Captain Sensible- Women & Captains First (1982)

 There’s no other character in music similar to Captain Sensible. His debut solo album is one of the most
diverse projects I can think of and it doesn’t even hint at Captains experience in the punk scene as a key member of The Damned. It’s a truly bizarre record and even more bizarre is how much success it gained.

It might not sound like such a shocker after the first track. Wot is a remarkably groovy song with a very danceable guitar line. It’s no surprise that Ducksauce saw fit to rework this track for their upcoming album. What is surprising though is that not Wot but Happy Talk, a wonderfully cheesy and cutesy cover of a 50s musical number was #1 in England and made Captain Sensible famous. What’s even more baffling is how sure Captain and everyone who heard it was that this will happen. In some aspects I get this, this song is unescapable, there hasn’t been a day in last few months when it hasn’t crossed my mind at least once. And I won’t call it a guilty pleasure- despite how cartoony this thing is it’s legitimately good. It doesn’t make Captain a one hit wonder though, Women & Captains First is packed with top notch material from front to back- I love the synth passage on the second part of Brenda, Nobody’s Sweetheart is yet another charming throwback to the 50s that makes Happy Talk look less like an odd-ball on the album, A Nice Cup of Tea is a solid rock song and Who Is Melody Lee, Sid? brings a nice country vibe. Final song, Croydon is actually stunning, backing vocals by Dolly Mixture really shine through on those last minutes of the record. Success of this album stirred Captains career into a very different direction which sadly led to him quitting The Damned. It’s a real shame but Women & Captains first is such a unique album it almost makes up for it. .

Rating: 8.5/10

After I had originally posted the review on Instagram I got a comment from Captain himself where he shared a few words about the album, which to this day is the biggest moment of gratification I have gotten from written this stuff. Here it is:

"Recording the album was such fun, I’m really glad the vibe comes over like that. It all came about for a few tunesthe Damned rejected as too pop, something I’d never been that adverse to if the truth is known.. so I knocked them up with fellow South Londoner Tony Mansfield, often in all night studio sessions as there was zero budget when we started out. Everything changed of course after we played a bunch of tracks to A&M and the next thing you know the albums in the charts led by that slightly notorious single. Leaving the Damned was a wrench, yes..but I’ve been back with them for yonks now - check out Evil Spirits. Produced by Tony Visconti, no less. Cheers!"