The Damned: Rare Tracks And Demos Volume Two 80-83
I Don't Know What Label This Was Released On. None Listed.
2008
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Curtain Call (Short Version) - Demo 1980 2. Therapy - Demo 1980 (Captain's Vocals) 3. Instrumental One - Captain's Demo 1980 4. Wait For The Blackout (Instrumental) - Demo 1980 5. Chantilly Lace - Captains Demo 1980 6. Instrumental Two - Captain's Demo 1980 7. Twisted Nerve (Instrumental) - Captain's Demo 1980 8. Matilda Mother- Captain's Demo 1980 9. The Power Of Love - Capt. Sensible Radio Session, 1983 10. Happy Talk (Punk Version) - Capt. Sensible Radio Session, 1983 11. Martha The Mouth - Capt. Sensible Radio Session, 1983 12. Maggie - Capt. Sensible Radio Session, 1983
Some sort of bootleg of (mostly) Captain Sensible demos and radio performances. I believe I got this as a birthday gift last year, since it's pictured among the birthday loot photo from last year...
I can't really tell what this is "Part Two" of...Is it supposed to be the sequel to this album that I covered last year? Who knows? I can't find any evidence of an album called "The Damned: Rare Tracks And Demos Volume One 7X-79."
Alright. Bruce Willis alert...
This is shit is for diehards only. It's barely a Damned album, since minus a demo for "Curtain Call' and "Therapy" which have Dave Vanian singing, it's mostly Captain Sensible stuff. A more apt description might be "Captain Sensible: Rare Tracks and Demos Volume One 80-83." So if you're looking for some of the Damned's darkly raucous punk hammering you might be better served looking elsewhere, but if you're a Captain Sensible solo fanatic then you'll find this interesting. If you're both a Captain Sensible and a Damned fan then there's definitely some stuff on here that's going to make your day...
First off, I love sketchy bootlegs. They make me feel like I'm some hip 1970's in-the-know type of guy...Combing disreputable record stores for seedy vinyl contraband. Artists shaking their fists as me in a greedy rage as I ask them to sign the unauthorized release filled with stolen demo tapes.
Secondly, normally when you buy bootlegs you always look forward to the tracks that were recorded for the radio cos they're normally the only tracks that don't sound like they were recorded in a distant, ringing cavern. But here, the opposite holds true. The demos all boast good sound quality while the radio show is fuzzy, distorted and occasionally warped, which is odd because I've heard clean copies of this same radio performance online. Even with the subpar sonics, the radio show is the highlight of the album, with Sensible pounding out incredibly rocking takes of solo material that came off as overly soft on the studio versions. "The Power of Love" sounds like the greatest punk rock Bowie song ever written and "Happy Talk" is even more fun as a punk rock pummeling.
Other interesting material is a decent Pink Floyd cover ("Matilda Mother") and some instrumentals that recall "Smash It Up Part 1." All in all, this is a pretty fun little record. Again, I'm a huge fan of bootlegs and random recordings, so your tolerance for such a thing may vary from mine...
Alright, let's roll up our ears and listen to some music...Here's a nice sounding version of "The Power of Love." If you rush out and buy this record on the strength of this video remember that the actual vinyl sounds like it's been filtered through a layer of cotton and noise...Enjoy...
The Damned: Punk Oddities and Rare Tracks: 1977-1982
2014
Cleopatra Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1.
Love Song (Demo) 2. I Just Can't Be Happy Today (Demo) 3. Thanks For The Night 4. Nasty 5. Do The Blitz 6. Stab Your Back (Live) 7. You Know (Live) 8. Idiot Box (Live) 9. Stranger On The Town (Live) 10. Happy Talk (Live) 11. No Fun (Live)
Manoman, Cleopatra Records...If you were anything like me in the 90's, haunting discount tape bins, you were very familiar with the label...You were almost always guaranteed to get misled in some manner with a Cleopatra Records (for example; albums that appeared to be Greatest Hits albums , but were actually mish-mashes of live tracks and re-recordings)...Every once in awhile you'd run across one that was legit ...The thing is though, the bands featured were usually great so even the rip-offs managed to be entertaining...
