helping to inspire the first wave of west coast hardcore punk. That August, Lu Edmonds was added as a second guitarist. Although not yet obvious in their music, the band were heavily inspired by psychedelic rock. They unsuccessfully tried to recruit the reclusive Syd Barrett to produce their second studio album. Unable to get Barrett, they settled for his former Pink Floyd bandmate, Nick Mason. In November, this album was released as Music for Pleasure (1977), and was quickly dismissed by critics. Its failure led to the band being dropped from Stiff Records. Scabies was also displeased with the album, and quit the band after the recording. He was replaced by future Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, who played with The Damned until they decided to break up in February 1978. Reformation and Machine Gun Etiquette (1978–1979) The former members of the band worked on a series of brief side projects and solo recordings, all making little commercial impact. Scabies formed a one-off band called "Les Punks" for a late 1978 gig. Les Punks was a quasi-reunion of the Damned (without Brian James or Edmonds) that featured Scabies, Vanian, Sensible and bassist Lemmy of Hawkwind and Motörhead. The Damned tentatively reformed with the "Les Punks" line-up in early 1979, but originally performed as "The Doomed" to avoid potential trademark problems. Captain Sensible switched to guitar and keyboards, and after a brief period with Lemmy on bass for studio demos and a handful of live appearances, and a slightly longer period with Henry Badowski on bass, the bassist position was filled by Algy Ward, formerly of The Saints. During a December 1978 tour of Scotland, Gary Holton filled in for Vanian. The band officially went by The Damned again, playing their first gig under that name in April 1979, and signing a recording contract with Chiswick Records. They went back to the studio and released the charting singles, "Love Song" and "Smash It Up", followed by 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette, and then a cover version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Vanian's vocals had by now expanded from the high-baritone of the early records to a smoother crooning style. Machine Gun Etiquette (1979) featured a strong 1960s garage rock influence, with Farfisa organ on several songs. Recording at London's Wessex Studios at the same time as The Clash were there to record London Calling (1979), Joe Strummer and Mick Jones made an