The truth was weak and weary, Rations running low,
Mission seemed impossible, We had to save the show.
Lost our map and compass, Empty's not a hole,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Rewind operator, Gonna get them with sound,
Falling out, Murderous and let them come down,
Just like in Bocasta, There's agents all around.
B.A.D.'s Plethora of Sound Effects
Falling out, Murderous and let them come down,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Falling out, Murderous and let them come down,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Falling out, Murderous and let them come down,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Data took the liar, Little rock and roll,
Oh, definitely, no? Isn't that what meditation and yoga and all that stuff is about?
Yeah, yeah, definitely, I'm sure you can reach before it states it.
You know, living in a city, I'm sure my man, the guru sitting on top of the hill,
goes to places that I'll never get to with or without tracks.
I mean, you remember that Timothy Leary book, was it?
Tibetan Book of the Dead, where he told you how to take certain doses of LSD
as a shortcut to Nirvana or whatever.
I always wondered where the hell he could get acid that was that chemically correct.
Trying to, not to say too much of this drug business,
because I'd like the next generation to go drug free, I think.
Yeah, but how are they going to do that?
Bloody great difficulty, with all this press about crack.
It's funny how the media make it sound like really glamorous, you know,
stuff gets you high in 30 seconds and you're addicted for life,
and it's the biggest high you've ever had.
You think that actually makes people want to do it?
If I was a kid, I'd be like, yo, what's the address?
Damn right.
No, I'd like to see people try it, try it free, you know.
I mean, all the people that were doing it back in the 60s are now,
what are they doing, running Apple and managing corporations now, aren't they?
As straight as they come.
You're digging it round and it ought to be square.
Don't dig it there, dig it elsewhere.
You're digging it round and it ought to be square.
The shape of it's wrong, it's much too long,
and you can't put a hole where a hole never runs.
My learned friend, don't you have children to take a look at?
Mind your word.
Have a care.
I look into what I hear.
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
You see?
Isn't it cool, isn't it cool, isn't it cool?
I'm thinking of you, baby
Yes, it's cat
The segments are tighter, a lot more imaginative.
Right.
And I was wondering what went into that.
I hear all kinds.
There's one part on side two where it just,
it goes through so many things so quickly.
Right.
And...
Well, I guess, I mean, you know,
we're always trying to make like a complete album,
not a concept album,
something that runs from top to bottom,
but like an experience,
not this thing where you've got a couple of good tracks
and a couple of fillers, you know what I mean?
And I think for the first time we've actually got it right.
You know, the thing ideally should run as one thing.
That's why, for this one instance,
maybe a CD is better,
simply because you can't, you know,
you don't have to flip it over.
We've had it like a year to write a sample,
we've had a long time.
Yeah.
So we wrote so much stuff,
and we picked out the best songs,
and there was still a lot of other stuff
we just wanted to put on there.
So that's what happens,
is we've got great samples,
and we wonder who used them,
but they didn't fit on the songs.
So since last August,
since Mick bit the dust with the illness,
you heard about that.
It's not like we've been toying,
and we're not trying to think,
we had a lot of times to write a lot of stuff,
and we wanted them.
So what happened was that while he was ill,
we all had a lot more,
a lot of opportunity to put in a lot more
than we normally do,
you know what I mean?
Because he got ill,
and instead of us taking a break,
we just all continued working.
So when he got better,
he came in and sort of pulled it all together.
Now, did you record any of the album
when he was ill?
No, but what we do
is we demo everything in the studio,
and he's got a little studio in his place.
I mean, very minimal situation,
but everything is demoed there.
Because, you know,
you go to these proper studios,
and if you sort of go,
that costs you like a fiver.
And you go to the toilet for five minutes,
that costs you a tenner.
I mean, a good lesson for would-be musicians
or groups is like, you know,
you get your stuff right first in your demos.
You know, with room for maneuverability,
obviously, in the studio,
but you should have the bottom line down
so you ain't wasting time,
because it's too expensive
unless you're, you know, some mega group.
Now, had Mick not been ill,
how do you think this album would have differed?
Oh, that's a very difficult question,
because if he hadn't been ill...
He would have gone.
Right?
He would have done and gone already.
Well, no,
because we'd have been still promoting the last album,
funny enough.
That's it.
We wouldn't have done this one so quickly,
because when he got ill,
we'd just released an album,
he got ill, and that was it.
It was all like,
we had to forget about it,
which is a real shame,
because I believe that it entered the American charts
quite at a reasonable position.
I don't know, 160.
The first week, it jumped to like 100,
which, you know, which for us,
I don't know about anybody in America,
but for us, it's a good thing.
And I think it was the number one college album
for about a month as well,
which, as anyone who knows in America,
is a good place to build,
because basically the college station
seemed to be about three years ahead
of the rest of America.
