Brian James- Brian James (Re-release, Easy Action) Joe Whyte

Apologies if this reads like a love-letter to Brian James, people.

Brian James is a guy who’s probably enlivened my life more than most. I absolutely adored “Damned Damned Damned” from the minute I first heard it and still do. In particular, James’s searing guitar playing which sounded to me, as a youth, like the end of the world, the beginning of a new world and was to my teenage ears, a real statement of intent.

I spent weeks in the late 70’s trying to learn how to play some of those songs (some of the parts still evade me!) and although there are rumours that the album was vari-speeded up during post production, I somehow doubt that.

The guitar playing on “See Her Tonight” is one of the most breakneck, seat-of-the-pants things ever committed to vinyl and the blood-dripping main riff on “Fan Club” is utterly spellbinding. The album is chock-full of these moments.

Of course, James had been around before The Damned; some of the songs on “DDD” have their roots in his earlier “biker rock” band Bastard whom he’d toured Europe with and he was slightly older than his erstwhile band-mates although punks Year Zero saw quite a few people dropping a year or two as well as their “aitches” and their Genesis albums.

James was also, and I have no qualms about saying this, the coolest motherfucker alive at that point; his jet black mop-top, his lanky stick insect demeanour and his angular guitar hero poses, all jutting limbs and curled lip insouciance, were simply jaw-dropping.

I doubt that anyone in the nascent punk scene wore a leather jacket quite as well as Brian James, either. He had that whole Parisian proto-punk look going on and he looked more like Patti Smith than she did at times. And lets not forget that guitar playing; cherry red Gibson SG straight into a cranked up Hi Watt stack- no pedals, no gimmicks, just sheer volume and his hands peeling off those licks and fiery chords.

That first Damned record gets spoken about now as “the first punk album blah blah blah” and any article on the group invariably mentions how they were first to do this or do that.

What is always missing, however, is the recognition that “DDD” is a classic rock record played REALLY REALLY fast. The songs aren’t “punk” as it became; they’re indebted to 60’s girl groups and The Stooges and The Dolls and show the depth of James’s song-writing in full effect. Bar “Stab Yor Back” which is a Scabies write, the full album is James’s and it shows.

The follow-up, the critically mauled (but actually not that bad) “Music For Pleasure” saw James pulling away from the amphetamine buzzbomb of the debut and crafting a more textured, almost psychedelic-type album in places. “Problem Child”, “Stretcher Case” and others retained the blitzkrieg of old, however.

Produced by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd (they’d originally wanted the reclusive Syd Barrett), the album basically signed the death warrant on the original line up of the Damned.

James’s next venture was the short-lived Tanz Der Youth, who released a couple of cracking psych-pop singles then disappeared. There were another few collaborations and bands but the game seemed to be up as the rejuvenated Damned headed off to mainstream chart acclaim with “Machine Gun Etiquette”.

The next move was quite a surprise, however. Teaming up with Dead Boy Stiv Bators, Sham’s Dave Treganna and The Barracudas drumming powerhouse Nicky Turner as punk super-group Lords of the New Church was, on paper, destined to be a disaster. As it turned out, it was anything but.

The Lords shook off the novelty tag almost immediately. Supergroups are usually anything but; massive egos and fans desperate for their favourite members back catalogue usually mean their life span is pretty brief. The Lords quashed that notion and then some.

To be fair, they were a way better band live than they ever were on record; the albums are good but they don’t come close to capturing the raw tsunami of the band live. 

James and Bators were an astonishing double act and it just seemed so right to witness them together.

Obviously both were heavily indebted to Iggy and The Dolls in their previous bands but the two sparked off of each other and created sheer bottled lightning on stage. That rhythm section weren’t  too bad, either, with Turner’s energy (he literally would bounce up and down on the drum stool) and Treganna anchoring it in the low register.

Several albums and a few near-chart-hits later, it was all over acrimoniously but I’ll always treasure those times I saw The Lords live. They were, at times, truly unbeatable.

Following this, James released this self-titled album with help from some musicians he’d played with in the past. It’s a mature record- the frenetic soloing of DDD and The Lords is replaced by a more mannered, blues-y style but the songs retain the spark of old. Originally released in 1990, this is a re-mastered and limited edition vinyl version of the album.

He’s a better guitarist than he is vocalist but don’t let that put you off; his languid voice on “The Twist” or “Cut Throat” sits well with the slithering, serpentine licks and the late-night feel of the rhythm section. “Ain’t That A Shame” makes a reappearance- it was originally a single with Stewart Copeland on drums- and a cover of R&R standard “Cut Across Shorty” slots in well with the rest of the album.

There’s a depth to the songs that repeated listening unearths; on the face of it, they are fairly standard garage rock fare but several times around, there is clearly more to them than meets the ear.

Our esteemed Droog Brother Main put on a Scabies/James gig some years back- that’s where I met Mainy for the first time as I recall- and time had not blunted the attack.

James wielding, as always, his trusty Telecaster (he’d switched to a Tele when The Lords started) straight into a stack of amplifiers and it was loud.

