The Damned

 Today in 1977 The Damned released the album Music for Pleasure

London, England Punk rock, Gothic rock, Post-punk

Status: Active

Years active :1976-Present

They were rarely cited as the most important of the first wave of British punk bands, nor one of the most influential, but in many respects, the Damned can honestly claim to be first. They released the first U.K. punk single (1976's "New Rose" b/w "Help"), the first U.K. punk album (1977's Damned Damned Damned), and were the first British punks to tour the United States. They were also one of the first major bands on the scene to break up, and were later ahead of the pack when they reunited. And few of their peers have had a longer or more interesting career path. Playing music that was dark but playful at the same time, the Damned started out as a loud, hell-bent-for-leather punk quartet. They soon began adding psychedelic and garage rock influences into their music (1979's Machine Gun Etiquette), detoured into epic-scale pop with a dash of prog (1980's The Black Album), and embraced a tuneful but muscular take on goth (1985's Phantasmagoria), all within their first ten years. While the strong, mannered but witty vocals from Dave Vanian remained a constant, the band's personnel and style was in flux as the group broke up and reunited with remarkable frequency. They finally found a relatively stable lineup in the 2000s, led by Vanian and co-founder Captain Sensible, delivering a slick but enthusiastic fusion of pop, rock, and goth on latter-day albums such as 2008's So, Who's Paranoid? and 2018's Evil Spirits. Throug it all, the band's ability to take their music seriously without taking themselves seriously endeared them to a tremendously loyal fan base.

Stiff Records

Dave Vanian – vocals

Brian James – lead guitar, slide guitar on "One Way Love", backing vocals

Lu Edmunds – rhythm guitar

Captain Sensible – bass, backing vocals,

Rat Scabies – drums

Additional personnel

Lol Coxhill – saxophone on "You Know"

All tracks are written by Brian James, except as noted.

Side A

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "Problem Child" James, Rat Scabies 2:13

2. "Don't Cry Wolf" 3:15

3. "One Way Love" 3:44

4. "Politics" 2:26

5. "Stretcher Case" James, Scabies 1:52

6. "Idiot Box" Captain Sensible, Scabies 5:00

Side B

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "You Take My Money" 2:04

2. "Alone" 3:37

3. "Your Eyes" James, Dave Vanian 2:53

4. "Creep (You Can't Fool Me)" 2:12

5. "You Know" 5:05

CD reissue bonus tracks

No. Title Writer(s) Length

12. "Help" (Beatles cover) John Lennon, Paul McCartney 1:43

13. "Sick of Being Sick" 2:30

14. "Singalong a Scabies" Scabies 1:01

Music for Pleasure is the second studio album by English punk rock band the Damned. It was released on 18 November 1977 by Stiff Records.