But we weren't able to capitalize on that
because of his illness,
so we ended up making an album
sort of quicker than we anticipated.
But I think because of Mick's near-death experience,
because that's exactly what it was,
I mean, I'm not kidding,
he was in intensive care,
I mean, it obviously did a lot to his mind
and I think that's reflected on the album
because instead of it being sort of
newspaper headlines
and maybe a lot of situations
that are removed from us,
we try to kind of look inside ourselves a bit more.
I mean, there are still the odd topical things
like James Brown, you know,
but basically it's more emotional, I think.
But I've noticed British people
seem to have more of an idea
of what's going on 5,000 miles away
than American people
who are content to be isolated.
They don't know other languages.
Yeah, well, that's because
America to Americans is the world
and they also know that the world is all,
the world is aspiring to the American way,
so I mean, I can understand the way they,
you get what I'm saying.
Is that true, do you think?
Depends how you look at it.
But don't you think that the rest of the world
seems to, I mean,
look at something in China,
I mean, this glasnost thing,
I mean, the glasnost thing to me,
I think that Al Gorbachev's kind of been
forced into that situation
because he knows that people want some of that stuff
and if he doesn't give them a bit of slack now,
they're going to take it anyway.
Do you know what I mean?
Everybody wants some of what,
you know, they're seeing on the new satellite revolution,
you know, the satellite revolution,
they have all this stuff pumped in front of them
and they want some of that.
Well, there's two fronts.
There's the democracy movements
and there's the commercialization.
McDonald's popping up everywhere.
There's two different aspects to it all.
But with Gorbachev, I see, you know,
I see good ideas,
but I also see him
with all these nationalist movements now.
He could very well be endangered.
Right.
What I like about him, he does,
he's doing things,
he's got some kind,
he seems to have some kind of vision
and he's not pussyfooting and talking about,
oh, well, we'll talk about this thing
and phase it over ten years.
You know, he's taking,
he's making drastic moves
and I think we need more politicians like that
that are more adventurous.
I mean, an example is like,
you know, you've got Margaret Thatcher.
You know the CFC business?
You know the things that are killing the ozone layer
and the spray cans
and the lead in the petrol.
Now she says,
which is poisonous,
it's killing people.
Right?
Making a hole in the sky
that nobody can repair.
And she says,
what does she say?
She says, all right,
we'll phase it out over the next ten years.
Now I didn't notice her talking about
phasing out heroin
or cocaine or crack.
You stop it.
It kills.
How come we're not phasing,
you know,
we don't stop the CFCs and lead petrol?
You know why?
Money.
Money.
You know,
and that sort of,
I mean,
you know,
to me,
if she wanted to be cool,
she'd say,
right,
I'm stopping production of all CFs.
What is it?
What's it called in the plans?
CFC.
CFC.
The only thing is that
soy is a heroin
and that's a far bigger problem.
Dan,
a hole in the sky
that no one knows what the effect is.
The actual getting rid of it,
they have a better chance
going around
stopping the factory making it
than they have
stopping all the junkies
taking heroin.
Yeah, but junkies,
one man killing himself
is different to,
I don't know,
some,
I don't see,
I don't think people really understand
this ozone thing.
You know,
it's,
it's,
I mean,
it's an uncalculable
formula,
situation.
They can't predict anything.
They don't know.
You know,
if the earth goes up
in 10 degrees
over the next five years,
we might not have an earth anymore.
You don't debate.
You stop it.
You know,
there's a lot of this thing about
where people have all this information
and they're not really acting on it.
You know,
like this old satellite revolution.
That'd be great.
Everyone will have access
to information.
Information's useless
if you don't do anything with it.
It just becomes something
that me and you
can sit there
and have a conversation about.
We can have a green conversation,
feel really cool.
Act now.
You know,
if a guy's running around
drunk driving
and he's killing your kid,
you ain't going to
phase him out.
You lock him up.
Now,
can you use your influence
as a popular artist?
Well,
again,
like I say,
artists,
I don't believe
actually change anything.
I think we reflect change
and maybe
bring things,
make them topical.
And I,
you know,
I don't think about
world domination.
I believe it is
in small steps.
You know,
I try to affect
the man next door
and it's like
a chain letter
that may be able
to spread to the man
down the street
and then it expands
like that.
I mean,
I think that's a more
realistic approach
than trying to beat everybody
over the head
with a hammer.
I mean,
still,
I mean,
probably much too slow
as well.
I mean,
I think we need
drastic sweeping action.
But who's going to
start the drastic sweeping action?
Well,
people like,
I mean,
like I said,
Gorbachev seems to have
the kind of right idea.
But who's his counterpart
in the West?
There isn't one,
is there?
No.
