The text is really small in this picture so I’ll just type it out here:(Edited to add: dykevan

The text is really small in this picture so I’ll just type it out here:(Edited to add: dykevanian found the other half of the article, so I can type the rest out now!)“David & Laurie VanianA Demon cat, Gothic decor and a couple of horror movies isn’t everyone’s ideal, But for the lead singer of The Damned and his wife, it’s immortal bliss. By Robin EggarThe man with the half-beard who answers the doorbell could have stepped out of the last century. He might be an off duty highwayman. His dark, shoulder length hair is pulled back into a ponytail and sports a white streak inches wide. He is wearing black trousers and a white shirt, open at the neck, with lace frills at the cuffs.It is a cold Friday dwindling into twilight but he makes no attempt to turn on the stair lights. Inside his flat it is also gloomy with black masks and a pair of antlers adorning the mini-hallway, a corrugated plastic iron gate barring the way upstairs into his lair. The wary might glimpse what seems to be a four-poster bed topped by a ruched canopy, a kitchen and a 30’s haunted house telephone in black and gold.Inside the sitting room a solitary light sheds little but shadows, Handel is playing on the compact disc player, The Tube is flickering soundlessly on the TV. A witch is sitting on the sofa stroking her familiar. Her hair is an all black mane, cascading beyond her shoulders on to a tight fitting dress. A large flying bat hangs around her neck, spiders’ webs decorate her stockings. The witch’s face is a shade shy of pale, almost ashen, her features sharp … Like her inch long purple nails.The familiar’s name is Demon. He is a small black cat with knowing eyes, switchblade claws and an unpredictable temper. The witch is Laurie Vanian. The highwayman-though most have seen him perform in the cape and pallid death mask of a vampire-is her husband, David.Under the bright spotlights, David Vanian becomes the lead singer in The Damned-the only original punk band still playing. American born Laurie is a clothes designer. She sells her exclusive "wardrobe for the wicked"  at Symphony of Shadows, a small unit in Hyper Hyper, London’s chicest fashion market. David helped build it for her when he was resting between tours. The Vanians like to do everything together … when they have the time."It’s lucky we have the same tastes, otherwise it would be murder” says David, pouring tea into a black cup. Behind my shoulder, a black raven stares through an uncomprehending glass eye at the TV, or is it the wrought iron candelabra? Demon sticks a playful claw into my leg.The Vanians would love to live in a Gothic tower, a glass roofed edifice guarded by gargoyles. Right now, they have to be content with a one-bedroom flat in an anonymous Islington back street. “Glamour” industries like rock and fashion do not guarantee instant riches. They also mean long separations (The Damned are away touring the world for up to nine months a year), which is why David and Laurie cherish their weekends together so much.“I should point out that when I’m off the road, every day is like a weekend,” says David, smiling at his wife of nine years. “When David comes back I never bring work home,” says Laurie. “That can be quite hard as I do all my books and buy all the fabric. I’ve a workshop in the East End and I employ one and a half people, plus the girl who runs the unit in Hyper Hyper. Usually I don’t get home until 7:30.”On Friday nights the Vanians like to go to a late night movie. “After Laurie gets back,” says her husband, “we’ll have something to eat at home- we both do the cooking- maybe drink a brandy or two and go out. It can be anything from a first run West End film to a showering of all-night b movies at the Scala. “We’re basically night people. I never go to bed before four or five and hate getting up before midday. When I’m home, Laurie tried to avoid working so she can do things at night with me.”But it doesn’t always work out. About every third Saturday, Laurie has to be in Hyper Hyper by 10 in the morning. Symphony Of Shadows is a small 14 foot by five foot unit which she has been running since May, 1983.Laurie was born in New York, but arrived in London in 1976 to finish a fashion degree at St Martin’s School of Art. Even then her tastes veered towards Gothic horror and tight, figure- hugging black outfits. She soon abandoned her schooling to run a stall in Chelsea’s Beaufort Market- a haven for the punk movement. “My clothes are a statement of my lifestyle. I design what I want to wear. My early stuff might have been called fetish clothes, I was into tied- up plastics, rubber and basques. The clothes I design are so well made that people can still wear them in 10 years time.“My clothes aren’t that expensive- about £120 for a dress. It’s been a really good day when I sell more than five or six outfits.”On Saturdays, when Laurie is in Hyper Hyper, David spends his Saturday afternoons “scouring the junkshops. They used to be so good in Islington but now we have to go further afield. “Laurie used to collect jet jewellery,” he says, “the compressed coal that comes from Whitby that was popularized as mourning jewellery by Queen Victoria after Albert died. Unfortunately, with the whole black fashion craze, everyone was after it and the prices went straight through the roof.“Even when The Damned are on tour I’ll leap off the bus at the mere sight of an antique or junk shop. In the space of just three years we’ve accumulated about 30 years of junk.”The couple love going to auctions and point with pride to the black sideboard in solid oak they got for a song. If David decides not to hunt through the junkshops he will pop down to the local taxidermist to see if there is some dead animal there he both likes and can afford. The Vanians are financially stable at the moment, owing in part to a resurgence in the career of The Damned. Last year the group had it’s first Top Ten single with a remake of Barry Ryan’s Eloise. But three years ago they were completely broke, selling possessions to finance a last- gasp recording session.According to David the couple met in 1977 at the house of a mutual friend. “We married a month later and out honeymoon lasted two days while I recorded our second album. Then we went on tour together.” David, a former gravedigger, and his Damned colleagues, Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible, attracted riotous crowds of spitting, pogoing punks. Today, they still retain a small but fanatical following around the world.After David picks his wife up from the shop, the couple will go out for a meal, either Italian or a curry. Sometimes they will go to the cinema again, or the theatre. Before going out, Laurie will check her nails- which are fakes held on by silk fabric- while David decides whether or not to put on his make-up.(Apologies for the next bit, the edge of the picture is cut off so I can’t get all the words. I’ve put my best guesses in some of the spaces.)“We go out to clubs far less now,” he says. “We’re not ardent Limelighters, we go out to enjoy ourselves. My favourite club is Alice In Wonderland in – Dean Street. It’s more like a coffee bar and a great place to see raw, unsigned bands.“Occasionally I abandon – out and set up my porta studio in the sitting room and try to compose songs. One evening Roman (Jugg, the Damned guitarist came round to write with me. We  ended up watching The Munsters for seven hours straight, drinking bottles of whiskey and eating chocolate chip cookies Laurie made. Whatever time we g– tend to watch a couple of them every night.”Sunday breakfast- gets eaten around lunchtime- is the only meal the couple have together over the weekend. “I love to have an American breakfast  , if I can convince Laurie to do it,” says David as his wife groans. “Pancakes and blueberries – maple syrup with a pot of – English tea. Otherwise it would be an omelette.”After breakfast, the couple generally get down to some interior decorating. Apart from b– the unit in Hyper Hyper, – has made bookcases and wardrobes- Laurie has th– them- for their home.“Sundays are a day of w– making, screwdriver and – in hand,” he says. “we always build everything ourselves a we could never afford to get a builder –“When the weather is – I’ll do some work on my m– or get my hearse out of the – where it’s resting. We’ve customized the inside with –button purple velvet and –“The real problem, “ says Laurie “is having enough time to get everything done. We’d like to have children but it’s hard working such bizarre hours and feeding David and Demon. “What I really like to do Sunday evening is to pu– out of the couch and t– watching videos and eating Christmas chocolates. The perfect end to a perfect day. -- source link

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