Biography.
Brian
James
Brian James first band was the proto-punk outfit London SS.
He was also in a band called The Bastards with vocalist Alan Ward
alias Alan Timms. James then moved onto what would
prove to be a pioneering punk band; The Damned,
recording on their first two albums "Damned, Damned, Damned" and "Music for Pleasure (album)"
before leaving.
James guested on The Saints' 1982 album Out in the Jungle. He would later play in Tanz Der Youth, and then
The Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators he recorded three
albums with the band playing with them from 1982 till their
break-up in 1989.
Brian James has also played with Iggy Pop's solo band, but he
never played on a studio recording with Iggy. He did
however play on live albums such as Heroin Hates You.
In 1998 James played guitar on an album with band The Dripping Lips. This
album, titled "Ready to Crack?," featured Nico
Mansy (ex- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) on bass, Paul
Zahl (ex- Flaming Groovies)
on drums, as well as a relatively unheard of singer from Belgium named Robbie Kelman contributing lead vocals. The album was produced by
Jimmy Miller and released by the company Alive/Total Energy Records of Burbank,
California. Considered by some to be a departure from The Damned's
traditionally raw and very acute "punk" sound, "Ready to
Crack?" nevertheless incorporates substantial punk rock undertones within
its larger framework of nouveau pop; it is at the least an interesting
experiment undertaken by clearly accomplished musicians. James' guitar work on
this album ranges from fairly sloppy (probably intentionally so) electric
chords riddled with feedback, to crisp and accessible acoustic melody.
Algy Ward
Born Alistair Ward, Algy has been bass
player with The
Damned. Played bass on the seminal punk record; Machine Gun Etiquette 1979.
He was also briefly a member of the Australian punk band The Saints
(playing on their second and third albums Eternally
Yours and Prehistoric Sounds), and also founded and
fronted the seminal New wave of british heavy metal outfit
Tank during the 1980s.
David
Vanian
David Vanian (born David Letts,12 Oct 1956, in
Letts changed his name to Dave Vanian
when he became a musician, having previously worked as a gravedigger. It is rumored
that when Captain Sensible
asked whether Vanian could sing, Vanian
responded "yes" but had never sung a note in his life.
He is famous for bringing the gothic image to pop culture world, due to his
wearing its apparel both onstage and off; although he does not personally make
note of this. Indeed, his initial look was based on movie vampires: hence the
stage name Vanian, which is supposed to suggest
"Transylvanian". Notorious also for keeping his personal life out of
the limelight, even opting out of any input towards The Damned bio-book The
Light At The End Of The Tunnel by Carol Clerk, he
also leads the rockabilly band David Vanian
& the Phantom Chords. He is known to be interested in renaissance
art, film noir and horror movies, which he speaks of as well as
sings.
He married Patricia Morrison in 1996, the same year she joined The Damned,
and lives on the English coast. On February 9, 2004 Patricia gave birth to
Emily Vanian at 8:20 p.m. weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces.
Currently, Vanian hosts Dave Vanian's
Dark Screen on the UK-based goth
television channel Rockworld TV, where viewers
get to send in their own self-made horror films in the hope of winning prizes.