Brian James, a legend of punk rock guitar who helped pioneer the genre with the Damned, has died at the age of 70, according to a post on his Facebook page.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter, and true gentleman, Brian James,” the post reads.
No cause of death was revealed.
Born in London in 1955, James, was, by his teens, already touring Europe with a hard-nosed, proto-punk band by the name of Bastard. Mostly ignored in the UK, Bastard would dissolve by the mid-'70s, leaving James to return to London.
Once back in his home city, James formed – with, among others, Mick Jones, later lead guitarist for the Clash – the controversially named London SS.
Though never successful in their own right, the London SS would spin off multiple bands that played an incalculable role in shaping what would come to be known as punk rock – the aforementioned Clash, and the Damned, which James would eventually co-found after the London SS.
Comprised originally of James on guitar, Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensible on bass, and Rat Scabies on drums, the Damned got their start shortly after the Sex Pistols, but beat the Pistols to the punch in releasing their first single.
Written entirely by James, that 1976 single, New Rose, is nothing less than a milestone in punk rock history. Relentless in tempo, anarchic in energy, and driven by a haywire rockabilly riff, strains of its DNA can be found in just about every subsequent song with the word “punk” attached to it in any way.
Months later, in early 1977, the Damned would repeat the punk pioneer feat with their debut album, Damned Damned Damned. James wrote the overwhelming majority of its songs, one of which was another all-time punk classic, Neat Neat Neat.
Though the band's subsequent American tour made them trans-Atlantic punk pioneers, trouble began brewing by the year's end.
Produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and written – once again – almost entirely by James, the band's second album of 1977, Music for Pleasure, proved to be far more polarizing. Its disappointing reception, and the band's chaotic, non-stop schedule, led to James' disillusionment.
Amidst the chaos, The Damned broke up in early 1978, but would reunite later that year. James, however, did not return, and would only rejoin the band – who have stayed together more or less continuously to this day – for a couple of years beginning in the late '80s, and again for a tour in 2022.
James' musical versatility is evident in his post-Damned resumé. He toured with Iggy Pop, and recorded with MC5's Wayne Kramer and the Police's Stewart Copeland, while also playing with the Belgian band the Dripping Lips, recording film and television soundtracks, and fronting his own band, the Brian James Gang.
James' most notable post-Damned turn, though, was in the Lords of the New Church, a punk supergroup of sorts featuring the Dead Boys' Stiv Bators. Though never reaching the high profile of the Damned, the Lords of the New Church were an indie favorite on both sides of the Atlantic in the early- to mid-'80s.
Of his musical philosophy with the Damned, James told Louder in 2022, “We weren’t shouting about anarchy or giving it the big Clash number but that was never what we were in it for.
“We just loved music and we just wanted to play. It was about expression – action, y' know? The fun was a bonus. We might’ve been larking about a bit onstage, but we were still coming up with the goods.”