That's what I'm saying
and I think,
you know,
like somebody like Maggie,
if she wants to get a lot,
even out of greed
they could do it.
Do you know what I mean?
She could be seen
to make some drastic move
but she could get a lot of votes.
I mean,
that would capture
the people's imaginations.
We ain't got time
for debate.
Feelings flying round,
round up in the air,
bouncing off the walls,
getting under my hair,
on the carpet and the wheat,
up in trees,
on the leaves.
Feelings flying
everywhere.
I'm on the right track
for what I want to say.
I've got to get it now.
There ain't no other
way to make contact.
I've got to get it now.
I've got to get it now.
I've got to get it now.
I've got to get it now.
I've got to get it now.
I've got to get it now.
There ain't no other way to make contact
There ain't no getting away from how I feel today
Feelings flying round and round up in the air
Out in the hall and sitting on my chair
Well I've seen them on the train coming down with the rain
Feelings piling everywhere
I'm on the right track for what I want to say
I gotta get it out
There ain't no other way to make contact
There ain't no getting away from how I feel today
Feelings flying round and round up in the air
Some are really small, they come from over there
Hard to ignore, I see them all the more
Feelings flying everywhere
I'm on the right track for what I want to say
I gotta get it out
There ain't no other way to make contact
There ain't no getting away from how I feel today
I'm on the right track for what I want to say
I gotta get it out
There ain't no other way to make contact
There ain't no getting away from how I feel today
I'm on the right track for what I want to say
I gotta get it out
There ain't no other way to make contact
There ain't no getting away from how I feel today
Stop!
Is that yours?
No, that's Mick and Dan Donovan, that's Dan Donovan
Right
And I believe that that's the first official single in America and England
I think, you know, they do this thing where they put out something to kind of get the vibe going
Yeah
Let everyone know we're around and they come with the big guns
Have you done more songs on the album?
You and Mick on that song
Not really, it just happens to be
Everybody has, they all put in a lot more
Yeah, it's true, we all did write a lot more
Partly because of what Dan said, you know, Mick being ill
And partly because you just naturally progress, you know, you want to write stuff
When I started off I was just concentrating on just playing
You know, I wanted to expand and write songs
We all basically learnt a lot more since working with Mick, especially me
Because I come from a non-musical background
And I only do the lyrics anyway, I don't come up with the tunes
You say you do the lyrics
Predominantly, Mick might write a lot of lyrics as well
But particularly on this album I had a chance to write more because of his illness
Although Contact was written by Mick
But I enjoy writing the lyrics
I sort of use my film experience to do that
Yeah, tell me about your film, your newest film
When I say film, this is a bit of a lie really, I mean video clips
But you just have a film out now
No, I starred in a film for Channel 4 which actually hasn't been released yet
But that's something else
I mean I used to make videos, I made about 150 videos
I made all the Clash videos and the whole spectrum more
But I got fed up with that and joined Big Audio Dynamite
And you also had a record out before Big Audio Dynamite
Oh God
I found it
Oh God
Last time I talked to you you said you didn't have any records out before that
I'm very proud of that record
I'll tell you quickly, that's the public steel leg thing
Yeah, that was never supposed to be released that thing
I was in the studio filming Public Image
I went away on holiday, I come back and they put it out on vinyl, I could not believe it
I was literally sitting in a room going...
Just messing around, and they released it
We played it and someone requested it the next week
Really?
Yeah
Well we told them who you were
He was in a group before
He was in a group called The Basement Five
That's a medium success over here
In fact, Dan hasn't been in the group before, I think Greg's done a few things before
But we're all kind of... I mean this is actually in a funny way a baby group
We've only been around for four years
How would you say you've changed since the beginning of B.A.D.?
First album, what's different about the band now?
Guys, how have we changed since the first album?
What's different about the band now?
Well we're more involved
The bitchiness has increased, the volume of the arguments has increased
Creative disputes
Have increased
The solo album's around the corner
No, seriously
I think all of us have sort of grown musically and artistically
When we first did it, we were in awe of Mick
Mick's got some serious history which is hard to compete with
But I think we've all sort of found our own feet now
And we're all contributing equally
When it started, basically Mick cracked the whip
Which was fair enough
But now it's a little bit more democratic
Or is it a benign dictatorship? Which one is it?
That's my quote
It's glossed off
Mick, I mean, I love reggae music
But the band is sort of, I guess, more rock'n'roll
Yeah, hip-hop and rock'n'roll
He doesn't like reggae so much
When they crashed it all into reggae
Solo album, folks, you'll see it
Don Letts in full effect
I noticed Mick doing some rapping on this album
Yeah, he had a go on James Brown, yeah
Not bad, is it? Not bad at all
You wait to see the video, you'll die
In the video we do this spoof
You know James Brown's famous cloak routine?
