Rat Scabies says punk music did not arrive with a defined rulebook, recalling a period when The Damned and Sex Pistols were still playing to small audiences and the scene was only beginning to understand what it was becoming.
by Paul Cashmere
As The Damned prepare for their return to Australia in 2027, drummer Rat Scabies has reflected on the beginnings of British punk, revisiting the band’s place at the centre of a movement that was still taking shape in 1976. Speaking to Noise11, Scabies looked back on the release of The Damned’s debut single New Rose, the competition and crossover with Sex Pistols, and early London performances at the now legendary 100 Club.
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Nearly fifty years later, debates still continue over who truly ignited British punk. While the Sex Pistols became the movement’s most visible and controversial group, The Damned hold a place in music history as the first UK punk band to release a single.
Released in October 1976, New Rose reached stores a month before Sex Pistols issued Anarchy In The U.K. in November. The chronology has become part of punk folklore, although Scabies says there was little sense at the time that anyone was participating in a cultural moment that would eventually reshape popular music.
“Were we called punk then? Just about,” Scabies told Noise11.
“It hadn’t really caught on, but there was obviously a movement going on. There were loads of kids with bad haircuts and leather jackets and the media needed to give it some kind of title.”
Scabies said the term itself developed from several influences rather than emerging from a single source. He pointed to the visual culture coming out of New York and the impact of Punk Magazine, which documented artists before many listeners had even heard their music.
“I think Punk magazine had a lot more to do with the moniker being applied generally,” he said.
“You’d have photographs of Blondie and Richard Hell and you’d have to guess what they sounded like because none of them had records out.”
The distinction between the American and British scenes, according to Scabies, was also becoming apparent during those formative months.
“The Americans were much more on the aesthetic side,” he said. “In England we kind of took it literally.”
The early shows reflected that uncertainty. Before punk became a national talking point and before headlines followed every move by the Sex Pistols, many performances took place in front of small audiences. One of the key venues in that early development was London’s 100 Club, which hosted performances that later became central to punk history.
Scabies remembers sharing bills with Sex Pistols there, although the significance of the events was impossible to recognise at the time.
“It was a long time ago and punk didn’t suddenly explode and all the shows become sold out,” he said.
“I remember that gig. There weren’t that many people there, maybe 50 people max.”
For those who attended, Scabies believes there was still a feeling that something different was beginning.
“You always had the feeling that the people at those shows back then were the pioneers,” he said.
“What they say is it’s the pioneers that get the arrows and the settlers get the gold.”
The relationship between The Damned and Sex Pistols extended beyond sharing stages. Personnel also crossed paths during the early days. Scabies confirmed longstanding stories that both Dave Vanian and Sid Vicious had been considered in relation to the emerging line-up around The Damned.
“There was a bit more to it than that, but that’s the gist of it,” he said.
“You used to choose people for your band because they looked good. It wasn’t really anything to do with whether they could sing.”
The comments provide another perspective on a period that has often become mythologised through documentaries and retrospectives. Punk’s early development involved musicians working with limited resources, uncertain audiences and little understanding of where the movement might ultimately lead.
Today The Damned remain active and continue performing music that reaches back to those earliest years. While the mythology surrounding the first wave of punk continues to grow, Scabies views it through the memories of somebody who was there before anyone understood its historical importance.
For Australian audiences, the next chapter arrives in 2027 when The Damned return for another run of dates.
Tuesday 8 September, Auckland, Powerstation
Thursday 10 September, Sydney, The Opera House
Friday 11 September, Brisbane, The Tivoli
Sunday 13 September, Melbourne, The Forum
Tickets available at: https://thephoenix.au/the-damned-2026/
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