Heartland

Here's a snippet from the Damned website, officialdamned.com, in which Patty asks questions sent in by Damned fans... apologies if you've read it before...

.... and you can read the full interview by going to officialdamned.com and clicking on Patty's photo on the far left....


Q: I was curious as to how your work relations were with the ever lovely Andrew Eldritch. Did you ever recieve any type of royalty for working in the Sisters or were you screwed over?

A: Screwed over. Mister "I'm not a goth" did the same thing to me as to everyone else. His last words to me were 'You are of no further use to me'. Whatta guy. What the heck. Now here's something I've told very few people till now. Mister "I'm not a goth" was very jealous of Mr Vanian. Nothing to do with me at all I must add. He thought our Mr Vanian had great looks and a wonderful voice (stating the obvious). He said he had neither and got really upset. I was very sympathetic at the time. I'm not now. As I have not seen him for many years he could pass me in the street and I wouldn't know him. I like that thought.

Oooh bitcheeeeee.

at least Von treats all people the same (both men & women)..... like crap that is..

Good to see she isn't bitter then.

Patricia Morrisson wrote: he could pass me in the street and I wouldn't know him. I like that thought.

I'm sure a lot of people could pass Patsy on the street and not have a fecking clue who she was.


Interesting to hear about Von's insecurity, though... He always seems so sure of himself, but maybe he's actually only human, like the rest of us?

I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

markfiend wrote:I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

I thought that was common knowledge ...

Hojyuu-obi wrote:

markfiend wrote:I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

I thought that was common knowledge ...

Well yeah...

markfiend wrote:I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

If that's the case, Andy seems to deal with it pretty well.

I saw both Sisters concerts at Wembley in 1990, with Tony James on bass. At the beginning of each performance, Von confidently walked out on stage, looking the audience directly in the eye, without flinching.

By comparison, Tony James looked like he was suffering from stage-fright for the entire gig. His eyes were downcast the whole time.

Black Biscuit wrote:

markfiend wrote:I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

If that's the case, Andy seems to deal with it pretty well.

I saw both Sisters concerts at Wembley in 1990, with Tony James on bass. At the beginning of each performance, Von confidently walked out on stage, looking the audience directly in the eye, without flinching.

By comparison, Tony James looked like he was suffering from stage-fright for the entire gig. His eyes were downcast the whole time.

That's what cocaine does for you.

Uh, who was on it? Dunno anything about these guys' drug-taking habits. Okay, Andy liked speed, but I also seem to recall that he was always saying he had kicked such stuff by the time he began gigging the Floodland/Vision Thing material.

Oh right. I meant Andrew; there's the whole thing of Vision Thing starting with a sniff...

i heard a story that on the last tour they did (last year) a friend of a friend was invited to do cocaine with the guitarist. (not sure of the names of the 'new' guys sorry!) Dont know if the story was true though!

markfiend wrote: Oh right. I meant Andrew; there's the whole thing of Vision Thing starting with a sniff...

In one of the very excellent Floodland-era interviews, I believe, Von runs through various drugs and mentions he does not like what coke does for him, or to him. He's also not a 'dope' smoker, and I doubt narcotics were in the mix. We know he's a boozer and a speed freak, past and who knows about the present...

Black Biscuit wrote:

markfiend wrote:I have a theory that his alleged megalomania is actually over-compensation for extreme shyness and low self-esteem.

If that's the case, Andy seems to deal with it pretty well.

I saw both Sisters concerts at Wembley in 1990, with Tony James on bass. At the beginning of each performance, Von confidently walked out on stage, looking the audience directly in the eye, without flinching.

By comparison, Tony James looked like he was suffering from stage-fright for the entire gig. His eyes were downcast the whole time.

I think he does deal with it pretty well- I remember reading a piece by (I think) Steve Sutherland about those Wembley gigs which said that just before they went on stage for the first one AE was extremely nervous & Tim was coaching him as he was convinced he had forgotten all the words to all the songs ( not just a few as normal!).

But show fear to the public? Never...