I saw this record around and as someone who is always interested in the Damned, I was intrigued, but wasn't willing to pay much for it cos I knew it wasn't going to be anything too rare or good...Then one day at Eastside Records I saw a copy in their discount/unloved bin and nothing else was jumping out at me that day, so I went for it... And yea, it's pretty much what I thought it would be...A mish-mash of demos, legit stuff, and dodgy live recordings...Entertaining cos the band is entertaining... The two demo tracks aren't going to replace the regular versions at your Friday Night Record Party anytime soon; "Love Song" sounds pretty much exactly like the original but the drums are quieter and "I Just Can't Be Happy Today' is pretty shambling, whenever a new element comes in, the other elements drop out, wild volume changes, etc...The extended jam at the end is interesting if you enjoy listening to the Damned fall apart... There's three studio tracks which are technically rare, being the entirety of the fucking awesome UK "Thanks for the Night" 12-inch single...
I have two of them already on "The Light at the End of the Tunnel" comp, only "Do the Blitz" was new to me...But hey, a classic Damned song I'd never heard...It reminds me of a new wave mash-up of Eddie Cochran's "C'Mon Everybody" and the Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz"...Good stuff... The live stuff, for the most part is rough, rough, rough...Only "You Know" and "Idiot Box" are decent recordings...The "You Know" is particularly rocking and possibly essential...The rest of it is either too a.) bassy, b.) tinny, c.) distant or d.) all of the above... It is great to have a live version of "Happy Talk" though...Oh yea, a bit of a warning...When I first saw this, the live version of "Curtain Call" listed on the back cover jumped out at me...I couldn't help but wondering how they manged to cram it on a single album, let alone on a side with five other tracks...However, it's not actually on the album...It just jumps from "Happy Talk" to an especially rackety and staticy version of "No Fun"...Oh, well...Cleopatra Records...Sigh...
This is a fun listen but only if you already own at least 10 other Damned albums...This is definitely not for newbies, as I'm sure all this would just sound like a piles of noisy hiss if you're unfamiliar with the songs... Here's "Thanks For The Night" by the Damned...
Track Listing: 1. Street of Dreams 2. Shadow of Love 3. There'll Come a Day 4. Sanctum Sanctorum 5. Is It a Dream 6. Grimly Fiendish 7. Edward the Bear 8. The Eighth Day 9. Trojans
The first Damned album without Captain Sensible marks the exact moment where the Damned drops the punk and turn into a straight-up goth-rock band (just look at that goth-as-fuck girl on the cover!!!), albeit the most listenable goth-rock band I can think of...It doesn't have the greatness that "Machine Gun Etiquette," "The Black Album" or even "Strawberries" had, but it is a damn fine little atmospheric 80's pop album...
I think my enjoyment of this album stems from the feeling that the Damned aren't taking themselves deadly serious like most goth bands do...It's all very light, very fun and melodic...There are definitely moments on the album where you can't shake the feeling that these guys are still nothin' but a bunch of goofball punks underneath the poofy hair and ruffly shirts...
It helps alleviate that icky feeling you get when you listen to most goth albums...That "I can't believe I'm not hanging out at a cemetery under an umbrella, wearing a corset and updating my diary" feeling...
Although a corset might reverse the ravages of 20-years of beer-drinking...Well, reverse the cosmetic effects anyway...I don't think they've invented a liver-corset yet...Still, I should look into a corset...Flatten this beergut...
The goofiest tracks are therefore the most listenable to me..."Grimly Fiendish" is a sort of psychedelic cabaret that totally rips off "Our Love Was" by the Who, but I'll forgive it for being such catchy, comic-booky fun...
Come to think of it, these guys have a pretty extensive history of song-stealing (I believe I've pointed out this tendency before in some of my earlier posts)...It turns out the other best song on here, "Edward the Bear," is ripped off from some guy they toured with, and after listening to the two side by side, I'd say there's some merit to the claim...
Here you can judge for yourself, here's "Edward the Bear" by the Damned...
And here's "Baby, Sign Here" by Henry Badowski...
But, there's at least one monster, boffo track on here that is 100% original and does rely on any previously existing song for its killer hooks...And that's the pop swoon "Is it a Dream"...Absolutely on my short list for favorite Damned track...
