In defense of Big Audio Dynamite

What was their other big hit from that year?

Umm...it's called "Rush," by the way.

Heh. I thought the same. ;-)

Actually, that's not fair. The songs you mentioned are among their best, but I really don't get why those are good and others around the same time are BAD in your opinion. Except Texarkana, which would imply your problem with REM is that they're not the Moody Blues.

Are there any creditable conspiracy theories that can explain this? Do any of them maybe involve the rise of REM, who were always just kinda irritating?

oops, wait, i had to skip "king of comedy"... uh, what's this next... not too great... "star 69" sux... uh, gotta skip from the first buckian "backandforthbackandforth" plucking of "strange frequencies"... wish i had a remote... "bang and blame"... i wish i didn't automatically picture mike mills when i hear his basslines... "I Took Your Name"! There's that awesome, rubbery reverb sound again! Rules! but this song isn't as good as the first two... i wish I had just tapes full of peter buck practicing various glammy, metallic "monster" guitar lines in the studio... I'm skipping ahead... "Let Me In," forget it... "Circus Envy" sounds cool, but I'm bored with this... "You" has a nice riff.

OK - the first two songs on "Monster" are TOTALLY, TOTALLY bitchin'.

I claim you can almost make a mini-LP of the greatest hits of B.A.D. that's actually, you know, good.

Go!

I'll supply you with some photo inspiration:

http://www.venus.dti.ne.jp/~lard/artgif/bad.gif

either way, "Around The Girl In 80 Ways" is possibly the worst song title ever conceived, much less USED on an album.

The Globe album is kind of a 7" radio edit of the acid house 12" that is the Kool-Aid album, while you're hunting.

Yes you're right about that, Kit. I figured that out later, but didn't think it worth mentioning. In retrospect it sure doesn't seem that way in my memory that I skipped two whole albums of theirs. Odd.

Digging through some old cassettes I rediscovered the promo-only "Rare and BAD," which includes the above-mentioned "In Full Effect." Fun collection - anyone know if this was ever released on CD?

1. "CONTACT" (12" remix) - Never commercially available in U.S.;
2. "BEAT BOXES AT DAWN" - 12" B-side (cut out of catalogue);
3. "E = MC2" (Extended Mix) -12" B-side (cut out of catalogue);
4. "MEDICINE SHOW" (London Mix) - 12" B-side (cut out of catalogue);
5. "IN FULL EFFECT"- Never commercially available in U.S.;
6. "CONTACT" (Club Mix)-Never commercially available in U.S.;
7. "B.A.D. OVERTURE" - Never released in the U.S.;
8. "JAMES BROWN" (Remix) - Never commercially available in U.S.; &
9. "IF I WERE JOHN CARPENTER" - Never commercially available in U.S.
(

All I want is "If I were John Carpenter".

You could probably make a good-to-great album out of their best stuff. But I mostly remember them as a depressing indication of how much Jones needed Strummer. Cut The Crap was a far more depressing indication of how much Strummer needed Jones.

But I mostly remember them as a depressing indication of how much Jones needed Strummer.

You must have loved their second album, then!

dear donut

i remember liking the first record when it came out and everything sucking after that

E=MC2 was sooo cool at the time.

Sucks arse now. *shrugs*

Hang on, in what universe is "C'mon Every Beatbox" terrible or inferior?

remix by Sam Sever on the 12" there, y'know.

This should silence the naysayers.

^The JAM.

EnergyFlashGordon, >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!!

I haven't heard the song in decades, but shockingly, this sounds better than I remembered. Then again, it's probably B.A.D.'s most anonymous sounding song ever.. it could have been any sample-heavy 303 jam from the time... which kinda makes it last longer than most B.A.D., sadly.