VERY, VERY LOUD.

He doesn’t seem to be particularly bothered about the mainstream these days; he appears to be happy doing the odd collaboration or showcase gig and that’s a shame for us. He’s unlikely to ever rejoin The Damned and a Lords reunion is a non-starter since the death of Stiv Bators.

I guess we should be happy with what he have. He’s a national treasure (well, he is to me!) and that body of work is simply magnificent.

All hail Brain James, or as he used to have painted on his Lords amp;

“Brian Saves”.

Joe Whyte

Buy it here

Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

Click on image to enlarge.

Yesterday my partner in crime, life, mishaps and adventures, drew my attention to a Groupon offer for tickets to see the Damned play in Glasgow.

The tickets were virtually half price. So a great deal, a phantasmagorical deal for those who hadn't procured them already.

Trump would call it the biggest and best deal ever.

No better deal has ever been offered to punks anywhere.

Not so great if you were one of the good little fans who bought tickets weeks, or months, ago, as we did though.

In fact it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to be honest.

Here's your reward for a bit of fan based loyalty and support. You can pay the premium price while the johnny come lately types and the casual fan gets a sterling offer of a money saving deal.

So thank you. Thank you very much. This feels great.

Of course none of us are blind to the harsh world of economics. We understand the reasoning behind the offer, and most of us can rationalize the benefits.

More people attending an event ensures that it takes place, and the increased volume of traffic maintains the gig economy.

Both are positives, but it still feels wrong on a personal level, on an emotional level.

I can't be alone in thinking this.

Here is a band that I have seen so often that I have lost count long ago, a band that I own every studio release of, a band that I have thrown cash at over the years for merchandise, and a band that I have paid virtually double to see in comparison to a chunk of those who will ultimately attend the gig.

Again, thank you. My heart is bursting with joy as I typed that out.

Of course I used the handy link the site provided and shared the offer with everyone that I thought would have a passing interest in the gig.

I'm not a cnut.

Keeping it a secret would have been churlish.

Just because we lost out on a deal doesn't mean we shouldn't get the word out, but this isn't a situation that has put a smile on my face.

My wallet is of course extremely unhappy with the offer too.

It's not as if my finances are in rude health. I'm sure others will commiserate.

Anyway, hopefully this doesn't set a precedent in punk circles. That's the bigger picture problem.

For the positives mentioned there are also negatives.

The main one being that punk music lovers start to hang about until the last minute before committing to a gig in the hope that they get a better deal.

With this then resulting in gigs being pulled due to the perception that there is a lack of interest in the show.

Not so great when you think about that is it?

Basically I don't consider live gigs to be the same as a lastminute.com offer on a hotel room, or a cheap seat in the back row of a play in a theatre. Maybe that is just me. My perception of it all.

I would argue that club level diy gigs by independent promoters definitely can't follow this example and survive though.

So there is a lot to think about here. Is it a good move, or a bad one?

Still a fan, and still looking forward to the gig, and the free preshow sets from Fire Exit, Shock and Awe, The Media Whores, The Threats and The Red Eyes in Audio, but I'm not going to pretend that I am fine with this.

I'm not fine at all. I just can't be happy today.

Damned pre show event.

Will the devil ride again?

If you are a pack rat like me then occasionally you have to bite the bullet and wade into the piles of albums, CDs, magazines, DVDs, books and so much more just to regain some living space. 

The only problem is that once you stumble across an album you haven't heard in a while you have to put it on, and that leads to another, and then another. Then while listening to them you start to deconstruct the piles of books with the intention of boxing most up to drop them off at a charity shop, but then what you do is starts sorting them into still to read, going to read again, and I can't part with this one towers. 

Same deal with the movies, and everything else. The chore becomes a magical hour or two of rediscovery. And that's what I have been doing right now, and while I have been basically just rearranging where everything is I have stumbled across an old fanzine that I did. 

It's crap. Or to be more specific it is crap in my opinion, but we are all our own harshest critics, so who knows. 

It does feature a few interviews, the bigger names being The Rezillos and Gogol Bordello. 

So to get to the point of the post it is to ask if anyone is interested in me transcribing them over to the blog? 

There would be no rush job on it, but if you want them then you can have them. 

A part of me is probably going to do it anyway just so that there is a record online of them, but some encouragement might mean that I do them sooner rather than later.

Update: And yet another has been found.
This time it is the debut of El Diablo.
If memory serves me right then this was around early 2003, mid point of that year at the most as I had interviewed Lucinda Mellor (The wife of Joe Strummer) about the charity that was being started up in his memory.
Apart from that there is the interview with Michael Davis of MC5 that is already online, but there is Patricia Morrison in there too.
In hindsight it's difficult to wrap my head around how I managed to get these people involved from a cold start.
Glancing through them is like looking through a window to the past.
Maybe somewhere there is a few Unnatural Exposures kicking about.
That was my first tentative steps into the world of writing about music.

Same deal as the other. If anyone wants some of the content appearing online then message the page or add a comment non facebook.