The only time they bore me is on "Sanctum Sanctorum" where the Phantom of the Opera Broadway vibe never fails to make me lift the needle and jump ahead to "Is It a Dream"...I also can't stand "Trojans"...I'm sorry...It still sounds like adult-contemporary light jazz to me...Giving me terrifying flashbacks to Kenny G jizzin' away on his jizz-pipe...
Again, I think I should stress that the Damned are merely good at this point and no longer great, unless yer not hot on punk and prefer soft, shadowy pop...But as a soft, shadowy pop album it's all aces...And this is the best stuff they would ever do in the goth category...The album after this, "Anything," continues this direction but ends up being a wash...So if you're interested in the Damned as a purely gothic rock band, this is probably where you'd want to start and stop...
Here's "Is It a Dream" by the God Damned...Enjoy...
Track Listing: 1. Wait For The Blackout 2. Lively Arts 3. Silly Kids Games 4. Drinking About My Baby 5. Twisted Nerve 6. Hit Or Miss 7. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde 8. Sick Of This And That 9. History Of The World Part 1 10. 13th Floor Vendetta 11. Therapy
Yee-ha! Last weekend marked my annual trip to the waterpark...This year we opted for Sunsplash which is always a good time...
I went up and down a bunch of waterslides, went on a few raft rides, ate plenty of pizza and loitered in the wave pool until they kept kicking us out...It was all fun until I woke up at about 3 am that night in AGONIZING PAIN!!! MY ARM!!!!! AGGHHHH!!! Then the next day every muscle in my body ached, making even the simple act of walking was a huge ordeal...Do you understand what this means? I'm officially so out-of-shape that I can't even handle an amusement park!! I'm officially TOO OLD TO HAVE FUN!!! Seriously though, some of the shit there is freakin' intense...Those four-person rafts are a motherfucker to haul up seven flights of stairs...And that Cauldron thing is the most disorienting and drown-y thing I've ever experienced...And that "Double Dare" ride appears to be nothing more than a tube designed to drown you...And y'know, the more I bitch about how "intense" a children's waterpark is, the more I sound like the world's biggest wuss...
Oh well, I can still sit around and drank beerses and listen to record-discs...So I think that's what I'm a-gonna do tonight...At the Friday Night Record Party we drown sorrows, not children...
Anyway, let's talk some vinyl..."The Black Album" by the Damned...There's multiple versions of this record floating around...I have the particular single-disc IRS Records version shown above...In the UK, it was released as a double-album with a slightly different cover...
I don't have this version cos I've never run across a decently-priced copy of it and to be honest the loss of the second album isn't a deal-breaker for me...The second disc contained the side-long theatrical goth showpiece "Curtain Call" which I own on various greatest hits releases...I love the main section of "Curtain Call" and consider it a great showcase for David Vanian, but I also don't think there's any reason on planet Earth for the song to go on for over 17 minutes...And Side Four was basically just a live EP and there's no shortage of Damned live material out there....
So yea, I'm happy with the one disc version...I mean, if I run across a reasonably priced copy I'll probably pick it up and get back to you guys on it, but in the meantime I'll focus on what I do have...A big schlong...
Most of the album is fairly rump-kicking punk rock...I think thrashers like "Drinking About My Baby,""Hit or Miss," "Sick Of This And That,""Drinking About My Baby" etc would be immediately recognizable (and enjoyable) to folks who liked "Damned Damned Damned" or "Machine Gun Etiquette." And I know I've sung its praises elsewhere on this blog, but I can't
stress what a perfect opener "Wait For the Blackout" is....It brilliantly builds on and improves the shadowy punk promise of "Plan 9, Channel 7" in every possible way...Fast, anthemic, poppy punk with a fun sense of dark camp...
