THE DAMNED: STRAWBERRIES
ALBUM REVIEW: The Damned's fifth LP pivoted the band away from their punk rock roots and planted them firmly in the goth/psych playground they still dominate today...
THE DAMNED: STRAWBERRIES
BRONZE RECORDS
1982
It’s remarkably hard to find contemporary images of The Damned from around the time of Strawberries. Their lineup at the time was shaky, at best. Aside from the ever-present Dave Vanian and Rat Scabies, Sensible was taking his first foray into part-time pop with Happy Talk, and would henceforth depart the band for a few years, once the Strawberries tour was done.
Paul Gray had recorded bass for The Black Album two years previously and was still a member in 1982, although he’d leave too, early the next year, after one too many arguments with Scabies.
Roman Jugg, recruited in 1982 to supplement the band’s sound with keyboards would take over on guitar from Sensible once the tour was complete and would stay in position for the next two albums.
Everything was out of whack.
Perhaps that’s why it’s so difficult to find decent shots of the full lineup in 1982. The same people were never in the same place for long enough to have their photo taken together.
Either that, or Gerry Bron, who ran the band’s label at the time - and often seemed to be stuggling, financially, was reluctant to spend the cash on the promotion that the album deserved.
Who knows?
It was a long time ago, now, anyway.
But if you listen to Strawberries today - and I encourage you to do so - it doesn’t feel like an album that was made a long time ago at all.
As much as I love virtually all of The Damned’s output - though please let’s not talk about 1986’s Anything - some of it feels very much of its time.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing at all - the raw power of New Rose and Neat Neat Neat could ONLY have come from recording in 1976. The experimentation and evolution of Machine Gun Etiquette is so completely instigated by 1979 that it’s hard to imagine the band feeling the necessity to break so hard with expectation at any other point in their history. Then The Black Album - a recording of its time too, with its smooth production and musicality - would sound out of place anywhere other than 1980.
But Strawberries still sounds like it could have been released today. Despite the amping up of the psych, 60s and garage influences, it remains oddly timeless.
It’s the Dorian Gray of post-punk LPs.
Famously titled in memoriam of a Vanian quip that suggested their stalwart punk rock fanbase was so reluctant to hear new tunes, at times, that it like feeding strawberries to a pig, it was launched with a strawberry scented inner sleeve and was, surprisingly, received warmly by the press at the time.
Surprising, because that never happened to The Damned.
The LP was generally praised for its versatility, cohesion and melody.
Justfiable.
NME called it “a miserable wretch of a record”.
Unjustifiable.
But the NME could be cunts.
What it is, is a consistent, well-produced, brilliantly written and dynamic collection of some of the band’s most memorable and popular tunes. Even the lowest point on the LP is acceptably The Damned. The performances across every song are great.
The preceding Black Album is often retrospectively hailed more highly, but, to me, it’s a far less consistent record. It has a couple of AAA singles associated with it, that one could argue are lacking from Strawberries, but a high proportion of the remaining tracks are less memorable than any one of the songs on its follow up.
I have recommended it numerous times as the perfect gateway to The Damned. Yes, there are more traditional punk releases. There are more Goth releases too. There are even entire Damned albums that are more Psychedelic than Strawberries is, but I would argue that none of them succeed across an entire LP as well as their 5th LP does. And none of them show you the capabilities of the band in a better light than the one with the pig on the cover.
So. Picture this: Sensible is, astonishingly, at number one with Happy Talk. A cover of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show-tune from South Pacific. At best it is high camp. At worst it is awful pop. Wot comes next which, as an original song, is only mildly less offensive.
Regardless, Cap is now a focal point for the media. He’s all over the telly. Saturday Morning kid’s shows, Top of the Pops, Nationwide… his stock has never been so novel and abundant. This has a trickle down effect that must, at least marginally, mean that there is more awareness of Strawberries than there had been for any other Damned record beforehand.
The flipside of this though, is that Sensible’s attention is drawn all over the place - and will eventually be the reason he leaves the band after the supporting tour for Strawberries. His solo career beckoned.
Consider what else was happening in and around punk in the UK at the time; bands like Discharge, The Exploited and the Anti-Nowhere League were ensuring that three chords and the truth now went hand in hand with studded leather jackets, mosh pits and Mohicans - a uniform and degree of expectation. Disappointingly predictable. Elsewhere, punk had inspired the most creative period in British music; post punk bands like The Cure, Bauhaus, antipodean residents The Birthday Party, Adam and the Ants, Gang of Four… were all releasing engaging records that were challenging the original liberating form that inspired them in the first place.
“Punk” - whatever that meant - had moved on significantly over the previous five years and had become more creative, unexpected and impressive than anyone could have imagined.
