Wait for the Blackout

"Wait for the Blackout"
"Wait for the Blackout"
Single by The Damned
from the album The Black Album
B-side	"Jet Boy Jet Girl"
Released	1980 (Spain); May 1982 (UK)
Recorded	1980
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:51
Label	Big Beat; NS 77
Songwriter(s)	Scabies; Sensible; Vanian; Gray; Karloff;
Producer(s)	The Damned
The Damned singles chronology

"Wait for the Blackout" is a single by English punk rock band The Damned. Initially, Chiswick issued Wait for the Blackout instead of The History of the World (Part 1) as a single to promote The Black Album (1980) in Spain, with "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" as the B-side.

In 1982, their Big Beat budget imprint reissued the track as a single in the UK, despite The Damned having left the label two years previously. The B-side was provided by Damned guitarist Captain Sensible's spin-off project, Captain Sensible and the Softies, in the form of "Jet Boy Jet Girl". This was a cover version of the 1977 recording by Elton Motello, which shared its backing track with Plastic Bertrand's "Ça plane pour moi". The writing credit for Ward refers to Motello, real name Alan Ward, not ex-Damned bass player Algy Ward.

"Wait for the Blackout" was covered by The Goo Goo Dolls for the Tommy Boy soundtrack. It finally saw release on The Goo Goo Dolls' Greatest Hits Volume 2, released on August 19, 2008. It was covered by Alkaline Trio on BYO Split Series, Vol. 5 as well as on the 2007 release Remains.