An Interview With Captain Sensible of The Damned

Feature Photo Captain Sensible: courtesy of Hired Gun Media.

As far as golden age ‘70s punk-meets-goth rock goes, it doesn’t get much better than The Damned. Albums like 1977’s Damned Damned Damned, 1980’s The Black Album, and 1982’s Strawberries tell the story of a raucous group brimming with music.

At the core of The Damned has always been Captain Sensible, aka Raymond Burns. He played bass on the band’s early records, before getting in on the six-string fun later on. Lately, along with his other bandmates, the veteran punk rocker is preparing to celebrate The Damned’s 50^th anniversary, as well as the legacy of guitarist Brian James, who died on March 6, 2025.

In memory of James, The Damned are releasing Not Like Everybody Else, a collection of covers, on January 23, 2026. Beyond that, Captain Sensible is looking forward to settling in as a proper elder statesman. “We’ve been there and done all that,” he tells ClassicRockHistory.com,”

Adding, “I see this last golden period for the band as a kinda victory lap where we tour a bit occasionally, but the schedules are not so killer.”

Speaking of killer, The Damned has a planned appearance at Wembley Stadium to celebrate 50 years of rocking chaos. “Wembley is gonna be a celebration of the 50-year career,” Sensible says. “I’m really looking forward to it.

“It should be a pretty spectacular evening for us and fans alike,” he says. “What an achievement. Against all odds, too. I’d certainly not have put my money on us lasting this long.”

Tell us how this latest album, Not Like Everybody Else, kicked off.

The Black Album ‘80s lineup was on the road in the US when we got the bad news… we wanted to do some kinda tribute, and with the band sounding so good with Rat back on drums, some recording seemed like a great idea.

So, despite being a bit knackered after six weeks touring, a five-day session was arranged after the last Californian show. We already had a live version of “The Last Time” in the can, so we started assembling a list of others.

This is a tribute to Brian James. What can you say about your relationship with him on and off the stage?

When Brian recruited for his band, he wanted it to be more of a gang with guitars who were going to shake up the British music scene. There was some biker mentality in there and zero compromise. We’ve had decades of punk since then.

Some bands that I wouldn’t really consider genuine, but back then in ’76, The Damned’s onstage aggression could shock the uninitiated, and people would run for the doors to escape. A memorable example was early on at the Nags Head in High Wycombe, where we finished our set playing to just the bar staff.

Although Rat and I could get a bit out of control occasionally, Brian would just smile and let us get on with it. He was, however, the band leader and would give us his steely glare when there were any ructions in the band.

A couple of years older than the rest of us, and we looked up to him, especially as all his predictions of a coming music revolution had proved so correct.

What was it like matching licks with him? How did you two differ, and how were you the same?

As guitarist for the Johnny Moped band, I wasn’t going to jump ship and play bass for any old band… but Brian was a remarkable guitarist with a blistering technique. Rat tells a story about the first time the two of them played together, when there was a war film playing on a TV involving fighter-plane dogfights, where Brian was matching the action with frenzied guitar licks.

Later on, Caroline Coon described as kinda machine-gun etiquette. We remembered that phrase and eventually used it as an album title. My guitar style was more conventional, I guess… while just starting on guitar, I would attend all the Rory Gallagher, Stray, and Groundhogs shows that came through Croydon and stand at the front in the middle of a jostling crowd, scrutinizing the chord shapes. Then go home and try and copy them.

Much later on, I got to know Tony McPhee over many pints of foaming ale. I loved his on-the-road stories, and if you gotta have heroes, it’s great when they turn out to be nice people and not up themselves. I still play Thank Christ and Split all the time… drives the missus nuts. Brian welcomed the guitar duel thing, likening it to a gunslinger showdown. I remember him saying, “Yeah… bring it on.”

As far as the album, what went into choosing the covers that you laid down?

These are the tunes that got Brian into music in the first place, not the raunchy stuff that shaped him as a guitarist, but rather the singles he bought with his pocket money as a kid. Some of these we knew of course; the rest of the list was supplied by his wife, Minna, and some were quite a surprise too.

Never having played most of ‘em and with no rehearsals, five days seemed a bit optimistic, but the band are quick, and we stormed through the tunes one by one, the 5 of us in this retro studio full of vintage guitars and keyboards.

I know a lot of music these days can be done remotely, with participants sometimes on different continents. But The Damned still do it in an old-school style in a big, old, noisy room, all together. I think you can hear the excitement and fun of the sessions on the record.

Which of these songs proved to be the most challenging and why? On the other end, which came the easiest and why?

Easiest was “Ghost in My House,” Dave’s favorite. Rat has developed a bit of swing in his drumming over the years and just nailed that Motown groove. It all flowed easily from there, especially after producer Mikel [SIC] found an [EHX] Big Muff in a storeroom and we got it working on the guitar.

As we were bashing it out together live in one big studio room, I had to footswitch the fuzz on and off alternating from riff to chords… and missed it slightly on one bit but stuff like that is all over old records and engineers these days seem to think everything must be perfect so to repair is normal.. not for us though as we believe rock ‘n’ roll should have a few rough edges left… otherwise, it ain’t rock n roll is it!

