DAVE VANIAN & THE PHANTOM CHORDS – "Johnny Remember Me" (Promo video, 1990)

Following the 1989 break-up of THE DAMNED, singer Dave Vanian, guitarist Roman Jugg and bassist Bryn Merrick formed THE PHANTOM CHORDS together with Brendan Mooney (on rhythm guitar) and Clyde Dempsey (on drums, RIP 22 June 2010). In 1990, their debut single "Johnny Remember Me" (a cover of a sixties #1 hit single) was released on 'Polydor Label' in Australia and 'M&G Records' in the UK. Although an 11-track album (including the debut single) was written, and Polydor planned to release it, this did not happen, and only two one-sided acetates of it exist along with some bootlegs. The promo video was shot in the hull of a ship on 27 May 1990 by director Philip Vile, produced by Greg Bleechmore and edited by Mike Woodwall, yet due to Polydor backing out, it was not distributed to the media outlets (like MTV, VH1, etc), with Australia being the only known country to having broadcasted it, hence its rarity. The single was released on 25 May 1990 and entered the UK Top150 Singles charts on 02 June 1990 at #83 before exiting for good on June the 9th at #80 which happened to be its highest position, with a total staying in the charts for two weeks only. Originally, "Johnny Remember Me" is a song written and composed by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek. It became a 1961 UK #1 hit single for singer John Leyton, backed by The Outlaws, lyrically recounting the haunting of a young man by his dead girlfriend. The song is one of the most noted of the 'death ditties' that populated the transatlantic pop charts in the early to mid-1960s and banned by the BBC, along with many other 'death discs', which were popular at the time.