The Damned - Smash it Up (Rare Footage)

Clip from an ITV programme 'What's wrong with the Seventies?' Featuring Glen Matlock and some Sex Pistols footage then finishing with Rat Scabies and The Damned. Also in the audience is Noddy Holder (Slade), Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69), Les McEwen (Bay City Rollers), Bob Harris (Whistle Test) and the disgraced arsehole that is Jonathon King.

[@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

[@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…

[@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 ????????

[@packster10]

Rat scabies is a fucking legend

[@csweet207]

Matlock is so underrated

[@Shikta-poobah67]

Everyone is underrated on youtube.

[@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.

[@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

[@LarzGustafsson]

Vanian as the Invisible Man! Brilliant!

[@ConradHeiz]

The captain lost luster Say

[@ConradHeiz]

2:36

[@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 !

[@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......

[@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......

[@ealing456]

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

[@SweetDennyD]

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

[@jean-pierrealbertini]

i would have been great then lol !!

[@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.

[@tonyhale628]

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

[@richardsanders2271]

1977, the greatest time of my life.

[@joehiggs100]

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

[@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'.

[@thomo74]

The hooded claw ! Loving it !

[@LarzGustafsson]

Hey, POLY STYRENE was in the audience too!

[@leejoliver]

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

[@drunvert]

The Damned are imo an iconic Rock Band. Timeless songs.

[@dkizxpt-su3ze]

5:42 Polystyrene is mesmorizingly beautiful

[@eloisedee2990]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@lucyllewellyn2850]

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

[@YerraChube]

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

[@Outdoorshuntingshooting]

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

[@bobgure]

Thanks for posting this!

[@rossmatheson4303]

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

[@kevinwhitaker119]

PUNK NEVER DIED...IT LIVES WITHIN ME...AS IM STILL A PUNK TODAY 😁😎🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴🏴💣💣💣💥💥💥 I WAS THERE FROM 78 ---- UNTO 2020 I STILL LOVE PUNK AND SKA REGGAE N BLUES 🇧🇴🇬🇭🇧🇴

[@dyr234]

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

[@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!

[@nodge1000]

audience also contains Poly Styrene! RIP

[@brianmorecombe2726]

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

[@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...

[@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

[@stelladogbreath1904]

Wouldn’t you just like to shoot Johnathan king between the eyes

[@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.).

[@ekolke]

Great fun! Rat Scabies on the drums! Awesome!

[@SnakeBlendsIn]

No Sensible, No Damned.

[@Fractalite]

Whatever you say .

[@mikeMCSG]

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

[@NickEndidkloljknvm]

Dave looks like he plans to flood Gotham

[@TheF0nz1]

yes indeed RIP Poly 5.43

[@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.

[@sharajackson2129]

Glen Matlock always presents as articulate,logical and fuck you in a sophisticated down to earth way ❤

[@joelhardi]

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

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Sacre bleu! Triple denim!!

[@jcooloti]

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

[@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.

[@philipgolding3672]

Saw Rat Scabies at the kings Arms with the members NZ Tour in 2012, THis a classic rock song

[@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.

[@adrianstuart1181]

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

[@jamesgretsch4894]

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

[@The666damned]

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

[@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

[@keithstewart8729]

Bring back 1976

[@falica77]

Poly Styrene @ 5:44

[@kingwilly123456]

Most excellent.

[@jagmarc]

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

[@MrNikkiNoo]

Michael Aspel's jacket looks super. As does his lovely hair.

[@jeankavanagh1485]

Dave vanian and Rat arecpunk Kings!!!

[@liamphillips7315]

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

[@alankilroy04]

never seen this before, so thank you

[@pathfinder1295]

Smash It Up goes hard for every reason.

[@johndamienreilly]

Respect to Aspel, I didn't think it was possible to wear that much Denim.

[@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***

[@kerrycain4032]

no captain :(

[@jean-pierrealbertini]

no johnny :(

[@evo5349]

Ah! Poly Styrene she was good and we have lost her now Damnation! Loved her. Bye babe!

[@greamenichol9739]

Seen the damned 4times in the late 70s...classic...dave vanian wot a front man.. God bless the damned.

[@phrtao]

well worth watching till the end !

[@stevehastings5161]

Thank You Glen Matlock! & Rat Scabies! For putting this Fool? In His Place! & Debating Him? On Live Television! That was great! Malcolm Maclaren did not Manufacture? Punk Rock? However? Malcolm Maclaren did help launch The Sex Pistols & Had a Very Positive Impact on The Very First Wave of The U.K.Punk Rock Scene! In a very difficult time period? Trying to get recognized? & Trying to get the recognition? From all of the major record labels @ that specific time period In musical history? Glen Matlock,Rat Scabies & All of The Hundreds of other Punk Rock Bands just wanted to take their Favourite Bands & Musical Influences while growing up & Create? Something Completely Different? Then what was the Mainstream Music Scene? @ that time? & Have a great positive impact on the music scene! All of their Fans! & With the hopes of landing a major record deal & contract with a major record label @ that time! Punk Rock was Created! Not Manufactured? By any One Person? or Individual?

