The Damned Message Board Interview

Howdy Moose.

Howdy.

Was the album intended to be demos or actually a finished album? I actually don't mind the sound of it.

Stunningly enough we did demo the songs a couple of times prior to the finished item, and usually with greater effect than the final product. Glad someone “doesn’t mind” the sound of it although I “don’t mind” going to the dentist so its not high praise really is it? Probably no more than it deserves though! So yeah, finished album, but see earlier for why it sounds like demos. I heard Dirty decry the whole thing later with a claim that he thought it was just demos and would never be released. Well, hate to piss on Dave’s chips but he knew full well what the story was and spent his share of the advance along with everyone else.

Did Dave seem into it at the time?

Well, that’s a good one because you never know with Dirty. Some days he was well up for it and some days he didn’t even show up for work, which is a bastard if the rest of you have just flown to Holland to headline a festival and find yourself with no singer. I dunno, you’d have to ask him but from what he’s said about our interlude as the Damned ever since, you’d think we’d never been in the same band. Although he did offer me a job before Patricia got into the band, so maybe I’m being unfair.

What did you think of the gigs you played? I saw the NOTE line up loads of times and always thought they put on a great show, (by the way, I’m one of the few here, it seems, who likes the NOTE album, apart from "No More Tears" which is a pile of cack!)

Can’t remember how that one goes. Uh, yeah, the gigs were a lot of fun mostly although there were a few that would be better confined to the dark recesses of anonymity. I loved doing the old stuff, and sometimes the NOTE stuff was ok. It was always better live I thought. The old stuff was really my input into the whole thing because I got made ‘Musical Director’ when we were rehearsing initially, which was Rat’s way of saying "teach Alan the songs and I’ll give you some extra money ‘cos I can’t be arsed to do it myself". Fair comment. Head…brick wall…bang here…

When Dave Grunfeld (really, its German for Greenfield so maybe they’re related), replaced Alan it was like a breath of fresh air, and opened up a lot of stuff that really needed a Hammond to do live. Dolli is a fantastic guitarist so to have the lumpen Methuselah praying at the Sonic Temple next to me was an unnecessary embarrassment. It sounds like I don’t like Alan, which isn’t true, he’s a nice bloke but should never have been in the Damned. In a way, he was a bit like Lu Edmonds, surplus to requirements.

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