I still love "Contact".

i can't believe this thread has been revived this week, of all weeks...

first, BAD gets bigged up on a private filesharing group i belong to, thus creating a discussion. I decide to load Megatop Phoenix up on the ipod and it's just fantastic, as great as I remember it - this might be their best full-length. there are better tracks on other albums, but this one hangs together the best out of all of them. *then* i notice this thread and read it eagerly, totally loving how the BAD-lovers make a comeback at the end. then, to top it all off, i meet Mick Jones at work, get to shake his hand, take a photo and tell him - "I was a big Clash fan as a kid, but I was a *bigger* BAD fan", which got me a huge grin & made my whole month.

BAD rules!

The Globe is one of my favorite records ever -- so I bought Higher Power and This is BAD and found both unlistenable and boring. Is there something else I should try?

It's really hard for me to figure out how not to like "Rush." The way the main theme wanders back in from the "not everything's singing, you know" section is breathtaking.

Yes, try Megatop Phoenix - I also listened to it on my ipod last week*, and concur that it still sounds great, and have always thought it's their best album by miles. Contact, which Alex loves above, is from that album. And the track that Mackro is so excited about is kinda a megamix of bits from it, too. Recommendation enough?

Higher Power is really, really bad (apparently Jones wanted it to be a four-track EP but Sony sent them back to keep forcing new material until they had a CD-length, unfocussed, collection of songs) but the first side of This Is BAD is the OG classics.

*when I ripped it years ago, I split it into side one and side two, because not only did I get to know it so well on vinyl, but it is so totally designed for the two sides - from the "Start" intro, every track flows into each other (usually via interstitial sample jams) until taking a breath at the end of the first side - then the guitar tyre squeals at the beginning of James Brown kick off another uninterrupted side, running through to the TV closedown.

change of atmosphere from kool-aid is still great.
its basically the full length 8 minute version of rush from the globe album.
also, there were some great songs on the unreleased final album, entering the new ride, when mick at last rediscovered the joys of bass again after several albums on which they forgot to plug it in or mixed it way back.

Hang on, in what universe is "C'mon Every Beatbox" terrible or inferior?

All I know is, I wouldn't want to live there. It's a great song. Cameo must've been kicking themselves that they didn't think of that chorus refrain before Mick Jones.
Incidentally, I have to say that BAD's lyrics have always suggested to me that Jones was the real intellect in the Clash. There's some very clever stuff on the first couple of albums.

I have to say that BAD's lyrics have always suggested to me that Jones was the real intellect in the Clash.

signs of a challopsoholic

Yes, well, I concede that it will always be a minority viewpoint.

nice to see i aint totally alone with my love for B.A.D.

Wow - after reading this thread I went to listen to Rush for the 1st time since 1991 - still remember all the words. There's kind of '91 Soup Dragon feel to it but I could also easily imagine it coming out in '98 and being mixed with Fat Boy Slim et al.

yeah, the Entering A New Ride album was totally "our time has come!" getting in tune with the zeitgeist, shame rule #4080 fucked it. they were playing out as a soundsystem at the time (Zonka & Custance DJing, I think, and Mick MCing - I had a 2xC90 of one show, believe me it's true!) and did the Boutique - saw photos of Fatboy hugging Jones with "my lifetime hero" quotage etc.

original line up back in action for 2011 : with 3 bands on the go at the moment, "keeping up with the joneses" takes on a new meaning

Three bands? BAD, Gorillaz, who else?

carbon/silicon

oh is that still going? Resiliance!

certainly seems to be an ongoing concern.
they have just launched a new c/s website, with promise of new material this year.

Would anybody be interested in a T/S poll pitting Big Audio Dynamite against Joe Strummer solo? I'm really interested to see where consensus comes down on that

I'd be interested to see the outcome, but I'm not sure how I'd vote. BAD > a lot of Strummer solo but then again Johnny Appleseed > everything

I'm on the fence myself. The first two Mescoleros albums were great, but Big Audio Dynamite may have the more impressive body of work overall.

Saw them 3 times on the reunion tour. Consistently pleased - I enjoyed the live show far more than the albums (which I couldn't really get into).