These often contrast with a small number of tracks which find the band embracing the goth rock genre to a fuller extent (on the single disc version anyway..."Curtain Call" might tip those scales altogether).... For the most part, these tracks slow down the album a bit for me, with the huge notable exception of "History of the World Part 1" which is just the greatest shit ever....If you're going to flirt with goth might as well just go all the way...Big, theatrical synths, deadly-serious echo-y chant backing vocals, windswept drama...It should come off as cheesy, but it's so perfect and put together so much better than everything else on the album that you can't help but wonder how they pulled it off...It's constantly moving and every move is the right one...Even counter-intuitive ones like the dorky "dumpa-wumpa-dumpa-wumpa" keyboard line that comes in right before the guitar solo...Perfect!!! Again, it feels like none of it should work but it just does...Like crazy! That's magic...Actually, goth-wise "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" is a pretty decent pop-goth tune too...
There's a few tracks that don't fit into either category, "Silly Kids Games" is moody sing-song pop, and "Therapy" is Who-ish rock until it suddenly turns into an extended rewrite of "Love Song" with brain-splitting panning effects...
Like, I said, it's all good and I'd go as far as to say about half of the album is among their very best stuff...Get "Machine Gun Etiquette" first of course, but after that I'd say this would be a perfectly respectable choice...Again, this is for the single-disc version...I suspect the second disc might diminish the accomplishments of the first disc...Again, I like "Curtain Call" but would probably enjoy a single edit of it more....I wonder why they were so hot to put out a double album anyway? "London Calling" envy? Who knows...Let's just treasure it for what it is...A big load of fun, catchy and occasionally theatrical songs...
Enough jawin', let's listen...Here's "Sick of This and That" by the Damned...Enjoy...
Track Listing: Disc 1: 1. I Feel Alright 2. Anything 3. Lovely Money 4. Thanks For The Night (Rat Mix) 5. Plan 9 Channel 7 6. Grimly Fiendish 7. Stranger on the Town 8. Neat Neat Neat 9. Alone Again Or 10. Is It A Dream? 11. Smash It Up Parts I & II 12. Psychomania
Disc 2: 1. Ignite 2. Help 3. Rabid (Over You) (CD Mix) 4. I Just Can't Be Happy Today 5. Problem Child 6. Nasty 7. Disco Man 8. New Rose 9. Love Song 10. Feel the Pain 11. The History of the World (Part I) 12. In Dulce Decorum 13.Trojans 14. Eloise 15. The Shadow of Love
This compilation was my introduction to the Damned...I scored a double cassette version from one of those "12 Cd's or cassettes for a penny" ads you'd find in comic books & magazines back in the day...
"Hey, Ma! Look at me! I'm only 11 and I have bad credit!"
Holy cow, I (and almost everyone I know) took advantage of these things...You'd get the 12 or so in the mail, buy another one or two and then repeat the process ad infinitum. Looking through my Cd collection I still have at least a hundred that were procured in this manner...
You can always spot 'em by the barcodes...And this, ladies and gentlemen is what I do in my spare time...Comparing and contrasting bar codes...Live fast and leave a good lookin' corpse, I always say...
Anyway, I no longer have those cassettes, but a few years back I found a used vinyl copy of "The Light at the End of the Tunnel"...Looking back, the cassettes had a slightly different track listing..."Help" is in a different place in the running order and the 17-minute "Curtain Call" is omitted completely (due to the fact it'd probably eat up a whole side of vinyl!). Like I said, this is what kicked off my life-long Damned obsession, however, it might not be the best place for everybody to start...
First off, the non-chronological track listing can get pretty jarring for a band who reinvented their sound every album...You tend to get whiplash as you jump from booming, lush goth-tinged 1986 hard rock to stripped-down, tinny 1977 punk...I found it immediately fascinating, but I can see how it might drive some listeners crazy...I think the song selection is also interesting since it was compiled in 1987, before it became clear that the Damned were going to be best remembered as a punk band...So largely forgotten albums like "Anything" are given just as much weight as stone-cold punk classics like "Damned Damned Damned" and "Machine Gun Etiquette."
Sure, there are a few head-scratching decisions (No "Wait for the Blackout" but the corny 80's sax-soaked mood muzak "Trojans" is on here?!?!"), but there are so many great non-album singles included that I'm willing to cut it a lot of slack...Without this album I might not have ever heard "Lovely Money," "Nasty," Disco Man," "Eloise," or most importantly the final single-only release from the Sensible/Vanian/Scabies line-up, "Thanks For The Night"!
