono's dressing room,

bye.

(laughing)

You still here, you
drunken parasite.

- How many years since '77?

Sitting here, waiting
for you since '77.

- Oh, Jono, what can I say?

- If it weren't for the Damned,

I'd still wear
football (mumbling).

The Damned saved my life.

- Always tragic, but,

this is the last
song of the evening.

(audience booing)

You see,

the even worse news is
it's not Happy Talk.

(crowd yelling)

♪ Happy talk, happy talk

♪ Keep talkin' happy talk

- [Voiceover] I had a
bunch of soft material,

Damned rejects, if you like,

and somebody suggested
that I record

'em, see what happens.

It was just an amazing mistake.

- It was on the
radio everywhere,

it didn't matter where you were,

that fucking song would come on.

(singing inaudibly)

The rest of the band, when
we were eatin' Wendy burgers

while Captain was
booking the bridal suite

at Howard Johnsons,
it just put a

complete imbalance
on the whole thing.

- We'd turn up at gigs,
and you'd see my picture

on a bloody damn poster.

And I've got clippings
of people walking out

saying, "I went to
see Captain Sensible,

"all I got were
these rancid noise

"and four letter
abuse from the stage,

"I demanded my money back."

It was the Damned, but the
two things were so different.

♪ Then you'll never have a

♪ Dream come true

- I was fielding
'round for a deal,

and I was talking to the
managing director of CBS,

and he really loved the
Damned, really loved the band.

I came to the gig, and
they didn't like Captain.

And because he'd been
number one with Happy Talk

they felt he was
too big a persona,

and they couldn't
sell the band properly

with Dave as the
front man, 'cause

the front man had to be
the strongest one there.

- [Voiceover] My heart
was in the Damned, and yet

the records that were
selling were my own ones.

You got to make a
choice at some point.

So I chose the one that
was making me dosh.

- [Voiceover] Roman had been
around the edge of the band

playing keyboards
and hanging out.

We just got Bryn,
our new bass player,

and at this point, we
were all starving again.

- We literally had
500 pounds left.

Should we divvy it up?

And go our separate ways, or?

I think Rat said, "Or should
we go into the studio?"

Which we did.

♪ Every night I'm there

♪ I'm always there

♪ She knows I'm there

♪ And heaven knows

♪ I hope she goes

- You get rid of the
guy with the furry suit

and the beret.

Who's the last guy on stage

visually, and fuckin' verbally,

and then you got a guy

who looks like fuckin' Tom Wolf.

That image suddenly
goes right in the front.

All of a sudden, you've
got something to focus on.

- It was time to sell
Vanian by the pound.

♪ Eloise

Dave Vanian with his
beautiful, long locks,

with a widow's peak and his
fuckin' flowy pirate shirts

and shit like that.

I mean it's like, not
totally Punk rock, but,

definitely pirate shirt.

Do you know what I mean?

- I think everyone's
entitled to change

their shirt occasionally.

♪ My Eloise is like the
stars that please the night

♪ The sun that makes the day

♪ But lights the way

- Every time someone
put the radio on,

Eloise was on the radio.

It's such a weird buzz.

- [Voiceover] First week, 17.

Next week, five.

Next week, number two.

- We almost got to number one.

We got tipped off the top
by some novelty record.

And of course in those
days, you really had to

sell a lot of records
to get in that chart,

it wasn't like now.

- And I was thinking, God,
is this what it's like

to be well known, then.

'Cause even though the
Damned was well known

in their own rights,

they weren't always
on the radio.

It wasn't like the Police.

It was a really good buzz,

and I just thought wow,

this could be dangerous.

- When Eloise was in the charts,

I was with the A&R guy
from MCA at that point

and he said, "Well,
we've finished Eloise."

Dave rang him up, and said,

"I don't want it
to be released."

I thought to myself,
what the hell

was going through his mind?

(audience cheering)

♪ My Eloise

♪ I love to please her

♪ I'd like to care

♪ But she's not there

♪ Oh no

♪ And when I find you

♪ You know I'd be so kind

♪ You wanna stay

♪ Oh I know you'd stay

♪ Not get up and go away

♪ And as the days grow old

♪ The nights grow cold

♪ I want to hold

♪ Her near to me

♪ You know she's dear to me

♪ El

♪ I know that time will tell

♪ And take away this lonely hell

♪ Baby I'm on my knees

♪ But to my Eloise

- My late husband was
a huge fan of you guys.

- Oh yeah?

- We were the ones that
were screaming, "Eloise."

(laughing) At you guys to
play, that was actually,

that was our glory song.

We danced to that at
our wedding, actually.

- Aw, well that's kinda cool.

- So, that's why it was so epic,

and he passed away
this past year, so.

- Sorry.

- No, but, it was great,

like literally, I
was the one like

in the crowd, so,

and actually, if you could sign,

this is his memorial cards,

if you could sign
this, that would be.

- I can, yeah.

- That would be pretty amazing.