We do that and Mick drops to his knees
I throw the cloak over him
Do you think James Brown has gotten a bad deal?
Well, if the guy goes around shooting people up and stuff like that
My man broke the law
What we're basically saying there, though
Is that James Brown's a man like everybody else
Sure, he's had a bad period
But damn, has he had a great one as well
I mean, he made, if not just America dance
He's made the whole world dance
And okay, he's done a few misdemeanors
But, you know, you've got to give the guy a break
And think about the good stuff, not the bad stuff
There's been a lot of emphasis on the angel dust
And shooting up his girl's coat and all that stuff
I mean, the guy's a dude, you know
Suffers pressures like everyone else
And, yeah, it's just paying respects to James, really
The refrain to Men's Men's World in America
Well, obviously taken from his lyrics
But we're trying to kind of say that, you know
Maybe the American way isn't just a dream
Maybe sometimes it's a nightmare
Well, that was a good quote, wasn't it?
Young Cherokee
Driving fast, I flash past
The cops are chasing me
Hot pants
She looked fine
She said that she was mine
She was cute
Torched my suit
And that's her bottom line
It's a Men's Men's World in America
Jump back in myself
Please, please, please, in America
Slip me into hell
My tail
Torched his suit
FBI, CIA, and the Russians too
Keep down the door
Couldn't take no more
When I'm about, hell, it's no doubt
The pop's word is law
It's a Men's Men's World in America
Jump back in myself
Please, please, please, in America
Slip me into hell
Life can be bright in America
If you can fight in America
Life is a fight in America
If you're gonna fight in America
I get chased
On my case
Baby, you're all I've got
APP
Off the meat
They said I shot the band
It's a Men's Men's World in America
Jump back in myself
Please, please, please, in America
Slip me into hell
She's number me
Gunshots in the air
Jump back in my car
Two-foot alley, rope-climbing
Tried to slide me down
So powerful, it knocked me out
I think I'm touchdown
I got so
Just got hosed
Intent to kill
But she loves me still
It's a Men's Men's World in America
Jump back in myself
Please, please, please, in America
Slip me into hell
He's number me
Gunshots in the air
Jump back in myself
Please, please, please, in America
Slip me into hell
So powerful, it knocked me out
I think I'm touchdown
I got so
Just got hosed
Intent to kill
Please, please, please, in America
We're slipping into hell
Go!
I got some
I'm super fine
Living in America
Sure does drive you mad
It's a mad, mad world in America
Jump back in my cell
Please, please, please, in America
We're slipping into hell
Pulling to the wheel like a shake or swirl
Toggle around, don't bounce, that's part of it all
Best thing you want to learn, look me in my eyes
Bit of history, this, this, this is the ugly part
Fuckin' time to hide, roll call, come ahead
Driving fast, fast, fast, super bad, I said
Father's on the run with a jerky gun
Beaming in the head with a chain gun
It's a mad, mad world in America
Jump back in my cell
Please, please, please, in America
We're slipping into hell
Jump back in my cell
Pulling to the wheel like a shake or swirl
Toggle around, don't bounce, that's part of it all
Best thing you want to learn, look me in my eyes
Bit of history, this, this, this is the ugly part
Anybody got any favourites?
I mean, one particular favourite of mine is
Everybody Needs a Holiday
Which is about me and Mick
It's me venting my anger in a funny kind of way
Any other favourites?
I like the Stalag 1, the last track on the album
I really like it
It's a funny album, if you ask us this question
we're going to end up saying everything
We'll say everything except I hate House Arrest
That's your song?
Yeah
Well I wrote a lot of the others as well
He always hates his songs
I think Rewind as well, because that kind of
is his first song on the album, kind of sums up
where we are
That's your song too, right?
Yep
Where we are now
See, if you start asking us this question
I'll tell you the truth, I'm going to say everything
except House Arrest, I mean, really
House Arrest is happening, man
I mean, we really are happy with this album
It's the first time it really is complete
For me it's Green Lady, Around the Girl in 80 Ways
and Everybody Needs a Holiday for me
Is Green Lady aimed at somebody?
Well it's actually something I sort of dreamed up
It's about, do you know who Tetrakoff is?
He's a painter
who did this famous painting called The Green Lady
which they sell in really cheap stores
Woolworths
You've got Woolworths in America, haven't you?
And apparently it's the biggest selling print ever
I don't know if you know that
Do you know the picture I'm talking about?
I think I've seen it
You undoubtedly have
It's in that Hitchcock movie
Is it? Which one?
Lovely, lovely
Is it?
Yeah, it's on his wall
Frenzy
Frenzy, yeah
Anyway, it's a very famous picture
and I don't know, the sort of scenario is
it's about some guy who lives in a council flat
that obviously has never even crossed the channel
but has this total fantasy about the Orient
through this picture
That's what it's about
And then you have a song about Chinatown too
but is it about more than just Chinatown?
