Doctors Of Madness - Figments Of Emancipation

Dave Vanian toured with them for a while after the Damned's 1978 break-up but I don't believe he ever recorded anything with them.

There's also a very, very vague bell ringinging in the deepest darkest recesses of my memory about some vague connection between Urban Blitz and Bethnal (the mid-'70's art-school rockers / punk bandwagon jumpers with the "punk" (electric) fiddle player, as opposed to the East London borough). Maybe the "punk" (electric) fiddle player from one band replaced the "punk" (electric) fiddle player from the other. Who knows?

This future actually did happen, albeit very briefly, and further back than you might think - further back even than the past we care to remember.

Late Night Movies is Doctors' first, Dave Vanian recorded an unreleased single with them - now included in the CD release of Sons Of Survival, their third and last studio album.

I think that Stewart's definition (punk + pub rockam) is perfectly right - its the part of the fascination the Doctors have on me. And they were totally in the wrong place at the wrong time, if this can add something to the mystique.

Like Ned R, and also around 2004, I thought I wanted to hear this band. And now, 16 years later, this morning I suddenly remembered that I wanted to hear Doctors of Madness. and there all four of their records are, in a comp on Spotify. I spose they sound like a link between BowieRoxy and the class of '77, but Scott S, a guy who ILM is really poorer for him not being around, got it right when he said that its like a listenable Final Cut.

Yeah, I picked up that cheap box set when it came out. I can't say they're a band that sits in my head but I quite enjoy them when I play their stuff. BowieRoxy77 is the right slot, too.

I have found in recent years that when I go looking for something typically rock nerd, FMU-listener, Mojo -reader-ish, on Spotify or whichever innuhnet method, I'm not particularly enthused…like No Other or Terry Reid's shit prompts "ehh, it's okay." Whereas when I encounter signature singles from K Michelle, Rosalia or Dua Lipa just by listening to the radio, I'm not expecting anything, my defenses are down, and those songs and others just knock me the fuck out…

but man, this box set that Gerald talks about is really yanking my crank. I haven't decided whether I want to buy it, but I haven't had a positive reaction to coming in cold to an obscure art-rock act like this since discovering the Sensational Alex Harvey Band 9 years ago. This shit is really well recorded too…take a bow, John Leckie! The drumming is pretty clattery, but the playing is excellent…the name of the band kinda sucks, tho…