Brian James, founding guitarist and early principal songwriter for UK punk pioneers The Damned, has died. The information was shared in an announcement on James’ official Facebook page, although a reason behind dying has not been revealed: “Goodbye to a pioneer & true gentleman,” it reads, partially. He was 70 years outdated.
Born in Hammersmith, London, England in 1955, James was in his early twenties when he started enjoying within the proto-punk band London SS, alongside future members of the Clash and Era X. It was then that he met vocalist Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Smart, and drummer Rat Scabies, who have been then members of Masters of the Bottom together with future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde. The 4 musicians—minus Hynde—got here collectively to kind the Damned, and performed their first present in June 1976, opening for Sex Pistols at London’s notorious 100 Membership.
In October of that 12 months—5 weeks earlier than Intercourse Pistols put out “Anarchy in the UK”—the Damned launched their debut single “New Rose,” making them the primary UK punk band to take action. That is one in every of a number of UK punk “firsts” that James and his bandmates laid declare to, together with being the primary of these bands to launch a studio album (1977’s Damned Damned Damned) and first to tour america—with creator Ian Winwood crediting their love of quick tempos for kicking off the West Coast hardcore punk scene. By December, the Damned have been accompanying Intercourse Pistols on tour, although the group was kicked off by Pistols supervisor Malcolm McLaren earlier than the run of reveals concluded.
James wrote virtually all of the songs on the Damned’s first two albums, however following a poor crucial reception to their 1977 sophomore effort, Music for Pleasure, the band quickly broke up. The next 12 months, Vanian, Smart, and Scabies would reform the Damned with out James, who as a substitute spent the remainder of the last decade on a wide range of different tasks, together with enjoying in Iggy Pop’s touring band and recording his first two solo singles—1979’s “Ain’t {That a} Disgrace” and 1982’s “Why? Why? Why?”—which each featured The Police’s Stewart Copeland on drums. James additionally co-founded The Lords of the New Church with American punk rocker Stiv Bators, with whom he toured and launched three studio albums from 1982 by 1989.
The Damned’s unique lineup reunited for 2 performances in 1988, and James put out his self-titled solo debut album in 1990 on New Rose Information, the French report label named after the music he’d written virtually a decade-and-a-half prior. He continued touring and releasing all through the 2000s and 2010s, and performed his ultimate reveals alongside Vanian, Smart, and Scabies in 2022.
