#Don Letts

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

the clash, london calling |1979|

[theunderestimator-2]

Neneh Cherry, Andi Oliver & Paul Simonon captured by Adrian Boot backstage during the shooting of Big Audio Dynamite video for the band's 1986 song "Medicine Show", directed by Don Letts and featuring himself as well as Joe Strummer and Simmo in cameo appearances as cops, plus John Lydon and the two girls/former members of Rip Rig + Panic by that time.

In the wise words of Serge Gainsbourg "You're under arrest, 'cause you are the best".

(via & via)

[page-28]

Dread at the controls

[meetmeinthesandbox]

[heyyouupintheskylearningtofly]

mick jones and don letts of big audio dynamite

[theearlofmelancholy]

[fuckyeahfightlock]

Punk Rock Cool Kid Required Viewing Batch 1 The Punk Rock Movie Eraserhead Rock 'n' Roll High School

(I'm rewatching all the "required viewing" films of my alterna-teen years) Notes on these three films below the cut.

The Punk Rock Movie (1978, dir. Don Letts)

For three months in 1977, The Roxy nightclub was created for the express purpose of booking punk bands, who could not play anywhere else in London. DJ Don Letts started filming bands onstage and backstage, on a super 8 camera. The result is The Punk Rock Movie, a pure documentary film (no narrative, no narration) of a fingersnap moment in time.

The bad news is that this film (to my knowledge) has never been remastered either visually or for sound. Its specific, super-8 look serves it well and I don't know that it needs to be sharpened, but the sound is pure garbage. There are a few snippets of people talking but my 50+ year-old ears cannot make it out, due to low quality and background noise (guitars, other voices. . .in other words, nightclub noises). It's not a huge loss since 97% of the film is music, but I did wonder what Siouxsie & the Banshees were joking about as they took pill after pill after pill, or what a cool girl with a Union Jack shaved and dyed into the crown of her head (in 1977? that would have been so difficult!) had to say, or the thoughts of those ripped-from-the-headlines Shop Girls Sacked For Being Punk.

The live bands do not fare much better, but it's punk rock. A few of the performances are electrifying, most are so-so. Personally, after the opening "White Riot" by the Clash, I might recommend a casual viewer skip through to the last 20 minutes of the film, where we get fantastic versions of "Carcass" by Siouxsie & the Banshees, and "Oh, Bondage! Up Yours!" by X-Ray Spex, followed by the only bit not filmed at The Roxy, a short set by the Sex Pistols on the first night Sid Vicious ever played live with them, at Screen on the Green.

~*~*~Let's stop by Hyperbole Corner where I will assert the following: Johnny Rotten was the only real punk. Maybe it's his wild eyes, maybe it's his necktie. People later thought the Sex Pistols "selling out" represented the end of punk, but watch Johnny onstage and see if you don't agree with me. Hyperbole corner over.~*~*~

This film is not the most enjoyable to watch because of its low quality; even if you are an old punk and love punk music, it's kind of an endurance test. That said, if you are curious about the subculture, this is probably the purest, least polluted view of it; a person could learn a lot.

High- and lowlights include: Slaughter and the Dogs (inspiration for the Smiths), lingering shots of Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers shooting up heroin, Generation X (baby Billy Idol), someone cutting their torso with a razor about 50 times, The Slits (Ari Up was either autistic or had untreated ADHD or both; that girl was WILD), punk kids pogoing/slam dancing, cops dismantling and confiscating the window display at BOY boutique, Wayne (now Jayne) County and the Electric Chairs.

Definitely worth a watch if you want to see the real 1970s London punks, but probably not enjoyable for the casual viewer because of the quality (it's punk!).

Eraserhead (1977, dir. David Lynch)

Speaking of endurance tests, I'll confess up front I have zero intention of rewatching Eraserhead. I hated it then, I know I would hate it now, and it's one of those films I somehow have seen multiple times even though I hate it.

David Lynch is not for me--I looked through his entire filmography and did not find one movie of his I enjoyed--not even The Elephant Man, not even Twin Peaks. And I've seen a lot of his films! I just think surrealist films don't speak to me. Surrealist comedy, sure. Surrealist visual art, OK. But this is a No from me, dawg.

People I knew always cringed and shivered about the Radiator Lady, but that incessant worm-baby crying. . .I know the film is purposely designed to be uncomfortable, but jumping jayzis on the cross, that noise is irritating. And now that I've parented colicky infants. . .definitely No Thank.

I was doing my damnedest to be a certified cool kid, but I don't think I even pretended to like Eraserhead in 1987. It's just not for me.

