The Damned were and remain, of course, a British punk band. Some might say the British punk band, being that they were the first act of that era to issue any proper vinyl, but I’ll let the pedants fight that one out.
Personally speaking, fate introduced me to the music of The Clash and The Vibrators early on (via a crate of records sent home by my dad, then stationed in England, in the summer of 1977), and friends and classmates hipped me to the Sex Pistols, Generation X, the Stranglers and, oddly enough, 999 shortly afterwards. But I don’t think I really laid ears on the Damned until shamefully later in the proceedings. But, a bracing introduction to both “Neat Neat Neat” and “New Rose” changed all that, and I was thereafter hooked for life.
In any case, despite being Brits, the Damned were no strangers to these shores, and there are numerous pictures of the band cavorting mischievously around New York City (just as you’d expect them to do). Hell, the original sleeve of their uproariously excellent third album, 1979’s Machine Gun Etiquette, features a shot of the boys manfully obstructing traffic in Times Square.
My favorite shot of The Damned in New York, however, is invariably the one below, as taken by NYC Punk documentrix, erstwhile CBGB employee and presciently cool shutterbug, Roberta Bayley. Here are Messrs. Vanian, Sensible, James and Scabies in front of … well, you know…
Presumably during this same trip, Bayley shot the band around NYC, as well as their typically chaotic performance at CBGB. Those pictures are all well Googleable.
This is all why when my friend Tim posted a picture of the poster of the forthcoming documentary on the band, Don’t You Wish that We Were Dead, I suddenly thought … hmmmm… maybe that shot was also taken in New York City?
BUT WHERE?
Sure, there are loads of churches that boast similar arched entryways like the one seen in the picture, but the ornate metalwork on the hinges of that giant red door looked so distinctive. I had a hunch that maybe it was that church on Park Avenue South just west of Gramercy Park (where Iron Maiden were photographed in front of). My mind raced ahead, presuming that the Damned must have stayed in the Gramercy Park Hotel like Maiden and the Stranglers, and were then photographed in the neighborhood.
A nice theory, that, but the church doors didn’t match up. Then I made a crucial discovery … the original photograph…
Notice anything different? There’s a big red plaque behind Dave Vanian’s head that was evidently photoshopped out of the version on the poster.
Zoom in and it says “St. Stephen’s”
Thrilled by this development, I started Googling St. Stephens around NYC. There are indeed a couple of them, but none of them seemed to match. Then, of course, I looked a little closer at the sign…
The St. Stephen’s in question is actually on Westbourne Park Road which is, of course, in fucking London.
….`cos, y’know, what are the odds of a British band being photographed IN FUCKING BRITAIN?!?!.
Just to complete the picture, here’s what is most likely that same door today. It might not be the exact door, but it's certainly the same church … once again, not in New York City (much like this one wasn’t in New York City).
Oh well.
In any case, here’s the preview for “Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead,” which I have high hopes for…
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