The Damned

Bands used to be a lot cooler in the ’70s. Nowadays, narcissistic rockers insist on going by their God-given names. The Damned came up at the time when it was mandatory for musicians to use aliases. Dave Vanian, for example, didn’t get into the game for some gossip columnist to plaster his name all over the place; he got into music to rock. Vanian, Captain Sensible, and the rest of gang are back in the saddle to do just that these days. Much like with any band that kicked it during the Carter administration, there have been numerous lineup changes to The Damned over the past few decades. But even with all of that personnel shuffling, The Damned’s bizarre mix of fun and complete sorrow hasn’t changed a bit.

Updated 10/09/2011