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 Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

, Surrey. He played drums with Tor and London SS before founding the Damned with Brian James, Dave Vanian and

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band the Damned, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. H ...

in 1976. He continued to play with the band with some interruptions and alongside various personnel changes until a dispute over the release of the album '' Not of This Earth'' led to his departure in 1995. His solo work outside the Damned includes a cover version of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's " This Wheel's on Fire", credited to "Rat & The Whale". In 2003 Millar formed a short-lived outfit called the Germans with Peter Coyne and Kris Dollimore, originally from the Godfathers. In recent times, he has played with

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world musi ...

, Nosferatu, ska artist Neville Staple (formerly of

the Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lyn ...

) and his band,

Dave Catching David Catching (born June 7, 1961) is an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of the California stoner rock band earthlings?, a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal and the co-founder of the Rancho De La Luna ...

( Eagles of Death Metal), Chris Goss,

the Members The Members are a British punk band that originated in Camberley, Surrey, England. In the UK, they are best known for their single "The Sound of the Suburbs", reaching No. 12 in 1979, and in Australia, "Radio" which reached No. 5 in 1982. Ca ...

, the Mutants, the Spammed, Urban Voodoo Machine and Jane Horrocks. He has also worked as a producer, including with Flipron and Ebony Bones. In May 2018 he released his solo album ''P.H.D. (Prison, Hospital, Debt)''.

Personal life

Millar lives with his wife Viv and their three children in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

, and is the central character of the book '' Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail'', written by former music journalist Christopher Dawes. The book was published in May 2005 and is billed as "A road trip, a rich historical yarn, and testimony to the odd nature of a great many friendships".

Equipment

Scabies uses vintage Leedy & George Hayman drum kits. Over the years he has played various brands, starting with a John Grey 'Autocrat' kit in turquoise sparkle finish, before playing a black Pearl Maxwin kit (early 1970s to 1976), a white Pearl kit (late 1976–1981), a white Premier 'Resonator' kit (1982–1983), a Premier 'Black Shadow' kit (1984–1985), then a Premier 'Resonator' in piano black finish (1985–1996).

Discography

Albums

* ''

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...

'' (Nosferatu with Rat Scabies) (1998, Cleopatra Records (U.S.A & Canada, Hades Records (U.K. & Europe) * ''Spiteful'' (Sonny Vincent & Spite Featuring Rat Scabies, Glen Matlock, Steve Mackay) (2014, Still Unbeatable Records) *''P.H.D. (Prison, Hospital, Debt)'' (2018, Cleopatra)

Singles

* "Wheels On Fire" (as The Rat and The Whale) (1980, 7", Single) * "Millionaire" (Magic Michael with Rat Scabies & Captain Sensible) (1980, 7", Single) * "Let There Be Rats" (1984, 7", Single) * "Mary Ann" (Sonny Vincent & Spite Feat. Rat Scabies, Glen Matlock & Steve Mackay) (2015) * "Chew On You" (2018, Cleopatra)

References

External links

Rock supergroup The Spammed recording Tommy Gun - Specialized Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rat Scabies The Damned (band) members English punk rock drummers People from Kingston upon Thames 1955 births Living people The Lords of the New Church members