Big Audio Dynamite: Higher Power/F-Punk

I have previously covered all the other Big Audio Dynamite albums, but as you can recall from those posts, I couldn't find copies of the band's final two albums. Well, shortly after I wrote that, I went to Zia records and found both CD's, so I'll be covering them in one post today...I'm running super late for work today, so I didn't especially get a chance to edit it so it might come off as a bit choppy, but screw it...Here we go...



Big Audio Dynamite: Higher Power

1994

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. Got to Wake Up  2. Harrow Road  3. Looking for a Song  4. Some People  5. Slender Loris  6. Modern Stoneage Blues  7. Melancholy Maybe  8. Over the Rise  9. Why Is It?  10. Moon  11. Lucan  12. Light Up My Life  13. Hope


I can remember buying this on cassette when it was a new release...I remember playing the first four songs over and over and then it sat unplayed for years. One day in 2000, I pulled it out of the ol' tape case and was blown away by "Melancholy Maybe." Then I lost my entire tape collection and never heard the album again until 2013.

This album is ridiculously spotty...Why is the running time so damn long (nearly 70 minutes) when the band had so few good songs this time around. There's no way they could have narrowed this down a bit?  Their mellower house-inspired direction isn't as appealing as their earlier, wordy, dance-punk. What bothers me the most though is the lack of great lyrics. Man, remember how good their lyrics were? Especially those first two albums! Half the appeal of songs like "A Party!", "Battle of All-Saints Road", and "E=MC2" lied in the dense, dazzling lyric sheet. They seemed to have so much to say then and went through such great pains to say it so right...Oh well...

 And again, not much of this actually bad....It just seems a bit dull when compared to their other albums ... The first four tracks definitely still hold up. "Got to Wake Up" is a promising opener, but I think it actually promises a bit too much. The  nagging, "Message from dreamland early in the morning, you gotta wake up and get out of bed" hook is one of the catchiest things they ever wrote, and much respect to anyone who can actually make waking up early in the morning sound like fun. It's 7 am right now and I can tell you, in no uncertain terms, that waking up early in the morning sucks!

"Harrow Road" follows and turns out to be another high-point. At the time I thought it sounded like  it could have come off of "Combat Rock" or "Sandinista!" but looking back I think the rawer, roaring-guitar style foretells "F-Punk" more than anything.  This version is diminished somewhat by the superior ska version that appears on "Planet BAD's Greatest Hits," so I tend to take the album version for granted, but I really shouldn't...



I have already discussed the single, "Looking for a Song" in the "Planet BAD" post I did last year, and I still stand by my assessment. Alright enough song, nothing to write home about. See, I used to write my Mom every weekend to tell her how much I liked the "E=MC2" and "Contact" singles but I didn't feel inspired enough to send her a letter about "Looking For a Song." Maybe I will though...Yea, $0.46 isn't too much to spend for a stamp! I bet she;ll be happy to read about a single that came out 20 years ago! Let me run to the post office real quick!

Wait?!?! $0.49?!?!?!!! Godammit!

 Oh yea, remember earlier when I was talking about how my 2000 re-assessment of the album provided the conclusion that "Melancholy Maybe" was the best song on the album? Well, it turns out I think I overrated it a bit...Definitely a good song, but it doesn't raise my rafters like it used to...The chorus resolution is a little too weak for my tastes now...The chorus starts out like it's going to be a real killer, but the last line sounds kind of like a shoulder-shrug...Out of nowhere, the melody suddenly takes a turn towards an old 1930's type thing...I maintain those verses are freakin' stellar, however. This time around the song that turns out to be the unexpected surprise is "Moon." A sweet ditty that proves there might have been something to this gentler, more-whimsical approach.

And really. outside of the fine "Some People" (which rules here, but would have probably been a middle-of-the-road track on "Megatop Phoenix") that about covers all the worthwhile material on here. The rest of it is either boring or an updated dance version of English music-hall music, that I don't have too much interest in...They should have really cut this monster down a bit. If it was around the 40 minute mark and had a filler-free track-listing I would probably play the hell out of this, but as it stands it's the one I turn to the least...

