We are sorry to hear of the passing of Brian James, one of the key architects of punk rock.
Reported on his facebook page.
Brian was the guitar genius who formed the Damned and wrote nearly all the songs on the first two albums and created the template for punk rock…his songs were thrilling, exciting and great rushes of sound with amazing guitar solos. Even if he had just written New Rose alone he would be one of the greats but there was so much great music as he distilled the Stooges and MC5 into a more exciting whole. His vision for the Damned saw him put the band together, choosing the members of the lineup that somehow fitted perfectly despite being so utterly different from one another. The Damned first album is an all time classic but I’ve always loved the second album as well and it was great to see Brian back on stage with the band a couple of years ago a brilliant epitaph and lap of honour for one of the great bands and for Brian himself.
His post-Damned Tanz Der Youth project was a big favourite of mine, and Lords of The New Church was another visionary project musically and visually from Brian, who understood the full 360 of rock n roll – the clothes/the cool/the music and the vision thing.
Over the years, he was always there doing cool stuff. I met him a few times, and he was a total gent and a visionary – Mick Jones from The Clash often said that Brian was the first person he met who had the vision for punk when he turned up to jam with Mick on Praed Street in 1975.
Godspeed Brian, you were important in all our lives and I’ll be cranking your music tonight…
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