Rock 'n Roll High School (1979, dir. Alan Arkush)

1970s teen comedies are always going to be pretty much the same thing: kids trying to lose their virginity, warring cliques, a borderline fascist principal, and casual racism/sexism (PS, where are the brown people?). So there are a few things to forgive here: a ticket scalper dressed in full Native American headdress (get it? "scalper"?); two hall monitors who shriek "body search!" at teen girls who later emerge from the office with disheveled hair and clothing (but otherwise seem fine, maybe mildly annoyed). But really. . .it could be a lot worse. I've seen a lot worse! I found it interesting that nobody swears in the film--not even a hell or damn--and while nubile young (female) bodies are somewhat on display in gym uniforms with tight tank tops and no bras, no one even references any body parts. The girls in gym class are only there for themselves--there aren't boys around and the girls are just dancing and singing "Rock 'n' Roll High School"--it's cute! Even in scenes about teens trying to get laid no one says "tits". Overall the film is oddly kind of innocent.

The main plot is that a girl has written songs she wants to pass along to her favourite band, The Ramones. Let me tell you that PJ Soles as "I'm Riff Randell, and I'm a rock-n-roller!" is the most adorable, likable teen girl I've ever seen in ANY teen movie.

She's zero-angst, bursting with confidence, witty, mischievous and not mean. . .this girl just wants to have fun! Riff somehow buys 100 tickets to a Ramones concert with $1000 she just happens to have (in 1979?! that's like a billion dollars now!), only to have them confiscated by the mean principal, Ms Togar. Zany antics and many, many Ramones songs/performances proliferate.

Riff's clothes and hair are New Wave style that made my inner child so jealous. She has a good friend who's a nerd but also praised as the most desirable girl in school.

PJ Soles is also perhaps history's greatest actress, as she swoons and even gets a little sexed up over cute and dreamy teen idol Jooooeeeeey Ramooooone--then cut to a literal monster. 6'6" tall with terrible teeth and possible albinism, Joey was the least attractive Ramone (not that any of them were very good looking--gun to my head, Dee Dee). The scene of Joey serenading Riff in her teenage bedroom has to be seen to be believed. That poor girl. Guess it goes to show you that when a guy's in a band, there's magic that makes girls love him even when he looks like Joey Ramone (RIP).

The Ramones concert the kids attend features an actual live performance by the Ramones. Unmatched energy, those fast/short/singable songs. . .Gabba Gabba Hey!

~*~*~Here in Hyperbole Corner we assert "Blitzkrieg Bop" is hands-down the greatest American punk song. We will not be taking questions at this time. Hey! Ho! Let's Go! Hyperbole Corner over.~*~*~

This movie has kids taking over the high school, every archetypal high school character (except a gay kid, or as I stated earlier, any brown ones), a food fight, the sexiest conversion van you have EVER. SEEN., and so much great music--mostly, but not all, by the Ramones. A fun watch if you look past the clunky stuff.

[slaterinc]

don letts & bob marley

[orangetruckercap]

Sinéad O'Connor’s and Don Letts by Ben Beauvallet

[popclture]

Don Letts & Bob Marley in London, United Kingdom (1975)

[mickjonesteeth]

[medullam]

Don Letts of Big Audio Dynamite Big World Cafe [London, 1989]

[bloomfish]

this is such a good article. Don Letts literally what an icon. reggae/dub/ska haters can have fun with their shit taste but they literally wouldn't have the music they enjoy now without it.

When the punk bands started to get deals and release singles, I started to slip 'em in, but the punks said I should just keep spinning the reggae. We became closer by revelling in our differences, not by trying to be the same. They dug the basslines, beats and attitude of the tunes I played - not to mention the ready-rolled spliffs that you could buy at the bar (the punks couldn't roll their own). I remember a punk asking the dread behind the bar for two beers and one spliff, but after a moment's thought he changed his order to two spliffs and one beer - we're talking serious cultural exchange here!

Many of the techniques that were pioneered in Jamaican recording studios - putting the drum and bass centre-stage, the DJ/toasters phenomena, the use of the mixing desk as an instrument - have had an audible influence on dance music today. And the sonic striptease of dub continues to inspire a whole new generation of sound pioneers such as Leftfield, the Thievery Corporation, Roots Manuva and the Basic Channel releases.

[meetmeinthesandbox]

Strummer / Letts / Jones

[goodblacknews]

MUSIC MONDAY: "AfroPunk: Reggae Meets Punk" Playlist (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Threads: @stlmarlonwest IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest) While Reggae is a true import from Jamaica, it really gained a global footing in England. It and Punk both arose out of the economic depression and social inequality in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. Many Reggae songs of the time like Bob Marley’s “Punky Reggae Party” and “Concrete Jungle” were overt…