Here's my edited version (which would still give a good 40 minute running time):

1. Got to Wake Up
2. Harrow Road
3. Looking for a Song
4. Some People
5. Modern Stoneage Blues (I'm not too into this song, but everyone else seems to agree it's a real winner, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, even though I don't particularly agree)
6. Melancholy Maybe
7. Why Is It? (Boy, this one is hanging on by a thread for me...)
8. Moon
9. Lucan (This song doesn't bowl me over just lying there in the middle of the album, but it seems like it'd work as a slow-burn closer)

Nine tracks might have seemed a bit skimpy in the 90's, when every album had to be 70 minutes, but no one seems to have a problem with "This is Big Audio Dynamite"'s 8-song track listing, so I think the less-is-more adage holds up...

But sequence it however, you like...This is just my recommendation...

Here's"Got to Wake Up" by Big Audio...

Big Audio Dynamite:F-Punk

1995

Radioactive Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. I Turned Out a Punk  2. Vitamin C  3. Psycho Wing  4. Push Those Blues Away  5. Gonna Try  6. It's a Jungle Out There  7. Got To Set Her Free  8. Get It All From My TV  9. Singapore  10. I Can't Go On Like This  11. What About Love? 12. Suffragette City (hidden track)


 People tend to single this out as the band's worst album, but I don't think those people have played this back to back with "Higher Power." My God, this album whoops that record's ass! It's still a tad too long (and man, this is a perfect example of an album that would have been much improved if trimmed just a little), but everything about this is superior.

The sound this time around leans more towards straight-up rock, but the dance element is still there, it's just pushed to the back of the mix in favor of cranked guitars on most of the tracks. The sonics are pretty interesting actually, Mick sounds like the microphone is resting on his lips Close, dry, immediate and raw. The lyrics still aren't quite what they were, but the songs pull this through.

Opening track "I Turned Out a Punk" still steals the show. At the time I can remember everyone pointing out that this appeared to be Mick's attempt at realigning himself with punk, since the genre  had suddenly become all the rage again, but this seems utterly unrelated to Green Day. More roaring and garage rocking than pop-punk. His vocal delivery also seems to distance itself with the cartoon snottiness of pop-punk...Instead he uses a numb, monotonous delivery that works perfectly for some reason.

It's also a thrill to hear Mick revisit the "I Can't Explain" riff for the hundredth time on "Psycho Wing." I think a lot of people have a much dimmer view of the recycling than I do, but I say fuck it...The song rocks, the chorus is ultra-catchy and my day is a little brighter for hearing it, which is all I usually ask for in a song...

"Get It All From My TV" finally gets the "Higher Power" music-hall experiments right, and it seems all it took was adding a little more heft in the guitar department and some trashy drumming...Again, hearing Mick singing about his girlfriend's tits is a bit of a let-down after all the brilliant lyrics he had given us in the past, but this chewy bubble-gum is an alright consolation prize...And it's nice to finally get some lyrics extolling the virtues of TV! So many songs knock it, but TV has given us so many wonderful things...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

                                                                         Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Exhibit F

I think I've made my point...

The whole album's pretty good. There's only a couple weak tracks: "Push Those Blues Away" is so generic that it hardly even registers as a song in my mind..."Singapore" is also not that great, but at least it triggered memories of a long-forgotten news story involving  an American who got a hot-ass in Singapore for vandalizing a car or something...

 They also trigger another better-suppressed memory in "It's a Jungle Out There." This time it's that irritating "jungle' techno beat that was everywhere in the 90's...Ugh! I hate that beat...It would have actually been an alright track without the jungle beat...

Things close on a high-note with "What About Love?" which is lovely ballad indeedy. Another good example of sampling used as an enhancement to a proper song rather than a means to an end...Oh yea, there's a hidden cover of Bowie's "Suffragtte City," but they don't screw around with the "7 minutes of silence" bullshit...It starts immediately after "What About Love?" so it's alright by me.

"F-Punk" is super out-of-print these days, so chances of finding an affordable copy are pretty slim until someone reissues it, but if you run into a reasonably priced CD, I say go for it...I rank it pretty high in the BAD discography, despite all the hate it gets...

