Captain Sensible is a singer, songwriter, guitarist (and sometimes bassist) who grew up in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, England, and co-founded the punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s 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

Beret

A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....

.

Early life

He was born Raymond Ian Burns in Balham

Balham

Balham is a district of London, EnglandBalham can also refer to:*Balham, Ardennes, a commune in France*Balham station, railway and tube station in Balham, London*Balaam, a Biblical figure...

, London in 1955. He went to Stanley Technical School for Boys in South Norwood.

The Damned

Originally a member of the Johnny Moped

Johnny Moped

Johnny Moped were a mid 1970s English punk rock group from south London, who once had Chrissie Hynde and Captain Sensible within their ranks.-Biography:...

 band, Sensible joined The Damned in 1976 on the suggestion of his work colleague Rat Scabies

Rat Scabies

Christopher Millar , better known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known for his tenure as the drummer for The Damned....

, 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

Grave Disorder

Grave Disorder is an album from the punk rock band The Damned, released in August 2001.It was their first release since signing to Nitro Records. The album is musically similar to Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible's previous Damned collaboration, Strawberries...

, 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?

So, Who's Paranoid?

So, Who's Paranoid is the tenth studio album from The Damned, released in November 2008.-Track listing:#"A Nation Fit for Heroes" - 3:57#"Under the Wheels" - 5:02#"Dr...

on 17 November 2008.

Solo career

Sensible's first solo release came in 1978 with the single "Jet Boy, Jet Girl

Jet Boy, Jet Girl

"Jet Boy, Jet Girl" is a risqué song by Elton Motello about a 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl...

", recorded while The Damned were on hiatus. He followed this in 1981 with an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 on Crass Records

Crass Records

Crass Records is an independent record label which was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass.-Overview and history:Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial House based Exitstencil Press...

. He signed to A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 and had a UK number one hit in 1982 with a cover of "Happy Talk

Happy Talk (song)

In June 1982, The Damned's guitarist Captain Sensible scored an unlikely #1 single on the UK singles chart for two weeks with his version of the song, featuring backing vocals by the band Dolly Mixture.-Cover Version:...

", the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from South Pacific, featuring backing by Dolly Mixture and a band including Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....

 on guitar; this was later sampled for rap artist Dizzee Rascal

Dizzee Rascal

Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...

'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

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 "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

Mike Batt

Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...

's musical The Hunting Of The Snark was used as the theme music for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 gameshow Big Break

Big Break

Big Break is a British game show based around the game of snooker, mixed with traditional game show elements. It was broadcast on BBC1 between 30 April 1991 and 9 October 2002...

, 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

Dead Men Walking

Dead Men Walking are a UK based rock band with a multi national line-up, who have toured the UK, Ireland and the U.S.-Career:They have released four albums: Live At Guildford , Live At Leeds , Live At Darwen , and Graveyard Smashes Volume 1...

, a supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 featuring Mike Peters

Mike Peters (musician)

Mike Peters is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer of The Alarm. He currently lives in Dyserth, North Wales with his family. After The Alarm split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, which he has been releasing under the name "The Alarm" since 2000...

 (The Alarm

The Alarm

The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture...

), Kirk Brandon

Kirk Brandon

Kirk Brandon is an English musician.-Musical career:Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, South London, with the formation of punk group The Pack, in which he was the singer/songwriter....

 (Spear of Destiny

Spear of Destiny (band)

Spear of Destiny is a British rock band, established in 1982 by singer and songwriter Kirk Brandon and bassist Stan Stammers. It has had an ever-changing line-up through the years.-Biography:...

) and Slim Jim Phantom

Slim Jim Phantom

Slim Jim Phantom is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside band mates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.-Biography:...

 (Stray Cats

Stray Cats

Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...

).

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

Green Party of England and Wales

The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

.

Albums

• Women and Captains First (1982), A&M – UK #64
• The Power of Love (1983), A&M
• Revolution Now (1989), Deltic
• The Universe of Geoffrey Brown (1993), Humbug
• Live at the Milky Way (1994), Humbug
• Meathead (1995), Humbug
• Mad Cows and Englishmen (1996), Scratch

Compilations:

• Sensible Singles (1984), A&M
• A Slice of Captain Sensible (1997), Humbug
• The Captain's Box (1997), Humbug
• Sensible Lifestyles: The Best of Captain Sensible (1997), Cleopatra
• The Masters (1998), Eagle

EPs

• This is Your Captain Speaking (1981), Crass
• The Universe of Captain Sensible (1998), Jarmusic

Singles

• "Jet Boy, Jet Girl
  Jet Boy, Jet Girl
  "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" is a risqué song by Elton Motello about a 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl...
  
  " (1978), Dutch Poker
• "Happy Talk
  Happy Talk (song)
  In June 1982, The Damned's guitarist Captain Sensible scored an unlikely #1 single on the UK singles chart for two weeks with his version of the song, featuring backing vocals by the band Dolly Mixture.-Cover Version:...
  
  " (1982), A&M – UK No. 1
• "Wot" (1982), A&M – UK No. 26
• "Croydon" (1982), A&M
• "Stop the World" (1983), A&M – UK No. 82
• "I'm a Spider" (1983), A&M
• "Glad It's All Over" (1984), A&M – UK No. 6
• "There are More Snakes than Ladders" (1984), A&M – UK No. 57
• "One Christmas Catalogue" (1984), A&M – UK No. 79
• "Wot, No Meat?" (1985), Animus – credited to 'Captain Sensible & the Missus' (duet with Rachel Bor of Dolly Mixture)
• "Come On Down" (1985), A&M
• "Revolution Now" (1987), A&M
• "The Snooker Song" (1988), Trax
• "The Toys Take Over" (1988), Deltic
• "I Get So Excited" (1988), Deltic
• "Smash Ut Up (part 4)" (1990), Deltic – Captain Sensible & the Brotherhood of Lizards
• "Wot '93" (1993), XYZ
• "The Hokey Cokey" (1994), Humbug – UK No. 71
• "Flip Top World" (1995), Humbug
• "While Wrecking the Car" (1997), Empty
• "Missing the Boat" (1999), Jarmusic
• "Wot – I Say Captain" with Erkan&Stefan (2005)

External links

• Interview with Captain Sensible (includes video of interview, and of The Damned's 35th anniversary tour), Rocker Magazine, 2011.
• Captain Sensible discography
• Extended discography