The Damned: “Smash It Up” (1979)

A smashing single that was banned by the BBC for promoting anarchy.

Kronomyth 3.01: Smash shit up, indeed.

I don’t want to start hating on The Damned, and Smash It Up is a swell tune, but the band really comes off as a bunch of punk poseurs in the video. It’s like the punk version of the Spice Girls: you’ve got the gothic punk (Dave Vanian), the working-class punk (Rat Scabies), the artistic punk (Captain Sensible) and the leather punk (Algy Ward). They sounded more threatening on vinyl than they looked. The B side is Burglar, a nonalbum track featuring Scabies on lead vocals. Once again, Scabies proves he’s the most authentic punk of the bunch, sneering his way through a litany of threats. It appears that the 45 rpm sleeve for this was from the same photo shoot as the album cover for Machine Gut Etiquette.

Original 7-inch single version

A1. Smash It Up (Rat Scabies/Dave Vanian/Algy Ward/Captain Sensible)
B1. Burglar (Rat Scabies/Dave Vanian/Algy Ward/Captain Sensible)

The Players

Produced by The Damned & Roger Armstrong.

The Pictures

Photo by A. Ballard Esq. Sleeve by Phil Smee.

The Plastic

Released on 7-inch single in October 1979 in the UK (Chiswick, CHIS 116) with picture sleeve. Reached #35 on the UK charts (charted on October 20, 1979 for 5 weeks).

1. Re-issued on 7-inch red vinyl single in March 1982 in the UK (Big Beat, NS 76) with picture sleeve.