Damaged Goods
Ian Ballard
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Ian Ballard has been running Damaged Goods Records since the dawn of Punk began. These days, the label is maybe best known for releasing records by The Courettes and Billy Childish (in all his guises), but over the years there has been an incredible range of music – from the basic punk of The Lurkers to the indiepop of Betty And The Werewolves.
Ian was also partly responsible for the resurrection of Heavenly. The Damaged Goods singles compilation a few years ago was surprisingly successful (to us at least) and showed that the appetite for the band hadn’t diminished. Thanks for that, Ian!
So, when you started Damaged Goods, did you expect it to last the best part of a lifetime? What was the first thing you released, and how did you get it to people?
NO! All it was ever going to be (in my 1987 brain) was one 7” single… and that was Slaughter And The Dogs ‘Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone?’ I somehow naively licensed the tracks from Decca Records by sending them a ransom note style letter asking if I could release it, with absolutely no knowledge of how to release a record… let alone licensing.
This could never happen now but a few things fell into place and a few weeks later a chap from Decca turned up on my doorstep with the masters and a contract as thick as the yellow pages (like the internet, but on yellow paper) for me to sign!
One of the difficulties of running a label is the simple business of delivering records into the hands of people who want them. There is nearly always a middleman. How have you dealt with that?
I don’t really see it as an issue, there are a lot of good distributors all over the world that make it easy to get your records into a country, when DG first started there was obviously no internet, so, ads in the back of Sounds / NME and people sent you stamped addressed envelopes and we sent a photocopied list back, it all took a long while, but it worked. Now you can do a lot more direct but there’s still a good network of distros around the world for shops to stock your records.
You’ve released a lot of classic punk records, and you still do. Does it surprise you that punk has never gone away? Is youth less important than we thought? And what makes for a good punk record?
In 1988 the 77 Punk was a bit of a dead form, a few people laughed when I said I was starting a label only doing reissues of punk records… it was only 10-11 years on from the originals coming out, but obviously it never went away, it just comes and goes. It’s the music that changed my life and so many other people were empowered to do things - like me with the label.
I find it a bit sad that the kids these days don’t have the clan thing we had - being a punk (in your mind) was a great thing to be, same as the Mod revivalists, the metalheads and the funny New Romantics… now most people seem to say they just like a bit of everything.
A great punk record is short, sharp and pop with pointed lyrics…
For example (on Damaged Goods): Cyanide Pills ‘Suicide Bomber’, Cute Lepers ‘Terminal Boredom’, Amyl & The Sniffers ‘I’m Not A Loser’.
Left to Right: Sean Forbes, Amelia Fletcher, Ian Damaged
Damaged Goods isn’t just about punk, though. You have released a really eclectic set of bands, many of whom are a million miles away from punk. Which of those are you fondest of? And did the rest of the world share your enthusiasm?
A loaded question! I like every record I’ve ever released, I wouldn’t release it if I didn’t, but obviously some stand out more than others. If I had to pick three, let’s say…
Snivelling Shits ‘I Can’t Come’ album, as it was the first one I had a lot of input into, the lead singer Giovanni Dadamo was an amazing chap.
Johnny Moped ‘Ain’t No Rock ‘N’ Roll Rookie’ as it was the first new material by them since the 70’s and WHAT A TRACK it is! And we’ve had a lot of fun with the Mopeds.
Thee Headcoatees ‘Davey Crockett’ was a big one, I loved seeing them live and eventually plucked up the courage to ask them for a single, Billy said pick a couple of songs to record so I said ‘Davey Crockett’ and Young Blood’ - a classic 7” and the start of so much more.
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But I love working with most of the bands and artists: Billy Childish, Holly Golightly, Fabienne Delsol, Helen Love, Graham Day, The Lurkers and too many more to list, still finding new things to do too. Monty Oxymoron (keyboards in The Damned) has just done an album of piano versions of Damned tracks and we’ve just got a new band from Bath called Quick Romance, that are great, their debut single is out on Christmas Day!
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Working with you two on the Heavenly compilation was really good, it was an album I really wanted a copy of, along with a load of other people, it turned out - and it’s amazing that it’s led to you ‘getting the band back together’ so to speak, and now there’s a new album and ‘World Tour’!
It's also been amazing doing stuff with The Courettes, who are the hardest-working band ever on Damaged Goods.
​You’ve also put out early records by bands who’ve gone on to be really big - Amyl and The Sniffers being a recent example. When those bands move on to major labels do you feel sad, or kind-of relieved that you can turn your attention back to something new?
Yes, the idea of growing the label and trying to become a massive company doesn’t appeal at all, it’s great seeing bands and artists go onto bigger things, Amyl & The Sniffers are such a lovely band, but really on it…and SO BIG NOW!
The Damaged Goods HQ is up in Hull. Lovely place, but it’s a long way from home in Leytonstone. So how did that come about?
Duncan, who runs it up there, is from close to Hull and used to work with us in the 90’s in Tottenham, London. He decided to move back home and invited me and Alison up to his one weekend and we did a little tour of Hull and I just loved it. Our warehouse in Walthamstow was small, expensive and the landlord was horrible so I asked Duncan if he fancied running the warehouse if I got a place in Hull, he did - and 25 years later we’re still there, and without Duncan DG wouldn’t work anywhere near as well as it does (if at all), he’s a star!
Also a big mention to Alison Wonderland who does a lot for the label too, especially for the book side of what we release…and her great photographs too.
When upstarts like me and Amelia start new labels, do you think ‘you’re about to have the time of your lives’ or ‘welcome to a world of pain’?
It’s great fun but obviously, much as it’s a ‘dream job’ in a lot of people’s eyes, it’s a business too and it has its ups and down, overall it’s great but it’s not an easy ride, balancing the bands’ efforts and aspirations, our effort and the logistics of getting bits of plastic in fragile card sleeve around the world is not easy…so good luck!
Finally, can we please have a picture of you and your cat? Thanks!
