The Damned - Smash it Up (Rare Footage)

[@tocboot]

Rat Scabies is spot on about being one with the people. met him in a pub in Ashton near Manchester before a gig and he sat with me and my mates having beer and a chat for ages. Top geezer

[@geocs5895]

Same here! I met Rat Scabies at a gig in San Francisco, and he couldn't have been a cooler guy. We had a beer with him, shot the breeze, and then he bought my friend and I a beer, too!

[@vermilliongecko]

Absolutely. Shared a ciggie with him before and after his gig with The Members a few years ago. Lovely bloke.

[@jackthraxx166]

Me too. Met Rat at a pool table and he was gracious and we won a couple games and drank some beers

[@stationsixtyseven67]

Ray's the same. Real personable.

[@gruesometwosome6098]

The Witchwood l was there superb night 👍

[@tigertiger55]

There's a glimpse of the lovely Poly Styrene (RIP) at 5:43

[@1970sthrowback]

+MrE She's beautiful

[@jeffflanders4731]

Good old Poly

[@albertramsay8688]

Identity, Germ free adolescent, awesome with braces on her teeth, I had a thing for girls with braces back then.

[@thesound-chameleonman3580]

What did she die of?

[@jimmann8659]

yes nice looking lady and a good poet as well

[@davidellis5141]

Glen Matlock is highly intelligent and so is Rat Scabies. Years later they still are aware of how pathetic most of society is.

[@biegebythesea6775]

oh god stop it

[@georgejackson4424]

@@biegebythesea6775 you probably think that Malcolm McLaren invented punk because he was such a "puppet-master"

[@csweet207]

Matlock is so underrated

[@Shikta-poobah67]

Everyone is underrated on youtube.

[@六O]

😂😂😂😂​@@Shikta-poobah67

[@homunculuspapadopoulos5886]

Here from future plague times. David was more forward thinking than people gave him credit for.

[@jelt110]

THIS IS COOL. Love hearing Rat talking about the band/era. These guys really put their lives out there to justify our angst and rebellion. This is why they are loved- they embodied and put words and music to what we felt. Lucky to have them.

[@DeanS.F.S.K.]

"Our Angst"???..... maybe for you but I don't know one person from that time period(late 70s/80s) who felt a sense of angst ! 🙄 it was rebellious and ass kicking !!!! You were probably a kid in the 90s and are talking about grunge !!😂.. you know that pathetic angst-filled garbage that drove many to suicide !

[@mayfieldgage]

Glenn was the real bassist of Sex Pistols

[@hopebgood]

Absofuckinglutely

[@vanamq2459]

Well...yes that's true...but ya gotta love Sid.

[@kohada64]

Steve played bass on the records

[@FromaTwistedMind]

Bloody right he was! .... then Steve Cook took over on recordings when Sid joined, who was basically an iconic mannequin!

[@robcoop69]

@@FromaTwistedMind Steve Cook ????????

[@batphink2655]

Glenn Matlock is one of the best Bassplayers in punk and a great songwriter

[@SteveJ0966]

Glenn played a Rickenbacker, Sid wouldn't have known the difference if you explained it to him with pictures. ;)

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

His back vocals are good too

[@jimcady9309]

@@SteveJ0966 Fender basses can be great (although I have played a Fender Jazz clone (a Peavey Foundation) as my main axe for a long time. Glen (one n) has played many over his time (Ricks, Fenders, etc.), and is a fine bassist on all!

[@manofweed1]

@@SteveJ0966 Are they German, these Ricken backer things ?

[@jimcady9309]

@@manofweed1 no, ,'Merican. Warwicks are German.

[@FP51DPO]

The Damned and The Stranglers were the only groups to survive the transition, a sign that they were great instru'mentalists'

[@devilinthenewman]

Think the Clash made the transition and pretty much more successful than both the Damned and the Stranglers.

