11. The DamnedDamned Damned Damned
That first Damned album was a smack in the face with a sledgehammer to me when I was 16. Bear in mind that everyone else was listening to ELO and Jean Michel Jarre, they were desperate times. I bought the Damned album on account of the cover, again it was in Woolworths and again it was labeled ‘punk rock’. I’d been reading about them in NME, and had heard ‘Neat Neat Neat’ and probably ‘New Rose’ on John Peel. I took it home and put it on and Christ, what an album. It’s dificult to imagine now, I try to talk to my 17-year-old step daughter about the difference when you listen to it now, but she’s so much better prepared because of everything else that’s happened. At the time, it was a real shock to the system. Shortly after that I went to see The Damned, and Rat Scabies set fire to his drum kit. I’ve been to see them ever since. Captain Sensible is a train spotter, which is a good source of geek rivalry between us.
