Smashing it Up: A Decade of Chaos with the Damned

"From rank outsiders to pop stardom a decade later, The Damned blazed an anarchic trail through punk rock to achieve massive chart success. A beacon for the Sex Pistols and The Clash to follow, they flung down a musical gauntlet in 1976 with Britain's first punk rock single 'New Rose', led the way for British punk in the US and always made great records: all during a whirlwind career complete with levels of self-sabotage that would have instantly killed off any other band. They split, reformed, behaved badly and raised the profile of goth rock. Here, for the first time, is the not-so-sane story of Captain Sensible and the always enduring The Damned."--Back cover.