Algy Ward just passed away, Algy Ward of The Damned and more importantly to some of us, Algy Ward, focus point of classic three piece punk metal crossover band Tank.

Hang on, who’s that new guy playing in the Damned, up there on me telly in a Motorhead shirt! This was the end of the 70’s when the tribes didn’t crossover., he can;t be in The Damned wearing a Motorhead shirt! Yes sure, Motohead and The Damned did gigs together but that was just Lemmy, Lemmy did whatever the hell he wanted to, n oone else much did that. Back there you picked your tribe and the punks and metalheads just stayed out of each other’s space. Tank weren’t having any of that, their street metal, Algy’s street metal, was a call to something or other back there. This was before Discharge, it was before Venom started thrashing, before the Rejects owned up to being UFO fans, before all that we had Tank, and Tank, like Motorhead, were a classic three piece, their debut album Filth Hounds, was as extreme as metal got, it was raw, heavy, it was attitude, it was street anthems, chants, “We are the Filth, We are the Filth…” Algy Ward, up there with the Brabbs borthers, Algy was cool, Algy, way more than Lemmy made a teenage me want to be in a band, he got me listening to loads of things I’d ignored. I lived in my Tank t-shirt (and my pink Damned one that got me so much stick at metal gigs for a time), I loved that first album (wasn’t so sure about what came after, didn’t like the sentiment of This Means War) but, for a while back there Tank were the band and Tank on a Motorhead tour was just perfect!

R.I.P Algy Ward, thanks mate.

“We were shocked to hear of dear old Algy’s passing last night.. the guy was simply immense as a player and a personality. In Damned terms Machine Gun Etiquette is his legacy.. that thunderous bass sound was never bettered. RIP” So said The Damned on their social media yesterday…

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