I don't remember TJ looking nervous-I'd be surprised if he ever is to be honest. Mostly he was trying not to laugh. And the Sisters was a stroll in the park for him compared to Sputnik.

straylight wrote: I think he does deal with it pretty well- I remember reading a piece by (I think) Steve Sutherland about those Wembley gigs which said that just before they went on stage for the first one AE was extremely nervous & Tim was coaching him as he was convinced he had forgotten all the words to all the songs ( not just a few as normal!).

I thought this was before the Reading 91 gig?

I distinctly recall Andy walking out centre-stage, eyes forward, and then bowing. It was obvious to me that he was exercising his legendary will and not letting his nerves get the better of him.

Remember, they say people fear public speaking more than they fear death, or so the theory goes. (Even Andy? Wow!)

CellThree wrote:

straylight wrote: I think he does deal with it pretty well- I remember reading a piece by (I think) Steve Sutherland about those Wembley gigs which said that just before they went on stage for the first one AE was extremely nervous & Tim was coaching him as he was convinced he had forgotten all the words to all the songs ( not just a few as normal!).

I thought this was before the Reading 91 gig?

Could've been, it was along time ago after all! My memory is not what it was...

But he didn't act very nervous at Reading either so I suppose the point remains the same.

Shades, cigarettes, alcohol. How many more crutches can a man take on stage with him?

Not forgetting the Chemist just off-stage. And the smoke performs a similar service to the shades.

Electrochrome wrote:

markfiend wrote: Oh right. I meant Andrew; there's the whole thing of Vision Thing starting with a sniff...

In one of the very excellent Floodland-era interviews, I believe, Von runs through various drugs and mentions he does not like what coke does for him, or to him. He's also not a 'dope' smoker, and I doubt narcotics were in the mix. We know he's a boozer and a speed freak, past and who knows about the present...

--- I sort of suspect Andy would be keen on acid, as well, but he probably isn't an ecstasy kind of guy, much to BP and Straylight's regret....

[quote="Black Biscuit

--- I sort of suspect Andy would be keen on acid, as well, but he probably isn't an ecstasy kind of guy, much to BP and Straylight's regret....[/quote]



There would need to be a very specific type of hallucinogen on the market before I could get any benefit!

Even if ecstacy would do the trick, I would pass. All that indiscriminate affection would put me right off, and it seems to make people very docile and boring.

I'd rather the edge was against me than there was no edge.

Been away for a while, so. Sorry to upset any danmed fans here (if there are any?) I went to see the damned recently, and to say it was a dissapointment would be an understatement. The sound was appaling no matter where you stood, Vanian was breathless( no that wasn't a compliment). The Captain seemed to think he was Carlos Santana,they on ly played for about 1/2 an hour, then seemed to give up. A fight broke out, which, after screaming loads of abuse at us, took as their cue to pack up. The only highlight was that the fight carried out into the streets outside,and was all over the local papers(um? not exactly a highlight I guess)Oh! and as for you Patsy. You were on stage in front of me, and untill my friend told me, I didn't know who the hell YOU were

Since we are discussing the Damned and Patricia, I have an interesting little anecdote from my London days - 1989-91.

I was living in Tottenham and had an offer to become a flatmate with some friends who were living in the suburb (forgot its name) down the hill from Alexandra Palace, or 'Ally Pally' as the locals called it.

So, I took up their offer and moved in. On the corner up from our flat, there was a two-storey house that had scaffolding permanently erected out the front. For some reason, whenever I walked past this house, day or night, I got a weird vibe from it.

At the time I was working nights and getting home around 6am, when it was still dark. I had to walk past the house to get back to the flat.

Even at 6am, with not a soul around, I'd walk past the house and get a queer feel from it. Normally, during the daytime, it was just an uncomfortable feeling, but at 6am, as the only person on the street, the feeling was more like I was being watched by someone inside the house.

Normally I would keep such feelings to myself and not say anything, but on one occasion I was walking past the house with my flatmates and decided to mention that it gave me a strange feeling.

They looked at the building and said, "oh, that's the house Dave Vanian lives in!"

It was all quite strange. This was in the days when Dave was with his other wife, Lawrie. Someone has since said to me that he thought they must've been into black magic, hence the weird feel I got from their home. Who knows.

Whew! For a minute I thought you were gonna say it was the house where Uncle Frank was trapped in the floorboards, on Ludovico Street, somewhere in London, and he needed fresh souls to get whole again.