Here's my official ranking from best to worst (subject to change with my next listen to any of these albums)

1. This is Big Audio Dynamite

2. No 10 Upping Street

3. The Globe

4. F-Punk

5. Tighten Up Vol. 88

6. Megatop Phoenix

7. Higher Power

Yay! I got to do a list! All legit blogs have lists...Now I should probably do a political rant or something:

"Blah blah blah (pretend these "blah's" are mad-polarizing political statements) blah blah blabbity  blah! And what about all this liberal blah-blah! Blab blab blooty blah boot-straps blah blah. Remember the immortal words of Thomas Paine:

Sit on that one!!"

Now here's "I Turned Out a Punk" by Big Audio Dynamite...Enjoy...

Big Audio Dynamite: Planet BAD: Greatest Hits

Big Audio Dynamite: Planet BAD: Greatest Hits

1995

Columbia Records

Format I Own it On

Track Listing: 1. The Bottom Line 2. E=MC² 3. Medicine Show 4. C'Mon Every Beatbox 5. V. Thirteen 6. Sightsee M.C! 7.Just Play Music 8. Other 99 9. Contact 10. Free 11. Rush 12. The Globe 13. Looking For A Song 14. Harrow Road 15. I Turned Out A Punk


This is a greatest hits album with a spot-on song selection, the only problem is that quite a few of these are single edits...Which doesn't bother me too bad, cos if I want to hear the longer versions I can just pull out the original albums, but if you're looking for the "Th-th-th-the horses are on the track!' section on "The Bottom Line" you might be disappointed..

Listening to this just highlights how many awesome singles these guys put out...Track after track of catchy dance-rock...I've covered most of this already, so I'll just stick to the songs that didn't appear on the albums I've already posted about...




"Free" comes from the soundtrack for the film "Flashback."



Which I have never seen, but I do remember going to rent movies at the video store back in the early 90's and seeing the video tape cover...The song's pretty cool...Sort of in the acid house style of "Megatop Phoenix," but quite a bit better than a lot of the songs on that album...An alternate version of this song appears on the "Kool-Aid" album as "Kickin' In."




The tracks "Looking For a Song" and "Harrow Road" come from the1994 "Higher Power" album. I used to have this on tape back in the day, but I lost almost all of my tapes after I moved...Not sure what happened to them...I moved to Arizona in 2001, and about 2 hours into the trip I realized I forgot my tape collection (which was a pretty huge collection). There was no way I was turning back, so I left them. My mom sent me a box with a bunch of them once, but when I returned to Michigan in 2003 to grab some more of them, all of them had been taken by someone...Not a big deal, but there's been quite a few I haven't been able to replace, and this was one of them...I haven't heard it in almost 12 years...I remember the album being really spotty but there were a few great songs on it...I loved "Got To Wake Up" in particular, but unfortunately that doesn't appear here..."Looking For a Song" is alright...Nothing to write home about, but the version of "Harrow Road" that appears here is stellar! It beats the pants off the album version...It's redone with a ska style backing and Ranking Roger from the English Beat appears to do some toasting...This song makes the whole compilation...





1995's "F-Punk" was another tape I lost. I used to listen to the shit out of this cassette,,,It had a really odd sound...The guitar was bigger, louder, and fuzzier than before, and Mick sounded like he was about an inch away from the microphone...It was a real cool racket, and I'd love to find it again, but the album costs a fortune now...I know I could probably just listen to the whole thing on youtube or something, but I don't have a computer...I write this blog on a steam-powered typewriter...

Anyway, "I Turned Out a Punk" appears on this compilation. This song was the opener on "F-Punk." Punk was coming back into vogue in 1994-95, thanks to Green Day and the Offspring, and the "F-Punk" album and "I Turned Out a Punk" in particular, seem to address the new craze. This was the most traditionally "punk" track Mick had released in years and it's a great song to boot...Listening back to it now it kind of reminds me more of early 2000's style garage rock than Green Day style punk... "F-Punk" was the last album Big Audio Dynamite" has released to date...The band recorded the album "Entering a New Ride," which was supposed to be released back in 1997, but their record company wouldn't release it, for some reason...The band later released it themselves as a download-only album on their website...They also recently reunited to do some shows but no word yet if they're planning on putting out a new record... I love Big Audio Dynamite...I don't see it as a step-down or inferior to the Clash in any way....Growing up, they were just as important to me as the Clash...Mick had quite the legacy to live up to and he never took the safe route of merely emulating his old band...He's always embraced  new technology and countered it with good, old fashion songwriting, finding his own unique style in the prcoess..I can't tell you how much I'd  love to hear one more record from these guys... Make it happen!  So let's check out the ska version of "Harrow Road"  by Big Audio Dynamite...

