Wednesday, 15 June 2016

The Damned - New Rose


Just been listening to a BBC Radio 6 documentary on the significance of The Damned's New Rose, credited as the first 'punk' single.

I don't think punk started in 1976, but let's not get into that here, if others want to believe that, then fine. Anyway, this documentary interviewed the four members, describing the music scene, the recording of the single, the influences, the way the drummer, Rat Scabies spurred on the brilliant guitarist, Brian James, to play even harder, even faster. It interviewed fans including Gaye Black of The Adverts, who explained The Damned looked like they were from four different bands, while other bands, like The Clash, looked like they had a meeting before going on stage, to decide the night's outfit.

I had downloaded the podcast, and now I think it's unavailable, but you sleuths might be able to track it down. If not, listen to this perfect 2.5 mins of pop music, devised by Brian James, who was working as a cleaner at the time he wrote it. It's 40 years old and takes some beating. Just like Rat's drums. G
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3 comments:

  1. dave15 June 2016 at 18:16

    OOOOFFFF! The best!

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  2. capnsimo15 June 2016 at 23:01

    seriously bloody brilliant

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  3. Hot Shoe18 June 2016 at 22:01

    Is there a committee that sits and decides what the first punk single was? The British love lists but as someone who was there at the time forgive me if i find it all a little amusing. The Damned were, like The Stranglers, The 101ers, Kilburn and The High Roads etc were just groups we saw in pubs (usually for free with with slightly inflated beer prices) at the time and later named pub rock by the music press. In my later years i realise now why my dear old Dad used to laugh and roll his eyes when people on TV (who weren't there) used to talk about Dunkirk. :-)

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