What do The Pretenders, Pink Floyd, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Motörhead, Culture Club, T. Rex, Nick Lowe, Naz Nomad and the Nightmares, Goth Rock, The Lords of the New Church, The Sisters of Mercy, Miami Vice, The Young Ones, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have in common? They all have a one-degree-of-separation connection to The Damned, one of Great Britain’s most renowned and durable Punk bands, touring this year on the eve of its almost inconceivable 40th anniversary.
For anyone who would doubt the legitimacy of The Damned’s place in Punk history, the group’s early credentials speak for themselves. The Damned’s “New Rose,” released in ’76, was the first ever Punk single by a U.K. band, coming out weeks before The Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.” The band’s first album, Damned Damned Damned, was also the first full-length U.K. Punk album. To cap things off, founding drummer Rat Scabies is widely credited with starting the Punk ritual of performers and audiences exchanging air-born spit missiles. Read more about The Damned in this week’s Sound Advice.
The Damned play Friday at Bogarts. More info/tickets:
bogarts.com .
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2015.