They were very much a band for firsts. First to release a single, first to get to America and the first to split. 1978 was a particularly frenetic year for the former members of The Damned. Upon parting, Dave Vanian was in and out of Richard Strange's Doctors of Madness in no time at all, Rat Scabies became a White Cat, Captain Sensible formed a new band King (a world apart from the King of Coventry as it were), whilst Brian James formed Tanz Der Youth (and Lu Edmonds formed The Edge). Whilst all of this activity was undoubtedly very creative, none of it was particularly successful (when put up against The Damned) and certainly none of it was long lived!
It did not take the punk renegades long to fathom on which side their bread was buttered and it was not long before Scabies, Sensible and Vanian were once again sharing a stage. So as not to confuse people too much they opted for the name The Doomed and with Henry Badowski in tow they played a handful of dates. A month or so prior to touring as The Doomed they appeared as Les Punks with Motorhead's Lemmy deputising on bass at Camden's Electric Ballroom. This is the stand out gig of this particular incarnation of the band. They played an interesting set that night with the inclusion of Hawkwind's 'Silver Machine' and 'Motorhead's 'City Kids' for the benefit of the new if temporary bass player. Also, for some strange reason the Rich Kids' 'Marching Men' is played. Several songs from the as yet unrecorded 'Machine Gun Etiquette' also get an early airing in this gig which sounds pretty raucous.
Just around the corner was yet another line up as Algy Ward, formerly of The Saints, took on bass playing duties on a permanent basis (or what at least passed for permanent in the world of The Damned).
Many thanks to Mark for this, an upgrade from my MP3 version. Cheers!
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-bvUPTVUpQA3OOz13
Les Punks at the Electric Ballroom
5th September 1978
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