The Damned “Anything” 1986. Today, October 12th, is the 60th birthday of The Damned’s lead singer David Vanian (b. David Lett, 1956). The band has had a fluctuating list of members over the years but always with Vanian as its vocalist. Anything features original drummer Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible’s (temporary) replacement Bryn Merrick on bass and Roman Jugg on guitar and keyboards. The album, the band’s 7th studio recording, reached #40 on the UK album chart. The Damned released four singles, including the cover of “Alone Again Or” originally recorded by the folk-rock very un-goth 60′s group Love. However the song’s content is quite gothy, minor chords and bleak lyrics (“And I will be alone again tonight, my dear”).

While Anything was a respectable commercial success, it was criticized for its lack of punk energy, the Damned having by this point veered completely into the morose of goth. Allmusic’s Mark Deming writes, “1986’s Anything was the sound of Vanian and company falling down a well; fans were probably savvy enough not to expect the Damned to sound like a straightforward punk band by this point, but most of Anything barely even qualifies as rock ‘n’ roll….“Restless” and “In Dulce Decorum*” meander at length for all their thunder (and John Kelly’s echoing production makes everything thunders if it’s meant to or not), “Gigolo” suggests a failed merger of pop and prog rock, and “The Girl Goes Down” is a faintly ridiculous song that borrows from a number of vintage pop styles without distinction. Only “Psychomania” and the title cut generate anything approximating the energy of the Damned’s best music, and it’s telling that easily the best song on the album is a cover, a reasonably faithful rendition of Love’s “Alone Again Or.” The Damned began to crumble after Anything, and the band broke up for a spell in 1989; somehow it all seemed fitting after releasing the worst original album in the group’s catalog.”

*What I didn’t know! In a spectacularly 80′s pop culture move, “In Dulce Decorum” is featured in an episode of Miami Vice (“Walk Alone” which aired on October 17th, 1986) and on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album.