The Damned at 50 and the memories (and regrets) of Rat Scabies

The Damned at 50 and the memories (and regrets) of Rat Scabies

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold May 20, 2026 Duration: 35:42

The Damned are – yes! - 50 years old with three of the originals still onboard. And just starting a world tour. In this immensely funny and touching podcast, Rat Scabies (who’s smoking!) points up the repercussions of life in a band. He looks back at their first shows, their devoted audience, “old-fashioned rules”, highlights, regrets, the value of friendship, “putting on the black suit again” and how it felt to rejoin after 30 years on the outside. And all this too …

 

… playing drums in an Essex panto while pelted with boiled sweets

 

… Dave Vanian when he was a grave-digger

 

… punk rock strongholds the world over – “South America was like being in the Beatles”

 

… Mexico and other places you can still torch a drumkit

 

… Mr Scabies, aged 70. “Even my mother calls me Rat. The name’s done me well over the years”

 

… going to the Isle Of Wight aged 14 (with the Danish nanny) and running a hot-dog stand during Hendrix

 

… supporting the Pistols at the 100 Club: “like letting a greyhound out of a trap”

 

… Tim Burton, the Goth revival, the Young Ones, steampunk and other factors that keeps the Damned in motion

 

… “One band’s an oddity, two’s a fashion, three’s a movement”

 

… rejoining the Damned after 30 years – “like a great stain had been lifted”

 

… Green Day, algorithms and how they acquired a whole new following.

 

Order Damned tickets here: aegp.uk/the-damned


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There’s a particular kind of conversation about music that happens between friends who’ve spent a lifetime immersed in it-not as distant critics, but as participants in the culture. That’s the atmosphere you’ll find in Word In Your Ear, a podcast from Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, and Alex Gold. With a collective eighty years of writing and broadcasting for titles like Smash Hits and Mojo, and shows from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to VH-1, they don’t just recount history; they unpack the stories behind it with the ease of a shared laugh. This podcast grew naturally from their work on the late, great magazine The Word, where they began recording over thirteen years ago, building a dedicated following who found something genuinely special in the mix. Each episode weaves together music, commentary, history, and interviews, moving seamlessly from deep-dive analysis of a seminal album to a frank chat with a surprising guest, all delivered with the warmth and wit of a late-night chat. It feels less like a formal show and more like you’ve been invited to pull up a chair in a room where the anecdotes are plentiful and the expertise is worn lightly. The result is a consistently engaging listen that treats music not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing part of our lives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Word In Your Ear
Podcast Episodes
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