Especially the unlikely oiks that started it all in 1976.
So this climate was ready for something new from The Damned. The “punk” audience had become broader and more discerning - even if the hardcore fanbase of the band was still expecting more of the same New Roses and Neat Neat Neats. There were also new fans supplementing the old, who had come to The Damned from a different direction.
The Black Album had been received well enough in 1980 and had been growing in fan’s esteem across the intervening two years since its release. The Damned were finally stepping into the white light of well-earned success, albeit on an “indie” scale, which always felt much less than they deserved, especially when compared to some of their less worthy ‘77 peers.
The songs on Strawberries reflect the optimism of that success. The performances are confident, imaginative and unafraid. There’s a sense that the band were striding throughout the recording of the album. Strawberries contains some of the best writing that the band ever committed to tape, and they knew it.
Ignite not only kicks off Strawberries, but it is often used to launch live performances too, 40-odd years later - such is its rabble-rousing aesthetic. It blasts. It also contains a massive, meticulous and masterful solo from Captain for more than a minute of the entire song’s five minute run-time.
If that doesn’t set out a “don’t fuck with us” statement of intent, I don’t know what does.
Generals follows with its jaunty intro piano line which foreshadows the tone of Grimly Fiendish that would be a stand out track on the next LP, Phantasmagoria. The lyrical content of the song is bob-on and surprisingly political for The Damned.
The singalong chorus masks the grim reality of the words that clearly condemn clueless authority:
“And only the wounded remain
The Generals have all left the game
With no will to fight, they'll fade with the light
There's nobody left they can blame.”
Complete with squalling brass accompaniment.
The progressive, horn driven, Stranger On The Town is next, with its Motown-esque back-beat and incredibly infectious chorus. It’s an epic song that transcends expectation in terms of texture, pacing, variety and melody in a single song.
And it’s got a killer guitar break half way through, where Cap, yet again, proves he’s a the fucking maestro that no one recognises to be the genius he clearly is. The real joy of the song, though, is the key change for the final 20% of the song that follows the bridge. It just lifts and lifts and lifts. Vanian’s got some classy pipes:
“And I only want a place to rest my head
If looks could kill I might as well be dead…”
What a fucking triumphant piece of music.
The full blown psych of Dozen Girls follows, with its circular intro guitar riff and garage-influenced vocal lines. Catchy? I’d say so. I love the song. It’s not as strong as the first three, but it still bloody brilliant.
It hammers a bit too hard on the Hammond and the harmonies, but otherwise…
You often hear fans talk with great reverence about The Dog, the seven and a half minute track that closes Side One. And I get it. It’s bold and it pushes the boundaries like a half-as-long Curtain Call, from The Black Album.
It’s a progressive gem, but it’s the one track on Side One that I can take or leave, depending on my mood. It’s haunting. It has a Hammer Horror-esque harpsichord-y intro that sets the scene. Vanian’s lyrics are based on Interview With The Vampire. Which might be why it’s a bit of a turn off for me. There’s too much flounce and romance in those vamps.
I prefer my bloodsuckers more gnarly and grimm.
Side Two begins with Gun Fury (Of Wild Forces), a three minute, medium-paced ditty that is not as memorable as other tracks, and could either be a protest song about Riot Police or simply a paean to the 1953 Rock Hudson western. Who knows?
Or who cares? Because Pleasure And The Pain follows swiftly on its heels and once again leans into those psych vibes, but more successfully this time, with slightly less harmonic saccharine than Dozen Girls.
It’s cut from similar cloth, though; immediate and rewarding.
Then we get that famous bass line that Killing Joke and Nirvana stole/borrowed/were inspired by. Life Goes On is Sensible’s vocal performance of the LP and the song is justifiably claimed as a classic and a highlight of the second side of the record. It’s laid back, and Roman’s keys supplement the instrumentation perfectly. There’s a bit of late 60s Stones going on in the melody. Her Satanic Majesty’s Request. It stays with you for days. It’s pure pop. Undeniable.
Let’s not pretend it’s anything other than that.
But as for pop - I get excited every time Bad Time For Bonzo begins. It’s a late album highlight and my favourite track on the LP. Its feel-good riffing, pace and melodies are just so much fun. I find it really hard not to grin the shit out of every listen. It sounds like they’re enjoying playing it so much it becomes infectious.
Why wasn’t it a single?!?
Utter madness.
Under The Floor Again follows Bonzo’s mega-melodic refrain. Just a clean picked guitar, subliminal keys and Vanian’s baritone. Wonderful. Then a sitar.
We’re really in Satanic Majesty’s territory now.
