{"id":8317,"date":"2026-01-26T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/the-damned-turn-50-and-pay-tribute-to-founding-member-brian-james\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:00:00","slug":"the-damned-turn-50-and-pay-tribute-to-founding-member-brian-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/the-damned-turn-50-and-pay-tribute-to-founding-member-brian-james\/","title":{"rendered":"The Damned Turn 50 and Pay Tribute to Founding Member Brian James"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Sacha-Lecca_1.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" alt=\"The Damned: (Credit: Sacha Lecca)\"><figcaption>The Damned: (Credit: Sasha Lecca)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBrian wasn\u2019t like everybody else.\u201d The Damned\u2019s guitarist Captain Sensible remembers first meeting his late bandmate and founding member Brian James toward the end of 1975. At the time, the then 19-year-old (whose real name is\u00a0 Raymond Ian Burns) was working as a janitor at a theater in Croydon, South London, before getting recruited by James into The Damned as a bassist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so lucky to meet Brian, who was a remarkable bloke, and he had all these ideas,\u201d says Sensible. James invited Sensible to his basement flat in Kilburn and played him a batch of songs he\u2019d written\u2014\u201cNew Rose,\u201d \u201cI Fall,\u201d and \u201cNeat Neat Neat\u201d\u2014on acoustic guitar. Right then, Sensible had the sense that something new was about to explode: punk rock. Hitting at the tail end of glam rock and during an immersion in prog and stadium rock, James\u2019 songs sounded different from what was happening at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were all these songs about pixies and wizards,\u201d says Sensible, \u201cand I was ready for something raunchy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By \u201976, Sensible rounded out The Damned, along with vocalist and former gravedigger, Dave Vanian, and drummer Rat Scabies (Christopher Millar), who were previously in the short-lived band Masters of the Backside with Chrissie Hynde. \u201cHe was a visionary,\u201d says Sensible of James. Though a guitarist, Sensible continued on as bassist for the band\u2019s first two albums in 1977, <em>Damned Damned Damned<\/em> and <em>Music for Pleasure, <\/em>until James\u2019 departure that year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"879\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_7.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)\" class=\"wp-image-652573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_7.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_7-340x249.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_7-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_7-498x365.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAll those things that he said came true,\u201d adds Sensible. \u201cHe predicted U.K. punk rock. It just happened so quickly. I was a toilet cleaner before that, and he saved me from the shittiest job known to mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/travis-scott-the-odyssey-trailer\/\">Travis Scott Warns Of War In \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 TV Ad<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/sly-dunbar-obituary\/\">Reggae Drum Pioneer Sly Dunbar Dies At 73<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2026\/01\/kid-cudi-summer-tour\/\">Kid Cudi Bringing M.I.A., Big Boi On Tour<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Reuniting in 2022, the original lineup played five U.K. shows for the first time in 31 years. The plan was to get back into the studio\u00a0together, which was halted when James\u2019 died in March 2025 following a long illness. \u201cWe were playing so well with Rat Scabies back behind the drum kit that it would be daft not to get in a recording studio and do some work,\u201d says Sensible.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Vanian, Sensible, and Scabies made it to the studio in 2025 with a new agenda: a tribute album to James. Recorded live in Los Angeles in five days, <em>Not Like Everybody Else<\/em>, a play on the Kinks\u2019 1966 song, \u201cI\u2019m Not Like Everybody Else,\u201d is a collection of songs by artists who impacted James during his formative musical years, from the late 1960s through early \u201970s.<\/p>\n<p><em>Not Like Everybody Else <\/em>is a link between The Damned and James, now, revisiting some of his eclectic favorites, from Canadian singer-songwriter R. Dean Taylor\u2019s \u201cThere\u2019s a Ghost in My House\u201d and Lovin\u2019 Spoonful\u2019s \u201cSummer in the City,\u201d delivered by Vanian\u2019s \u201cdirty and gritty\u201d vocals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think these are the songs that were instrumental in getting Brian to go out and buy his first guitar,\u201d says Sensible. \u201cThese are the songs that he would play, and they\u2019re not obvious choices either, because they\u2019re not loud or some gnarly blitzkrieg of noise.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1638\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)\" class=\"wp-image-652574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5-340x464.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5-768x1048.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5-1125x1536.jpg 1125w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/The-Damned_Not-Like-Everbody-Else_press-pictures_copyright-earMUSIC_credit_Gilbert-Trejo_5-498x680.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Piecing together the album reminded Scabies of how James also introduced him to music he hadn\u2019t heard before. \u201cHe had everything, all the MC5 albums, the Creation records,\u201d says Scabies. \u201cHe just had really good taste in music, so when it came to doing this tribute, we decided to choose songs by artists that had an influence on Brian, and, in turn, on us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead of grabbing a Kinks hit like \u201cYou Really Got Me\u201d or \u201cWaterloo Sunset,\u201d The Damned seized a deeper cut with the band\u2019s 1966 B-side \u201cI\u2019m Not Like Everybody Else,\u201d as the namesake of the album.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the lyrics are quite dark, and they all have a certain vibe and a certain mood, which is what we particularly liked about them,\u201d says Sensible. \u201cDave lives it all, and it\u2019s quite spectacular. He adopted a different persona for each song. He didn\u2019t so much sing his way through the tunes; he acted his way through them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pink Floyd\u2019s second single and the band\u2019s first Top 10, \u201cSee Emily Play,\u201d was another surprise. \u201cI would never have guessed that Brian would be into a song like \u2018See Emily Play,\u2019\u201d says Sensible, \u201cand it\u2019s really an unlikely song for The Damned to do a cover because we lived through the \u201960s as school kids, and I remember particularly well what happened in 1967.