Machine Gun Etiquette

Machine Gun Etiquette is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned. It was released on 2 November 1979 by Chiswick Records.

Machine Gun Etiquette
Studio album by the Damned
Released	2 November 1979
Recorded	March–May and July–August 1979 in London, England
Studio	Sound Suite Wessex Sound Studios The Workhouse Studios Utopia Studios SGS Studios Chalk Farm Studios[1]
Genre	Punk rock, pop rock
Length	35:28
Label	Chiswick
Producer	The Damned Roger Armstrong Ed Hollis
The Damned chronology
Music for Pleasure (1977) Machine Gun Etiquette (1979) The Black Album (1980)
Singles from Machine Gun Etiquette
"Love Song" Released: April 1979 "Smash It Up" Released: September 1979 "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" Released: 28 September 1979

Background

The album was the group's first since reforming with a new lineup of Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensible on lead guitar, Rat Scabies on drums and Algy Ward on bass guitar. On Machine Gun Etiquette, the band brought more variety to their usual punk rock to add wide-ranging pop rock.[2][3]

The voice at the album's start is Jack Howarth, taken from his 1971 album 'Ow Do, a recording of Lancastrian monologues.[4] The mispronounced album name would later be used in fusion with Thee Headcoats name as the Japanese band name Thee Michelle Gun Elephant by their former bassist.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Classic Rock	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[3]
Mojo	[6]
Q	[7]
Record Collector	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Uncut	[10]

AllMusic's retrospective review reported that when it was released, Machine Gun Etiquette was "deservedly hailed as another classic from the band". The website praised the variety of styles explored and the group's typically strong wit.[2] Scott Rowley of Classic Rock magazine, reviewing the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album, defined it as "a riotous, ballsy rush of an album [...] the sound of a band coming into its own", adding that "while the Clash looked to America for inspiration, the Damned remained resolutely British", perhaps ironically given that the front cover depicted the band in a New York street scene[5] at 704 7th Avenue, New York City.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and Algy Ward, except as noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Love Song"		2:21
2.	"Machine Gun Etiquette"		1:48
3.	"I Just Can't Be Happy Today"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Giovanni Dadomo	3:42
4.	"Melody Lee"		2:07
5.	"Anti-Pope"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Phillip Burns	3:21
6.	"These Hands"		2:03
7.	"Plan 9 Channel 7"		5:08
8.	"Noise, Noise, Noise"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Jennet Ward	3:10
9.	"Looking at You" (MC5 cover)	Michael Davis, Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Dennis Thompson, Rob Tyner	5:08
10.	"Liar"		2:44
11.	"Smash It Up (Part 1)"		1:59
12.	"Smash It Up (Part 2)"		2:53

CD reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Ballroom Blitz" (B-side, Sweet cover)	Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn	3:30
14.	"Suicide" (B-side)		3:14
15.	"Rabid (Over You)" (B-side)	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Andy Le Vien	3:41
16.	"White Rabbit (Extended Version)" (Non-album single)	Grace Slick	5:13

25th Anniversary Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Love Song"		2:21
2.	"Machine Gun Etiquette"		1:48
3.	"I Just Can't Be Happy Today"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Dadomo	3:42
4.	"Melody Lee"		2:07
5.	"Anti-Pope"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Burns	3:21
6.	"These Hands"		2:03
7.	"Plan 9 Channel 7"		5:08
8.	"Noise, Noise, Noise"	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Ward	3:10
9.	"Looking at You" (MC5 cover)	Davis, Kramer, Smith, Thompson, Rob Tyner	5:08
10.	"Liar"		2:44
11.	"Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)"		5:11
12.	"Love Song (Ed Hollis Version)" (previously unissued)		2:03
13.	"Noise, Noise, Noise (Ed Hollis Version)" (B-side)	Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward, Ward	3:25
14.	"Suicide" (B-side)		3:17
15.	"Smash It Up (Part 2) (Backing Track - Singalonga Damned)" (previously unissued)		2:56
16.	"Smash It Up (Part 4)" (previously unissued)		1:57
17.	"Burglar" (B-side)		3:33
18.	"I Just Can't Be Happy Today (DJ Edit)" (single version)		3:00
19.	"Ballroom Blitz" (B-side)	Chapman, Chinn	3:28
20.	"Turkey Song" (B-side)		1:32
21.	"Plan 9, Channel 7 (Video clip)" (previously unissued Chiswick video recording)		6:18

Personnel

Credits adapted from the 25th Anniversary Edition liner notes.[1][12]

The Damned

• Dave Vanian – lead vocals
• Captain Sensible – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, bass ("I Just Can't Be Happy Today", "Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)"), bass solo ("Anti-Pope"), Mandolin (Turkey Song), lead vocals on "Turkey Song"
• Rat Scabies – drums, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Burglar"
• Algy Ward – bass, backing vocals, guitar ("Machine Gun Etiquette", "Liar")

Additional personnel

• Joe Strummer – backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise"), hand claps ("Machine Gun Etiquette")
• Topper Headon – backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise")
• Henry Badowski – backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise")
• Paul Simonon – hand claps ("Machine Gun Etiquette")
• Lemmy Kilmister – bass, backing vocals ("Ballroom Blitz")

Production

• The Damned – producer
• Roger Armstrong – producer
• Ed Hollis – producer ("Love Song (Ed Hollis Version)", "Noise, Noise, Noise (Ed Hollis Version)", "Suicide")
• Alvin Clarke – engineer (Sound Suite)
• Mike Shipley – engineer (Wessex)
• Gary Edwards – engineer (Wessex)
• Jeremy Green – engineer (Wessex)
• Rik Watton – engineer (Workhouse)
• Damian Korner – engineer (Utopia)
• G. H. Wallis – engineer (SGS)

References

1. Machine Gun Etiquette - 25th Anniversary Edition (CD liner notes). The Damned. Chiswick Records. 2004.CS1 maint: others (link)
2. Raggett, Ned. "Machine Gun Etiquette – The Damned". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
3. Robbins, Ira (15 March 1991). "Machine Gun Etiquette". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
4. "Jack Howarth - 'Ow Do". Discogs.
5. Rowley, Scott (February 2005). "Damned Fine". Classic Rock. London, England: Future Publishing Ltd. 76: 106.
6. "The Damned: Machine Gun Etiquette". Mojo: 111. Machine Gun Etiquette is up there with the best, most original, and meanest underground rock from the '70s...
7. "The Damned: Machine Gun Etiquette". Q (190): 137. May 2002.
8. Shooman, Joe (October 2007). "The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette". Record Collector (341). Retrieved 3 June 2013.
9. DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly, eds. (1992). "The Damned". The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
10. "The Damned: Machine Gun Etiquette". Uncut: 88. [T]here was a taut pop sensibility amid Machine Gun Etiquette's vociferous attack that belied a reputation as three-chord tricksters.
11. "Musical Maps". musicalmaps.com.au. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
12. Hutchinson, Barry (2017). The Damned - the Chaos Years: An Unofficial Biography. Barry Hutchinson. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-244-30256-6.

External links

• Machine Gun Etiquette at Discogs (list of releases)