The claustrophobic lyrics seem to be some collision between Anne Frank’s World War Two horror and the desire to hide away from the cock-ends of life in general.
Again, the hooky genius of Vanian’s key changing is what brings the real addictive joy out in the tune. The entire band has really composed the song to have different movements and emotions throughout its ride. And, again, Sensible dazzles with his ridiculously competent guitar work.
The album closes with the only truly disposable track on the album. Don’t Bother Me is, at best, a B-Side. It’s incorporation into the album’s full track-listing is surprising, considering the strength and wealth of other contemporary songs at hand. It’s annoying, pointless and purely indulges Cap. The album would be stronger without it. Shit rhymes, throwaway instrumentation and the one song that dates the album and situates it in 1982.
Rubbish.
Throughout the album we’ve had punk-inspired riffage and pacing with plenty of psych and proto-goth influences creeping in. The real dazzle, though, comes from the sheer melodic skill the band displays with the songwriting. Every song is laced with hooks, memorable vocal lines and heart melting, soaring passages.
It’s a creative sonic masterpiece.
If I could rewrite history though, I’d change a couple of things about Strawberries.
It’s always struck me that Dozen Girls and Generals would both have worked better as album tracks than singles. I’d have gone with the punchy addictiveness of Ignite and the poptastic ear-worming of Bad Time for Bonzo.
I can’t help thinking they’d have been more successful and drawn more ears towards the LP.
Secondly, I’d have included what I consider to be Cap’s greatest moment, the out-take, Torture Me, as part of the album. It feels unjust that it was relegated to a Dozen Girls B-Side, and deserves much more attention. The pointless Don’t Bother Me would be out, and supplanted with a song that must be almost as responsible for steering a generation to vegetarianism as Meat Is Murder was.
Or at least, it would be if the same number of people had heard it.
Torture Me is a rare example of Cap exposing his serious, sensitive, substantive side, instead of just being the raucous clown; something he should do more often - the image belies his incredible skill as a musician and lyricist.
I’ve got three copies of Strawberries. The original Bronze version, complete with fading aroma, the mid-80s repress on Dojo (my original copy), and the 40th anniversary remaster that came out on red and pink swirled vinyl for Record Store Day in 2022 via BMG.
The RSD version feels heavier and looks prettier, but none of the editions I own have anything remarkable going on with the outer packaging. Oddly, the easily identifiable checkered spine of the earlier versions was omitted for the RSD reissue. The Dojo version just has a standard paper inner sleeve. No smells.
There’s no difference in the recording between the releases, as far as I can tell. It’d be great to hear a remix and remaster for vinyl, but thus far remasters appear to only have been pressed on CD, disappointingly.
It could sound much meatier and clearer than it does. Certainly, when you stream the deluxe version, it seems to have more punch and clarity than the vinyl mix does. But that could just be the playback hardware.
Strawberries perfectly illustrates The Damned. Although Music for Pleasure is not as lamentable as its legend now suggests, it did cement the band’s reputation (within certain quarters) as being ‘one and done’, after the rage of Damned Damned Damned.
In terms of raw, Stooges inspired, Brian James-penned punk rawk, that’s correct.
But for my money, the post-Music For Pleasure, unbroken run of Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album, Strawberries and Phantasmagoria is unparalleled by any of the band’s more ‘credible’ peers. There’s barely a single shitty song across all four albums.
I don’t understand why they don’t get more credit for that.
That was a dynamic run of releases that boldly re-established exactly what the band were about - and that their vision far exceeded the two minute blasts of chaos that launched their career.
Strawberries exposes the abundant underlying skills of all the band members. As much as their image suggested they didn’t take things too seriously, with hindsight and by really listening, you can see that that was all bravado and bullshit. They were super-serious about their songwriting and had the chops to pull their ambition off. That’s not something you can say about many of their peers.
42 years later, Strawberries is still the cream of the crop and is an LP I will always consider indispensable and a timeless classic.
I’ve seen The Damned live more than any other band, and I think Don’t Bother Me is the only song from Strawberries that’s not cropped up in the set at one time or another.
That has to be testament to the long-lasting appeal and the quality of the songs.
But don’t take my word for it; listen to their entire discography. See what you think. Strawberries is my favourite flavour of The Damned. Now it’s time for you to (ahem) pick your own.
Ave, Ultras!
Great write-up. Strawberries has always been my favourite Damned album; you have managed to perfectly articulate why.
Saw the reformed Vanian, Sensible, Scabies & Gray line-up play their Strawberries/Black Album show last year and they blew the roof off, defying any doubts about their ability to still kick it like the last 40 years never happened.
Love Strawberries. The record that unlocked my deep Damned fandom.