Rat Scabies was born as Chris Miller on 30 July 1957 in Surrey, England. Scabies had previously played in the unwieldy punk ensemble London SS and helped to emerge The Damned in May 1976. Two months later they were supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club.
During April 1977 they became the first UK punk band to tour the USA. By the summer of that year, drummer Rat Scabies quit. A temporary replacement, Dave Berk (ex-Johnny Moped), deputized until the recruitment of London percussionist Jon Moss.
With Moss on drums the band increasingly lost heart and split in early 1978.
The second part of the Damned story reopened one year later when Rat Scabies formed the Doomed with former Damned-members. In November 1978 they became legally entitled to use the name Damned again and, joined by ex-Saints bass player Algy Ward, they opened this new phase of their career with their first Top 20 single, 1979's storming "Love Song".
The band continued to play even into the new millenium, though drummer Rat Scabies was replaced by "Dreadful" Priest in 1996.
More line-up changes followed and since 1999 it's Pinch who is hitting the skins.
More about Rat Scabies: see also his drumming for Disco Brothers, Drunk And Disorderly, London SS, Rat Scabies' Runners, Tartan Horde, Tor, The Vicous White Kids and White Cats.