Big Audio Dynamite II: The Globe

Big Audio Dynamite II: The Globe

1991

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Rush  2. Can't Wait/Live  3. I Don't Know  4. The Globe  5. Innocent Child  6. Green Grass  7. Kool-Aid  8. In My Dreams  9. When the Time Comes  10. The Tea Party


A new version of Big Audio Dynamite with a completely new line-up. Mick Jones is the only holdover and  he sounds re-energized. This is one of B.A.D's best album.

A number of these songs ("Rush," "Can't Wait," "Innocent Child," "Kool-Aid," "In My Dreams," and "When the Time Comes" originally appeared in different versions on the "Kool-Aid" album that was only released in the UK...



 (That "Kool-Aid" cover is so ugly it's kind of awesome...I've just heard this album for the first time recently...It's kind of a more experimental version of  "The Globe.")

"The Globe" finds Big Audio Dynamite regaining the proper balance between innovative sampling and pop songcraft....The samples once again seem fresh and integral to the album .. Like Mick sampling "Should I Stay or Should I Go" on the title track (sure the rapping on the song couldn't be any stiffer but it's a good time anyway..), or the awesome Phil Collins sample on "Innocent Child." See, those are daring choices and their inclusion adds so much to the songs for a change, rather than something that's tacked on in-between tracks or interrupts the middle of a song...

It also doesn't hurt that just about every song has a killer hook..."Rush" and "Green Grass" are some of their best and catchiest songs, and "In My Dreams" is just a masterpiece...It somehow makes you feel good, yet it has a dark, haunting quality due to its effective use of samples..One of those songs it feels like you've known your whole life...But, really it's hard to single out any tracks, everything works so well...The only bum track is the closer "The Tea Party" which is just an operetta version of various songs form the album...but even that's pretty amusing...

If you visit the one dollar bin in any record store there's a good chance you'll find a half dozen copies of this album right next to copies of...



REM's "Monster"...



..and Civ's "Set Your Goals"...

.

....and Hanson's "Middle of Nowhere"...

...So do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "The Globe." Totally worth a dollar...I'd actually grab that Civ album too...I've always liked that record...



...I'd skip the copy of Chumbawumba's "Tubthumper" though...unless your collection of "biggest eyesore album covers of the 90's" collection is incomplete...

...Anyway, let's check out "Green Grass" by Big Audio Dynamite...

Big Audio Dynamite: Megatop Phoenix

Big Audio Dynamite: Megatop Phoenix

1989

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Start  2. Rewind  3. All Mink & No Manners  4. Union, Jack  5. Contact  6. Dragon Town  7. Baby, Don't Apologise  8. Is Yours Working Yet?  9. Around the Girl in 80 Ways  10. James Brown  11. Everybody Needs a Holiday  12. Mick's a Hippie Burning  13. House Arrest  14. The Green Lady  15. London Bridge  16. Stalag 123  17. End

B.A.D's fourth full-length album, and the last with the original line-up. Again, I think I originally owned this on cassette (which I think was the case with every B.AD album)...

...I can remember listening to it in my walkman everyday on the way to school...

(-

(Thinking back, every walkman I owned in the 80's was gray and every walkman I owned in the 90's was black... I don't think  it was any personal choice on my part...I kind of remember they were the only colors available...I think if you wanted to get all fancy-Dan you might be able to find a yellow one if you tried hard enough...It's odd though...I'm used to the endless color variations that electronics seem to come in now...)

Big Audio Dynamite also dramatically update their sound this time around...Now, I'm not too crazy about the "acid house" sound they adopt here, but I have to give them credit that the experiment is largely  successful..Now there's almost  nothing on Earth that I would want to hear less than late 80's acid house, but they get some really great songs using this format...