It is a bit
It isn't just about Chinatown
It's about alienation and things like that
There was a night when me and Mick went down to
It's funny
You've got a lot of minorities in this town
and most of them you have some kind of rapport with
even if it's only a kebab with the Greeks
or Jamaicans
I mean everyone
there's some kind of connection
And it occurred to us when we were stuck in Chinatown
three o'clock one morning
that the Chinese really are one set of people
that really are on their own
I mean it's a community that you can't sort of break into
Do you know what I'm saying?
I don't know
Close knit
Yeah, but the Indians are close knit too
but still I feel like I can have a chat with them or whatever
But the Chinese, like we were in a restaurant
and you realise that you're on your own
and you felt alienated in your own town
Which isn't a racist thing
It's just sort of stating a fact really
I think that's the same true
All Chinese communities work in the whole world
Yeah, but I mean obviously we can only talk about
our experience here
But I like that
I like the way they've kept their community
and they've brought a bit of China
in the middle of London
and it's a bit of China
Talk about the British
It's really hard to speak about the British
because I was born here
so I've got this kind of duality where
my heart is African
I can't deny that I have English roots
just as any of these guys
We share a common experience
We've both seen the East Enders
and things like that
That's a whole other interview
I like a cup of tea
I love a cup of tea
That's one of the best things about the English
If you want to know what's wrong with the English
go and see A Fish Called Wanda
There you go
I think Mr. Cosner
Not Cosner
Cleve
No, the American
What's his name?
Kevin Kline
Kline?
Who, the actor?
Yeah
Yeah, Kevin Kline
Yeah, I think he's got it right
Do you remember the way he was like
English was stuck up and arrogant
I mean I think he got it really right
But summing Le Char in the upper class
It's kind of a weird picture that's painted for us
I assume when I came over here
that at four o'clock or so
everybody just dropped everything and had tea
That's the way it's presented
We only get the BBC programs
Well that's a sort of quaint English view
that Americans have
But in fact
That's what we want to believe
Yeah, but in fact
What Americans don't realize
is that the upper class is all totally ragged and mad
And they smoke and they take crack
And we got crack
We got 7-Eleven
We got McDonald's
What else have we got?
We got MTV
You know, we're in trouble
You said the British
You seem to have a common bind
with other people in England
That's something I've noticed since I've been here
The people seem to be more of the same kind of spirit
There's a mix
There's a crossover
It's funny
Because that's what I think makes England special
As opposed to
Like in New York
The only reason the minorities mix
is because Manhattan is so small
that you can't help but mix
You know, in passing
But there's not so much actual crossover of ideas
Whereas I think here there is
I see a lot more integration
Natural integration
Yeah, that's what I'm saying
In New York, it doesn't really
I mean, your sectors are still
You know what I mean?
Everyone's still sort of isolated
You've got your Ricans and your blacks
and your wasps
I don't know what the terminologies are anymore
I'm lost
There's all kinds
I haven't read Bonfire of the Vanities yet
It's here too, by the way
Let me tell you this
I'm not beefing about America
It's here very much too
Then you've got this thing where
You know, Margaret Thatcher's like
selling the greed policy
making a lot of people wealthy
And the consequence of that is
that the poor people start
fighting amongst themselves
They look for scapegoats
as to why I'm unemployed
Or maybe it's because there's
a lot of blacks came over in the 50s
Even though a white politician
asked them to come
You mentioned Margaret Thatcher for a moment
Yeah, sorry I gave her the airtime
But anyway
I haven't seen very much about Maggie
in the band's songs
I'm just curious
She seems like such a ripe target
Yeah, but it's almost too easy
It's too easy
It's not like everyone going
Reagan
You know what I mean?
You had Reagan there
And Reagan, really
Reagan was a front
I mean, he was only carrying out
what some committee said
This is the way we go
And it's easy to sort of
use Thatcher or Reagan
They're indicative of a climate
that's around anyway
I mean, put it this way
If Thatcher dropped dead tomorrow
Her policies and her ideology
would not die tomorrow
There's a lot of people
that believe in that
And greed's a hard one to beat
And that's what she's selling
And you think it's going to
remain popular for a while?
She ain't going to go away, man
People have got the taste of money
And money is God
it looks like, unfortunately
I think America
has sanctioned South Africa
I think there should be
a bloody revolution
in South Africa tomorrow
I think that
Put it this way
History shows me that
no time in the world
has there ever been
a situation like that
where people have said
OK, let's sanction
or let's have passive talks
and we'll phase it out
over five years
I know if there was
an English colony over there
being hassled by
a bunch of foreign people
she'd have her guns over tomorrow
and a propaganda machine
and the English would be free
like the Falklands
But, you know, South Africa
we'll talk about it
and phase it out
As far as I'm concerned
as long as South Africa exists
every black man on this planet
is a second-rate citizen
I've got a child
and when he grows up
I'm going to have to
sort of explain to him
why there's slaves
in some part of the world
and, you know, it's a trip
How about something like
Artists Against Apartheid
Is that effective?
