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Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Brian James, pioneer of punk rock, is dead at 70
The Damned never shook British society, or the rock world at large, like the Sex Pistols, who sneered at the queen, hurled obscenities on television talk shows, and had pundits mulling the collapse of Western values. Nor did they play the part of political revolutionaries like the Clash, who were billed as 'the only band that matters.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Nevertheless, the Damned made history. They were the first British punk band to release a single: 'New Rose,' written by Mr. James, in October 1976 (the Sex Pistols' anthemic 'Anarchy in the U.K.,' soon followed); the first to release an album, 'Damned Damned Damned,' in 1977; and the first to tour the United States. Advertisement Mr. James was a cornerstone of the Damned's early sound. He wrote most of the songs on the band's first two albums — their second, 'Music for Pleasure,' was released in late 1977 — and his guitar playing earned the praise of one of rock's most hallowed guitar gods, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. "We used to call Brian the riff-meister," Captain Sensible (born Raymond Ian Burns) recalled in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone. "That's why Jimmy Page was such a fan of the band at the time." Writing "New Rose" was a marked achievement in itself. On the surface, it was a conventional enough love song, if a vaguely sinister one. ("I got a feeling inside of me/It's kind of strange like a stormy sea.") But that song, delivered with flamethrower intensity, "was the absolute redefinition of all that rock 'n' roll held dear," British music journalist Dave Thompson wrote in 1992, "a stunning return to basics which threw every last iota of expertise and experience to the winds." Advertisement Brian Robertson was born on Feb. 18, 1955, in the Hammersmith district of West London. (He adopted the surname James in 1976 to avoid confusion with guitarist Brian Robertson of the band Thin Lizzy.) Growing up in Crawley, about 30 miles south of London, he played in bands from an early age, drawing influences from the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry and later from British blues guitar virtuosos like Peter Green, founder of Fleetwood Mac. In his midteens, he left the Hazelwick School in Crawley and doubled down on music, starting a band called Train that released a single, "Witchi Tai To," in 1969. He later fell under the sway of American punk progenitors like the Stooges (he would gig with their lead singer, Iggy Pop, in the late 1970s) and formed a more hard-edged band called Bastard. "We wanted an in-your-face name to go with the in-your-face music that we were playing," he said in a 2007 interview with Penny Black Music, a music site, "but unfortunately not a lot of people in Britain understood that or wanted to try and get into us. It was the age of the glitter thing." The band found some success after moving to Belgium, but they split upon returning to England and Mr. James joined London SS, whose other members included Mick Jones, the future Clash guitarist, and bassist Tony James, who went on to found the band Generation X with Billy Idol. London SS failed to take off, but it did set the stage for Brian James' career-defining next step when Rat Scabies (born Christopher Millar) impressed him at an audition for the band. 'It was like 'I've got no choice here,'' Mr. James told Penny Black Music. ''I'm going off with this guy to do my thing.'' Advertisement The Damned rode high for a time, joining the Sex Pistols on their infamous tour of Britain in late 1976 — although many of those shows were canceled because of the Pistols' penchant for chaos. The band's second album was a rush job, Mr. James later said, and had an unlikely producer: Nick Mason, drummer of Pink Floyd, a band that punks of the era routinely assailed as pompous corporate rock. (Nick Lowe, a label mate at the independent Stiff Records, produced the first one.) The album was generally dismissed by critics, and Rat Scabies left shortly afterward, followed by Mr. James. (The original three members, minus Mr. James, soon reunited with a new lineup. The Damned continued to tour and release albums with various members for decades.) Mr. James created a short-lived band called Tanz der Youth and then, in 1981, teamed with Stiv Bators, former lead singer of Cleveland punk band the Dead Boys, to form the Lords of the New Church. The group, with Bators as its singer, lasted for nearly a decade, earning airplay on MTV and achieving minor chart success with songs like 'Open Your Eyes' (1982) and their cover of the Grass Roots' 1967 hit 'Live For Today' (1983). Mr. James stayed busy over the years, releasing five solo albums. In 2001, he released an album with a supergroup called Racketeers, which also featured Wayne Kramer (MC5), Clem Burke (Blondie), Stewart Copeland (the Police), and Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses). He joined the other original members of the Damned for a series of gigs in Britain in 2022. Advertisement Mr. James' survivors include his wife, Minna, and a son, Charlie. 