 I've never  been able to get into dance music so much...It's a little too utilitarian for me...I don't go out dancing, I mostly listen to music sitting at home...So listening to some blinkity  sequencers and a tuneless bass drum pounding for an hour doesn't work for me...I like songs, dammit...Now, take the track "Everybody Needs a Holiday"...Instrumentally speaking, it's a  pretty unremarkable piece of house music that normally there would be no way I'd ever enjoy...but  once Mick's imperfect croon comes in, suddenly they have something...It's calming, reassuring and catchy...It's easy to overlook how dated the techno elements may sound, because emotional content and a hummable melody never go out of style...But really, the song is quintessentially late 80's acid house...So apparently it's a genre I'm capable of getting into in the right hands...I wish I could say the rest of the album worked as well...

I can recall the first time putting on this album and hearing the hyperactive sequencer on "Rewind" and then hearing Don and Mick singing, in a mock battle-hymn style:

"The troop was weak and weary
Rations running low
Mission seemed impossible
We had to save the show..."

...and then the guitars and drums kicking in...It's a great moment...And they actually keep up the momentum for the first quarter of the album, but things start to sag a bit in the middle and end...Just a few too many songs with nonexistent hooks...

(The cover for the "contact 12" single...Woah, look in the upper right hand corner... the B-side has a great title! "If I Were John Carpenter." Man, I wanna hear that! Let me check out youtube real quick...(spends 8 minutes listening)...Eh, it's a super long instrumental, but it does have that cool "Don't dig there, dig it elsewhere..." sample they also use on "Mick's a Hippie Burning.")

 I honestly believe if they could shorten the running time a good 15 minutes, maybe lose 3 or 4  of these tracks, they would have a great album on their hands...but it's easy to take some of this for granted, because there's so damn much of it...and as you're balls-deep into something as forgettable as "Around the Girl in 80 Ways" it becomes hard to remember just how awesome "Contact" 'was, oh, 4 songs ago...

So here's how I usually sequence the album when I play it at my Friday Night Record Party...

1. Start
2. Rewind
3. All Mink & No Manners
4. Union, Jack
5. Contact
6. Dragon Town
7.  James Brown
8. Baby, Don't Apologise
9. House Arrest
10. The Green Lady
11. Everybody Needs a Holiday
12.. End

See?  Still longer than "This Is Big Audio Dynamite." Not too long...not too short...and it suddenly sounds like a minor triumph to me... I could honestly give or take "Baby, Don't Apologise, " but I kind of like the guitar playing on it, and the record might seem a bit short without it...I also like the idea of the quiet closer on "Stalag 123" but the song itself is kind of bland, so I chose "Everybody Needs a Holiday" as the proper closer, since it serves a similar function, but is a superior song...

If I've cut out some of your favorite tracks, don't worry...You can  work out your own edit of "Megatop Phoenix" at your Friday Night Record Party! I'm dying to hear it...
 
Sorry if I came off as a little overly critical, because I really do enjoy this album...Hell, I must have listened to it on that old black walkman at least 500 times...So that should speak volumes...
Let's check out "Everybody Needs A Holiday" by Big Audio Dynamite...Enjoy...

Big Audio Dynamite: Tighten Up Vol. 88

Big Audio Dynamite: Tighten Up Vol. 88

1988

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Rock Non Stop (All Night Long)  2. Other 99  3. Funny Names  4. Applecart  5. Esquerita  6. Champagne  7. Mr. Walker Said  8. The Battle of All Saints Road"  9. Hip, Neck & Thigh  10. 2000 Shoes  11. Tighten Up, Vol. 88  12.  Just Play Music!


Big Audio Dynamite's 3rd album. Released in 1988, and named after a series of legendary reggae compilations released by Trojan in the 70's, that usually featured scantily clad (or unclad, I should say) girls....

The cover of B.A.D's "Tighten Up" doesn't have a naked chick on it, but it does have a cool painting of a blues party, done by Paul Simonon of the Clash...



 I've always kind of seen this album as a bit of a step down from the previous two albums...They go for more of a straightforward pop sound, but they sacrifice some of their depth in the process...So we get a few good to great pop songs, a couple of outright forgettable ones, and a few songs that are absolutely brilliant...

