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Posted on 11/18/2004 12:36:13 AM PST by reaganaut
CAMBRIDGE, England - A clergyman has criticized a city's decision to ask an aging punk band to switch on its annual civic display of Christmas lights.
The Damned, the Rev. Stephen Leeke said Wednesday, do not really encapsulate the spirit of the season.
"I do not think they are the best people to be switching on the Christmas lights," said Leeke, vicar of St. Martin's Church in Cambridge, 50 miles north of London. "I think perhaps it would be more appropriate for them to switch them off.
"It just seems to me to be a bit of a culture clash in launching the city's Christmas celebrations with a group who really haven't been renowned with looking at the positive side of life and Christian principles," he added.
The band, which sprang from London's mid-70s punk scene and released songs including "Problem Child," "Smash It Up" and "Suicide," is due to switch on the historic university town's seasonal decorations on Sunday.
Lead singer Captain Sensible, who had a solo hit in 1982 with the cheery Rogers and Hammerstein song "Happy Talk," defended the band, saying The Damned represented the true spirit of Christmas.
"It's a time to behave disgracefully and slob out in front of the TV," he told Independent Radio News. "The Damned are particularly good at that sort of thing and the church stuff just gets in the way."
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The Damned are so old and feeble that they are probably as tame as kittens by now. Let the poor coots switch on the holiday lights. It may be their last moment to bask in the limelight.
Just the idea of a band named "The Damned" participating in a Christmas event is funny to me. BTW, I like thier old stuff.
LOL, I thought we couldn't post stuff from The Onion anymore!
Good find.
Wasn't Rat Scabies in The Damned?
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