I recently just upped a hundred or so new albums to my mediafire account. But rather then pull out some obscure, limited to two copies, weird out, I'll just play it safe. I'm sure everyone has this already, but even if that's the case, it had to appear at some time on this blog. I just felt..I dunno...naked without it. And since this was an album that I played on a daily rotation for far too long, it warms by bitter cold heart to finally share it with other.Here
I'm sure I don't really need to add how fantastic this record is. It is so
ReplyDeletegood I am even prepared to forgive them for the weak reggae tracks.
Someone recently played me Death, telling me they were the first all black punk band, recorded in 1974(!) but only recently released. Well I don't know about that. The songs are great but there is more of a similarity with MC5 to my ear. But something about them also made me think that Bad Brains owed them a nod for their sound.
Dunno about Death being a punk band. It's definitely a fun record that I thoroughly enjoy. I have a hard time believing that Bad Brains would have even have been aware of their existence. Seems like they were more interested in fusion. But what do I know.
ReplyDeleteI expect you are right. I don''t know much about Bad Brains other than their first couple of recordings. Didn't they have some spat with MDC, with accusations of homophobia being bandied around? I don't think I ever knew the full story or if it was ever resolved in any way.
ReplyDeleteIn my head punk didn't exist in 1974 so I can't see how Death could be a punk band. Simple as that really. Isn't it great though that such interesting bands can pop up out of nowhere so many years after their demise.
I think a lot of the homophobia surfaced with the song "Don't Blow Bubbles" or something that was of that ilk. It's not that surprising really. Is there really that many reggae bands that are accepting of non-hetero relations? Funny that Madonna signed them to her label.
ReplyDeleteThere don't even seem to be many who are tolerant of equality within hetero relationships. Like many religions rastafarianism is often guilty of treating women as inferior second class citizens whose position in life should be one of subservience. Strange really considering the prominence that equality and justice have in the lyrics of many reggae bands. It seems like double standards to me.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely a palpable hypocrisy. Nevertheless, I can look past that if the music is good. Shit, if I can listen to Skrewdriver, or some racist metal, I can handle that.
ReplyDeleteI thought I would pursue this a little further and see what band members have to say about this now and read a couple of interviews with them. To be fair they have a more balanced view now and indicated that the controversy was sparked more by an over zealous interpretation of rasta ideology at the time. Nowadays it is more about preaching love for all people regardless of sexuality. Funny that the little I knew all those years ago about this issue put me off listening to them for a long time despite the outstanding nature of this particular record. It's pleasing to see that they have come round to a more inclusive philosophy. The same could never be said for the likes of Skrewdriver etc whose later bile and hatred tarnish their early work even though it wasn't the same band. I never rated them anyway so it's no loss that I will never bother with them again. There must be a million other punk bands I would rather listen to than their mediocre efforts. As for racist metal, I don't know much more than the fact that it exists and can't see the point in searching it out when there is so much other good music about. I still can't completely separate out the music from the politics/social commentary. It's not that I find it offensive - more pathetic and sad really. And I certainly wouldn't want to give them any of my money by buying their records. To me that would imply tacit approval of the bullshit they spout.
ReplyDeleteI certainly would never pay for anything of the sort. However, I feel that if it is free I would give it a listen. Especially since I often cannot even tell what it is that they are singing. Their message is always already lost on me. Also, and I can think of examples of directors, painters, athletes, etc. whom I find reprehensible (as human beings) yet I respect their talent and ability. It just seems impossible for all good art to be made by good people. Most of the texts that I find most fascinating are products of some rather troubled minds. But don't take this as some weird endorsement of racism.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's true that you can't write off a person entirely because of the more unsavoury traits of their character. Not everything is black and white even if it does seem like it when you are younger. I suppose that when you start to acknowledge unpleasant aspects of your own personality as you age you also start to become more forgiving of others failings too. Not that I am about to become some hood wearing klansman or something ha ha. I can see the sense in giving these people a listen though. At least then you can refute their arguments from a position of knowledge. There is nothing worse then some self righteous bigot telling people they are wrong when he hasn't even listened to what they have to say. And there is no way you can change minds without engaging with them in some kind of meaningful way. Some people are beyond hope of course.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, back to Bad Brains. Like most people in the UK I first heard them on the Jellybeans album. US punk records were few and far between back then and Peel was probably the only person on the radio playing stuff from your side of the Atlantic. There were a couple of other bands on that album that I liked but never heard any more of - Bpeople and Wounds in particular. Most others I have subsequently heard plenty of.
Jeez I'm turning into a right old windbag on here : )
ReplyDeleteAh BPeople, a forgotten but good band. Maybe I should post some of that.
ReplyDelete