[@FP51DPO]

I'll add the Clash to the list.. Strangers / Clash hard to tell which were/are the most successful, stranglers still playing to packed audiences all over the UK,

[@mansonslipknot1998]

Ive seen stranglers 3 times haha once in 2012 2014 2015

[@davideff6833]

+Habibasse Killing Joke came along much later than the two mentioned. Thr Stranglers dated back as far as 73...

[@Habibasse]

+David Eff Sure... but they were still real Punk ! And they kept the punk flame still alive then turned into New Wave, before turning Metal. And they still go on today !

[@donsolis12]

love seeing Poly there smiling. What a lady! One of the few legit ones from that era.

[@flipnap2112]

yeah that was a treat. I was like "wtf! is that poly?!!" she looked pretty good

[@TheChooch1964]

Spotted her too RIP . Some punk legends in that audience

[@GuaglioneMalavita]

So Pursey wasn’t legit, nor Scabies and Vanian from The Damned? Give your head a wobble…

[@donsolis12]

@@GuaglioneMalavita "one of the the few" dear chap, don't be so sensitive now.

[@GuaglioneMalavita]

@Don_Solis - Far from being “sensitive” young fellow, I fail to see the point of your comment. You’re just being argumentative for the sake of it. The band members present are all ‘legit’, whatever that means, and the rest are an audience…

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Glen wants to knock the guy's head off when he said basically they were puppets put together by Malcolm. Glen was a good songwriter and musician. He is legit.

[@davidellis5141]

The only real musician in the band.

[@MartinandFreddie]

That "guy" is Jonathan King, jailed for child abuse in 2001 for 7 years, although he has always protested his innocence and said he was set up. Famous for manufacturing pop bands and novelty singles. (eg 'Leap Up And Down, (Wave Your Knickers In The Air)' by St Cecelia.' ) He is also the man who discovered Genesis and produced their first 3 singles for the Decca organisation. He also owned the label UK Records and the first 10cc singles and albums were released by him and he is the person credited with giving the band it's name. He was also one of the 2 original backers of "The Rocky Horror Show" when it first appeared on the London stage. Taking all that into account, "this guy" seriously knows what he is talking about when it comes to manufacturing and promoting bands :-) Just thought you might be interested. BTW. I met him once when i was a private hire taxi driver in London during the late 80's and he seemed like pretty nice guy, and he didn't try to chat me up LOL :-)

[@lostboy8814]

Nahhh.....Steve Jones was a great guitarist,the riffs on the 'Never Mind The Bollocks' Album were superb !

[@seekter-kafa]

glen was always a wuss... probably why he was replaced with lil' sidney

[@DaveKarloff]

Jimmy Savile seemed like a nice guy too......

[@deciathomas-waite6923]

The Damned always good on vinyl & awesome in concert!!

[@MiaMeezy]

Hell yeah!

[@jabow9999]

36 years ago Rat Scabies was one of the only members of any band I ever managed to meet, he hung about and chatted to us for ages, he was lovely. We were just a bunch of young girls and he was very protective. Great bloke

[@castielsgranny4308]

That was the best part of loving punk early on. I got to meet all kinds of bands in the 1980’s in person!

[@castielsgranny4308]

The Sex Pistols might have been “manufactured” but I guess then so were The Monkees 10 years previously! MacLaren may have put bands together, but he didn’t do the performing, rehearsing, or writing. Jello Biafra answered an ad in the paper placed by Ray; six weeks later, The Dead Kennedys played their first gig. Damn! People might have to start auditioning for …. Oh, wait 🤷‍♀️

[@Ronalti65]

​@@castielsgranny4308 Christ Almighty 🤦‍♂️

[@maxbo2003]

I love Dave’s, “I’m kinda going for an invisible man got ahold and boinked the gimp” look. Poor gimp, never saw him coming!

[@lemncurry]

What's funnier is that you wouldn't know that it is Dave underneath the mask, until he starts singing....

[@Shikta-poobah67]

The same look as the ‘character’ on the cover of Grave Disorder.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Vanian as the Invisible Man! Brilliant!