We spent a fair bit of time on the Animals’ “When I Was Young.” It’s dark and needed a somber approach. And Dave, who has roots in Newcastle, gets right inside the vocalist and delivers quite a performance. The song ends with a bit of a jam, all live, guitar and keys going for it. On listening back, it sounded like a barroom brawl, which fitted nicely with the gritty nature of the lyrics, so we dubbed in some shouting and glass-smashing to complete the scene.

What’s the latest on the rig that you used in the studio? How does that differ from what you use on your, if at all?

I used the live rig. Mesa Triaxis preamp and Marshall 20/20 power amp. Although with quite a diverse collection of tunes, we were speed-dialing the required guitar sounds on the Triaxis, which has a bunch of different rhythm and lead modes to choose from. And Midi controlled too, which is good for live, where I keep it limited to three settings: rhythm, lead, and ‘jangle’, the latter of which combines well with echo for the goth-tinged material.

I fell for the hype and bought a Kemper many years ago, but hated the thing. I heard this high-pitched digital whine that annoyed me, so after one show, I swapped the thing with my guitar tech, Seano, for his Mesa Triaxis and never looked back. We have two identical rigs, one on each side of the pond, that have proved remarkably stage-worthy considering the age of the gear. I just hope I can keep up with it myself.

What do you look for in gear? How has that changed over the years?

I like the Angus Young approach: guitar, amp. That’s it. We use very few effects, only an occasional echo for the darker songs. It always amuses me that all these guitarists with bloated pedal boards. What’s the point?

Unless it is dynamically changing the nature of the sound, as in Royal Blood, perhaps it just seems like showing off. And we played a punk fest in the US recently, where there were racks of guitars for one of the bands. I said to the tech, “This must be a chore for you.” I mean. He’s only gonna use a couple, surely.

But “No,” was the reply. The bastard uses every single one throughout the set… while rolling his eyes. What a plonker I thought! [laughs] Paul Gray has a new rig featuring some Orange gear that recreates his Rickenbacker Black Album growl perfectly.

Those songs are so good to play with PG and Rat in full swing, and allow Monty and me some creative freedom to improvise and meander. The nice guys at Orange also made me a wonderful fly rig that fits in a backpack. Called the Dual Baby, it features two raunchy channels, crunchy rhythm, and full-on lead.

Can you track the progression in your playing? How have you evolved, and how would you describe your style?

Oh, well… I used to never think about the solo before I played it. That was a kinda rule I imposed on myself, as if it was cheating to compose and structure the piece. Now I wish I could go back and replay some of the tunes where I went a little OTT on the solo in “Ignite,” for example.

It was listening to Led Zeppelin II that changed my mind. Those guitar lines are so musical and stately in places that it seemed daft of me to continue spoiling songs that are crying out for a lyrical approach, guitar-wise, with rough-and-ready, instant playing.

Carlos Santana on Abraxas… these lines aren’t throwaway, they are composed and fine-tuned during many performances on the road. It only took me a few decades, but I guess I learned that lesson eventually.

What are your thoughts on the modern punk scene and how The Damned fits into that?

We played Blackpool Rebellion last year. There were loads of young bands with plenty to say. I thought that was very healthy. Will they get played on the radio? Probably not the way things are currently, but youngsters need a vehicle to let off steam, and punk is still there if needed.

As for The Damned – we fought in the punk wars at a time when walking down the road wearing the wrong garb could cause whole pubs full of blokes wielding billiard cues to chase you down the road. I’m no hero, and I got quite good at running with all that practice.

How do you view the legacy of The Damned? Would you change anything if given the chance?

As a punk band, I think you’re expected to make one great debut album that says it all… then implode in chaos. But there was just too much music in The Damned for that, and we got off on reinventing the sound, which is why each album is different.

Strawberries, for example, which was strongly influenced by Lenny Kaye’s ‘80s Nuggets albums and our visits to Soho’s short-lived Alice in Wonderland club, where DJ Clive—later Doc of the Medics—turned us on to all things Farfisa and fuzz.

What are you proudest of?

The Damned may not have changed the world, but we will leave behind a trail of fun and memorable shows where our antics entertained loads of people, trying, as we are, to make sense of an increasingly stupid planet. Did we make a Pet Sounds or an SF Sorrow? Maybe not, but for me, some of the tunes we knocked out over the years stand the test of time.

And there are some real crackers on the more recent albums, too. Records that are often overlooked. The band is blessed with several decent songwriters. It can get quite competitive come studio time, but that is healthy, and hopefully there’s at least one more album left in us.

It’d be daft not to go in and do one with the band sounding so good now Rat is back behind the kit. We all want more than our fair share of the spotlight, including Mr. Scabies. I mean… how many bands have a drummer as a frontman?

What’s next for you and The Damned in all lanes?

A handful of gigs featuring Brian’s tribute album songs, and then on to Wembley for the Anniversary show. I’m already inundated by requests for guest tickets from chums all over the world. On top of the show, it’ll undoubtedly be quite a social event. Can’t wait!

After that, who can say? Try and keep fit enough to keep doing this stuff. I still feel young mentally… especially when onstage making that lovely noise, but unfortunately, my body is starting to complain a bit. The ears, for example, have damage that causes certain frequencies to be horribly painful… a baby crying in a train carriage, and I’m up and straight off to the next one. [laughs]

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