Also, there's talk of a reunion album. What do you guys think of the new song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2fAFmu0EOw

Nothing sonically about it ~feels~ like a BAD song -- especially not the original lineup -- and the title and themes make it seem very likely it was a Carbon/Silicon song that Mick had sitting around. But there are some vocal melodies, mainly in the first verses, that have a very classic Mick feel, both Clash-era and circa BAD II.

far more than the albums (which I couldn't really get into).

Most of the albums are OK-ish with great singles to ... actively bad with occasional gems. But Megatop Phoenix and Kool-Aid both work as entire LPs.

(actually the devolvement of the new song into repetition and fey terrace chanting probably does make it a fair approximation of standard BAD songwriting tbf)

Love everything up through The Globe, but am thinking they should now change their moniker to Big Audio Mistake.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, April 4, 2003 3:10 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark

would have been better linking to that noize post

http://www.amazon.com/Chrysalis-Years-1973-1979-UFO/dp/B0053V5Y20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330920528&sr=8-1

This thing rocks serious mullet, has all of the key Schenker UFO recors and get it delivered to your house in the US for like 20 bucks.

I've been giving it quite a few spins on the old Cd player over the last few weeks.

also: Basement 5

1) There's a deluxe 2Cd edition of This is... is is great but missing a couple of mixes that really should be in there (the original long version of Bottom line for one)

2) There is also a cheapie 5cd set of the first 5 albums (ignoring 'kool aid') for those who want to explore other albs.

Yeah, I almost bought that This Is "legacy edition" in London the other year until I checked the tracklisting vs price and decided it wasn't really polishing the legacy. It probably is the original 12" of Bottom Line, at a guess, just not the 12" remix... but to include demos at the expense of the Rick Rubin mix, the Super 8 mix of This Is BAD, and the first ever opportunity to press the Dust Head mix of Sudden Impact decently...

(though IIRC I actually taped the latter off my chainstore giveaway-only French 7" around 1999 for the US photographer bloke who'd done the remix, as he'd not heard it since turning it in to CBS in 1985, so the chances Sony even know it exists, let alone have a master, are perhaps slight)

wow, now I really wanna hear Mike Mills write a song called "Down At The 40 Watt" to a loop of "Radio Free Europe".
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, April 4, 2003 4:08 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It probably is the original 12" of Bottom Line, at a guess, just not the 12" remix...

Trust me, it's not.

I have those 12" singles, the original BL 12" took some finding (the remix one came free with e=mc2 normal 12")

There was a great remix of e=mc2 ("70mm widescreen remix") that came free as a part of the "Medicine show" 12" double pack (OK, it's confusing) that should have been on there, but I know why..

They basically tried to do an 'alternate' version of the album using all-remixes. (one was just a 'rough-mix', hmm...)

e=mc2 ("70mm widescreen remix")

yeah this is p much the touchstone version

And the truly bizarre thing is, it starts off exactly like "Life is a Rollercoaster" by Ronan Keating! (which came some years after)

Say what you want, but "Rush" is the jam. Except for all those weird interruptions, which are interesting but ruin repeatability

Some of my favorite guitar chords ever are the ones that begin "The Bottom Line".

Thread revival...

Mick always clearly had great taste. But his interpretations of cool were always borderline corny because he insisted on merging really blase pop with the flavor of the day. Take "Contact" - goes all acid in the end but before that it's like the most standard 20th century pop. Discuss!

What I didn't like about the latter BAD was how all the vocal were 'everyone sing' like a bad blokey bananarama.

all the vocal were 'everyone sing' like a bad blokey bananarama.

Megatop Phoenix : still totally works as an album.
also, pre-loudness wars, so, an album you can really crank and enjoy the space in the mix.