[@ConradHeiz]

The captain lost luster Say

[@ConradHeiz]

2:36

[@karllux-d6g]

or the Yellow Brand's mkultra-ed Olrik.

[@ealing456]

devilinthenewman Don't forget Poly Styrene (X-Ray Spex) at 5:42!

[@MrChrisbolden]

good for Dave keeping his face covered during all this nonsense.

[@MsJp467]

LOL HE KNOW CORO VIRUS WAS ON THE WAY

[@roy64ful]

@@MsJp467 Spooky!

[@SiiriCressey]

Sing it -- Dave Vanian was the invisible man......

[@grizcuz]

The funniest thing about this is triple denim Aspel. It screams 'I can be cool like you pop and rock stars, too, you know'.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Hey, POLY STYRENE was in the audience too!

[@petermontgomery8707]

“I didn’t have to practice in a bedroom for 15 years”but he can play like he did.Proper talent.

[@insertnamehere7630]

Rat practiced a lot as a kid. I played with him in the 90s. He was much more musically educated than he lets on here.

[@ssorcdivad]

Damn brilliant. Why Rat failed to douse King with lighter fluid and flame him is inexcusable. He could have at least marked his forehead with a well-hurled cymbal! Awesome performance.

[@vermilliongecko]

Especially given what we now know about Jonathan King and his kiddie fiddling ways.

[@mark-wh2qc]

@@vermilliongecko It's strange how 2 brothers can be so different, I know Jonathon Kings and he couldn't be nicer...

[@ResidentMich]

@@mark-wh2qc just like Jedward....actually scrub that they are both t*ats!!!!

[@mummyd1990]

Jonathan nonce cunt and where is he now?????

[@kingbolo4579]

@@mark-wh2qc What did he think of his brother? I suppose it would be rude to ask.

[@tonyhale628]

been looking for this performance and interviews for years! always credited this for getting me into punk rock. thanks for posting it

[@leejoliver]

Surprised Jimmy Pursey sat next to him, having knowledge of him from the Walton Hop

[@eloisedee2990]

I don't there is a word obscene enough to describe Mr King!....Anyway jolly good damned performance that. DV looks fantastic.

[@FrontmanVideo]

It's very interesting to see this footage from the very odd "Not of This Earth" period of the Damned. Very cool! Thanks for uploading this!!

[@ResidentMich]

Wonder who sang. At first I thought it he was gonna be Nash the Slash in plain clothes. I saw The Damned on the anniversary tour and Rat didn't play.

[@Shikta-poobah67]

“Very odd” indeed. This is without a doubt a great performance, no denying that. However the jury’s still out on whether or not this was actually a legitimate ‘phase’ of the Damned. Vanian himself maintains that it wasn’t. Rat, for all intents and purposes has conceded that it wasn’t, though for many years he claimed it was (and was subsequently sued over it by the other two longstanding members of the Damned). Most fans aren’t even aware that this period existed, and the ones that are aware mostly agree that it wasn’t really the Damned, but like I said, this is one hell of a send-up of Smash It Up!

[@joehiggs100]

Excellent, thanks. The good old days when guitar leads were unnecessary, vocal mikes and miming. Rat Scabies, what a gent.

[@dyr234]

i'm gonna assume this was in the 90s seeing as glenn said "grunge"

[@KevTheImpaler]

I'm with Glen Matlock on this one.

[@geocs5895]

Rat Scabies @ 3:11 He's right... a friend and I met Chris 'Rat Scabies' Miller at a Damned gig in San Francisco around 1985... He coudn't have been a nicer guy. My friend and I bought him a beer, and he sat and shot the shit with us for about 30 minutes. He bought us a round of beers before taking the stage; and then put on a killer show.

[@Nilguiri]

3:05 Rat is right, I often used to have a chat with him at the bar at Damned concerts at The Marquee Club. Dave Vanian always seemed a bit more serious and aloof, but Chris and Ray (Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible) were lovely blokes.

[@paulbaines66]

Serious and aloof might just be pre- or post-gig nerves.

[@Nilguiri]

Paul Baines That's possible, yes.