[@stevehastings5161]

Glen Matlock is Absolutely Right! In this Particular Interview on this Particular TV Show! In The U.K! @ That Time? Jimmy Pursey! From Sham 69! Including All Of My Very Favourite! & Legendary U.K! Punk Rock Bands! & Members! Agrees! with His Punk Rock Brother! Glen Matlock! & Fully Supports Him! Against All of These Media Fools! Who Do Not Get It? For Some Reason?

[@stevehastings5161]

Glen Matlock was Not Insulting? The Glam Rock Music Scene? In The Very Early 1970's? To Mid 1970's? The 50's Music Scene? Or? 60's? Music Scene? Glen Matlock was just Trying To Talk To Everybody? In Plain English? & Explain? To Everybody? In The U.S! & The U.K! That We Want To Take All Of Our Musical Influences? To "The Next Level"!! & Accomplish!! Great Things!! In The Process!!

[@vermilliongecko]

Seriously Steve, stop using question marks and exclamation marks all over the place, and using capital letters for words that aren't proper nouns. Completely unnecessary and makes you look like the village idiot.

[@markussamnell6408]

Also... Polly Styrene in the audience

[@tubularbelter]

Took Rat and Roman Jugg to the nearest off licence from the back of Edinburgh Playhouse in 1984 after getting pissed wi the roadies all afternoon, they had a magnum of champers and a big lump of black, great days. I was 15.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Rat Scabies rules!

[@oldfriend327]

What I never understood is why people have to pit Glen Matlock and Sid Vicious against each other. They both were unique individuals who created an original and very explosive time in music history that only could have happened with both of them and when and how they were involved. Thank God that album was created and thank God many of the live performances with both Glen and Sid were recorded on video. Most agree that album never gets old.

[@cleaningmyroom1000]

Mostly because Glen could play bass and wasn't on dope and Sid couldn't play bass and was on dope.

[@flipnap2112]

because thats how it is. Everyone knows if anyone was manufactured it was sid. I remember seeing a video oh jonny when someone asked him and he basically said "its a fucking shame what they did to that poor boy, he was my friend".

[@glennvage]

becuase sid meant malcolm had won.this small cult thing that was ours,was now to be handed over to the public at large,fully packaged and complete.a uniform established.high leg boots,bleached jeans,studded black leather jacket(band name on back)mohican,and the obligatory sid t shirt,courtesy of the sun newspaper!!!!!!truth be told,most of us were ready for it to end,but it was never going to be a quick clean death.too much money still to be made...

[@TheBerzerker666]

Jonathan king has a face that I would cross the street to punch

[@adrianelittle3759]

I saw dozens of great punk rock bands in the late 70’s and early 80’s In Toronto . Most of them played in dive bars with a capacity of a few hundred people ( if that ). The cover charge was cheep, the beer was cheep … If the whole punk rock scene was manufactured, the manufacturers weren’t making a whole lot of $$$… by the mid to late 80’s , when the money grubbing leeches latched on, it became another story. But early on it was organic.

[@telebob59]

Absolutely!

[@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 !

[@biegebythesea6775]

the thumbnail looks like a mockumentary.

[@Phil-tb2yz]

shame we didn't hear from jimmy pursey

[@sketchbook8706]

World of Denim had a sale that week

[@progforcefield5779]

+hardcopy he had denim socks on aswell

[@sketchbook8706]

+progforcefield lol, and underpants !

[@hellobonappetit1657]

De Nimes ( South of France). That's where they made them initially. No kidding

[@MrTraviss1]

loving aspels triple denim

[@abelisraelcruzayuso4682]

When was this broadcast?

[@mikehunter1755]

I remember me and a buddy were sitting in my hotel room and I got pissed off about something??? And I smashed a beer bottle on the wall and he goes into the chorus Smash it up ooooo smash it up. And we got a good laugh out of it all.

[@samuelspoons3553]

I bet that memory will never leave you lol

[@cherylchaison5085]

Dave was prepared for the upcoming virus

[@martaaguilar7349]

What year is this interview?

[@garrychivers4807]

a beast

[@gogoyubari366]

Poly in the audience! So pretty.

[@jasonking1284]

The UK has produced some fantastic music...

[@mikehawthorne1396]

What year was this program?

[@friendlyattack1181]

It's a funny energetic blast

[@madmanzo3580]

was johnathan not an abuser or am i wrong ?????????

[@devilinthenewman]

Yep, yeah are not wrong.

[@jeankavanagh1485]

king's a dirty Cuntbag!

[@kingwilly123456]

+madmanzo What about Grundy?

[@vermilliongecko]

Jonathan King was jailed in 2001 for seven years after being found guilty of sexually abusing five teenage boys. But he was always a prize tool anyway.

[@gavanwhatever8196]

All matlock had to say was "look at you two"

[@garysmith8068]

What year is this?

[@garysmith8068]

Nevermind it was 1994

[@sofiaplatini1148]

Fancied rat scabbard in 1977 when I was 15

[@gramsci420]

Is that Nash the Slash sitting next to Scabbies?