Dear Friends,
Man, I wrecked my stomach this week. I need to have a few days of mellow dinners and maybe some fasting. A week on the road is not a good thing for anyone.
The lessons of the road are many. On a day when I was more alert, I might have written ‘myriad’ but not today. The fog on the brain is still thick.
Bailey really got it together after that first half of the first day. It’s strange to think that was only five days ago that we were in Rangeley. It seems like forever.
I slept a good portion of the way from Pueblo to Albuquerque. That was really nice. It’s beautiful country, but I needed it. I was awake as we went through the Raton Pass, but once we were safely past that bastard (no ice yesterday…whew), I conked out.
Rhondi was listening to a very interesting book, but I missed out on a lot of it. I might have to go back and read it. It is something like The God In The Woods or similar. It makes for an interesting soundtrack to dreaming.
*****
I’m going to have to go into detail about the last No Volcano show tomorrow. I’m just glad that we were able to make it. One of my all-time favorite bands.
*****
Finally, I get to write about a cassette tape I actually paid for. Well, somebody paid for it. As I write this, I think it was a gift from my mom for my birthday or Christmas in 1985. The Damned’s Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best of The Damned is a cassette that I wore out completely.
It’s only ten tracks, but hot damn that cassette made me happy as a teenage boy. There are a number of really excellent collections of Damned songs, for sure, and I’ve got a half-dozen of them on vinyl (or more), but this one is super special to me. This one has the “key” tracks that cemented the Damned as one of my favorites of all-time on it.
“New Rose” into “Love Song” into “Neat Neat Neat.”
How great is that? I knew I had found some of my people when I first heard these songs. They didn’t know it, or probably care, that their number had expanded by one, but I was in. The bass line on “New Rose” is an instant spike in my happiness and pulse every damn time I hear it.
“I got a new rose/I got it good/Yes, I knew that I always would.”
If you aren’t familiar with this, please listen to it right now. I will wait for you.
“Love Song” is pretty much the same feeling for me. As soon as I hear, “Ladies and gentlemen, how do?” I am ready to jump out of my skin. It’s pretty much the same, I’m guessing, for all Damned fans. Bryan James hits those opening chords and music changed forever.
This is not an exaggeration. The Damned changed music for a lot of people. They don’t get the credit they deserve, either. I happen to think they were the best of the best of the first wave of punk.
This cassette (which I have in other formats, too) was a game changer for me. The fourth song on side one is “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today” which is one of those songs that when I think about it, I don’t often include it as one of my favorites but when I hear it, I can’t help but sing at the top of my lungs. I wonder how many times I have heard the songs on this record. Thousands? Could be
“Jet Boy, Jet Girl” by Captain Sensible & The Softies was quite the fun song to play for people back in the day. It’s a cover, of course, of Plastic Bertrand’s “Ça Plane Pour Moi.” I love Sensible's version. It is so snotty and back when I first heard it, the lyrics seemed so daring, too. Funny how things change.
“Hit or Miss” and “There Ain’t No Sanity Clause” close out side one. Both are excellent, of course, as is every track on this compilation. Both are high energy enough to make you a little bummed out to have to take the cassette out of your ‘all-in-one’ Magnavox stereo and flip it over The Damned have always made me want to hear more and more.
Side Two kicks off with “Smash It Up (Parts 1 and 2)” which will always have fond memories for me. What teenage punk kid doesn’t love a song about smashing things? The Damned knew what they were doing, that’s for sure. I also remember the show at Celebrity Theatre getting shut down when the band started playing the song. That was epic.
“Plan 9 Channel 7” is a song I love and have never really understood what Dave Vanian was singing. I sing along anyway, but I know I butcher the words and I don’t care. “Rabid (over you)” is similar, although I think I am closer to being correct on the lyrics. The guitar tone on “Rabid (over you)” is fantastic.
“Wait for the Blackout” is another favorite of mine. This comes from being exposed to The Black Album early on as I became a fan. The opening riff is one that I will always be inspired by, I’m sure, and it also marks a real signpost in the history of the band where they became the version of the band that completely shrugged off the shadow of Bryan James.
This is also apparent on “History of the World Part 1.” The Damned of the early 80s became a little enthralled with these big, anthemic, opus-like songs. I happen to love this side of the band. Until speaking with Vanian back in 2017 or 2018, I didn’t realize what a strong hold James had on the writing side of the band. When he left the band, it allowed them to really blossom.
This cassette allowed me to blossom, as well. I got so many hours of enjoyment from it. I still have it somewhere, although I’m sure it wouldn’t sound so great if I owned a cassette player anymore. By the late 90s, it had started to squeal a bit when I played it.
*****
See you tomorrow.
Da(i)mned.
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