On October 20th, 1980, The Damned released their fourth studio LP—The Black Album—a record whose sleeve parodies The Beatles White Album, and whose music moved the band into a more Gothic-Rock direction.
The record was produced at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales, and was the first to feature Paul Gray on bass guitar.
The record features the singles “The History of the World (Part 1)”, “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, “Wait for the Blackout”, and “Lively Arts”.
Notably, the song “13th Floor Vendetta” pays tribute to the film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), opening with the lyrics “…the organ plays to midnight on Maldine Square tonight”.
Captain Sensible later said of The Black Album that Dave Vanian’s vocals on the record had transitioned from punk into a more to a darker direction, and stating:
“It is goth; we didn’t set out to do that but that is just the way it is. He did have a hearse, he was a gravedigger”.
Side One:
- A1 Wait for the Blackout
- A2 Lively Arts
- A3 Silly Kids Games
- A4 Drinking About My Baby
- A5 Twisted Nerve
- A6 Hit or Miss
Side Two
- B1 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- B2 Sick of This And That
- B3 History of the World Pt. 1
- B4 13th Floor Vendetta
- B5 Therapy
- C1 Curtain Call
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