[@vermilliongecko]

I have met Rat, Dave and Captain on separate occasions and they were all lovely. Rat was very down to earth and humble ('I don't even think I'm that good a drummer' he told me). Captain was very funny, kind of like a mad uncle you'd go and visit because he'd play you great records and have lots of amusing anecdotes. Dave was a complete gentleman. He offered me a drink from the rider and I chose a Guinness. He insisted on fetching a glass from the bar to pour it into for me, because I was a 'lady'. He also knew I was a bellydancer, so he did a little dance for me in the dressing room (don't worry, his wife and lots of people were there so it wasn't a private dance).

[@karlclarke]

yeah all true apart from The Who, you can stand and have a pint with them

[@Kelly14UK]

Nilguiri Met Dave. Yes he was aloof as hell. Burns put his arm around me in a big brother to wee brother way. Something i will never forget.

[@YerraChube]

Amazing. EVERYONE is in the audience!! What a great bit of social history. Thanks !

[@packster10]

Rat scabies is a fucking legend

[@Arthur.in.the.Fridge]

Prat Scabies.

[@flipnap2112]

holy SHEET!! how could I never have seen this before? this is amazing. And I wouldve known that was Dave just by the way he moves ha ha.. great version of the song, and the energy was spot on. drum fire was a nice touch too!! back when rock had balls. got to see the lineup with the captain about 8 years ago and when they played "video nasty" the place erupted. im too old to skank these days but I dove in and when home without my glasses and missing a shoe. God it felt good to be a kid again. until the next morning

[@skinnygrave2487]

Yeah it's not just his voice but his slippy feet dance moves that gives him away. Met them backstage and Captain Sensible wrote on my shirt 'lend me a fiver'

[@melodiantime]

TOTALLY LOVE THIS DAVE VANIAN LOOK, BEEN DAMNED FANATICAL FOR MANY A YEAR, WOULD LOVED TO HAVE SEEN HIM PERFORM IN THIS GUISE, THE INVISIBLE MAN, ANONYMOUS, OR GUY FAWKES, GREAT CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION, DONE BY DAVE VANIAN.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Scabies was the Keith Moon of punk rock. Respect!

[@LibertyValence.]

Keith moon was the Keith moon of punk rock

[@daves2058]

​@LibertyValence. Keith Moon and The Who were punk before punk. Notice that all of the punk bands who hated the big arena bands still liked The Who!

[@richardsanders2271]

1977, the greatest time of my life.

[@rockulabacchus3786]

It's the 'Not Of This Earth / I'm Alright Jack' LP line-up (1992 - 1996). Dave Vanian - Vocals. Rat Scabies - Drums. Kris Dollimore - Guitar (The Godfathers). Alan Lee Shaw - Theme Guitar, Backing vocals (Rings, Maniacs, etc.). Jason "Moose" Harris - Bass (New Model Army, etc.).

[@misfit2022]

Machine Gun Etiquette- fantastic album. Another villain Jonathan King. I saw The Damned 40 years on. I saw Cock Sparrer 40 years on with Rancid 20 years on. Punk has longevity.

[@flipnap2112]

was my favorite album. I remember every time the opening to "smash it up" would start, there was that part where we started singing "keep on rocking in the free world" ha ha.. then tear the shit out of everything. what an amazing album. They made keyboards punk rock as hell. Phantasmagoria was my all time favorite, of a different flavor. nothing beats the captain but this was a good run for the band

[@SnakeBlendsIn]

No Sensible, No Damned.

[@Fractalite]

Whatever you say .

[@lennon1482]

one of the best videos of all time

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

slimey jonothan king NEEDED to say that the punk scene was manufactured as he is a manufacturer (and also seems to have abused many of the younger musicians under his wings) and needs folk to believe that. music managers may have felt they manufacturing something from punk, but the fact remains it came out of working class britain for working class britain.

[@tgfabthunderbird1]

Also a kid toucher--the bastard.

[@owlman9079]

Dave Vanian is wearing the costume from the Grave Disorder album cover!