'New Rose,' which was later covered by the likes of Depeche Mode and Guns N' Roses, lived on. So did Mr. James' legacy. In 2020, the punk magazine Vive Le Rock gave him its Pioneer Award for lifetime achievement. "They describe me as a pioneer," he said of the award in an interview with British newspaper The Observer. "A pioneer! Does that mean I have to wear a Davy Crockett hat to the ceremony?" This article originally appeared in
New York Times
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Brian James, Pioneer of Punk Rock, Is Dead at 70
Brian James, who helped spark the punk-rock revolution in Britain in the 1970s as the lead guitarist and chief songwriter of the British band the Damned, bringing a rare degree of musicality to a genre known for its chain-saw attack, died on March 6. He was 70. His death was announced on his Facebook page. The announcement did not cite a cause or say where he died. Mr. James formed the Damned in London in 1976 with Dave Vanian, a former gravedigger, on lead vocals; Captain Sensible on bass, and Rat Scabies on drums. The band was part of Britain's original punk vanguard. The Damned never shook British society, or the rock world at large, like the Sex Pistols, who sneered at the queen, hurled obscenities on television talk shows and had pundits mulling the collapse of Western values. Nor did they play the part of political revolutionaries like the Clash, who were billed as 'the only band that matters.' Nevertheless, the Damned made history. They were the first British punk band to release a single: 'New Rose,' written by Mr. James, in October 1976 (the Sex Pistols' anthemic 'Anarchy in the U.K.,' soon followed); the first to release an album, 'Damned Damned Damned,' in 1977; and the first to tour the United States. Mr. James was a cornerstone of the Damned's early sound. He wrote most of the songs on the band's first two albums — their second, 'Music for Pleasure,' was released in late 1977 — and his guitar playing earned the praise of one of rock's most hallowed guitar gods, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. 'We used to call Brian the riff-meister,' Captain Sensible (born Raymond Ian Burns) recalled in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone. 'That's why Jimmy Page was such a fan of the band at the time.' Writing 'New Rose' was a marked achievement in itself. On the surface, it was a conventional enough love song, if a vaguely sinister one. ('I got a feeling inside of me/It's kind of strange like a stormy sea.') But that song, delivered with flamethrower intensity, 'was the absolute redefinition of all that rock 'n' roll held dear,' the British music journalist Dave Thompson wrote in 1992, 'a stunning return to basics which threw every last iota of expertise and experience to the winds.' Brian Robertson was born on Feb. 18, 1955, in the Hammersmith district of West London. (He adopted the surname James in 1976 to avoid confusion with the guitarist Brian Robertson of the band Thin Lizzy.) Growing up in Crawley, about 30 miles south of London, he played in bands from an early age, drawing influences from the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry and later from British blues guitar virtuosos like Peter Green, the founder of Fleetwood Mac. In his midteens, he left the Hazelwick School in Crawley and doubled down on music, starting a band called Train that released a single, 'Witchi Tai To,' in 1969. He later fell under the sway of American punk progenitors like the Stooges (he would gig with their lead singer, Iggy Pop, in the late 1970s) and formed a more hard-edged band called Bastard. 'We wanted an in-your-face name to go with the in-your-face music that we were playing,' he said in a 2007 interview with Penny Black Music, a music site, 'but unfortunately not a lot of people in Britain understood that or wanted to try and get into us. It was the age of the glitter thing.' The band found some success after moving to Belgium, but they split upon returning to England and Mr. James joined London SS, whose other members included Mick Jones, the future Clash guitarist, and the bassist Tony James, who went on to found the band Generation X with Billy Idol. London SS failed to take off, but it did set the stage for Mr. James's career-defining next step when Rat Scabies (born Christopher Millar) impressed him at an audition for the band. 