- Quite funny, 'cause
a lot of like DJs,

that were very
respectable radio one DJs,

would suddenly sort of be in,

"Here's the new one from
the Damned, it's Eloise,"

and then I'd sort of
always go on and say,

"I remember seeing
these at the Roxy

"in 19," and suddenly
it was the first time

that there was kind of
this Punk association

that was being made

that it was okay to
have been a Punk,

but now we were a bit older.

It was acceptable, respectable.

- Goodnight.
- Take care, now.

- Have a good New Year.

- [Voiceover] Can I
get another picture?

- It's kind of important
for each person to

not ever think that their
opinion matters too much.

Like, I may not like Grimly
Fiendish, not because it's bad,

but because it's not the Damned

that I first listened to.

And we oftentimes
don't dislike something

for what it is, we dislike
it for what it's not.

And that's not totally fair,

but it's honest.

- [Voiceover] They used
to come up to me, and say,

"You're fucking shit on guitar,

"where's Sensible?"

And I'd go "Well, why
are you still here?"

And the insults keep on coming.

- To me, the Damned is
one of those bands like,

you got into 'em, you
got hooked by songs like

New Rose, Neat Neat Neat
and stuff like that,

and then you got into
'em more with a song like

Just Can't Be Happy
Today, all that stuff.

And then when Alone
Again Or came out,

it was like, woah.

They really grew as a
band, but they still

managed to keep
something that kept

me interested as
a fan of the band,

and that's not easy to do,
it doesn't happen a lot

with bands.

When a band tends
to grow and change,

they tend to really
become something different

that most of the
people that liked them

in the beginning don't
still like 'em for.

- I think the Damned
are very unusual

because they've kind of had

multiple birthings, if you will.

A lot of people ask,
like, the album Anything,

why it didn't take
off and do as well

as the one before it, or,

become a big hit record.

And I think what
happened, is it falls

into that pattern that a
lot of new bands go through,

which is, as they say,
you have your whole life

to write your first record,

and you have six months
to write your followup.

Well, the band, by breaking
up the way they did

and then being off
the market for years,

and then reforming,
almost were coming back

like a new band again.

So they had plenty
of time to write

that comeback record,

and not so much time to
write the followup to it.

- The anything album was rushed,

'cause we'd been worked,

comin' off tour, nine days off,

right, you're off to
Denmark, do an album.

With what?

- It was our most
successful period.

We sold more records then.

Bigger shows, bigger tours.

Traveled further, did more
than we ever had done.

The plan to break
commercially was working.

- Flat as a pancake.

- Initially, we were
very happy to be

getting on with it.

And the more and more
it fell in place,

the more repetitive it became.

You know, that's when I
started to lose interest.

- Would you like to explain
what you've got there,

Mr. Scabies?

- It's a bone.

Very ancient jaw
bone or something.

I suspect it was here

during the last video.

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] I think most
of the people at the label

didn't know what the hell
to do with the Damned.

I remember we went
with a cover of

the Arthur Lee & Love
song, Alone Again Or,

which helped because
it was a familiar song,

but the record
really never took off

in the US and frankly
I don't think it did

as well around the world.

- Seems any major
you get new lot in,

new managing director,
and he gets like,

his A&R people and,

"I never liked
that band anyway,"

yeah, it happens.

Plus, we didn't
have anything really

to play them that would say,

"Fuck me."

- My first boy had been born,

and I was feelin'
really kind of up.

Got money, you've got the house,

got a car, the children.

Everything's, wife, career.

And I walked into
the rehearsal room,

I look 'round and
there was like,

a mess of Boogie amps,

and a Trace Elliot bass

and big drum kit
with too many cymbals

and two road crew guys

and nice air conditioned
rehearsal room.

And we picked up
our instruments,

and I sat behind the kit,

and nobody knew what to play.

We had everything
we'd ever dreamed of,

everything.

The guitars, the
drums, the amps,

the roadies, the success.

All of it.

But the one thing we didn't
have was the will to play.

(chuckling)

- [Voiceover] What's your
favorite lineup of the Damned?

- That's tricky,
actually, probably

Machine Gun Etiquette with Algy.

- This one.

- The one with Paul Gray.

- Brian James lineup.
- Brian James.

- The original.

- Yeah, it's gotta be.

- Scabies, James,
Vanian, Sensible.

- Yeah.

- [Voiceover] The tour
manager, Rat's mate

Henry McGrogan,

rang me up and said,
"Do you wanna go on tour

"with the Damned again?"

And the idea was to do
the first set with Brian,

and then he goes
off and Paul Gray

comes on and we
do the second set

doing Machine Gun Etiquette

and Strawberries
and stuff like that,

quite a nice concept.

- Our first show's
in New York City,

then we go up to Boston,

and then the next show's
in DC at the 9:30 club,

and the band is just
havin' a great time.

It's like old friends,
old days, old times.

So we go to do the
show that night,

and somethin' happened.

