A friend of my brother just met Mick jones of the Clash which sent me back to the archives for some Mick pieces from the past. I can't seem to find my interview, but will keep at it.
Lollapalooza 2011, Saturday: Big Audio Dynamite
by John Dugan on Aug 6, 2011 at 7:55pm
Michael Jackson once asked us "Who's bad?" and the Lollapalooza crowd was in a similar state of mind today. You couldn't call the return of this underrated post-Clash band fronted by Mick Jones highly anticipated by the masses, at least not by current generations. But for many of us coming of age in the mid-'80s, BAD was an exciting, boundary-pusher in its attempt at a fusion of hip-hop, dub, sampling and drum machines with a British punk sensibility. We came to BAD as Clash fans but BAD's first two albums stood on their own, and still do. Many of the band's earliest tunes still sound fresh today. The likes of "Dial a Hitman" hasn't been bested in over two decades. If you never thought you'd experience the '80s line-up of the innovative act, you were in luck today. For this reunion, Jones was accompanied by MC/sound system maestro Don Letts, bassist Leo Williams and drummer Greg Roberts. Logically, then, the band stayed close to its early '80s output from This is Big Audio Dynamite and No. 10, Upping Street. It seemed invigorated. Letts stalked the stage and rapped in an upbeat reggae MC style and Jones hip-swiveled like a '50s rocker, telling bits of stories with a perpetual grin on his face. The band rocked up its tunes, playing down their drum machine beats and B-boy production, and instead putting Jones and his lead guitar player's amps at the fore. Jones seemed so loose and at ease. The band even debuted a new ditty about the financial crisis titled something along the lines of "Rob Peter to Pay Paul," which was more of a jangly rocker than a typical BAD street beat concoction. But the band was best when digging into its own "E=MC2," "A Party," "C'mon Every Beatbox," first tune ever "The Bottom Line," theme song "BAD" and later period hit "Rush." Big Audio Dynamite may not be back on the map, but for those in the know, they never left.