The random grab-bag of eras and styles is a dang blast for Damned fans who enjoy all of the band's albums, but I think I might be atypical in that sense... I guess, if you're an adventurous listener, jump right in and you'll be richly rewarded...Here's "History of the World (Part 1)"...
Sorry about that mix-up...Here's "History of the World (Part 1)"...by the Damned...(by the way, this song rules...Their best balance between their goth and punk styles)...Enjoy...
The Damned: Smash It Up: The Anthology 1976–1987
2002
Castle Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Track Listing: Disc 1: 1. New Rose 2. Help 3. Neat Neat Neat 4. See Her Tonite 5. Fan Club 6. I Fall 7. I Feel Alright 8. Feel the Pain 9. Stretcher Case 10. Problem Child 11. Don't Cry Wolf 12. Your Eyes 13. Creep (You Can't Fool Me) 14. Idiot Box 15. Love Song 16. Smash It Up (Part 1) 17. Smash It Up (Part2) 18. Machine Gun Etiquette 19. Melody Lee 20. Plan 9, Channel 7 21. I Just Can't Be Happy Today
Disc 2: 1. The History of the World (Part 1) 2. Wait for the Blackout 3. Drinking About My Baby 4. Silly Kids Games 5. Curtain Call 6. Lovely Money 7. Dozen Girls 8. Life Goes On 9. Under the Floor Again 10. Generals 11. Grimly Fiendish 12. Eloise 13. Anything 14. In Dulce Decorum
This, on the other hand, is a hands-down perfect Damned compilation...A brilliant place to start, if you're new to the group and a two hour set of favorites if you're already a fan...Chronologically sequenced with a track listing that pretty much matches my ideal Damned playlist (except I would have done everything humanly possible to include the pop head-rush "Is It a Dream.")
Similar to the "Light at the End of the Tunnel" collection, this covers the band's output from "Damned Damned Damned" through "Anything," but it gets the balance right...I think we can all agree more "Machine Gun Etiquette" and less "Anything" is a sound decision...And best of all they remembered to put on "Wait for the Blackout" this time! What a top-notch song...Easily one of their best...It's impossible not to love that electrifying opening riff...Or Dave's nocturnal crooning during the verses, or that anthemic chorus...Perfection, I'm telling you...Perfection...
Oh yea, I should have talked about "Lovely Money" a bit more...I've always loved this track...I can't tell you how many hours I spent as a teenager rewinding this song over and over...Something about the cheap Casio drum beat and lurching bass line never fails to draw me in...And who can forget Viv Stanshall's turn as the tour guide who provides a running soundtrack of tourist-trap atrocities? One of my favorite 80's singles...
If you're not going to buy the first seven albums then at least pick up this and "Machine Gun Etiquette" and those will probably get you by for awhile...
Here's "Wait for the Blackout" by the Damned...
The Damned: Looking at You
1998
Sudden Death Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Looking at You 2. Wait for the Blackout 3. Noise Noise Noise 4. Smash it Up (Part I) 5. Smash it Up (Part II) 6. Fooling Around 7. I Feel Alright
My good friend Russ bought me this as a birthday present! Russ is the man! My copy is waaaaay cooler than the one pictured above, because it appears to be signed...
I can't really make out exactly who signed most of it...The only one that's clear is "I...Captain Sensible say bugger the pope?" I believe the big signature on the left is Dave Vanian, based on other signatures of his I've found online...
As for the record itself, it's a 10-inch live EP that was recorded in Mulhouse, France in 1994...It took a lot of digging around, but I found out it was part two of a series of live recordings issued of the Mulhouse show in various formats...The first part was a two-song 7-inch called "Disco Man/Pretty Vacant," and the third one was the 12 inch record "Molten Lager" which is one of their more popular live albums...
And I can see why...Judging by the "Looking at You" EP, the sound is fantastic...Very clearly recorded and the band appears to having a hell of a good time...Just about every track finds Dave breaking down into laughter mid-song...The highlight being when Rat blows his iconic drum introduction to "New Rose."