- I was up on stage,
and I dunno what it is,

I can't stop myself.

You know?

I'm an asshole.

Give me a microphone,
and I just say to,

the first thing that comes
to the front of my mind,

I said, here's a
song called, New Rose

written by a fabulous
bunch of guys

called Guns 'N'
Roses, here you go.

This one was written
by Guns 'N' Roses.

Oh no, it wasn't then?

Brian slung his
telecaster on the floor

because Brian has the
publishing on New Rose.

When we found out Guns
'N' Roses were gonna

cover it, it hadn't been
recorded or released.

We just knew that
they were doing it,

and here was like this record,

huge amount of money,

and Brian had an
absolute terror that

something would stop
them releasing it.

- So I'm tunin' the guitars
and gettin' the stage

set back up for them
to come back out

for the encore,

and the crowd's gettin'
kind of antsy, wants to know

what's goin' on.

As I come downstairs, I could
hear yelling and screaming.

Brian said to me, "Look, this
is money that I could do with,

"is Guns 'N' Roses
record my song,

"I'm gonna make some cash,
it's good for my family.

"Don't be an asshole,
you're like ruining it."

- So, that night we
finished the show,

and Henry, the tour manager

calls me, it's like two in
the morning, or somethin',

and he says, "Hey,
you gotta get up

"and get Brian up to Baltimore

"in the morning because
we're puttin' him on a plane

"and he's goin' back home."

- [Voiceover] He said
after the row that we had,

I had a absolutely
steamin' row with Rat,

where Rat said, "It
ain't your band no more,

"I might put you on
wages if you don't

"knuckle under"
and like, you know.

And Sensible as well,
he's out to lunch.

- So I said, "Well fuck
it, I'm outta hare."

- I've never put anyone
on a wage in my life.

You know, much as I love Brian,

he gets very insecure sometimes

and he's a drinker.

And sometimes his
logic and reason

aren't as strong
as they should be.

- [Voiceover] So I get up
like a six in the morning,

get Brian and we jump in the van

and I drive him up to Baltimore.

- Captain was very
sweet and said,

"Oh, sorry about all this."

Dave didn't say a word.

And Rat was just, I don't know,

he just kinda rided it,

he decided.

- You could just
tell how hurt he was.

It was like those tears,

not dripping down your face,

but like inner, inner tears.

- It was so hard
to get everybody

back in a room together.

We didn't take such
good care of Brian,

you know, we should
have made sure

he had his own guys with him

looking after him and,

but I was looking at it as like,

well, okay let's go
ahead and get on with it.

I've probly cut corners

when they shouldn't
have been cut.

I think Captain was
very keen on getting

his job back as the guitarist,

and I think he's always
seen the bass as being

kind of beneath him.

(fast paced punk rock music)

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] Oh my God.

- [Voiceover] Dave
look, look up.

- What, funny glasses?

- [Voiceover] I Can't see
the difference, me-self.

- So, we're talking about
the old song New Rose.

- [Voiceover] New Rose.

- Have you heard about the
Guns 'N' Roses version?

(coughing)

(laughing)

What do you think about that?

- Well it's, it would favor me.

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] Are you going
to sing New Rose tonight?

- [Dave] We're gonna do
the Guns 'N' Roses version.

- Tonight, Dave's
gonna wear a headband.

It's gonna be really cool,
he's got his leather trousers.

He's gonna have a
shirt open down to his.

- Segue into Sweet
Child of Mine, you know.

- Yeah.

(laughing)
- [Voiceover] Really?

- This is really
going out of him.

Yeah!

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ I got a feelin' inside of me

♪ Kind of strange
like a stormy sea

♪ Don't know why, don't know why

♪ I guess this
things have gotta be

♪ I got a new rose,
I got her good

♪ Guess I knew
that I always would

♪ I can't stop to mess around

♪ I got a brand new rose in town

♪ See the sun see
the sun it shines

♪ Don't get too close
or it'll burn your eyes

♪ Don't you run away that way

♪ You can come back another day

♪ I got a new
rose, I got it good

♪ Guess I knew
that I always would

♪ I can't stop to mess around

♪ Got a brand new rose in town

♪ I don't believe this
could happen this way

♪ Oh this is strange,
oh why should it be

♪ I don't deserve
somebody this great

♪ No, no, no, no, no

♪ I'd better go,
before it gets too late

It's too late.

Hey!

♪ I got a feelin' inside of me

♪ Kinda strange,
like a stormy sea

♪ Don't know why, don't know why

♪ I guess these
things have gotta be

♪ I got a new
rose, I got it good

♪ I guess I knew
that I always would

♪ Well I can't
stop to mess around

♪ Got a brand new rose in town

♪ I got a brand
new, got a brand new

♪ I got a brand new,
got a brand new rose ♪

(crowd applauding)

- This bloody thing
is hot, I tell ya.

Who's idea was it

for me to wear
this bloody thing?