It's a funny thing
that stuff
I mean, you can't knock
something that's
highlighting a bad situation
How it transposes
into reality
into real effects
that's the bit
I'm concerned about
You know, I know
a lot of people
that appeared on that thing
sold a lot of records
I know that
There's this new thing
I call coffee table conscience
where it's like
topical for a couple of weeks
and you don't
you don't care
because the man
isn't dead on your doorstep
and when he's dead
on your doorstep
then you might make a move
Before you fall
Your country needs you
To play football
Wake up call
You hear the call
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
What happened to
You made of mine
When things were loud
You made them right
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
Now in the gossip
I was told
By the empire
How you were both
Like horses by
Your spirit's wild
Just like a fly
Your spirit's wild
Just like a fly
Across this plain
And pleasant land
The power slipping
Through your hand
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
Wake up call
You hear the call
Your country needs you
To play football
Make a stand
Before you fall
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
God bless the queen
Her people too
God bless this country
And see us through
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
And one for all
All for one
All For one
And one for all
All For One
And One For All
All For One
And One For All
And One For All
with members of Big Audio Dynamite.
For the remainder of this hour, we'll be speaking with
lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones,
former member of The Clash.
His near-death experience last year has profoundly
affected his outlook on life.
Have you lived in London all your life?
Yeah.
And this is your home, you feel very comfortable in this?
Yeah.
It's like a love-hate thing, you know what I mean?
There's lots of things I really like about it.
There's some things I don't like about it as well.
Do you think the things that you don't like are changeable?
I think overall there seems to be some sort of change.
You know, the things that...
I think that you can't ignore the will of the people, really,
and that it may seem like you're going a bit slow,
but things like South Africa and, you know,
I don't think... there seems to be some change going on.
You know, slow progress, perhaps,
but something seems to be going on, you know.
Overall, like, I just heard that the Americans have stopped
giving aid to the conscious.
Is that true?
Supposedly, but we've done that a few times already.
Well, that's the same sort of thing, you know what I mean?
I see that as a positive step, you know what I mean?
It's just that not enough people want...
will back that.
Not enough people will back what's going on in South Africa.
You know, and that's the same here, really.
There's some wild things going on here
that's totally outside of the authorities' control.
Such as?
The house scene.
Acid house?
Yeah.
How is that a phenomenon?
I see an incredible, like, positive thing that's going on.
We're not familiar with this in the States,
at least not by this name.
Could you sort of explain what the whole scene is?
I can't, really.
All right, I'll try and explain.
You know, like, in South American Indians,
they go into the jungle and they go into a hut
and they take drugs and they dance and sing about
and get into this kind of extended state
of that intense energy.
It's like that.
And people...
The law don't know where it's happening
and they don't know what is happening.
You know what I mean?
In that way, it's just like punk
because they didn't know what was going on then, either.
They just don't understand.
No.
There's no way they can...
People are in positions of authority.
I read in a couple of magazines,
I read that you've seen things in a different way.
You feel you're saying things now
that you weren't able to say before.
I personally feel that way, you know.
It's my personal experience.
Can you go into that a little bit?
How has it changed you?
Because it's something we all go through at some point, I think.
It's hard to explain
because there isn't very much on the outside
that actually shows much difference, you know.
It all looks much the same as it always was.
The same inside.
After going through such an experience,
do you feel more comfortable with the big picture of life?
I feel more in...
I don't know.
I think I'm more in place or something.
Yeah.
Yeah, maybe.
Musically, how would you say you've changed since the late 70s?
My voice has gone a bit deeper.
Darling Father John
Never had regrets
Wait
Until eternity
Sorry you again
I'm standing here
A target clear
My head is in the storm
It rains refuse
Some shout abuse
And others flawed thoughts
Baby
Darling Father John
Never had regrets
Wait
Until eternity
Sorry you again
What it is
Is what it is
Not what it could be
What you see
Is what you get
Without apology
What it is
Is what you get
Without apology
A lot of these groups now aren't really groups, are they?
And they're also just a bunch of knob twiddlers, aren't they?
They're twiddling with their knobs
when they should be playing their guitars.
But they can't play any guitars, can they?
Because they can't play guitar.
So they don't like guitar in that sort of music, in dance music,
because they can't play it.
One of our things is that we're trying to put guitar
into a contemporary context, you know, a dance context.
And I think we do it quite well on this new record.
It's one of the things that we've tried to achieve.
