At 69 years old, Rat Scabies isn’t the same man who erupted into the public consciousness as the flailing, destructive drummer of the Damned in 1976. “I’ve got this thing called viking disease [Dupuytren’s contracture], where your whole hand claws up, and some lumps, and arthritis. And I was always a heavy hitter, so I don’t think that helped.”
But still he tours – he is speaking from a hotel room in Glasgow, ahead of a 22-song, 105-minute show, including a drum solo, at Barrowlands – and he knows it is going to hurt. “The aches and pains get incredibly frustrating, because there are some things you want to do that you can’t any more. But as long as I’m still playing New Rose properly, and I can still make the songs sound like they should …”
