Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is known for his distinctive appearance including a red

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

and sunglasses, typically with white frames. Sensible embarked on a solo career during the 1980s, achieving a UK number one hit with his version of

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

's "

Happy Talk Happy talk, also called banter, is the additional and often meaningless commentary interspersed into television news programs by news anchors and others on set. It may consist of simple jokes or simply a modified wording in asking a question o ...

" (1982) and further hits with " Wot" (1982) and "Glad It's All Over" (1984). In 2006, Sensible founded the Blah! Party. He continues to perform in the Damned.

Early life

Raymond Ian Burns was born in

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

, London, on 24 April 1954. He went to Stanley Technical School for Boys in

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Woodside and ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. The first musical instrument he played was a

Bontempi Bontempi is an Italian musical instrument manufacturer, best known for producing low-priced, plastic-cased chord organs: small keyboard instruments in which the sound is produced by air being forced over reeds by an electric fan. History Fo ...

organ. Growing up, he listened to

Brian Auger Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eric B ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

Stray Stray or The Stray or ''variation'', may refer to: Animals * A feral (abandoned or escaped) domestic animal; see also estray * A stray or free-ranging dog Places * Areas of open grassland in North Yorkshire: ** Strays of York ** The Stray (Harro ...

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

and

the Groundhogs The Groundhogs were an English blues and rock band founded in late 1963 in London. Named after John Lee Hooker's song "Ground Hog Blues", they were part of the burgeoning British rhythm and blues scene, backing Hooker on his album '' ...And Se ...

The Damned

Originally a member of the

Johnny Moped Johnny Moped are an English punk rock group formed in South London in the mid-1970s, who once had Chrissie Hynde (later of the Pretenders) and Captain Sensible (later of the Damned) as members. Biography Formed in Croydon in May 1974, the ba ...

band, Captain Sensible joined the Damned in 1976 on the suggestion of his colleague

Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...

, the band's drummer, filling a number of positions during his tenure (including bassist, lead guitarist and keyboardist), and eventually becoming the band's main songwriter following the departure of Brian James. Captain Sensible left in the 1980s to concentrate on solo projects, and studied in West Sussex but rejoined in 1996 after Scabies left, and co-wrote '' Grave Disorder'', the band's first new studio album for 8 years, in 2001. He continues to tour and record with the band.

Solo career

Captain Sensible's first solo release came in 1978 with the single "

Jet Boy, Jet Girl "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" is a 1977 song by Elton Motello about a 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl. Background Alan Ward had toured Belgium with Bastard. Through his connections there, he had h ...

", an

Elton Motello Elton Motello were an English punk rock and new wave band. Elton Motello is both the moniker of Alan Ward, the lead singer and songwriter, and the name of the band itself.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Elton Motello", in ''The Great Indie Discograph ...

cover recorded while the Damned were on hiatus. He followed this in 1981 with the '' This Is Your Captain Speaking'' EP on

Crass Records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...

. He signed to

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

and had a UK number one hit in 1982 with a cover of "

", the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

'', featuring backing by

Dolly Mixture Dolly Mixture were an English rock band, formed in 1978 by the bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist and vocalist Rachel Bor, and drummer Hester Smith. They had a taste of top 40 success performing backing vocals for the Captain Sensib ...

and a band including

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

on guitar. This was later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

for

British hip hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...

artist

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...

's 2004 song "Dream". Other Captain Sensible songs that became hits in the UK and Europe were " Wot", "One Christmas Catalogue" and anti-

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

"Glad It's All Over", which was co-written and produced by

Tony Mansfield Anthony Charles Mansfield (born 19 January 1955) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. He first gained prominence as the frontman of the synth-pop band New Musik, which he formed in 1977. Throughout his career, Mansfield has ...

. After quitting A&M Records he continued recording for various independent labels, including Deltic Records and Humbug Records. He has also toured with his solo band Punk Floyd. Captain Sensible's recording of "The Snooker Song" from

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

's musical ''

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony, in Eight Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eig ...