You know, like, sure, to do dance music,
but to have really good songs as well,
not just average songs, but good rhythms.
So we'd have good dance rhythms, we'd have a good song,
and we'd have rock and roll guitar on it.
And you know about all the other stuff.
So that's what we try to achieve with this record.
You seem to like a lot of old films.
Old British films, specifically.
Yeah?
Yeah, and some 60s ones.
And some 70s ones as well.
You know, I really like Linsday Anderson as well.
You know, obviously Nicholas Robe we liked.
Captain Scarlet.
That's right, yeah. I like all that stuff too.
Is there something special about British productions?
If so, what?
I don't know.
I think ours is like a real sort of British job, you know.
Ours is sort of...
It sticks out that it is.
You know, as opposed to some...
We're not trying to be American or anything.
Even when we're singing an American-type song,
it's like some geezer from South London singing it.
You know, James Brown.
It's like our viewpoint, you know what I mean, from over the pond.
But I was...
When we were doing the record, I wanted it to be, you know,
have English themes that we all relate to.
You know, we have this common background of experience
and we immediately...
Like, the little tune at the end of the record
is that from Watch With Mother,
what we all watched when we were children.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Immediately, as soon as we hear that,
it sort of sends us into a feeling of comfort and childhood.
Really?
Yeah, and that's why it's sort of ripped off at the end.
One thing I've noticed about England
since I've only been here for the first time,
you have four channels, basically, on TV,
and everybody seems to have seen the programme the night before.
It's not like in America where you have hundreds of stations.
So there's a kind of togetherness.
Togetherness or mass.
Yeah.
Mass hypnotism.
Yeah, exactly.
You know what I mean, where we're all...
You know, television's the opium of the masses, isn't it?
Yeah.
And we're all stoned on it.
Or there's a togetherness.
We all understand.
We all saw the programme last night
and we all come in and we talk about it the next day.
You know what I mean?
And everybody airs their opium.
But it's only within that one thing, you know.
We need to turn the television off, really.
Since the first album with VAD...
Yeah.
What have you learned since then?
Has it gone?
I've learned it's basically the same.
Always the same.
Over and over again.
No matter how hard you try not to repeat the past mistakes,
you do repeat them.
And there's nothing we can do about it.
We never learn.
Well, that was one of my questions.
What kind of mistakes have you made?
Oh, what ones?
What kind have you got?
Musical personality?
Yes.
Tactical errors?
Yes.
All those things, definitely.
I wouldn't like to specify things, you know.
It's quite painful to have to sort of mull over it, you know.
Yeah.
But it's there all the time, you know.
Some things you know you did that you didn't do.
Some things you...
It always seems when you think you can do it better
than what you did or something.
Always trying to achieve a bit more.
Then sometimes you're over-ambitious.
Because you are.
Yeah.
It's all pitfalls.
But you have learned, too.
There are some things you have been able to...
Yeah, I think so.
I think I learned to try and give listening people,
people who listen to your record, a thrill.
Not to try and be too...
What's the word?
Trying to change the way they listen
rather than do it the other way around.
Do something they'd like to listen to.
I think the part of it is you have to be excited yourself.
As far as the four albums that have come out,
what are particular points on the albums
that you think are good accomplishments?
The high points.
And the low points, too, if you want to mention.
I think the high point was the first album.
And the second album we sort of went down a bit like that.
You know what I mean?
Then we went along as a plateau for the third album.
Then we sort of come up again for another high point
of the fourth one.
That's an overview of the whole thing.
Brief synopsis.
Any particular songs, though, you want to point to?
I think Medicine Show is probably your crowning glory.
So is The Party.
I like that a lot.
And All Saints Road, I think,
was probably the best thing since Medicine Show.
I don't see it quite like that
because you try and do your best
when you're doing whatever you're doing.
You try and always do your best.
That's how it seems to you.
But I sort of see it as that.
Each one is an overall picture, really.
And it also went,
it sort of corresponded with that response to the records.
When we first came out, it was a big, exciting thing.
A lot of people got the second record on strength
for the first record
and didn't even bother to get the third one.
You know what I mean?
So it was much harder for us.
Second album crisis, third album crisis,
fourth album crisis.
And also, we had to write material.
We had years worth of material on the first one
before we recorded it.
But then you sort of finish that one
and you sort of go out and promote it
and then you find you haven't got any time
to write the second one.
And we wrote the second one in about six weeks
and then just quickly did it.
And then we had a rethink,
but it wasn't a proper rethink, it seems, for the third one.
Because I really thought that we could
probably change the way that people were listening.
And it was like, it came out last summer.
And last summer, the whole thing started happening over here.
So we were sort of out of step with everything.
We'd made our record and it all started happening.
You know what I mean?