- [Voiceover] I remember
Captain saying to me once,

he said, "Roger," he said,

"Why don't people take me

"more seriously as
a guitar player?"

And I said, "Well
'cause," I said,

(mumbling) "they get
put off by the fact that

"half the time, at
the end of a gig,

"you're wandering around
the stage buck naked,

"playing great
guitar, but, you know,

"some people just sort
of just, I'm afraid,

"come to that rather
prude conclusion

"that you can't be
a great musician

"just because you have no
clothes on while you're playing."

- Sensible is probably
one of the great

absurdist comedians
of our time, really,

he's very very
special in that way.

Very good musician.

- That's my best Keith
Richards, that is.

- [Voiceover] I thought
that was Mick Jagger.

- Never heard of him.

(chattering)

- [Voiceover] What's
the difference between

Ray Burns and Captain Sensible?

- They're completely
different people.

I would say Captain Sensible
is on more of a level

than Ray Burns is (chuckling)

to be quite honest.

At least you know
with Captain Sensible

you're just gettin'
a wacky, clown-like

guitar genius who's
gonna always try and

put on the performance
of his life.

With Ray Burns, you never know

what you're gonna get.

- At this time in the evening,

I'd like to let the
fire extinguisher off.

It creates a lot of
atmospheric pollution

and it's a bloody good wheeze.

How do you do these things?

- He has been the single most

rude, unfeeling,

embarrassing person

that I've ever been around

on many occasions.

- Fuck the bass, it's
all about the guitar.

- Because he is
Captain Sensible,

when people come up
to him in the street,

"Captain!"

He's gotta go immediately
from Ray Burns

to Captain Sensible.

And it's hard for
him, quite often

and I think he just gets sick

of the constant flip-flop.

- You see the resemblance?

The thing is, you
become more eccentric,

because you've
never actually done,

well I don't consider
this is working,

so we've never really done
a day's work in our lives,

so we kind of, we've been
perpetual juvenile delinquents,

I think you stay at the same age

as when you first join a band.

In my case it was about
16 or 17, you know.

So I'm still of
that age mentally,

'cause I haven't had to

do the hoping to get
promotion next year thing,

or struggle with a mortgage
or any of that stuff.

I just lived this kind of a

lackadaisical, get paid today

and be bankrupt
tomorrow lifestyle.

Just you know, bein' a
musician like this chap here,

you know, just wonderful,
have guitar will travel.

(ethereal acoustic
guitar playing)

A lot of being in the pop game,

or being a musician is

people with quite a
lot of low self esteem,

as I have.

People in the audience go,
"Oh don't encourage him,

"he'll just get this inflated
ego, all this stuff."

The opposite is the truth.

When you hear the applause
it brings you off the floor

to the average kind of level
that most people are at.

I had a manager
during my solo career,

and he had me up in
the morning doing TV

and then lunchtime
TV, then flying abroad

to do a promo clip,

and then you fly back to
do a gig with the Damned.

I was absolutely exhausted
after a couple of years of that.

I ended up scrapping
both careers.

It took me quite a
while to recover.

Was actually in a
clinic for a few weeks

and I signed me-self
in and I was locked up

and I was in a room with
bars on the bloody window,

just havin' this kind
of really bad time.

For a few years I did nothing.

I ended up with
bailiffs at the door

and police trying to
repossess the house

and I had three young children.

I had no idea what
I was going to do

with the rest of my life.

Nobody wanted

a has-been, Top of the
Pops artist, you know,

novelty artist,
whatever you call me.

- I remember gettin' a taxi
outside the hotel one time,

and it stopped and let Dave out.

And as I got in,
the guy said to me,

"You see the fuckin'
weirdo I just let out?"

- The audience don't
know what Dave's like.

They've got no idea,

and the funny thing is,

neither have we.

(laughing)

Haven't a clue

what he gets up to,
what motivates him.

He's just a complete enigma.

- He's remarkably
normal for someone who's

dressed as Count Dracula.

- It sounds odd today, but
back in the very early '70s,

people would ask
me on a daily basis

wherever I went, why
are you wearing black.

Are you going to a funeral?

People didn't wear black then.

They just didn't.

I used to say, "Well, if
this was Victorian England,

"you'd think it odd that
we didn't wear black,"

you know, 'cause it was at that
time after Albert had died,

everyone was wearing
black, and black jewelry

and black this,
that and the other.

So I always thought
historically,

I was trapped somewhere,
if you know what I mean.

I always felt it was people

have to come around
to my way of thinking,

not, I wasn't going
to bend to their,

people didn't like each other,

at least that's how it
felt when I grew up.

There was a lot of
unfriendliness anyway.

So added to it,
was the fact I was

a so-called weirdo at
the time, it was tough.

Older people accepted me.

There was this guy Pete
who was the station master

for the railway, who
I suppose, who seemed

old to me then, but I suppose
he was probably in his 50s.

He had a handlebar
mustache and he looked like

he'd stepped straight out
of the Railway Children,

you know, but people like
that would accept me.

