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Brian James, founding guitarist of the Damned, dies aged 70

James was the lead songwriter for the trailblazing British punks’ first album Damned Damned Damned and went on to collaborate with artists such as Iggy Pop

A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk.” After playing in the proto-punk band London SS alongside future Clash member Mick Jones, he formed the Damned with singer Dave Vanian, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies in 1976. Captain Sensible expanded on his post on Facebook, recalling that when James was recruiting bandmates, he instituted short hair as a rule – “a radical departure from the mid-70s hippy look” – and had such a “blistering technique” on guitar that he persuaded Sensible to switch to bass.

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