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 band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is known for his distinctive appearance including a red beret 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's "Happy Talk" (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.
Originally a member of the Johnny Moped band, Captain Sensible joined the Damned in 1976 on the suggestion of his colleague Rat Scabies, 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.[6][7]
Other Captain Sensible songs that became hits in the UK and Europe were "Wot", "One Christmas Catalogue" and anti-Falklands War "Glad It's All Over", which was co-written and produced by Tony Mansfield. 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's musical The Hunting of the Snark was used as the theme music for the BBC gameshow Big Break, and he also wrote and performed a song called "Brain's Theme" for the movie Skinned Deep in 2004.
Captain Sensible performing live in Abergavenny, 1994
"I always wanted to put a brick through the TV when I saw Blair pop his head up. It's quite easy to write lyrics when politicians are so corrupt. I had to start my own political party I was so angry. I called it the Blah Party. It was 50 per cent joke, 50 per cent serious but was my way of dealing with it."
In September 2006, Captain Sensible formed a new British political party known as the Blah! Party,[12] 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."[13]
The Blah! Party was largely modelled on the principle of direct democracy, 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."[14][15] The party was launched on 24 September 2006 at a conference in Manchester.[16] Initial policies included stopping "chav culture and the idolisation of airhead celebrities like the Beckhams, Paris Hilton and Jade Goody", alongside more serious policies of opposing the Iraq War and ID cards, instead spending money on public transport, hospitals and renewable energy.[15]
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.[16][17] The party also received non-financial support from PR company Propaganda. The party received £168,309 in the last quarter of 2006.[18] The party was debt-free in 2008, with a membership of 8,544, up from 5,000 in 2007.[19]
The first Blah! Party candidate was Carl Finlan, who stood in the 2007 local elections in Thornton and Allerton ward, Bradford.[20] He gained 69 votes (1.6%).[21] Deputy leader Melodie Staniforth stood in the Holme Valley North ward of Kirklees as 'Boney Maroney' in 2008.[22] She gained 38 votes (0.68%).[23] She resigned shortly afterwards.[24]
On 11 September 2007, Propaganda handed total control of the Blah! Party to Captain Sensible, former Official Monster Raving Loony Party deputy leader Melodie Staniforth, Robert Staniforth, Sadie Ingoldby, Shaun Nightingale and Gary Spate.[24] 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.[24]
Personal life
Captain Sensible was previously in a long term relationship with Rachel Bor of Dolly Mixture.[25] The couple have three children together.[25] He is currently married to Mayumi.[25][26]
Burns adopted his stage name Captain Sensible ironically because he described himself as a "debauched maniac" who had fun "regardless of the consequences."[27] However, after living at Dial House (the commune where the anarcho-punk band Crass lived) for a week to record an EP in 1981, his life changed and he became a vegetarian who adhered to Crass' pacifist and creative aims.[27][28] Captain Sensible has written several songs about animal rights, including "Torture Me" and most notably the 1985 single "Wot! No Meat?".[29][30]
Burns is a railfan, particularly enjoying diesel locomotives after being rescued from a stranded service in cold weather by one as a child.[3] He later named Deltic Records after the Deltic locomotives.[3]Class 47 diesel locomotive 47810 was previously named Captain Sensible after Burns.[31][3]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released
Notes
^Credited to 'Captain Sensible and the Softies'. The song also appeared as the B-side to the Damned's 1982 single "Wait for the Blackout"
^Credited to 'Magic Michael with Rat Scabies & Captain Sensible'
^There were three different simultaneous releases, which had different credits: 'The Sunset Boys + Captain Sensible', 'Maxims Trash with Captain Sensible', and 'Maximum Mania with Captain Sensible'
^"District Council Election"(PDF). City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. 3 May 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
^ abcDe Silva, Lisa (April 2009). "Almost Famous: Dolly Mixture". South Downs Living. No. 47. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
^"Damned : "Torture Me"". La Terre d'abord ! (in French). 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
^*"Captain Sensible". Offiziellecharts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
"Raymond Burns". Offiziellecharts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
^Woodhall, Dave (1 December 2015). "Ahoy there Jim lad!!!". The Birmingham Press. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