Put that thing away.

- [Voiceover] Oh, come
on, this too good.

- Old Vanian.

Not too bad, is it.

- [Voiceover] It looks good.

- Yeah, the old fart.

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] He was
always like that,

even if he was
doing the gardening,

he'd always be all in black,

he'd always always
look immaculate,

he'd always have that
sense of style about him.

You know, he doesn't
put on a pair of jeans

and turn into the dark
lord at six o'clock.

It didn't serve us well,
people not knowing that,

but of course there
was no real way

to tell anybody.

- I shared a room with Dave,

and I always remember,
I don't know if

it was an accident,

you know he used to
be a grave digger

and I woke up in the morning,

and he was lying in
bed flat like this,

and he just sat up
straight like that.

Most people go (mumbling)
wake up in the morning.

He just woke up and sat up
straight and looked around.

And I always thought,
I think he really did

think he was a vampire.

- [Voiceover] In Austin,
Dave wasn't on site

and they wanted us to
do a meet and greet.

We turn up at the merch tent,

there's five seats set up,

there's one empty,

and there's this
guy in the crowd

dressed up to the nines

like Dave Vanian, but
he's about 22 years old.

So we're like, hey, come here,

come over here,
get in this seat.

He got the pen, and
just started signing

all these rare singles
and the crowd went

lining 'round the corner, so
they couldn't see this kid

jump over the barrier and
get in the seats with us.

And about 30 or 40
people fell for it,

and two people were like,

"That's not Dave Vanian."

But, he got away with it.

(laughing)

- Nice to meet you, future self.

- Yes.

- The funniest thing was,

he was just really got into
the role of Dave Vanian,

which is ironic,
because Dave Vanian

is a fantastic actor.

- [Voiceover] Why
do you think he's so

disconnected from the people

that he's in the band with?

- [Voiceover] Very
good question.

I don't think
that's anything that

any of us can answer.

- He doesn't give much away.

You never know,
it's very strange.

It's like he's into it
and he's not into it.

And sometimes I get the
feeling that he does the gigs

and he's like, ugh,

I don't really want to be here.

And then whenever he says,

"Oh, that was a lot of fun,"

I think, oh good, he enjoyed it.

Because he's so good
at what he does,

he does it so well,

I just wish he
would enjoy it more.

- [Voiceover] Hi, I'm Tanya.

- [Voiceover] Hello, Tanya.

- Can I have them take a
picture of me with you?

- 'Course, yeah.

- [Tanya] I wish Dave
was here, too, but...

- He's a little bit
reclusive, isn't he?

- I know.

I don't really know, but
I sense it, you know.

- That's one word for it.

(laughing)

Antisocial.

- Yeah.

- [Voiceover] Give me an
example of what Dave does

that isn't kind of, very
all for one, one for all,

like when it comes
to rehearsals or

signing sessions or interviews.

- Dave doesn't do stuff
he doesn't wanna do

and as long as he carries on
singing as good as he does,

I mean, he can basically
do what he wants.

I mean, if I start
slagging Dave off,

it's like a resignation.

He'll watch the
film and he'll say,

"Oh I don't think Captain
likes me that much."

I don't want to slag the
bloke off, he sings great.

- No, please listen to this.

"That bastard Vanian
has not turned up.

(audience booing)

"We are appalled.

"If you leave now, you
may have your money back.

"If you stay, the Captain
and the rest of the band

"will play your
favorites for you."

Do you want the Damned?

(audience cheering)

Do you want the Damned?

(audience cheering)

- We don't need it
that loud, do we?

That fuckin' bastard, Vanian.

I do apologize.

He's done this to us
one too many times, but,

you know...

What we need, where's John with
his cockle when we need him?

Well, we're here, anyway.

Fuck Vanian.

- Well it's dark in here.

Cold.

- I can see the camera,
and it's all turned on.

- Yeah.

- Put it in the fridge.

- So, you're thinking you can
get some candid shots, do you?

(laughing)

Right.

Vegetables, very good.

These are nice, you get this.

And this is really good, look.

Watch this.

Look at that.

I can do that with this hand,

or I can do it with that hand.

Look, there you go.

And over here we have a pudding.

(laughing)

- It's not turned on, is it?

(groaning)

Got me in the eye!

- [Voiceover] David, an important
question I need to ask you

is about your breakup with Rat.

What actually happened?

- You know, things
were up and down.

The band was kind of on
the verge of splitting,

'cause we had no money.

And there was a kind of a break.

I went off and I did The
Phantom Chords for a while.

And then Rat got in
touch with me, he said,

"Look, this guitarist
has written this album.

"Would you come be the singer?"

I said, "Fine, yeah."

And I went and rehearsed
and I liked the stuff.

And we made the album, the
album with Alan Lee Shaw.

The thing we decided upon,

is we would make this album

and we would license
it in Japan only,

that was the thing I
thought was going to happen,

and the money that came
from it would help us

go on to making a Damned album.

