The Damned were the first British band to release a punk single.

Their mighty debut New Rose was released in October 1976, 40 years ago, and their album, Damned Damned Damned, followed a year later.

Original members David Vanian and Captain Sensible are still going strong today and promising to stick two fingers up to mediocrity. Captain co-founded the band, originally playing bass before switching to guitar.

He embarked on a solo career during the 1980s and had a No.1 hit before rejoining the band in 1996 after drummer Rat Scabies left.

After a number of changes, the current line-up, featuring David Vanian, Captain Sensible, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, drummer Pinch and bassist Stu West, have been together since 2004.

In February, the band will be releasing a new 40th-anniversary special edition of Damned Damned Damned. They will play from that album, along with many of their hits and fan favourites at the gig in Margate this weekend.

We spoke to Captain Sensible ahead of the show...

What do you think of music today? Are there bands you like on the festival circuit?

We see interesting young bands all the time – whether they’ll get a fair crack of the whip in these days of 15-minute fame and X Factor fame is debatable. Social networking might help them break through, although apart from some kind soul posting my old nonsense on Twitter and Facebook (both @sensiblecaptain) that stuff is beyond me.

Your signature headwear is a red beret. Do you ever get fed up with wearing it?

There was a disgusting trend of spitting during some punk performances, which didn’t last long, thankfully. But I recall one venue we played… in Brum, I think it was. Anyway, they were gobbing at us from a balcony above the stage and I got a few greenies in my hair, which baked in the hot stage lights and proved a nightmare to get out in the shower later. I decided a hat was the way to go and it became my ‘look’.

Where does the tartan come from – do you have Scottish roots?

One of Vivienne Westwood’s contributions to the cause was the heroic tartan thing, but, yes, the Burns – that’s my name, Ray Burns – do hail from sunny Glasgow and when my dad relocated to London he worked as a waiter at Raymond’s Revue Bar in Soho. So I’m named after a strip club!

Have you ever read your Wikipedia? It says, among other things, that the first musical instrument you played was a Bontempi organ.

As a schoolboy growing up in the 1960s, the charts were full of psych pop songs like Whiter Shade Of Pale and Itchycoo Park, so I became mad keen on the swirling sound of the Hammond organ and nagged my parents to get me one. Woolworths had a Bontempi on sale which you could get a tune out of instantly. It wasn’t quite the mighty Hammond I dreamed of, but we used it for a while in the first incarnation of Johnny Moped, my first band. Years later, when desperate to quit smoking, I read a pamphlet from ASH which said if you can last a predetermined period – in my case the six months till Christmas – without fags, buy yourself the extravagant item you’d always wanted with the saved money. I made it through and finally got hold of the Hammond organ!

What would the you of the 1970s think of you now?

I didn’t think The Damned would last more than a few weeks! ELP, Genesis and Yes were so massive and we were only playing to 100 people or so at the Hope & Anchor – who’d have thought we would still be gigging 40 years later? Or even be alive. I’m just thankful I didn’t have to go back to cleaning toilets for Croydon Council.

Does everyone call you 'Captain', even your wife?

Yes, I’m stuck with it by now. I had a manager called Andy a while back at a time when I wasn’t very good at getting up in the morning. I recall him banging on my hotel room door at some ridiculous hour in the morning so we could do breakfast TV. Anyway, he was hammering away at the door shouting “It’s Andy, Cap”. Which people of a certain age might find amusing.

You’re quite a political animal – how do you feel about things at the moment in terms of politics in the UK?

I started my own party… Blair was to blame. The divide between rich and poor has widened enormously over the last few years, the NHS is being privatised by the back door, the press are clamouring for war with Russia and, despite public demand, the government refuse to do the right thing and renationalise the railways. But what do I know – I’m just a daft guitarist.

SHOW DETAILS

The Damned have rescheduled their date at Margate Winter Gardens, which was on Friday, December 9, to Monday, December 19. Tickets are £25 for the standing gig at 7.30pm with support.

To book, go to margatewinter gardens.co.uk