A look at how the punk movement touched Cork

A new movie on The Damned forms part of a season of punk films in Cork. Ellie O’Byrne speaks to the director and hears about the movement on Leeside

TO SAY that the Damned were seminal for punk would be an understatement. Formed in 1976, they were the first UK punk rock band to release a single, the explosively energetic ‘New Rose’. The punk era was spawned, and five weeks later given an ungodly birth at the hands of The Sex Pistols’ debut single, ‘Anarchy in the UK’.

With their original line-up of vocalist David Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies, the Damned released their first album, Damned Damned Damned, in 1977.