- BMI offered enough
money for a Damned album.

I realized if we took that deal

we could afford to
make a Damned album,

and then we'd have
that record to license

in the rest of the world.

Dave knew all about this
and signed the contract.

- [Voiceover] That
wasn't a Damned album.

It was a good album, and
Damned because of what

we added to it, I imagine.

But it was essentially
written by Alan Lee Shaw,

the music, the song.

- Alan and I had
co-written the album.

Alan probly a little
more so than me.

When we got the album released,

Dave said to me that he wanted

an equal share in
the publishing money,

which Alan refused to do.

When I told Dave,

he then started the campaign of,

these are unauthorized
recordings, and.

- 'Cause I felt I was
being shafted, you know.

I actually went after
the company, said,

"You can't release this,
'cause I'm not on it

"and I'm singing
on it," and I said,

"You can release this
album, but you've gotta take

"all my vocals off of it,
otherwise I won't let it go out."

- What he really wanted to
do was the Phantom Chords.

I believe it came to
a kind of ultimatum.

We'd booked like four shows

and it cost us
three of the shows

and the fourth would be the
one where we'd make the cash.

And Dave wanted to cancel
one of the four shows

or something, because
of the Phantom Chords

and I think I said, "You're
either got to do that,

"or we're done."

And he said he wanted to do it,

so it was like, okay,

I'm never gonna ring
this number again.

It was sad.

It ended like that,
basically, you know.

It was a kind of
weird stand-off.

Then I just got on
with things after that

and didn't look back.

And I just thought, well
that's it, it's kind of...

- [Voiceover] Five
Euros if you do that.

- Yeah?

- [Voiceover] Five Euros if you.

(laughing)

- (mumbling) Give me the fiver.

- Don't, don't let
him know it's easy.

Well, out of the
blue, I've got a gig

together with Dave's
Phantom Chords.

And we were supporting them
somewhere in north London.

And Dave came
backstage afterwards.

Said, "Yeah, things
aren't going quite so good

"at the moment."

And then there was
a kind of silence,

and he said, "How 'bout
gettin' a new lineup

"of the Damned
together, Captain."

I thought about it for
about three seconds

and then I said, "Yeah,
okay." (laughing)

It was just a total surprise,

it was something I never
thought would happen, you know.

- As soon as I heard
he got Captain back in,

I knew that'd be it.

When you get somebody who
says, "I was at a friend's

"wedding the other day
and they'd hired Captain.

"And he put on a CD and
then in between the songs

"all he did was go
into tirades about how

"Rat Scabies had
stolen all his money."

It doesn't matter how many
times I've told him the truth,

this is beyond repair.

- Obviously Rat Scabies is
part of their original band,

and he was in for so long

and was the spirit
of the band as well.

But I think for me, the
real music of the Damned

is Captain Sensible.

That's who I really
focused on growing up

as like something you can be.

You can be in a
Punk band and smile.

You could be political
in your own way

without being overly
political and making speeches.

You can actually be
positive and be Punk.

They've had breakups, band
members who weren't in

the band anymore.

But you and I went to see
this concert last night.

All the fans were
there, it was sold out,

everyone's going crazy.

There it was, you know.

A nice, happy moment.

- [Voiceover] This is a green
screen and we're gonna be,

we're gonna have a shot
in the ark (mumbling).

- [Voiceover] We're gonna
be flying over New York.

(laughing)
(chattering)

- Run around, now!

- There are people out there

that don't consider this
new lineup of the Damned

really the Damned.

But you have to understand that

when you're in a band
with other people,

maybe initially
you're all friends

and you're all bros and
we're all in this together

and it's one for
all and all for one.

But once you get in a
vehicle and you start

traveling and you're always
in each other's faces,

and all of the ugly bits
and pieces and parts

of people's personalities
start to surface,

it could be real easy to say,

"I don't want to be a
part of this anymore,"

or "I don't like that person,

"he's not the person
that I thought he was."

Maybe that's the reason why
there's the rift between

Captain Sensible
and Rat Scabies.

Maybe they'll all
get back together

and do the original lineup.

- And I really enjoyed
playing with Rat again,

that's really good.

But I can't see the
four of us every getting

together again, I
think there's too many

bouncing personalities for that.

- I don't know what the
fuck these guys have

got to get over,

but they need to
get over it fast,

so that they can hurry up

and fucking give
us what we want.

- It was weird.

I got hit in the face
yesterday with that beer

and all I could think
of is, "I'm so broke."

(chuckling) That's all I
could think of when it hit.

Neat neat neat, can't
afford that pizza.

Neat neat neat, Can't
afford (mumbling).

Neat neat neat.
(laughing)

Why is it I listen
to the television.

I'm on tour and I watch TV,

and what do I hear?

I hear Sting, I hear Iggy Pop,

I hear Blondie, I
hear the Buzzcocks.

