It's widely asserted that the Damned were the first UK punk band to record, beating both the Clash and the Pistols to the punch. For as big an impact as their work had on the punk movement, they always stood somewhat outside the scene. Their quirky fashions, musical tastes, and apolitical stance made them outsiders in the world they helped create. Nevertheless, their high-energy sound still stands as a punk rock template. In the '80s, after the departure of Bryan James and Captain Sensible, vampiric singer Dave Vanian led the band down a more goth-pop path, until the Captain returned to punk things up a bit again.

Listen to The Damned at Finetune.

• (1997)  Chaos Years:Rare & Unreleased 1977-1982
• (1979)  Machine Gun Etiquette
• (1977)  Damned Damned Damned

• New Rose
• Neat Neat Neat
• Love Song
• Ballroom Blitz
• Smash It Up (Part I)

• The Clash
• Buzzcocks
• Siouxsie And The Banshees
• The Ramones
• Stiff Little Fingers
• Sex Pistols
• The Jam
• The Dead Kennedys
• The Stranglers
• Blondie
• The Pixies
• X
• The Boomtown Rats
• Richard Hell
• The Cars
• The Only Ones
• The Buzzcocks
• X-Ray Spex
• Bauhaus
• The Adverts

• Ikaros Rising
• BlueGirl
• orlamoeller
• henhera
• vez
• eppersrd
• fire_fire_fire_yeah
• Goddzi
• Terror_Bear
• monkee13
• ph308
• ankh
• Mellietronx
• indigogirluk
• jonburke
• asfixi
• dollq
• blackflagnation
• Matt_Fabb
• wantedcreative
• leiya
• pserafim
• srfndave
• richrude71
• sweetagony89
• yiratatiana
• Ledbetter
• fiveherb
• blackwing
• douglasknudsen
• mac64
• TwistAndShout
• Jaffa1978
• Duralux
• sexynexy210
• eversosoftly
• riffraph82
• Lizardog
• knightia
• jflc35
• Ladysnore
• somekindofmachine

• hoogax on 2009-06-15 18:05:52.813:
  quite possibly the best band of all time