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a year, he says, when music changed, from boy-meets-girl songs and jangly pop to something \u201cweird and psychedelic.\u201d There were more bands experimenting, like The Hollies, tapping into a Doppler effect by putting their vocals through Leslie speakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a music revolution, especially the interplay between Syd Barrett and Rick Wright; it melted my brain when I heard it the first time,\u201d recalls Sensible, who remembers having to stop walking on his way to school and sit against the wall of a neighbor\u2019s front garden when he first heard Pink Floyd on his transistor radio.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1638\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)\" class=\"wp-image-652575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009-340x464.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009-768x1048.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009-1125x1536.jpg 1125w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/66570009-498x680.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe interplay between the instruments was not something anyone had ever heard before,\u201d says Sensible. \u201cAnd it was almost embarrassing to say you like anything by them, especially if you\u2019re in a punk band. They were at the cutting edge of this psychedelic revolution\u2014well, that\u2019s Syd Barrett for you. He would play the guitar with a cigarette lighter and make all these strange noises \u2026 all the stuff that I\u2019ve stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More influences from the late \u201960s through early \u201970s, are reflected on the album with by The Stooges\u2019 \u201cGimme Danger,\u201d The Yardbirds\u2019 \u201cHeart Full of Soul,\u201d and American garage band the Lollipop Shoppe\u2019s \u201cYou Must Be a Witch,\u201d along with picks from The Animals (\u201cWhen I Was Young\u201d)\u00a0 and The Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201cThe Last Time\u201d from 1965. There\u2019s also a little-known British band James found, The Creation, and their debut \u201cMaking Time,\u201d which marked them as the first band to play guitar using a violin bow.<\/p>\n<p>Pulling the Kinks title was more about James and the band than anything else. \u201cIt\u2019s relevant to Brian, and hopefully the rest of us,\u201d says Scabies. \u201cWe\u2019re not the same as everyone else, and it\u2019s very important not to be the same as everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before punk, there weren\u2019t many reference points for bands. Everything was germinated from a blank slate. The Clash, the Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Heartbreakers, The Jam, and other peers\u2014not one band sounded the same.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of us really knew what we were doing, because there wasn\u2019t another musical genre like it,\u201d Scabies adds. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have any reference, so you just had to go with your own instincts. Everyone had their own identity. If anybody asks \u2018What are the rules of punk?\u2019 the first would be do not do anything that is vaguely similar to anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recording <em>Not Like Everybody Else,<\/em> brought Scabies back into the studio with The Damned for the first time in 30 years since recording their eighth album, <em>Not of This Earth.<\/em>\u00a0In 2022, Scabies also rejoined the band with James for five reunion shows in the U.K., though they regretted not playing more with James while they had the chance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1638\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)\" class=\"wp-image-652576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009-340x464.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009-768x1048.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009-1125x1536.jpg 1125w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2026\/01\/65470009-498x680.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Gilbert Trejo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou kind of forget what it was that you liked about people after a long absence,\u201d says Scabies, reflecting on the band\u2019s past rows. \u201cI did spend a lot of time in the band, even though I was out for longer, but it was a good thing to clear all of the\u00a0old bad, old days under the carpet and get rid of them, and be able to say, \u2018Okay, this is really a fresh start.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stepping into their fifth decade, Sensible and Scabies are still surprised by how The Damned\u2019s live shows still draw crowds. <strong>\u201c<\/strong>We\u2019re museum pieces now,\u201d joked Sensible. Scabies still can\u2019t comprehend it. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that anybody ever thought would happen or was possible,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re all still alive and capable. I never thought that was going to happen, and it seems like people seem quite pleased about the fact that we\u2019re still upright and breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scabies continues, \u201cIt just makes you feel that what you did was worth it, whereas when we started, nobody thought it was. It was meant to be disposable. Everything was meant to be fast and furious, then move on to the next thing, so the fact that that hasn\u2019t happened is quite something. Why do people still want to see this band and hear these songs? I honestly can\u2019t\u00a0tell you, but I\u2019m glad that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During The Damned\u2019s 50th anniversary shows in the U.K. in 2026, Scabies, Sensible, and\u00a0Vanian, joined by\u00a0bassist Paul Gray, formerly with Eddie and the Hot Rods and UFO, will draw from the band\u2019s five decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make it sound as much like we played back then as we possibly can,\u201d says Sensible. \u201cWe have to recreate the whole vibe and the sound of\u00a0that material, because you can\u2019t rely on drink and drugs to pep you up anymore\u2014not at this age, anyway. It\u2019s the songs that give you a kick up the ass just before you hit the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As The Damned\u2019s debut also turns 50 in 2027, Scabies still wishes they could have made one more album with James, though nothing is over just yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a shame that Brian\u2019s not here, but we can still have fun and carry on flying the flag,\u201d says Scabies. \u201cHere we still are. Who would have thought it?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Damned: (Credit: Sasha Lecca) \u201cBrian wasn\u2019t like everybody else.\u201d The Damned\u2019s guitarist Captain Sensible remembers first meeting his late bandmate and founding member Brian James toward the end of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,24,1924],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-pushly","category-the-damned"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}