I hear the Undertones,

all on bloody adverts.

- Oh yeah, good point.

- [Voiceover]
Where's yours, Dave?

We ain't took
Damned on our purse.

- I ain't took Damned,
'cause we haven't got no

(mumbling) work for us that
can bloody sort it out.

We need a Jewish, obnoxious

lawyer of some kind.

The Pistols have got
this Jewish Was-blade

in LA, gets all
their deals for them.

Hence they all got a
quarter of a million each

when they re-signed their deal.

- [Voiceover] What's
your phone number?

- You'll have to do
it for the band, 'Cap.

(laughing)

- It's a recurring theme,

the "Woes me, unlucky Damned,

"everybody else has got
it, we've never got it."

What's the reason for that?

Is it pure bad
luck for 37 years?

Or are there other factors?

- No comment. (laughing)

- I think the Damned always
thinks they know best,

or is it because they
want to do it their way

and just screw everything else.

Maybe that's the case.

In which case, don't expect
to be commercially successful,

just be happy with
your creative freedom

and what that gives for ya.

- The stuff that
band's gone through,

by and rights, they
shouldn't be here,

they shouldn't be doing it.

You know, so many record
labels, so many managers,

so many decisions
that weren't right

or didn't pan out the way
people wanted them to pan out.

- Every time we were
poised for major success,

somehow the band
managed to fuck it up.

In the '80s, Simon
Cowell wanted to sign us.

We were meeting lots of
different record companies

at the time.

And we go in for a
meeting, and we'd forget

most of what was said, so,

Roman suggested
that we record it,

because he'd got a
Walkman that recorded.

It started feeding back.

Simon Cowell just
looked at us and said,

"Are you recording this?"

And we sheepishly said,
"Yes," and he said,

"Thank you very much," and left.

(laughing)

- Unfortunately it doesn't
happen for a lot of the bands

that you think it
should happen for.

I mean, ask anyone
who has a label.

Ask the guys at
Epitaph or whatever,

there's always a
band where you say,

"That band should
have broken out,"

that should have gotten big,

and it just didn't, really.

- Some of our career's
kind of been like

bashing your head
against a brick wall,

while we've watched others,
shall we say, less talented

people reap the rewards.

And sometimes, you
try not to feel bitter

about it, but,

sometimes it creeps in
as you get a bit older.

- There isn't a TV show
that references 1976

without playing God Save
the Queen or Anarchy.

London's Calling is everywhere.

And you kind of think,
"Well, you know what,

"we were there as well."

We made eight albums and
it all sold pretty good.

And you think, "How
come everybody else

"seems to have got so
much financially from

"the music industry
and we didn't?"

You know, I can't go
down to the supermarket

and do a drum solo instead
of paying for my food.

You have to get paid.

When these albums
were being made,

this one in particular,

all the other bands were
getting a major record deal.

But we were out there
actually on the road

living the life.

We were living the real,

it was a real Punk
rock band, you know.

Crazy drunken guys having fun.

19 year olds going absolutely
crazy, making some good music.

But the other bands were
getting all the big bucks

and the deals and
the management.

That's what we didn't get, so,

and they were called
the Punk bands.

Ironic.

- One of us should have died.

You know, or there should
have been a car crash

and we should have all ended up

in an early grave

after making one
fantastic album.

♪ It's a crazy world
that we live in

♪ Lots of things going on

♪ Some of them not so good

♪ That's why the Damned are

♪ Comin' to a town near you soon

♪ Spreading joy and happiness

♪ This crazy, fucked up world

♪ So, get your wallets out

♪ We need your money now

♪ Get your money ready, baby

♪ We're comin' to
a town near you

♪ With plenty of merchandise

I'm not comin' over like a

Capitalist bastard, am I?

- [Voiceover] Oh, yes you are!

(laughing)

- We must be due for a
good year at some point.

- Yeah if we die.

(laughing)

- Record sales are soaring,

now that the Damned are dead.

- The Queen said, "She
always loved Captain."

(laughing)

- [Voiceover] He's on his
deathbed, the sales are up.

- One day my genius
will be recognized.

- What do you want from me, man?

What do you fuckin' want,
'cause you know what,

really, I'm not
fucking interested.

I'm really not, I don't fucking
care about your documentary.

I don't care about bein'
in a fucking group,

I don't care about bein'
anything, you know.

It's fucking bollocks.

What I care about is survival,

and moving on, and being
able to keep going.

None of it fucking counts,

it's all in the past,
it's fucking history.

Why the fuck does anyone care?

We'd made a few fucking records.

We didn't discover
a cure for cancer.

We didn't fucking
change the world.

The Pistols and The Clash
changed the world, right?

We were just also there.

So, you know,

the public don't care, the
industry certainly don't care.

I care even fucking less.

Brian and maybe the
others want to be there

for posterity, but,

you know what,

I don't fucking give a shit.

- Is commercial success
what it means to be

fucking great?