Apparently these tracks were recorded during the encore for the show, so the mood by this point is very loose and relaxed...If you expect your live albums to sound like studio albums with a little applause tossed in, this might not be for you, but if you're into very live albums, look no further...Plenty of blown lyrics, dropped basslines, and great songs...
They don't have any of this on youtube, and I don't really feel like making one, so here's a different live version of the Damned playing their cover of MC5's "Looking at You" from roughly the same time period...Have a great Friday everyone!
Track Listing: 1. Anything 2. Alone Again Or 3. The Portrait 4. Restless 5. In Dulce Decorum 6. Gigolo 7. The Girl Goes Down 8. Tightrope Walk 9. Psychomania
The vinyl copy I have now has the cover as shown above, but in my teen years I had the cassette of this release, and the cover was in color...
This tape was in heavy, heavy rotation growing up...I rescued it from a dollar tape bin at a Camelot music somewhere in the 90's and listened to it religiously...I remember the cassette itself looked weird...It was a black tape with a big, papery, silver label...You can see the cassette in this super red photo I snatched from ebay...
It's probably worth a mention there was an album inbetween "Strawberries" and "Anything" called "Phantasmagoria" where the band lost Captain Sensible and stepped away from punk in favor of gothier pastures..They managed to hold on to their trademark humor, so the transition ended up not being as jarring as expected...That cover is goth as fuck, though...
"Anything" continues in the goth style, but adds a bit more hard rock to the mix...This is kind of a difficult one for me to talk about, because I have a huge nostalgic connection to it, but there's no way I could ever recommend it to anybody with a clear conscience... There's no denying that it's probably the band's worst album (to be fair I've never heard "Not of This Earth" or "So, Who's Paranoid?") ...
It all starts out well enough...Although. it is a little jarring when you first hear the title track and you think for a couple seconds that you might have accidentally put on a Simple Minds record...Wordless, soulful whoo-hoooahhh-ahhh-ahhhhs...But it straightens itself out and thunders along quite nicely, as long as you're not too hung up on the cavernous 80's production...Then there's a beautiful cover of Love's psychedelic spaghetti-western masterpiece "Alone Again Or" which smokes everything else on the album...But just when you've settled in for another classic album, the dramatic, meandering piano instrumental "The Portrait" comes on and kills all momentum...It always reminds me of the type of over-wrought backing they'd play during a dramatic scene in a soap opera...
"♪da da din dinnnnnnnn.....♪"
"Dammit, Victoria! You know I only killed your Father in self-defense..."
"♪da da din dinnnnnnnn.....♪"
"Dammit, Victoria, I know I sold our baby to the Gypsies, but how long must I keep paying for that one mistake?"
"♪da da din dinnnnnnnn.....♪"
"Dammit, Victoria, you know I wouldn't have eaten that Pepperidge Farm cookie if I had known it was the last one..."
"♪da da din dinnnnnnnn.....♪"
You get the point...And then "Restless" comes on and pounds around a bit but nothing much happens...It's pretty bad to have this much filler in a record that only has nine songs on it...I've always loved "In Dulce Decorum," though...Just a beautiful, chiming popper with a lovely melody, and even though Captain Sensible was no longer a member, I swear I can hear his melodic spirit in this song...I think the band was in desperate of his winning pop hooks at this point...
"Gigolo" is just a bundle of borrowed material...The chorus is seriously word-for-word "Gigolo Aunt" by Syd Barrett and the break swipes the melody and some of the lyrics from Robyn Hitchcock's "My Wife and My Dead Wife"...What the hell?! Oh well, at least it's catchy as hell...Still it's astounding that Barrett and Hitchcock didn't get songwriting credits for this...
Oddly enough, I think one of the best moments on the album is the bombastic synth-orchestra on "Tightrope Walk," which manages some tense drama... Dave Vanian sounds remarkably at home here, despite it being miles away from their original punk & roll style...The album ends with "Psychomania" which has somehow become a favorite among fans, but it's doesn't knock me out or anything...Decent enough energy but the chorus seems kinda phoned-in...That didn't stop me from walking around all day singing it, though...
So yea, I cannot recommend this album to anyone except for myself and maybe undiscerning goths with a sweet tooth for pop..Beautiful cover though...