But I originally meant that we would do a house record,
but somehow we got waylaid on that one.
And it's got closer to it this one
than what I really originally intended to do
even on the last one.
But nearly something like me going to the hospital
or something to get it sorted out really.
Do you think that in the long run will actually help the band?
Oh yeah.
Well, I don't know about helping the band,
but it certainly helps me.
Yeah.
I didn't help the band much when it was happening.
No.
You know what I mean?
It's like a drag for everybody.
What other bands do you think are...
D.I.D. seems pretty unique.
Yeah, we are, we are.
There's other unique bands that are doing something
that I see as like the post house thing
and trying to take it to the next step.
There's groups like Happy Mondays,
I'd say De La Soul.
I really like that.
They're upbeat.
Very.
And I like things where the ideas are fresh and they show.
The ideas come out of it.
That's what excites me.
Groups like N.W.A., Public Anime,
what do you think of that?
No, not really.
I don't know.
It's not for me to say really.
It's not my field,
but it seems like it's like you've got to know a lot of stuff
and get all your facts right and do your research and all that.
It takes it away from...
There's other ways of saying those things, I think.
It takes away the entertainment value or something.
I think there's a lot of people where they try and achieve
what that is all about.
If they aspire towards what they're going on about,
we're going backwards here.
I like to try and do something which is positive,
which can go towards a bigger thing,
which is one thing which we can use towards a bigger thing
of a togetherness.
It's the same thing where you want to shock people
with the music and the lyrics.
Yeah, but I don't want to put swearing on our records.
You know what I mean?
Because I see it as kind of a crude, priceless way.
We have done it in the past, but we haven't now.
I don't like it.
But our record is totally positive in every way
as regards to how I used to listen to music.
It was very instructional to me.
They told me how they lived.
When I was listening to The Stones or The Beatles,
they told me how we might be able to live,
and they helped me.
It helped.
It was part of my life.
And that influence on me is the same kind of thing
which I'm trying to do now.
Do that sort of thing.
It goes right back, the influences.
Even those things, the things that we're into from before,
are dragged into a contemporary context on our record.
Do you know what I mean?
It's how I like to hear Hank Williams.
Is that list of credits...
It's very important to us.
Yeah.
Is that something you've been holding back for a while?
It's funny, because I saw this thing,
Do the Right Thing, the movie.
It was a great scene where there's a DJ,
and he's overlooking everything,
and he's just saying the names of all these different artists.
It sounds like, at first,
it's like saying he's advertising a rap gig or something.
It's like Boogie Down Productions.
I can't think of it.
Kool Moe D.
And then all of a sudden,
the camera moves and it goes over this elderly lady,
and it changes from those kind of rap people
to Alberta Hunter, Ornette Coleman.
It's just a list as he's going out over the street.
In the end, it's like,
thank you, you've made our lives much better.
It was his statement,
they're all black artists, but ours aren't.
But it was a very similar idea,
that all these things had helped to make it.
I thought that was one of the best bits in the film.
Sounds very positive.
Yeah, and I thought it was exactly the same thing
that he was saying,
that what we were trying to say, we're doing that.
So, you look upon the record itself as a kind of a tribute.
I think that's a little crawly, bumblick.
I don't really like that.
A tribute is a bit much.
What I really mean is that we have an eye on the future.
We're sort of in the present,
and it's a nod to the past.
But we haven't just sort of like...
A tribute would be B.A.D. cover Hoagie Carmichael's greatest hits.
Or like The Bridge, Neil Young record,
where everybody else did Neil Young songs.
This isn't a tribute, this is like...
Acknowledging.
Yeah, it's kind of saying that,
look, this is where we come from,
this is where we are,
and this is where we're going.
Why is it so few bands want to do that?
As far as acknowledging...
I don't know, because they think they're just bees knees themselves, don't they?
But we're sort of made up of all those things.
The way we put it together makes it unique.
From the tower to the underground
Now Rome is Rome but it ain't home
And neither is Paris
Wherever I be in all I see
This is home to me
London Bridge falling down
Taking bits of all around
Give me dollars, I don't want pounds
London Bridge falling down
But I still love this town
From the tower to the underground
This program was produced at the studios of WUSB,
Stony Brook, New York.
Special thanks to Max Schmeid and Bill Moore.
For WBAI, this is Emmanuel Goldstein.
I like it when sometimes you see
How things used to be
Music hall, bless them all
Those eating comedy
London Bridge falling down
Taking bits of all around
Give me dollars, I don't want pounds
London Bridge falling down
But I still love this town
From the tower to the underground
London Pride
London Bridge falling down
Taking bits of all around
Give me dollars, I don't want pounds
London Bridge falling down
But I still love this town
From the tower to the underground
From the tower to the underground
From the tower to the underground
From the tower to the underground
From the tower to the underground