It's like, the only
people that bum out

about not having
commercial success

are probly the guys in the band.

I mean, fuck, I don't care.

I don't give a fuck.

You know, it's like,

they're not third to me.

They're number one.

You know, if I
would have picked,

it's number one.

I don't give a fuck
if the guy next door's

never heard of 'em.

Do you know what I'm sayin',

it's like I don't care.

What they did was great.

And it's still great,
and it's still killer,

and it's still better

than anything you get
from anybody else.

Nobody can touch what they did.

- I always think that
you can always tell

the difference between
the Damned and the rest of

the Punk movement,

by the impact of
Punk in America,

'cause if I remember
rightly, the Damned were

the first to go to the US.

And I think they went
to the west coast,

where that's where they seem
to have left their legacy.

And if you look at the
two different sides,

east coast and the west coast,
it's a very different thing,

and I think that's down to
the influence of the Damned,

or some of it, at least.

It's definitely down
to kind of the Damned

getting there first.

- I'll just give you these.

- Thank you.

- Thanks a lot mate, enjoy.

- They've reinvented
themselves continuously.

You're lucky sometimes
to just find one band

that fits together
with a great chemistry,

let alone two or three,

you know.

They've done alright.

- There's so much else
that goes on in the world,

that you're kind of lucky
to be selected, aren't you.

And I think that's probly
part of the Damned's appeal.

It's about being discovered.

Pistols and the Clash,
they're big, everybody knows

all their songs.

The Damned, on the other hand,

are kind of the
thing that people

that actually love
music and are fans

discover.

And go, "Wow, how
come nobody else

"knows about this group, because

"they've made some
great records."

(crowd applauding)

- Hello.

I'm officially an old bastard.

Fucking (mumbling),

I went down to get
a bloody bus pass,

they changed the bloody
rules, it's 65 now.

By the time I get
to 65, it'll be 70.

That's the Punk generation
for you, though.

We're not gonna go
quietly, are we?

(mumbling) see you in a minute.

- It is amazing,
after all these years.

You wouldn't have
thought mid-'77

when you kicked the
whole thing off,

2014 you'd still be out there

just having completed
a world tour.

- No, so, must have been
doin' something right.

- What do you say
to people who say,

"They just weren't as
good as the other bands."

What other bands?

- Clash and the Pistols.

- No I'd just say,
"What other bands?"

(fast paced punk rock music)

♪ Twilight comes
and mood's complete

♪ Gonna hit the street grab
some of that night time beat

♪ My heart is beat beat
beating like a drum

♪ The night is in my veins

♪ We're gonna have
some fun tonight

♪ Light the fuse I must ignite

♪ I'm gonna set the world alight

♪ Light the fuse, I must ignite

♪ I'm gonna set the world alight

♪ Just to see it all burn, yeah

♪ Wanna see you burn

♪ See you burn

♪ I killed the cigarette
I killed the light

♪ I'm killin' time the heat
kills me on a summer night

♪ I'm gonna live a
life, live a dream

♪ Hell for leather in my
scheme of things tonight

♪ Woah, woah

♪ Yeah like a
fuse, I must ignite

♪ I'm gonna set the world alight

♪ I said, like a
fuse I must ignite

♪ Well I'm gonna
set the world alight

♪ Just to see it all burn

♪ I want to see you burn

♪ See you burn

♪ A little fire

♪ Fire

♪ Tiny spark

♪ To a rolling flame

♪ Fire

♪ Burning fire

♪ Burning

♪ Fire

♪ Burnin'

♪ Fire

♪ Oh fire

- Let's hear you
in the cheap seats.

♪ Fire, fire

♪ Burnin' gettin' hot

♪ I hear fire, fire

♪ Woah oh

♪ Fire

♪ I said fire

♪ Fire

♪ From the land he
burns, rescue my hand

♪ No pleasure tonight
or lying in bed

♪ Light the candle
man, must ignite

♪ I'm gonna set the world alight

♪ Tonight

♪ Like a fuse I must ignite

♪ And I'm gonna set
the world alight

♪ I said, like a
fuse I must ignite

♪ And I wanna set
the world alight

♪ I wanna see you burn

♪ Baby burn

♪ I see you burnin' baby

♪ Burn in hell

♪ Hell

♪ Burn, burn, burn

♪ Burn, burn

♪ In hell

(crowd applauding)

- It's an attitude
and it's a lifestyle.

It's about not taking
any shit from anyone,

thinking for yourself,

trying to improve
your lot in life,

not being a cog in the wheel.

Not taking any
bullshit from anyone,

that's Punk rock.

This is Wes, and he's
making a film on us.

Just say "hi" to him, you
might get in the movie.

(crowd cheering)

None of that "Sensible's
a wanker" stuff,

I'll edit that straight out.

Hello, Jono.

- [Voiceover]
Wesley is a wanker.

Come on, give him some.

♪ Wesley is a wanker

♪ La la la la

♪ Wesley is a wanker

♪ La la la la