[@FrontmanVideo]

I didn't put the two together, but you're right! That's interesting!

[@johndanielsforJesus]

He probably wears that often, when he's in bed with Pat. 😊 #roleplay

[@danhalen3333]

Rat Scabies was gracious when I ran the table a couple times at Nightmoves with him. Great song too. Thanx!

[@bobgure]

Thanks for posting this!

[@nodge1000]

audience also contains Poly Styrene! RIP

[@Drumming-Life]

Poly Styrene is in the audience as well.

[@lindasmith6316]

Isn't Dave dressed like the character on the album "Grave Disorder"?

[@therac-2583]

the invisible man claude rains bondage version

[@NickEndidkloljknvm]

Dave looks like he plans to flood Gotham

[@thomo74]

The hooded claw ! Loving it !

[@rossmatheson4303]

I love this slightly different annotation of notes on the last line of the verses from the album version. It sounds fantastic.

[@MsAbbey2009]

Kris Dollimore .... Yes i remember him mow , he was the lead guitarist with The Godfathers they were a great band he`s a really good guitar player too ! Many Thanks for the help :-)

[@West.Ham1964]

This must have been during Michael Aspels denim obsession period.

[@bmt3315]

"I think I'll wear something punk rocky"...."what do you think darling?"

[@beigela]

canadian tuxedo

[@brianmorecombe2726]

I remember this.They also had mud doing doing Tiger Feet in the earlier part of the show.

[@roneugenius]

thanks for posting !

[@billyhunt5282]

Loved punk then, love punk now !!!

[@JoM-f7q]

Im 60. How about you?

[@jasoncolley4102]

Jonathan king telling glen that the pistols were puppets what a insult, sex case

[@SweetDennyD]

I wish John Lydon were in the audience. He would have taken the piss!

[@jean-pierrealbertini]

i would have been great then lol !!

[@slocamel]

never seen this, thanks for upload. love Vanian's creepy look

[@steven1822]

a total guy genius.

[@Outdoorshuntingshooting]

What a great trip down memory lane. The Damned are fucking ace

[@melodiantime]

POLYSTYRENE WITH A SMILE, A GREAT NAME FOR A BAND OR A SONG, THE GIRL, WHO MADE IT BIG IN THE UK, POLYSTYRENE FROM XRAYSPEX, GREAT SINGER, WHO HAD, NATURAL, BRACES IN HER TEETH. I WILL BE THERE WITH YOU, POLY, WHEN, I DIE ALSO, PLEASE CONTINUE, TO, REST IN PEACE TILL I GET THERE, I WANT TO GIVE YOU, THE, BIGGEST HUG EVER.

[@condimentxqueen]

great footage, thanks!

[@karllux-d6g]

Scabies... literally a drummer capable of setting the set and the audience on fire ... really... funny how the re-enactment of what could pass for an old run-of-the-mill gimmick, passé as f..., still can make for thrilling stage antics. Keith Moon couldn't stand a chance (nor Carl Palmer, for that matter) . It's Paiste brulée. Vanian? Class. Pursey - a working class comedian - he didn't have to open his mouth to make you laugh. This why I used to admire Britain. No more.

[@lucyllewellyn2850]

I remember this April 1994 this is when I started likeing punk

[@dkizxpt-su3ze]

5:42 Polystyrene is mesmorizingly beautiful

[@TheTrashbat]

Aspel sure knows how to rock the denim

[@boxxichampion]

Don't over think it don't over analyse it. It happened and will never happen again. I'm glad I was there to witness it.

[@lemonaid2216]

Dave's mask appears to be a Mil-Tec Extreme Cold Weather military style face mask. He's wearing the mask with steampunk style goggles.

[@neilgraves5069]

Jimmy percy Sham 69 , great band them

[@DjangoClouds]

I remember watching this and then taking about it at school the next day. A few of us started investigating pink after that although I didn't get into the Damned until much later.

[@ricky2286]

'Doctor Doom and Rat Scabies', made me laugh out loud! Someone should make a Punk band with that name.

