UK punk icon Captain Sensible on Hong Kong protests, the crazy early days and becoming sensible
- Captain Sensible, who, as part of The Damned, was one of the founders of the British punk rock scene, has matured over the past four decades
- He talks about shooting a cameraman, the band’s third visit to Hong Kong, his love of food and why he doesn’t act like a rock star
With Hong Kong gripped by mass protests, the band that was the pioneer of punk rock will perform live in the city as part of the Spirit of ’77 Punk Festival. The event celebrates the year disaffected youth in the UK turned to music to vent their frustration with the political establishment.
The Damned predate the Sex Pistols and The Clash and were in the vanguard of the punk movement in London in the mid- to late 1970s. Charismatic, energetic and defiant, they were the first UK punk band to record a single, (New Rose, 1976) the first to record an album, (Damned Damned Damned, 1977) and the first to tour the United States.
“We’d done more gigs, got more press than the Pistols and it looked like we’d be the UK’s No 1 punk band,” says Captain Sensible, the band’s guitarist, speaking from his home in London. Sensible has miraculously survived the excesses of being a professional punk musician for some 43 years and still relishes every moment.
“Oh, I was made for punk rock. I love a drink, especially a free one, and the more badly I behaved, the more my notoriety grew,” he says.
Raymond Burns adopted the stage name Captain Sensible, ironically because, as he freely admits, “far from being sensible, I was a disaster zone.”
Fans from the glory days of the punk scene remember him ripping off his signature synthetic pink fur jump suit and performing naked on stage with co-members Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian and Brian James, destroying guitars and generally acting like a lunatic.