Things start off promising enough with the fine party starter  "Rock Non Stop (All Night Long)" and the "Other 99" is another great pop single that I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen pop again as some sort of "Occupy" anthem or something... but the third track  "Funny Names" is one of the first truly weak Big Audio Dynamite songs in their catalog...I like Mick's guitar line during the chorus, and the message is good,  but  ultimately it's too unremarkable and the lyrics too simple...Contrast this with "A Party" from "This Is Big Audio Dynamite" and you'll see what I mean...and "Champagne" really gets on my nerves...

The disco single "Just Play Music" even seems to reference the album's lightlight quality:

"You don't need to be profound,
In fact don't speak,
just play that soiund,
just play music..." 

On the other hand, there's the epic "Battle of All Saint's Road." This is really one of their most ambitious and greatest tracks...They recast the Battle of New Orleans with rockers and rastas, with both sides eventually taking on the police, and then covers the aftermath of the battle, where the landscape has inevitably been taken over by McDonald's and hotels...It all ends with a showdown between a toasting  Don Letts  and a dueling banjo...Holy shit,  I love this song...

All in all, a pretty enjoyable party record, It's not as great as the first two, but what can you do? Just Play Music, I guess ...

So let's grab some Red Stripe...Although the guy on the cover doesn't look like he's drinking a Red Stripe...It  appears to be a clear bottle with yellow liquid in it...Maybe it's a Miller Highlife...

..or a tall, refreshing Ginger Ale...

But in "The Battle of All Saint's Road" they clearly namedrop Red Stripe, so I'm going to go with that... So yea, let's grab a Red Stripe, put on "Tighten up Vol. 88"  and party to "The Battle of All Saint's Road" by Big Audio Dynamite...Cheers....

Big Audio Dynamite: No. 10, Upping St.

Big Audio Dynamite: No. 10, Upping St.

CBS Records

1986

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. C'mon Every Beatbox  2. Beyond the Pale  3. Limbo the Law  4. Sambadrome  5. V. Thirteen  6. Ticket  7. Hollywood Boulevard  8. Dial A Hitman  9.  Sightsee M.C!  10. Ice Cool Killer  11.   The Big V  12. Badrock City

I originally owned this album on cassette tape...Actually, when I think of the word cassette tape, this is the album that pretty much comes to mind...It was probably one of my most listened to tapes..As I spin this disc I can practically see the tape cover w/ the big red block letters on the side...

...and the big "Nice Price" sticker on the front...

 I like this album!  Mick Jones and Joe Strummer work together again, as Strummer co-produces the album and  co-writes most of the tracks. Everything seems more streamlined, and the songs are stronger, if not as immediate. For fans of the Clash who haven't made the jump into Big Audio Dynamite, I'd say this is a pretty good place to start, since it 's the album that bears the most similarity to that band...Some of this sounds like it could have come straight from side two of "Sandansita!"

The album is off to a good start with "C'mon Every Beatbox," where Eddie Cochran  is updated as dance-punk..."Beyond the Pale" follows and is actually the song that sets the tone for the rest of the album; it's  full of these types of  darker, more thoughtful anthems,  culminating in  "V. Thirteen" which just might be the band's single best track....The song has this cold-war, high-tech, dystopian kind of vibe that has Jos Strummer's fingerprints all over it...Even though Mick sings it, I can't help but hear Joe for some reason...Note: The vinyl version has a much different and in my opinion, inferior version of "V.Thirteen"...The CD/Cassette version is much leaner and more powerful...

The album also sports a bit of a South America influence in its first half, with "Sambadrome" and "Limbo the Law." I don't know why they didn't explore that influence much after this album...It's really appealing and suits them well, and album closer  "Sightsee MC!" is so big and awesome that I can't stand it. Those industrial-size drum machine beat and those "So, Who Else Wants To Be a Millionaire?" synth hits are so powerful for some reason...Rap-rock that doesn't make you want to puke!

The CD and cassette versions end with a few instrumental remix tracks. To be honest, I usually shut this off after "Sightsee MC!" but listening to them, they're not so bad...If you're into the band for the vintage drum machines and samples, then you might get something out of them...

Let's check out "V Thirteen" by Big Audio Dynamite...Enjoy...

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...