[@MikeeTeevee]

5.40 - there was a different climate in England and kids wanted to pick up on what we was doing. Note Poly Styrene in the back there smiling. Miss you Poly. RIP.

[@therowanmorrison]

Agreed! Who is in The Damned in the live clip. I recognize Dave and Rat, but can't tell who the others are.

[@vermilliongecko]

Moose on bass, Alan Lee Shaw and Kris Dollimore on guitar

[@devilinthenewman]

Come off it betaville72 It's rare footage in that it doesn't appear as multiple posts on youtube. I'm not claiming that it's exclusive or anything! I'm sure you do have it on DVD, this is for the Damned fans who don't!

[@marguskiis7711]

I love how Rotten and Matlock always fought for the the leader role in SP. 00:46

[@kerrycain4032]

no captain :(

[@jean-pierrealbertini]

no johnny :(

[@Boilingfrogg]

Not long after this, sham 69 did a gig in our town. Got talking to Jimmy, he told me Jonathan king wanted the show to be mostly about him and his Experience of living in the 70s. But the producer had different ideas. It pissed king off, that's one if the main reasons he was having a pop at the pistols and punk as a whole.

[@annabatarowicz]

I remember this documentary

[@bighill8272]

5:42 Poly Styrene (Maharani devi dasi) of X-Ray Spex RIP

[@The666damned]

forgot to say ........big thnx for posting..

[@paulcoleman3081]

Articulate, grounded punk generation musicians with a good perspective and a sense of humour verses arch pantomime dames and old hasbeens waiting for a knock from Operation Elm Tree...

[@tomd532]

"None of that was mine, it was the previous generation"....what everyone that doesn't get Punk can't understand.

[@Wasted_on_4loko]

I recorded this off the telly too !!!

[@DerekHundik]

+Wastedon4loko Do you have the whole thing ? Can you post it. Thx

[@Wasted_on_4loko]

I think so but I would have to dig for it !

[@mikeMCSG]

A small correction- the programme was called The Trouble with the Seventies.

[@jagmarc]

"Every time I promise that this time I won't set light to my drums"

[@sunflowersandpines]

Poly Styrene!

[@skinhead5]

That was awesome.

[@alankilroy04]

never seen this before, so thank you

[@rickannis4327]

I saw the Damned with Rob Zombie and it was one of the best days of my life

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Sacre bleu! Triple denim!!

[@joelhardi]

What a magnificent jean jacket. Enough denim to wrap a ford fiesta.

[@adrianstuart1181]

I got an ad for Scabies rashes before watching this...

[@Snakeytash]

The Damned is not the Damned without the rat on the drums.

[@snowhiter]

That is Scabies on drums. No Sensible tho. . .

[@Snakeytash]

yes here in this vid it is, but present time is what I was referring to.

[@ekolke]

Great fun! Rat Scabies on the drums! Awesome!

[@beatbrunner1228]

The Damned and the Stranglers are the best Punkbands!

[@wolfgangvonbushgangster5458]

were the best. Smut Peddlers from L.A. took it until the last release. I tripped the fk out when i heard them from late 90s to 2012? they ruled it.

[@steven1822]

my Stranglers rule.

[@dazg5342]

Triple Denim Aspel Great band name

[@billfrater1948]

The Pistols rehearsed hard and long in Denmark street. McLaren just got them known, he had nothing to do with the band.

[@OFR]

Chris Thomas told me he had them working just to play to a click track for 2 weeks before he allowed them in the studio. That album is SLICK and polished.

[@liamphillips7315]

"We didn't have to rehearse for fifteen years to play in a pub." Lolol 🤘

[@CCCoolati]

Invisible Man costume may be the coolest shit I’ve ever seen a lead singer wear ever.

[@OFR]

Rat is wrong about having a pint with prog bands. He never knew Emerson or Wakeman obviously, both intelligent, funny and cool as f***

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Rat didn't like being called Chris Millar like Morrissey doesn't like being called Steven.