See Hear Podcast episode 129 - Bad Brains: A Band In DC

 

Punk music branched out in the late 70s / early 80s into a harder, faster, thrashier style than its earlier predecessor. If (as is often claimed) the original wave of punk was a reaction to the complexity of prog and the lack of danger in other forms of popular music, then hardcore was the next phase of that during the era of post-punk. It was about catharsis and screaming out about injustice.

Then there was Bad Brains.

Welcome to episode 129 of See Hear Podcast.

Tim has selected the 2012 documentary Bad Brains: A Band In DC for round table discussion. Bad Brains brought something different to the table for their time. In America in the early eighties, punk bands generally weren't playing reggae music as a regular part of their sets. Certain British bands were combining punk energy with a reggae outlook in their music. Bad Brains had gone from being influenced by the jazz fusion stylings of Return To Forever to being converted to punk via the Sex Pistols (already making them unique). Seeing Bob Marley perform made them convert to Rastafarianism and incorporate reggae as well as hardcore punk into their music – not a hybrid, but two sides of the same coin.

The documentary goes back and forth between current day events (at the time of filming) and archival footage of the band to tell their story. We get a worrisome start with a “how-did-we-get-here?” approach to the rest of the film.....a trope I'm quite fond of. In a way, the Bad Brains tale could be the story of millions of bands, but they're seen as hugely exciting pioneers of what they do. Many important bands that followed sang their praises as an influence (Beastie Boys, Nirvana....)

HR, their “lead throat” gradually became more and more unstable in his behaviour, and in a time where no one was using the expression “mental health”, his behaviour was probably explained away as “that's just HR”, rather than investigating if there was something wrong.

Sadly, Kerry wasn't available, but Tim and I discussed positive mental attitudes, wearing motorcycle helmets on stage, not showing up to gigs, punk that wasn't nihilistic, and much more. The film may be found online at: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e5wnw

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at ⁠http://pantheonpodcasts.com

⁠

Send us feedback via email at ⁠seehearpodcast@gmail.com

⁠

Join the Facebook group at ⁠http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

⁠

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

You can download episode 129 from here.

See Hear Episode 126 - The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry

 

It's not too often that a story will make a connection between Linda McCartney, The Beastie Boys and The Clash, but this month's film does just that.

Welcome to episode 126 of See Hear Podcast.

When the average person is asked to name a single important figure in reggae music, they'll most likely say Bob Marley. Without taking away from his importance, reggae's production giant, who helped Marley in his early years, was Lee “Scratch” Perry. For this episode, we look at a 2008 documentary called The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry. He was born in a rural area of Jamaica, but after working on a job to build a road in the western region of the island, he claimed to have found a connection between the sound of the rocks he helped move and the sound of music – sure beats the usual musician story of stealing their sibling's record collection.

The film certainly tells a story, but is also more of a character study about Perry. He was a musical innovator being an early innovator in dub reggae. He'd recorded and produced music that was ska and rocksteady reggae, but it's his experiments in dub he's most remembered for. He's also remembered for burning down his beloved music studio because a rubber ball placed on his console had been moved – okay, the story's a little more complex than that. Was he eccentric? Was he a charlatan? Was he really named Pipecock Jackson, and looking to become American president? The film only looks to Perry for discussion, so without other talking heads, we ask if he's a reliable narrator.

Kerry, Tim and I discuss Rastafarianism, the link to Sun Ra, sound systems, our connections to reggae music, and the scary connection to Dennis Wilson. Please join us for a fun conversation.

The film had previously been on Youtube, but appears to have been removed. However, you can find the film on Kanopy, but our conversation can be listened to independent of the film.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

Download episode 126 from here.