From Left, Paul Gray, Captain Sensible, Ant Thickett
(Photography by Alan Davies)
The Sensible Gray Cells feature chart-topping bass legend Captain Sensible, founding member of arguably the UK’s first punk rock group, The Damned. Alongside Captain is Paul Gray and Ant Thickett. Paul Gray also featured in The Damned when he replaced Algy Ward in 1980, as well as other notable involvements, including Eddie and the Hot Rods, Heavy Load and UFO. In 2005, Paul took up the post of Wales and Southwest England’s Regional Officer for the British Musician’s Union, an organisation that represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the British music business.
Alan Davies caught up with the band, and didn’t miss the opportunity to take some brilliant shots…
Alan Davies:
In September 2012 I noticed on my Facebook feed that Paul Gray and Captain Sensible with my pal Ant Thickett in a local country pub near the outskirts of Caerphilly. The photograph was a basic phone selfie so I immediately emailed Paul Gray and offered my services as photographer hoping they would need a few pictures for publicity.
It appeared that they were busy recording an album in Wales in a couple of locations around the area. It would become the Sensible Gray Cells first album “A Postcard From Britain” some of which was done in a garage in Rudry and other locations, and Captain also working from home from time to time.
I knew Paul and Ant from playing in a local band called The Monte Dons while I lived in Rudry, they were named partly after the TV Gardener and presenter and partly after the location of our fist gig the Monte pub in Rudry. (actually called the Rudry Village Inn, it was nicknamed the Monte Carlo many years ago after rumours of much gambling taking place there).
I got a message to meet at Paul’s house and we would go to Penarth sea front to do some pictures, and on a cloudy Monday afternoon I made my way to meet them at Paul’s house then go to Penarth together.
I got held up in the lanes on the way by the British cycling team who were practicing in- between legs of The Tour of Britain. I was worried at first that they would hold me up but they actually helped as I drove through the lanes all oncoming traffic was brought to a standstill by the large group of cyclists.
We arrived in Penarth and met Ant the drummer who had cycled to meet us straight from his day at work (not the Tour Of Britain) and we walked to the pier to start taking a few photographs.
That week in preparation I’d watched a David Bailey DVD and in one part I’d watched Cecil Beaton having his picture taken by Bailey, Bailey was trying to get Beaton to talk a bit and Beaton mentions that it used to be ‘Cheese’ that people said then ‘plums’ and now it was sometimes ‘lesbians’ so I asked the band to say ‘lesbians’ but not surprisingly this didn’t work for me, but the session went quite well despite this.
I got my colourful umbrella from the car too which I genuinely brought as it was such an overcast day and looked like rain, Captain and Paul were glad it wasn’t sunny though as the title of the album ‘A Postcard From Britain’ was in their mind and it was commenting on the darker side of modern Britain, the reality TV shows, the drinking culture and specifically ‘English Summer’ (I look out of the window and the rain is pouring down, enough to make me pack my bags and leave old London Town, following the jet stream to the Southern Hemisphere).
(Photography by Alan Davies)
On the pebbled beach at Penarth we took the brolly and I wondered if we could recreate the Jack Vettriano Singing Butler painting, this wasn’t going to work sadly as it was difficult to get any of the band to romantically dance together, but I did get a couple of good pics with Ant holding the brolly and the band looking as happy as Clapton and Cream did in their silver suits on their Goodbye album.
Wrapping up the photo shoot we walked past the kiosk on the outside of the Pier and the chap inside shouts to us, ‘what’s the name of the band then’. Captain replies ‘we don’t know yet, what do you think we should be called?’ ‘Easy Money’ is the reply. Wry looks all around, ‘cheers’ says Captain.
We then popped up to Penarth town, Captain needed some provisions and as we sat in the car I could hear an excited passer by on his mobile phone ‘yeah, I just saw Captain Sensible go into one of the supermarkets in Windsor Road’.
We all popped in for a post session pint, and Ant again cycled up from the sea front and we took a few more pictures and some phone selfies on one of those fake photo booth apps. I recall singing the Crumble Song by Lorraine Bowen with Captain (a few years before Lorraine Bowen appeared on BGT).
Anyway here are the Sensible Gray Cells on that day in 2012, in Penarth. The Sensible Gray Cells have just released a new single ‘So Long/What’s The Point of Andrew?’ On Damaged Goods now Paul and Captain are joined by Martin Parrott on drums.
Credit - Alan Davies
(Photography by Alan Davies)