'It was like 'I've got no choice here,'' Mr. James told Penny Black Music. ''I'm going off with this guy to do my thing.'' The Damned rode high for a time, joining the Sex Pistols on their infamous tour of Britain in late 1976 — although many of those shows were canceled because of the Pistols' penchant for chaos. The band's second album was a rush job, Mr. James later said, and had an unlikely producer: Nick Mason, the drummer of Pink Floyd, a band that punks of the era routinely assailed as pompous corporate rock. (Nick Lowe, a label mate at the independent Stiff Records, produced the first one.) The album was generally dismissed by critics, and Rat Scabies left shortly afterward, followed by Mr. James. (The original three members, minus Mr. James, soon reunited with a new lineup. The Damned continued to tour and release albums with various members for decades.) Mr. James created a short-lived band called Tanz der Youth and then, in 1981, teamed with Stiv Bators, the former lead singer of the Cleveland punk band the Dead Boys, to form the Lords of the New Church. The group, with Mr. Bators as its singer, lasted for nearly a decade, earning airplay on MTV and achieving minor chart success with songs like 'Open Your Eyes' (1982) and their cover of the Grass Roots' 1967 hit 'Live For Today' (1983). Mr. James stayed busy over the years, releasing five solo albums. In 2001, he released an album with a supergroup called Racketeers, which also featured Wayne Kramer (MC5), Clem Burke (Blondie), Stewart Copeland (the Police) and Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses). He joined the other original members of the Damned for a series of gigs in Britain in 2022. Mr. James's survivors include his wife, Minna, and a son, Charlie. 'New Rose,' which was later covered by the likes of Depeche Mode and Guns N' Roses, lived on. So did Mr. James's legacy. In 2020, the punk magazine Vive Le Rock gave him its Pioneer Award for lifetime achievement. 'They describe me as a pioneer,' he said of the award in an interview with the British newspaper The Observer. 'A pioneer! Does that mean I have to wear a Davy Crockett hat to the ceremony?'
Los Angeles Times
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Brian James, founding guitarist of punk's The Damned, dead at 70
Brian James, the founding guitarist for the visionary and influential U.K. punk band The Damned, has died. He was 70. James' death on March 6 was confirmed on his official Facebook page, though no cause was listed. 'It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter, and true gentleman, Brian James,' the statement read. The Damned have an exceptionally important place in rock history, releasing 'New Rose,' arguably the first-ever punk single in the U.K., in 1976. The Damned also were the first band of their scene to release a studio album (1977's 'Damned Damned Damned') and to tour the United States. The London-born James began his music career in the proto-punk band London SS, which featured future members of the Clash and Generation X. He soon met another local band, Masters of the Backside, which featured future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, vocalist Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. Minus Hynde, James formed The Damned with the other three members in 1976. The band made its debut that year, and opened for the Sex Pistols at 100 Club, a notorious London venue that helped codify the scene. Five weeks before the Sex Pistols released 'Anarchy in the U.K.,' the most famous early punk single, the Damned released 'New Rose.' The fast and frenetic single penned by James stripped down and supercharged the British rock of the era, smeared it with black eyeliner and lipstick, and announced a new sound and subculture to the world. The Damned soon would accompany the Pistols on a brief tour. After playing the U.S., the Damned arguably kicked off both the hardcore punk and goth-rock subcultures in Southern California — bands like Black Flag were inspired by their minimalism and ultra-fast tempos, while proto-goths like Christian Death and 45 Grave were captivated by their transgressive aesthetics. James was the primary songwriter on the Damned's first two albums, but after 1977's 'Music for Pleasure,' the Damned briefly broke up and re-formed without James. He went on to tour as a member of Iggy Pop's live band, recorded solo material with the Police's Stewart Copeland on drums, and co-founded the band Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators. The original lineup of the Damned occasionally reunited for live shows, first in 1988 and most recently in 2022. 'Always looking for new challenges and keen to work with different musicians,' his family's statement read, James was 'incessantly creative and a musical tour de force, over a career which spanned more than six decades.' James is survived by his wife, Minna, son, Charlie, and daughter-in-law, Alicia.