You've got to check out "Alone Again Or." though...It's absolutely amazing...Have a good listen!...
Track Listing: 1. Ignite 2. Generals 3. Stranger on the Town 4. Dozen Girls 5. The Dog 6. Gun Fury (Of Riot Forces) 7. Pleasure and the Pain 8. Life Goes On 9.Bad Time for Bonzo 10. Under the Floor Again 11. Don't Bother Me
Originally, this album smelled like strawberries or something...My version just smells like nicotine and mothballs, but it is on lovely, clear-red vinyl...
Like I said last post, I only have the odd-numbered Damned albums, but there was a double-album that preceded "Starberries" called "The Black Album," but I don't have it...
"Strawberries" is the band's fifth album and to me, marks the end of the classic period...The last time we'd have Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies all playing on the same album...But they went out with a pretty big bang...There's some absolutely killer pop songs on here...
The disclaimer on the album sleeve that "This is a synth-free-album" and the whoah-oh-oh punk of the first track, "Ignite" gives the initial impression that this is going to be a stripped-down affair, but it turns out the production is very diverse, slick and lush...Lots of piano, organ, horns and harpsichord...The highlights include most of side one...I've never really fallen in love with the gothic-drama, "The Dog," but the rest of this side smokes...Best of all has to be the horn-driven "Stranger on the Town." Horn charts on 80's albums are always a dicey proposition, but these don't detract from the song at all, instead giving it a catchy R&B feel, and Dave's vocal melody in the verses immediately grabs you by the lapels...Just an ace-ass single...
...and "Dozen Girls" and "Generals" are just as good...The chorus on "Generals" is fuckin' epic...Like I said, the only song that's never grabbed me is "The Dog,"but even that song is alright, I guess...I can see someone who has a higher tolerance for goth-rock absolutely loving it...
Side two of the album is a bit more of a grower than side one...Not as many immediate pop hooks, but at least there's lots of variety...A lot of this stuff has a more psychedelic feel, See "Gun Fury," "Pleasure and the Pain," and the sitar laden "Under the Floor Again," for good examples of this approach... Oh, yea, hearing "Life Goes On" for the first time was also fairly surprising, since the track's watery riff sounds exactly like Nirvana's "Come As You Are." I remember back in the 90's there was some big brouhaha where Killing Joke accused Nirvana of stealing the riff from their track "Eighties," but that took some balls on Killing Joke's part since they obviously snagged the riff from the Damned...Later someone pointed that out to Killing Joke and they stated they had never heard the Damned track...Yea, right!
If anyone wants to do some side-by-side comparisons, go for it...
Here's"Life Goes On" by the Damned...
Here's"Eighties" by Killing Joke...
Here's "Come as You Are" by Nirvana...
Whee! What fun! Spending the entire day listening to a bunch of songs with essentially the same riff played at different speeds!"Bad Time for Bonzo" is also pretty interesting, since it has the group tackling American politics...You couldn't really be a punk band in the 80's and not get your shots in at Reagan... The chimp movies he did just made it too hard to resist!
Y'know, I've never seen these Bonzo movies, but just the title "Bedtime for Bonzo" sounds like a can't -miss premise...I mean, it's about a chimpanzee...and apparently he has to go to... (sit on the edge of your seat in suspense)...bed!!!
Wait! The sequel looks even better! It doesn't have Ronald Reagan in it, but it does have the chimp going to college!!! I hope you like ramen and bong rips, Bonzo! Whoa, look at him in his mortar-board in the bottom right-hand corner...Apparently he actually graduates! He did better than me then! Anyway, 80's punk had a long, proud tradition of Bonzo references...Also see "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" by the Ramones and "Bedtime for Democracy" by the Dead Kennedys for further listening in this category...But I think even the Ol' Gipper would tap his toes during "Bad Time for Bonzo"...The layered "Bad time for meeeeee....Bad time for youuuu" vocals are catchy as all hell...
To sum shit up, "Strawberries" is a fun, diverse album with a sublime pop side and an exotic, eclectic second side...Punk fans needn't worry...There's plenty of excitement and speed. Power-pop fans will have a field day...Here's "Dozen Girls" by the Damned...Enjoy...
