Patricia Morrison Talks About THE DAMNED etc.

Patricia was active in the Los Angeles, California punk rock scene even before graduating from high school in 1979, having had an early interest in music; "When I was 12 years old, I saved up every cent to buy a guitar. I went to the guitar shop and realized I could afford the guitar, but not the lessons or a way to get there as my mom worked. So I walk out of the store empty handed, a decision I will always regret" and was a founding member of the Bags. Morrison quipped, 'I started a band with two girlfriends in our late teens then, punk showed up and that decided my future. I had very little to do with it, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but couldn't afford it.'
Patricia and Alicia Armendariz aka Alice Bag, met at school and formed their first band, Femme Fatale in '1975 /1976', later re-named Masque Era. Initially guided by 'Glitter and Glam', though enamoured by Punk music, they played a few local gigs. A 1977 concert featuring The Germs inspired them to move toward a more Punk sound, and to form The Bags, with Janet Koontz on guitar. The band wore bags over their heads onstage, Morrison recalls; 'The Bags were playing somewhere very early on and my mother came running out of the driveway yelling 'Patricia you forgot your bag!'; My mother making sure I had a bag to put over my head is a special moment in time.' They released a single Survive in 1978, but Morrison left the following year after a falling out with Alice Bag and went on to co-found Legal Weapon with Kat Arthur in 1980, performing under the single name "Patericia" (sic). The group released an EP called No Sorrow in 1981. In the same year she assumed the surname Morrison after marrying Rick Morrison of Catholic Discipline.
Morrison left Legal Weapon and joined The Gun Club in 1982, after persuasion from former Bags drummer Terry Graham. She played bass on their 1984 album The Las Vegas Story and was one of the longer serving band members, before leaving after her second tour in late 1984. Morrison cites that although there were great times playing with The Gun Club and writing songs with singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce, ultimately she found it frustrating due Pierce's un-cooperative approach to business and his self-sabotaging tendencies; "realizing Jeffrey was his own worst enemy and despite loving the band it was going nowhere and I was finding it hard to watch".
She then joined The Sisters Of Mercy.
The Sisters of Mercy song "Lucretia My Reflection" was written by Eldritch about Morrison. The lyrics compare her to the historical figure of Lucrezia Borgia. Asked about her favourite memory from The Sisters of Mercy, Morrison recalled, "Petra, riding my little Arabian horse throughout the magnificent city", (On location for the video shoot of Dominion). She left the band at the end of 1989 claiming money that was owed by Eldritch was not paid.
Due to an ongoing lawsuit with Eldritch, Morrison temporarily ceased working as a musician and instead became a motorcycle courier in London, later telling one interviewer; "I made more money than when I was with Sisters of Mercy, hahaha!".
Morrison had been friends with, and a musical fan of, The Damned for 'many years', and in 1996 Captain Sensible suggested she join them to replace bassist Paul Gray, who had been injured by a beer glass thrown from the audience during a concert. That same year Morrison married the Damned's lead singer Dave Vanian in Las Vegas. Morrison played on The Damned's first album release in fifteen years, the 2001 Grave Disorder, stating in one interview; 'It is the only recording I have ever played on that I am happy with and can listen to without wishing most of it were different.' As well as extensive touring with band, she also took responsibility for arranging appearances and concerts. In 2005, after giving birth to the couple's child the previous year, Morrison officially retired from The Damned.
In 2019, Morrison provided the voice of the character Annabelle on horror punk band Creeper's sophomore album, Sex, Death & the Infinite Void. #thedamned #sistersofmercy #goth