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Best known as a co-founder (with Chris Miller, aka Rat Scabies) of the punk band the Damned, Raymond Burns, aka Captain Sensible, is one of the most beguiling and talented individuals to emerge from the punk era. Ironically, he never sought a separate career from that of the Damned, but success with a series of singles, coupled with extended periods of inactivity by the band, made it a foregone conclusion that he would become a star in his own right. In the early '80s, Captain Sensible put together a group of his own called King, which lasted all of three months before breaking up. He later sang on the single "Jet Boy Jet Girl" and appeared on Johnny Moped's Cycledelic album. He was signed to A&M as a solo artist, and had a number one British hit with the old musical number "Happy Talk." He followed it up with an original, "Glad It's All Over," an antiwar song about the Falklands; for a time, he was also hooked up with Robyn Hitchcock. By this time, his status as a member of the Damned made him a regular topic of coverage in the British music press, and he became well-known for various beliefs, including devoted vegetarianism and an opposition to war, which he presented in bitingly satirical fashion.
Captain Sensible proved more charming than any other veteran of the punk scene. His 1985 vegetarian-oriented single "Wot! No Meat?" was a success, and over the years he also recorded a series of albums, The Power of Love (1983), Revolution Now (1989), and The Universe of Geoffrey Brown (1993), that were good sellers and critical favorites, though only in England -- in an era in which the Damned were little more than a cult act on the other side of the Atlantic, Captain Sensible barely registered on anyone's radar screen in America. He and his band -- Paul Gray on bass, Malcolm Dixon on organ and synthesizer, and Garrie Dreadful on drums -- became famous for the reckless abandon and prodigious musicianship of their live shows, which were spiced by the Captain's savage wit. In 1994 he released Live at the Milky Way, the best album of his solo career and one of the finest live albums of the era, followed by Meathead in 1995 and Mad Cows & Englishmen in 1996. With his reputation secured in particular by Live at the Milky Way, Captain Sensible remained a fan favorite even while once again joining the ranks of the Damned in the 21st century, appearing on such Damned discs as 2001's Grave Disorder and 2008's So, Who's Paranoid?
from Wikipedia:
Captain Sensible (born Raymond Burns, 23 April 1955) is a singer, songwriter, guitarist (and sometimes bassist) who grew up in Croydon, England, and co-founded the punk rock band The Damned in 1976. After leaving the band, he reinvented himself as an alternative pop singer with a rebellious, self-conscious image. His signature headwear is a red beret.
Early life
He was born Raymond Ian Burns in Balham, London in 1955. He went to Stanley Technical School for Boys in South Norwood.
The Damned
Originally a member of the Johnny Moped band, Sensible joined The Damned in 1976 on the suggestion of his work colleague Rat Scabies, the band's drummer, filling a number of positions during his tenure (including bassist, lead guitarist and keyboardist), and eventually becoming the band's main songwriter following the departure of Brian James. He left in the 1980s to concentrate on solo projects, but rejoined in 1996 after Scabies left, and co-wrote Grave Disorder, the band's first new studio album for 8 years, in 2001. He continues to tour with the band today and they released their latest album So, Who's Paranoid? on 17 November 2008.
Solo career
Sensible's first solo release came in 1978 with the single "Jet Boy, Jet Girl", recorded while The Damned were on hiatus. He followed this in 1981 with an EP on Crass Records. He signed to A&M Records and had a UK number one hit in 1982 with a cover of "Happy Talk", the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from South Pacific, featuring backing by Dolly Mixture and a band including Robyn Hitchcock on guitar; this was later sampled for rap artist Dizzee Rascal's 2004 song "Dream". Other songs which became hits in the UK and various European countries were "Wot?", "One Christmas Catalogue" and anti-Falklands War "Glad It's All Over". After quitting A&M Records he continued recording for various independent labels, including Deltic Records and Humbug Records. He has also toured with his solo band Punk Floyd.
His recording of "The Snooker Song" from Mike Batt's musical The Hunting Of The Snark was used as the theme music for the BBC gameshow Big Break, and he also wrote and performed a song called "Brain's Theme" for the movie Skinned Deep in 2004.
Captain Sensible is also a member of Dead Men Walking, a supergroup featuring Mike Peters (The Alarm), Kirk Brandon (Spear of Destiny) and Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats).
Politics
In September 2006, he formed a new British political party known as the Blah! Party. "Politics is dead," he said in a statement. "The British public aren't voting because the parties are totally ignoring their opinions. At the moment, the only real method of mass protest against this is by not voting, which is why voting figures continue to fall.
"But we believe that voting is an important part of the democratic process, and we want the Blah! Party to be the party of protest; a channel through which the people of the U.K. can vent their dissatisfaction at nonsensical everyday things, and protest against the government and the current crop of political parties."
The party entered into a sponsorship deal with Seabrook Crisps in September 2006.
He was previously a member of the Green Party.
