Brian James (born Brian Robertson, 18 February 1955) is an English punk rock

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

, who is best known for being a founding member of The Damned as well as of

The Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were an English/American supergroup with a line-up originally consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex- the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex- the Da ...

Biography

He began his musical career playing in several

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated w ...

bands including

London SS The London SS is a British rock group founded in March 1975 by drummer Geir Wade, bassist John Brown, guitarist Mick Jones, and guitarist Eunan Brady (formerly of the Hollywood Brats). They later became associated with the then new punk rock s ...

and The Subterraneans, in addition to glam rock band Bastard. James moved on to The Damned, writing almost all the material on their first two albums ('' Damned Damned Damned'' and '' Music for Pleasure'') before leaving at the end of 1977. In the following years James formed the short-lived Tanz Der Youth together with Andy Colqhoun on bass, Alan Powell on drums and Tony Moore on keyboards. They toured with

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

and released the single "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry" / "Delay" in 1978. James then played in

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

's solo touring band (1979) and recorded his first two solo singles, "Ain't That a Shame" (1979) and "Why? Why? Why?" (1982), both with

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

on drums. He also guested on The Saints' 1982 album, '' Out in the Jungle''. He would later co-found and play in

with Stiv Bators. The band recorded three studio albums and one EP, along with several live albums, from 1982 until their break-up in 1989. James reunited with The Damned for two shows at London Town and Country Club UK June 1988. Over a decade after his first solo single, he used the time without a band to record his eponymous solo debut album for the New Rose label in 1990. It featured long-time collaborators Malcolm Mortimore on drums and Alan Lee Shaw on bass. From 1992 to 1996, James then played guitar with the Brussels-based band the Dripping Lips. In 1992 he was invited by Scottish vocalist Robbie Kelman to co-write the soundtrack for the fil
Abracadabra
directed by Harry Cleven. The subsequent soundtrack album, produced by Kelman, was released in Benelux by EMI/INDISC. The band was composed by Robbie Kelman on vocals, James on guitar, Alan Lee Shaw on bass and Paul Zahl (ex-

Flamin' Groovies Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage Hea ...

) on drums. Kelman brought in his friend and record producer

Jimmy Miller James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of ...

to helm their second album, ''Ready to Crack''. Shaw had moved on to play guitar in The Damned, and Nico Mansy replaced him on bass. In 2001 James recorded the album ''Mad for the Racket'' with Wayne Kramer (guitar),

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

(bass),

and

Clem Burke Clement Burke (born Clement Anthony Bozewski; November 24, 1954) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer for the band Blondie from 1975, shortly after the band formed, throughout the band's entire career. He also played drums f ...

(drums) as Racketeers. Following that, James, together with Dave Tregunna, reformed The Lords of the New Church in 2002–2003 with vocalist Adam Becvare. The lineup recorded the ten-song unreleased CD ''Hang On'' and toured Europe in spring of that year. When this incarnation of the Lords was over and done, Brian formed another solo outfit: ''The Brian James Gang''. With Brian James on vocals and guitar, the remaining rhythm section of Dave Tregunna (bass) and Steve Murray (drums), the band was completed by Austen Gayton as additional guitarist. Within a year they released the Single ''New Rose 2006'' and a self-titled full length album. In 2012 he released a solo acoustic album ''Chateau Brian'' with former Lords of the New Church touring keyboard player Mark Taylor. In 2013 he revisited the material he played in his Damned years, both live by performing throughout the UK with Damned bandmate

Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...

and by re-recording nine Damned songs for his third solo album, ''Damned If I Do''. 2015 saw the release of a new studio album, ''The Guitar That Dripped Blood'', which featured guest appearances from

Cheetah Chrome Eugene Richard O'Connor (born February 18, 1955), better known by his stage name Cheetah Chrome, is an American musician who achieved fame as a guitarist for Rocket from the Tombs and the punk rock band Dead Boys. Career Rocket From the Tombs ...

and Adam Becvare. October 2022 saw James reunite with Scabies, Sensible and Vanian for five Damned Shows in the UK.

Discography

With The Damned

* '' Damned Damned Damned'' (1977), Stiff * '' Music for Pleasure'' (1977), Stiff

With Tanz Der Youth

* "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry" (Single, 1978),

Radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

With The Lords of the New Church

* ''

'' (1982), ( Illegal, I.R.S.) * '' Is Nothing Sacred?'' (1983), I.R.S. * '' The Method to Our Madness'' (1984), I.R.S. * ''Hang On'' (2003), Not on label

With The Dripping Lips

*''Abracadabra (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' (1993),

Indisc Indisc was a Belgian Dutch company composed of Brothers Goemaere & Brothers Brandsteder, and founded in 1957 by ex-employees of the Belgian Fonior (Brothers Goemaere) and the Dutch Dureco (Brothers Brandsteder) as Inelco (short for International El ...

*''Ready to Crack?'' (1998), Alive Records

With The Racketeers

*''Mad for the Racket'' (2000), Track Records

Solo

;Albums *''Brian James'' (1990), New Rose Records *''The Brian James Gang'' (2006), Easy Action *''Chateau Brian'' (2012), Devils Jukebox Records *''Damned If I Do'' (2013), Easy Action *''The Guitar That Dripped Blood'' (2015), Easy Action ;Singles *"Ain't That a Shame" (1979), BJ Records *"Why? Why? Why?" (1982), Illegal *"New Rose 2001" (2001), Boss Tuneage, Fuxony Records (with Flatpig) *"New Rose 2006" (2006), Easy Action *"Walkin' Round Naked" (2015), Easy Action *"Too Hot to Pop" (2017), Easy Action ;Extended Plays *"Anniversary Waltz EP" (2016), Easy Action

References

External links

* Brian James @ allmusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Brian English rock guitarists The Damned (band) members Living people 1955 births People from Hammersmith The Lords of the New Church members