'' was used as the theme music for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

gameshow ''

Big Break ''Big Break'' is a British game show that aired on BBC1 from 30 April 1991 to 9 October 2002 and was hosted by Jim Davidson with John Virgo as referee. The programme focuses on teams consisting of a contestant and a professional snooker player ...

'', and he also wrote and performed a song called "Brain's Theme" for the movie ''Skinned Deep'' in 2004. CaptainSensible02

Captain Sensible is also a member of

Dead Men Walking Dead Men Walking are an English-based rock supergroup with a multi national line-up, who have toured the UK, Ireland and the United States. From 2001 to 2006 they were led by Mike Peters of the Alarm and Kirk Brandon, of Spear of Destiny, wi ...

, a supergroup featuring Mike Peters,

Kirk Brandon Kirk Brandon (born 3 August 1956) is an English musician best known as the leader of the bands Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny. Musical career Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, south London, with the formation of punk g ...

(

Spear of Destiny A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to t ...

) and

Slim Jim Phantom James McDonnell, known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he is considered a pioneer of the neo-rockabilly movemen ...

, and the Sensible Gray Cells with current Damned mate Paul Gray.

Politics

In September 2006, Captain Sensible formed a new British political party known as the Blah! Party, saying, "We believe that voting is an important part of the democratic process, and we want the Blah! Party to be the party of protest, a channel through which the people of the U.K. can vent their dissatisfaction at nonsensical everyday things, and protest against the government and the current crop of political parties." The Blah! Party was largely modelled on the principle of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

, with suggestions being made by anyone on the party website. These suggestions would then be voted on by the membership, resulting in a "rolling

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

." The party was launched on 24 September 2006 at a conference in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Initial policies included stopping "chav culture and the idolisation of airhead celebrities like the Beckhams,

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

and

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English media personality. She was a contestant on the Big Brother (British TV series) series 3, third series of the Channel 4 reality show ''Big Brother (British TV series) ...

", alongside more serious policies of opposing the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and

ID cards An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a document proving a person's identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). When the identity document incorporates a ...

, instead spending money on public transport, hospitals and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

. The Blah! Party entered into a sponsorship deal with Seabrook Crisps in September 2006, with the party logo and details on joining for free printed on their packets. The party also received non-financial support from PR company Propaganda. The party received £168,309 in the last quarter of 2006. The party was debt-free in 2008, with a membership of 8,544, up from 5,000 in 2007. The first Blah! Party candidate was Carl Finlan, who stood in the 2007 local elections in Thornton and Allerton ward,

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. He gained 69 votes (1.6%). Deputy leader Melodie Staniforth stood in the Holme Valley North ward of

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

as 'Boney Maroney' in 2008. She gained 38 votes (0.68%). She resigned shortly afterwards. On 11 September 2007, Propaganda handed total control of the Blah! Party to Captain Sensible, former

Official Monster Raving Loony Party The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Lord Sutch. It is notable for its de ...

deputy leader Melodie Staniforth, Robert Staniforth, Sadie Ingoldby, Shaun Nightingale and Gary Spate. In December 2008, Propaganda closed the website. The party ended its association with Propaganda and Seabrook, launching a new website. At the same time it de-registered from the register of political parties, deciding to instead be a protest group.

Personal life

Captain Sensible was previously in a long term relationship with Rachel Bor of

. The couple have three children together. He is currently married to Mayumi. Burns adopted his stage name Captain Sensible ironically because he described himself as a "debauched maniac" who had fun "regardless of the consequences." However, after living at Dial House (the commune where the

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...

band

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

lived) for a week to record an EP in 1981, his life changed and he became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

who adhered to Crass' pacifist and creative aims. Captain Sensible has written several songs about

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

, including " Torture Me" and most notably the 1985 single "Wot! No Meat?". He is a supporter of

Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club, commonly referred to as Crystal Palace or simply Palace, is a professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the top-tier of English football. The clu ...

