Brian James (guitarist)

Brian James (born 18 February 1955, London, England) is a punk rock guitarist, who has played for several notable bands. His first band was the proto-punk outfit London SS. He was also in a band called The Bastards with vocalist Alan Ward alias Alan Timms. James then moved onto what would prove to be a pioneering punk band; The Damned, recording on their first two albums "Damned, Damned, Damned" and "Music for Pleasure" before leaving. Brian subsequently formed and disbanded Tanz Der Youth and Brian James Brain's who briefly became The Hellions. The latter suffered the indignity of being 'canned' off stage at Reading Rock '80 by a crowd who had come to see the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands whom the festival, by now, embraced.

Other Bands

James guested on The Saints' 1982 album "Out in the Jungle". He would later play in The Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators. He recorded three albums with the band, playing with them from 1982 till their break-up in 1989. Brian James has also played with Iggy Pop's solo band, but he never played on a studio recording with Iggy. He did however play on live albums such as "Heroin Hates You".

In 1998 James played guitar on an album with band The Dripping Lips. This album, titled "Ready to Crack?," featured Nico Mansy (Hugo Race and True Spirit) on bass, Paul Zahl (ex- Flaming Groovies) on drums, as well as a relatively unheard of singer from Belgium named Robbie Kelman contributing lead vocals. The album was produced by Jimmy Miller who passed away in 1994, and released by the company Alive/Total Energy Records of Burbank, California. Considered by some to be a departure from The Damned's traditionally raw and very acute "punk" sound, "Ready to Crack?" nevertheless incorporates substantial punk rock undertones within its larger framework of nouveau pop; it is at the least an interesting experiment undertaken by clearly accomplished musicians. James' guitar work on this album ranges from fairly sloppy (probably intentionally so) electric chords riddled with feedback, to crisp and accessible acoustic melody.

He currently fronts his own band The Brian James Gang, and is a founding member of the reformed The Lords of the New Church.