To say I’m gutted would be an understatement. The music of The Damned and then subsequent bands and artists Brian played with have had a massive impact on my music over the decades from the first time that Damned Damned Damned was passed over the back wall of my house upon its release to listen to from a kind neighbour who thought I was ready for a lifetime of music for pleasure and boy was he right. In fact, I still have the chewed BASF cassette on which it was recorded (I could never bring myself to throw it away). I was hooked, when Brian left the Damned I was shocked as a young lad could be at the time (remember this is pre-interweb and all things digital) it might have been weeks when I read it in Sounds or NME. Brian and I had moved on I guess but years later I would hear his playing on the Lords Of The New Church and we were once again reunited in music and this time I was older and (maybe) wiser. I made scrapbooks of the clippings and followed his career and kept hoping for a Damned reunion so I could get to see that original line up but until then the Lords would do very nicely thank you very much.

I once tricked my then girlfriend (now Wife) into attending the Lords show in the Astoria to see Brian at work not knowing it was the infamous night when Stiv sacked the band again I had to find out the following week in the printed press again I was gutted but hey maybe it was a sign and the original Damned would do their thing.

Fast forward a few years and I would get my wish but I was much older then and appreciated many versions of the Damned and their music and the guys in the band. when CDs were a thing I got my first Discman just so I could buy Brian’s first solo album an album that I loved for its rawness and his mesmeric style of recording his guitar as loudly as possible as he weaved his magic through the speakers. Be it as a solo artist or in a band of brothers like when he teamed up with Wayne Kramer on Racketeers or was in the Lords I always kept coming back for more. I loved the mystery that still surrounded the guy, unassuming even when he turned up to play in a pub in the South Wales Valleys he got changed in the pool room and seemed quite happy to blend in.

I always wanted to interview him but kept finding a reason to chicken out because I was properly star struck which is daft really because I knew he’d possibly be my favourite interview and I’d happily admit to fanboying on his catalogue of work. Having only just found out of his passing and I can’t imagine what his wife and son are feeling now as just a fan I’m gutted I won’t be able to see him play loudly again as I loved the Damned reformed shows of a few years ago and it looked like they finally made some kind of peace together which was great to see. Brian still had the chops and alongside the Brian and Rat shows with Texas Terri Bomb or the Lords Of The New Church I always loved hearing his music be it full-on garage punk rock n roll or the Acoustic mellow songs he did with Mark Taylor.

Brian James was a pioneer. Undisputable fact. He was a trailblazer and one of the coolest guitar slingers to have ever walked Gods Green Earth. He played with Iggy He made some awesome albums with Stiv not many had a career as amazing as he did and his sound will live on after all of us have joined him into the next life. I’m sure there will be people who knew him well and worked with him who will write far better obituaries about the legend than I could ever muster but until then, Rest In Peace Brian James You Absolute legend.