The Sensible Gray Cells - A Postcard From Britain

Captain Sensible & Paul Gray back together again.

Home page here where you can buy the cd or download (in October). I love Sensible so I'm bound to love this....and I do.

A track from the album.....



More stuff.........

Algy Ward for Prime Minister

Yes, that's Algy Ward from the Damned playing bass with the shades and denim...how cool does he look!!!

 Know your product from a few years ago.

 Which part of fuck off?

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't......

This is the Damned live at the 02 academy in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on 17th November 2011.

I was humming and harring about going to this gig and almost did, but in the end decided not to as I'm not keen on how Dave sings the old songs these days. This is a really good recording, but on this evidence I still think I made the right decision..... ...you might disagree. However, there's no denying that this contains the worst version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ever.

You need both music links below to get the full gig.

Music part1
Music part2

Some nice chap on youtube has a very good quality video of this gig, his channel is.... here

P.S. Thanks to John for this recording.

The Doomed - Live (1978)

The Damned (as the Doomed) with Henry Badowski in '78.

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Pic unashamedly lifted from the great second time around website. Lifted as I couldn't find a pic with Badowski playing live and also 'coz I was working for the Damned when this picture was taken. Boy, oh boy, I wish I could relive those few months.

2nd time around

The Damned

A few Damned pdf's kicking off with the Damned Disciples Songbook.

A history of their first year.

Damned Diaries 76 -78.

All 3 here

Brian James - Why? Why? Why? 7'' (1982)

Recorded at the same time, and session, as the 7'' a post or two below. This was in 1979 and included Stewart Copeland from the Police on drums. The others were Alan Lee Shaw, who would be in the Damned 17 years later, and Chris Sol playing bass.

Whilst not quite as brilliant, or insrtant, as the earlier 7'', it's still worth a spin very often.

Link removed thanks to : herve.lemaire over @leakid.com.

If you're after this drop me an e-mail.

Brian James - Ain't that a Shame 7'' (1979)

Back in my Damned obsessed days, still thee best band ever,......I was absorbed by anything Damned related. So after the Damned dissolved and post White Cats (Rat), King (Sensible), Doctors of Madness (Vanian) & Tanz Der Youth (James) this single came onto my radar and I went mental, rushing across town to buy it. Ensconced in a Listen Ear bag I hastened into my house, threw it onto the turn table, set the speed to 45 rpm, and was blown away. 33 years later I'm still blown away by this 7''.
 
It's so easy to forget just how good Brian James' song writing ability was. The first Damned album is, nowadays, often over looked in favour of the 3rd - 5th albums; I do this myself. However, every time I return to Damned Damned Damned I recall just why I got into the Damned in the first place; it was Brian's writing. 

This 7'' is pretty much the peak of his post Damned work for me. He, obviously, went on to the Lords of the New Church, which you can find on MRML. A great band who released some fantastic vinyl and were stellar live. However if you're looking for great power pop from one of the godfathers of punk look no further; this is your one stop shop for audio ecstasy. Enjoy!!!

Link removed thanks to : herve.lemaire over @leakid.com.

If you're after this drop me an e-mail.

Thanks to JohnnyVonNowhere for reminding me why I started this blog. Cheers man.

Tank - Crazy Horses (1982)

Sadly I'm old enough to remember the Osmonds doing this song on Top of the Pops. Gladly I'm also old enough to have seen Tank doing this song live; I prefer the Tank version.

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The Damned - Shadows of the Damned (2011)

Can you believe it....35 years. It seems like two seconds since I was standing around the back of the school buying a second hand copy of Neat ,Neat, Neat.

The Damned remain my favourite band from then 'till now, yet I've not seen them live for years, 1986/87 I think.....that gig was a desperately poor event with Bryn and Roman trying to fill the boots of giants and not managing to do it. The atmosphere was dead, the banter with the crowd was gone and it almost looked professional...a bad, bad thing.

I now avoid them as I'm not a fan of the way Dave sings the old songs....I should cut them some slack and attend this years gig where they'll play Damned, Damned, Damned and the Black Album in their entirety.....hmmmm, I might just do that. God knows, no band has given me more pleasure than this lot.

Anyway...here's an MP3 of a recent song they did for the sound track of a computer game called shadows of the damned. I've no idea what the game's like, but the song's pretty damned good.....I did it again. :)

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The Damed - Live Birmingham Odeon '77

Nothing more to say really.

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Captain Sensible radio interview

A nice little listen - here.

If you click on Captains name he's uploaded some demos as well......

Magic Michael - Millionaire (1979)

Back to my Damned obsession and a release featuring

Captain Sensible - Guitar
Algy Ward - Bass
Rat Scabies - Drums

Michael (cousins) was well known on the hippy scene and he has other releases out there; I have no idea what any of them are like. I bought this at the time as I was a fully paid up member of the Damned Disciples and wanted anything to do with them. I miss those days.

