Captain Sensible (born Raymond Burns, 1954) is a singer,
songwriter, guitarist (and sometimes bassist) who grew up in Croydon , England ,
and co-founded the punk rock band The Damned in 1976. After leaving the band,
he reinvented himself as an alternative pop singer with a less punk image. His
signature headwear is a red beret.
Originally a member of the Johnny Moped band, Sensible
joined The Damned in 1976 on the suggestion of his work colleague Rat Scabies,
the band's drummer, filling a number of positions during his tenure (including
bassist, lead guitarist and keyboardist), and eventually becoming the band's
main songwriter following the departure of Brian James.
Sensible's first solo release came in 1978 with the
single "Jet Boy, Jet Girl", recorded while The Damned were on hiatus.
Captain Sensible is also a member of supergroup Dead Men
Walking.
In September 2006, he formed a political party known as
the Blah! Party. "Politics is dead," he said in a statement.
"The British public aren't voting because the parties are totally ignoring
their opinions. At the moment, the only real method of mass protest against
this is by not voting, which is why voting figures continue to fall.
"But we believe that voting is an important part of
the democratic process, and we want the Blah! Party to be the party of protest;
a channel through which the people of the U.K. can vent their dissatisfaction
at nonsensical everyday things, and protest against the government and the
current crop of political parties."
Ah, yes - Captain Sensible! We should also mention his famous hit "Wot", one of the first rap songs which ever made it to the Top 10 in Germany.
ReplyDeleteI still love it!!!
Heinrich
We love The Damned!! Nice blog. The town where our socks are made (called Pradoluengo, in the north of Spain) used to be one of the main berets producer in Spain, many years ago. As long as berets are not very demanded right now, they are not produced in our town anymore, i´m afraid. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteAlberto