10 Greatest Rock Song Intros From The 1970s

2. New Rose - The Damned

The first punk single, and notice served that nothing would ever be the same. Dave Vanian's spoken intro, 20 second of Rat Scabies' cacophonous drums, then Brian James' excoriating guitar enters to demolish (for a short time as it turned out), the tiresome excesses of the old guard of rock.

The Damned's first album is an absolute essential for anyone trying to understand and appreciate the power of punk back in '76-'77. Short, sharp bursts of intensity, sonic explosions of frustration and the exhiliaration of getting to play the music you'd only ever dreamed of hearing.

Contributor

Lifelong music obsessive, regular contributor to US guitar magazines, sometime radio presenter, singer/guitarist in Star Studded Sham, true believer in the power of rock'n'roll and an amp turned up to 11, about to publish first novel, The Bulletproof Truth.