Is this punk? I don't know, but I do know it's Damned good,did you see what I did there? :)

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Tank ......

<3

Captain Sensible - The Universe of Geoffrey Brown (1993)

Captain Sensible is a genius in my book, a quintessential English song writer, right up there with Ray Davis, Robin Hitchcock or Andy Partridge. Sadly he'll never get that recognition, or be placed in such luminous company, as he'll always been seen as the buffoon in the hat who wears dresses and gets his cock out on stage.

His records always take me to a happier time when life was simpler, images of crumpets on the lawn or the crack of leather on willow come to mind when I listen to him. This album is his crowning glory, a truly wonderful concept album displaying everything that Ray does best; pop songs with great hooks and a guitar virtuosity that is seldom rivalled.

This is the story of Geoffrey Brown whose sedate suburban life is thrown into turmoil when he's contacted by aliens who try to warn him of the earths pending demise. He endures the ridicule of friends and family only to be redeemed in the end. There's also a slant on how we treat people as commodities to be devoured by an increasingly salacious press.

This is Sensible at his best, all 60's psychedelia and swirling guitars, a sweeter man you couldn't wish to meet and a better album he'll be hard pushed to beat. Enjoy.

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The Damned - Live at the Lyceum (1981)

It's the Damned and they're live......that about sums it up really. Enjoy!

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...for the record it was London July 12th.

Tank - Blood & Honour (1984)

The mighty, mighty TANK......

This, their 4th album, is another firm favourite. This period saw the band at their peak, and it's such a fucking shame that the world remains oblivious to it. Algy Ward's voice is perfect for this music....enjoy.

This download comes with a free set of lyrics so all you need is a hair brush and you can pretend you're in a band.

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Slime - Controversial 7'' (1978)

Not the German band, but the UK one.

As I've said, I was a huge Damned fanatic and collected anything related to them until about 1985; I'm not a huge fan of the two Jugg albums. However, this release is a real classic and features Slimey Toad from Johnny Moped fame on guitar as well as the Captain.

Jock Sayers - vocals, bass
Slimey Toad - guitar, backing vocals
Captain Sensible - guitar
Jock Tate - drums, backing vocals

Jock Sayers warbley vocals do remind me of the Dickies at times...or is that the other way round? Bah, regardless this is a brilliant slice of 70's punk/new wave. Released in 1978 on toadstool records.

Any Damned fan will recognise the tune from b-side, Loony. It's credited to Slimey Toad....so perhaps a slice of plagiarism here? :) Again though...who cares, the shrill chorus of Loony is great.

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Tank - Filth Hounds of Hades (1982)

This is Tanks first album and the one that most people agree is their finest hour.  Whilst I dearly love this album, I think their 3rd or 4th albums are better, but this one is definitely the punkiest. Filth Hounds has short, sharp and aggressive songs, short and sharp like punk,but with the technical wizardry of metal layered on top. A true mix of punk and metal.

I saw Tank supporting Motorhead three nights in a row in '82 as their then tour manager had been involved in The Damneds '81 tour. I worked for The Damned in '81.  He invited me to three nights at Newcastle city hall and on the third night I got royally drunk with Algy and Lemmy. I drank approximately 10% of their consumption and was three times as pissed...fun times though.

At this stage Tank were a three piece: -

Angly Ward - Bass/Vocals
Mark Brabbs – drums
Pete Brabbs – Guitar

I'd recommend this download as the entry to Tank if you've not heard them before.  They are hugely overlooked in the NWOBHM field, but pissed on ALL of their contemporaries. Tank, with Algy Ward, were an amazing band.

They're still going now, but Algy is no longer with them and it really shows.

Music

The Damned - Sessions of the Damned

A collection of radio sessions from 77-84.  It's The Damned....need I say more?

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The Edge

No, not the overratted Irish guitarist, but the band formed by Lu Edmonds (guitar), Jon Moss (drums) when their stint with The Damned came to an end.

In my Damned crazed mind way back when, I was after anything related to the band, demos, live, collaborations and ex members. The Edge were one of those pleasent suprises when I received their first 7'' and none of their releases disappointed me.

Along with Lu and Jon the band was completed by Glyn Havard (bass) and Gavin Povey (keyboards). With the exception of Jon Moss all three members went on to record with a million different and good bands. I'd recommend a net search for their catalogue of work, which is both satisfying and extensive. Gathered here are 2 of the 3 singles', Downhill and Macho Man and their album Square One. Enjoy.

Sadly, my favourite single is missing from this zip file.....so this is a request; if anyone can point me to their "Watching You" 7'' I'll be eternally grateful.

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HUGE thanks to Roberto for sending me the following file.  Watching You is this best single the Edge released in my opinion and it's soooo good to hear it again after 20 years or so.

Watching You 7''