Damned Legends

Just before leaving town last weekend, I was able to catch the mother of all Halloween concerts--The Misfits with The Damned and Rancid! After seeing the original lineup for The Misfits last year, I thought I would never get that opportunity again. But the band is still on the prowl, and now scheduled for yet another show past the court-mandated ten that started this tour in motion (December in Philadelphia--merry Christmas!!). They sounded a hundred times better at Madison Square Garden this year than they did in Jersey last year, and they brought along two openers who hold their own ranks in punk rock nobility.

This is especially true of The Damned. They formed in London in 1976, a year before the Misfits came together in New Jersey. They were the first UK punk band to release a single, an album, and to tour the US. They paved the way for Goth, with lead singer Dave Vanian's vampire stage looks, and the band's sometimes gloomy sound and horror-tinged subjects. As much as I love Rancid and their always-fun live show, it does seem a little wrong that The Damned opened for them rather than vice versa. The founding members of Rancid weren't yet teenagers when The Damned formed, yet last weekend Dave Vanian and company stepped onto the stage that defines "arena rock" and turned it into the best punk venue in town, with Vanian quipping that "it's great to be back at CBGB."

Today's song comes from The Damned's 1979 album Machine Gun Etiquette. "Plan 9 Channel 7" is a somber ode to the original horror hostess and star of Plan 9 from Outer Space, Vampira. Supposedly Vampira, aka Maila Nurmi, had a close friendship/perhaps more than friendship with James Dean, which is hinted at in this song. Below is the original video for the song, with a (very young) Damned being led into a misty forest by a Vampira lookalike. Does a terrifying rubber monster await them there? Stay tuned to Channel 7 for the explosive conclusion...