The Damned at 50 and the memories (and regrets) of Rat Scabies

The Damned are – yes! - 50 years old with three of the originals still onboard. And just starting a world tour. In this immensely funny and touching podcast, Rat Scabies (who’s smoking!) points up the repercussions of life in a band. He looks back at their first shows, their devoted audience, “old-fashioned rules”, highlights, regrets, the value of friendship, “putting on the black suit again” and how it felt to rejoin after 30 years on the outside. And all this too …

… playing drums in an Essex panto while pelted with boiled sweets

… Dave Vanian when he was a grave-digger

… punk rock strongholds the world over – “South America was like being in the Beatles”

… Mexico and other places you can still torch a drumkit

… Mr Scabies, aged 70. “Even my mother calls me Rat. The name’s done me well over the years”

… going to the Isle Of Wight aged 14 (with the Danish nanny) and running a hot-dog stand during Hendrix

… supporting the Pistols at the 100 Club: “like letting a greyhound out of a trap”

… Tim Burton, the Goth revival, the Young Ones, steampunk and other factors that keeps the Damned in motion

… “One band’s an oddity, two’s a fashion, three’s a movement”

… rejoining the Damned after 30 years – “like a great stain had been lifted”

… Green Day, algorithms and how they acquired a whole new following.

Order Damned tickets here: aegp.uk/the-damned

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