Big Audio Dynamite:This Is Big Audio Dynamite

Big Audio Dynamite:This Is Big Audio Dynamite

1985

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Medicine Show  2. Sony  3. E=MC²  4. The Bottom Line  5. A Party  6. Sudden Impact!  7. Stone Thames  8. BAD

Yes! I'm very happy that I finally got to the Big Audio Dynamite section! I love this album. It's one of those records that I've owned for so long I don't even remember where I got it...My Mom's consignment shop, maybe?

Anyway, this is the first record Mick Jones released after he was booted from the Clash...He furthers  the exploration of dance and hip hop that the Clash's flirted with on "Sandinista!" and "Combat Rock.." I wish i could tell you how many times I've played  "E=MC²"  (an audio "Cliff Notes" for the film oeuvre of Nicholas Roeg.) Same goes for "The Bottom Line," which is a one-love party anthem where "even the soviets are swinging away..." It's so damn joyous and life-affirming that it can't help put a big-ass smile on my face.   As much as I love those songs, the real show-stopper is "A Party." Over a simple, playful melody the band addresses apartheid (hence the title "A Party." Boy, it took me a ridiculously long time to connect those dots...), which was an issue that a lot of well-meaning  musicians tackled in the 80's,  but I don't think any other song handled it as gracefully as this...They provide historical backdrop and spot-on allegory that gives the lyrics a lot of layers, and although the subject matter is grim, the song actually sounds fun enough to rule a party...It celebrates the people affected, rather than the usual one-dimensional pity... "Easy to see no unity Masses ruled by minority When these guys come on the scene Ruined a good blues party..." Oh my God, that line always breaks my heart...So great...As a kid growing up in the woods of Michigan, sometimes global conflicts seemed a bit remote or abstract to me...But the writing in the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite songs took a look at the big injustices in the world and reminded you they were really talking about people...It wasn't just some news story or a trendy cause...That was one of the big reasons I fell in love with the Clash's music and I think Big Audio Dynamite continues that tradition here...

Another thing that distinguishes the album is its extensive use of movie samples...Sometimes it's just a line or two, but just as often it's entire scenes...It gives the album a big, cinematic feel that I don't think they ever quite achieved again...

The samples and drum machines, do draw a lot of criticism for  being "dated" now,  but that aspect doesn't bother me...I mean, they used the technology that was available at the time...Back then an 80's drum machine was the state of the art. What were they supposed to do?  Fly in  Skillex  from the  year 2013 to drop some sick-ass bass bombs on "Medicine Show"?   (Skrillex always reminds me of Corey Feldman for some reason...And is it just me or does the mere word "Skrillex" make you hate music? I had the same reaction even before I ever actually heard the music...I'm not sure if it's the "skrill" that does it or the "ex." I'm telling you...Just look at it.."Skrillex"....brrrr....)

I could maybe see calling it dated if it was just some empty, dance record that relied merely on sound  to get its point across (e.g.: Skrillex) but for all dance trappings, the record really is all about the songs, which aren't dated at all...it's not like this was a common style of music in the 80's...It's hard to even pinpoint exactly what it is now ....It doesn't seem to acknowlege any musical boundaries...Rap, rock, punk, reggae...It's all here.

  I totally don't think this album has received its proper due...C'mon, man...Run down to your local record store and score a copy now! I'll wait to continue until you come back...

God, took you long enough...Now let's talk about 1985...As I'm sure was the case with most people, I spent the majority of the year 1985 staring blankly at a television screen...There were a lot of things I saw on the tube that year that stuck with me to this day....Here's my list of my favorite television moments of 1985 (Warning: This list largely consists of the A-Team and/or wrestlers...)

1. The A-Team giving Rick James too much dialogue: Which he delivers in a bizarre, stumbling,  breathless fashion...All B.A. Baracus can do is pretend to understand and nod...Just watching this will give you the cold, coke sweats....

2. Uncle Elmer's Wedding: 1985 was also the year that NBC started airing "Saturday Night Main Event," (which was a 90 minute WWF wrestling extravaganza) and the second episode was one of the finest  ever, featuring  the wedding of Uncle Elmer (who was the uncle of Hillbilly Jim)...

(The actual  greatest episode of "Saturday Night Main Event" aired the following year...

Check out what Jesse "The Body" Ventura says at the 5:50 mark...I had originally taped the episode in the 80's, but one day I watched it in the early 90's and couldn't believe what I was hearing...I told people about it for years but I think everyone assumed I had heard it wrong, but thanks to youtube, here is tangible proof...)

Hulk Hogan guest stars on the A-Team: As a 8 year-old kid this was monumental! Even more important than Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meeting for the first time in 1985's Geneva Summit... 

And to top it all Mr T and Hulk Hogan teamed up the same year to wrestle "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in Wrestlemania 1.

David Letterman Interrupts the Today Show: Although this features no wrestlers, this was a legendary television moment in my mind...."Willard! Come up here! There's a woman who is 150 years young!" So great. 

Alright, enough watching tv...let's watch some videos instead...Here's "E=MC2" by Big Audio Dynamite...