Burns is a

railfan A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...

, particularly enjoying diesel locomotives after being rescued from a stranded service in cold weather by one as a child. He later named Deltic Records after the Deltic locomotives. Class 47 diesel locomotive ''47810'' was previously named ''Captain Sensible'' after Burns.

Discography

Solo

;Albums *'' Women and Captains First'' (1982), A&M – UK No. 64 *'' The Power of Love'' (1983), A&M *'' Revolution Now'' (1989), Deltic *'' The Universe of Geoffrey Brown'' (1993), Humbug *'' Live at the Milky Way'' (1994), Humbug *'' Meathead'' (1995), Humbug *'' Mad Cows and Englishmen'' (1996), Scratch ;Compilations *''Sensible Singles'' (1984), A&M *''A Day in the Life of ...'' (1984), A&M *''A Slice of Captain Sensible'' (1997), Humbug *''The Captain's Box'' (1997), Humbug – ontains ''A Slice of Captain Sensible'' and ''Meathead''*''Sensible Lifestyles: The Best of Captain Sensible'' (1997), Cleopatra *''The Masters'' (1998), Eagle eissue of ''Mad Cows and Englishmen'', including bonus tracks*''The Collection'' (2003), Spectrum Music ;EPs *'' This Is Your Captain Speaking'' (1981),

– UK Indie No. 3 *''The Universe of Captain Sensible'' (1998), Jarmusic ontains 5 tracks from ''Revolution Now'' and ''The Universe of Geoffrey Brown'' ;Singles Notes

The Damned

*''

Damned Damned Damned ''Damned Damned Damned'' is the debut studio album by the English punk rock band the Damned. It was released on 18 February 1977 by Stiff Records. Produced by Nick Lowe, ''Damned Damned Damned'' was the first full-length album released by a UK ...

'' (1977) *'' Music for Pleasure'' (1977) *''

Machine Gun Etiquette ''Machine Gun Etiquette'' is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 9 November 1979 by Chiswick Records. The album peaked at No. 31 on the UK Charts The album was the group's first since reforming with a new l ...

'' (1979) *'' The Black Album'' (1980) *''

Strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

'' (1982) *'' Grave Disorder'' (2001) *'' So, Who's Paranoid?'' (2008) *''

Evil Spirits A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...

'' (2018) *''

The Rockfield Files ''The Rockfield Files'' is a four-track EP by English rock band the Damned, released on 16 October 2020. It was released by London-based label Search and Destroy in a joint venture with Spinefarm Records. The EP marks the last recording with ...

'' (2020) *'' Darkadelic'' (2023)

Dead Men Walking

*''Live At CBGB New York City'' (2005), Resistance *''Graveyard Smashes Volume 1'' (2006), Resistance *''Easy Piracy'' (2015), Slimstyle Records

The Sensible Gray Cells

*'' A Postcard from Britain'' (2013), Easy Action *''

Get Back into the World ''Get Back into the World'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Sensible Gray Cells, released 27 November 2020 by Damaged Goods. The band is a side project of guitarist Captain Sensible and bassist Paul Gray of the Damned, and t ...

'' (2020), Damaged Goods

The Jack Tars

*''The Jack Tars'' EP (2015)

References

External links

* * *
Interview with Captain Sensible
(includes video of interview, and of The Damned's 35th anniversary tour), Rocker Magazine, 2011.
Captain Sensible discography

Extended discography
{{Authority control 1954 births People from Balham Living people The Damned (band) members English punk rock singers English punk rock guitarists English punk rock bass guitarists English male singers English new wave musicians Musicians from Brighton and Hove Psychedelic rock musicians British male bass guitarists British male new wave singers Dead Men Walking members A&M Records artists English anti–Iraq War activists English republicans