The dreamy, high-camp Edwardian gothic of The Damned’s Phantasmagoria is the subject of this month’s podcast. What happens when one of the UK’s most beloved punk acts steers itself right towards the gloomier sounds which they’ve always skirted? How many baby-bats experienced a sexual awakening to the “Shadow Of Love” video? Does lamping around with The Young Ones make you more like The Cramps or The Beatles? All these questions and more are taken up by the Senior Staff in this month’s Patreon-supported bonus podcast! You can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Music, or download directly or stream from Spotify or the widget down below.
Many thanks for a hugely enjoyable and insightful episode of WHAC.
On ‘Edward the Bear’ and Alex’s wish for a pub rockier version: there is the single version (B-side to the ‘Grimly Fiendish’ single) which to my ears is much more energetic; I love this version.
Also, a quick search on the interwebs suggests that ‘Edward the Bear’ seems to be a reworking of a song by Henry Badowski called ‘Baby Sign Here With Me’. There are at least three recorded versions of this: a 1978 John Peel session version by a band called King (?) which included Henry Badowski and Captain Sensible (released in 2004); a 1979 single version (or two?) by Henry Badowski; and a 1981 version on Henry Badowski’s LP, ‘Life is a Grand’. These all sound good to my ears, though I think my favourite remains the 1985 single version of ‘Edward the Bear’. So far as I can see, Henry Badowski does not get a writing credit for ‘Edward the Bear’ on either the 1985 album or single (though he does in the song’s Wikipedia entry).
All in all, this song seems to have a history akin to the long, windy staircase of a Gothic mansion in a 1970s British TV programme…
Wow thanks for the heads up on this version of Edward the Bear! It’s totally hitting the spot 🙂