At sixty minutes on one record, loudness wars were the least of its problems on vinyl

this album was available on one slab of vinyl !?
for me, this is an album that needs the full uninterrupted 60 minutes listening experience.

yeah, basically sounds like it was pressed on paper.

this guy knows what's up:

when I ripped (it from CD for ipod) years ago, I split it into side one and side two, because not only did I get to know it so well on vinyl, but it is so totally designed for the two sides - from the "Start" intro, every track flows into each other (usually via interstitial sample jams) until taking a breath at the end of the first side - then the guitar tyre squeals at the beginning of James Brown kick off another uninterrupted side, running through to the TV closedown.

Think that’s bad?

My copy was one of those “Portugal” cheapies...

Following me reviving this thread a few weeks ago,
I ended up with a FLAC version of the unreleased album, 'Entering A New Ride', which I had but in scrappy lo-fi mp3 form.
All cliches aside, it's a massive return to form if you like the BAD thing.

I hadn't heard it before, and am definitely enjoying it - some shades of later Carbon/Silicon tracks in there, too.

Hey where can a brother get a copy of the unreleased BAD album? They are hugely underappreciated.

N.B. a new cleaner mix has recently been discovered of Rat Patrol at Fort Brag (only one G apparently) and it is great. I love Joe of course but Mick gets so much undeserved criticism.

broom air : the old semi official fan website provides all the information you need.

Thanks, Mark -- especially if you're also the Mark who cleaned up that Rat Patrol on the Clash site.

did you find relevant page?
i meant to post a link.
and no, sorry, i am not that mark.

Really feeling “C’mon Every Beatbox” right now.

The rose garden is already littered with my victims.

The promoter didn't book no undertaker

looks like the semi-unoffical website with links to the 2cd zip of 'entering .. ' has been taken offline.

should anyone still be interested then my ilX email is still good to go.

The Planet B.A.D. compilation is pretty enjoyable. Could be better - it kind of falls apart before the end, and I would have preferred the full-length album tracks for the wonderfully strange bits that were chopped out of the singles - but if you take the best moments and put them together, it does feel like a good extension of what the Clash accomplished on Combat Rock. Not on par but it does get to places they hadn't reached yet.

Tweaking the tracklist to my tastes, I would've been good with:

1. The Bottom Line
2. E=MC²
3. Medicine Show
4. C'mon Every Beatbox
5. Beyond the Pale
6. V. Thirteen
7. Sightsee M.C!
8. Just Play Music!
9. Other 99
10. Union, Jack
11. Contact
12. House Arrest
13. Free
14. Rush
15. Can't Wait/Live
16. The Globe

imho : BAD were one of the few bands of that era who were actually all about the album as opposed to single tracks.
hence i dont have any of the comps.

I like "Free" though - it's nice having that on a compilation instead of hunting down the Flashback soundtrack. (Prescient sample: "Once we get out of the '80s, the '90s are gonna make the '60s look like the '50s.")

bugger.
i guess i need to track that song down then.
i.e. i had no idea there were non-album tracks out there on soundtracks etc ..

It’s a fun movie - if you’re bothering to track down the song, might as well watch the flick first to hear it in situ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh4b4c-RzE8

I loved BAD. Was fortunate enough to see them once at a small venue in Denver in 1987. Along with the Mescaleros, they successfully continued some of the experimentation begun in the Clash. Mick's almost complete lack of productivity in the past couple of decades is kind of baffling.

not sure if I ever noticed Neneh when watching a 1980s VHS on a 1970s CRT in the 1990s.

I didn't notice! But now I see!

I'm kind of fascinated by a certain line

A certain line of movie dialogue sampled in "Hollywood Boulevard."

Also can't figure out who that Beastie Boy looking guy is at 2:45 in the "C'mon Every Beatbox" video is.

Some of the same people including Neneh are Cherry are apparently also in the video for "Medicine Show."

i had never noticed that re Neneh.
i seem to recall reading somewhere that both of these BAD videos were filmed back to back,
as there were plans to release the debut album as a video album which was a thing at the time.
hence the similar look/folks involved.

in other news : Megatop Phoenix is one of the best albums ever.

(C'mon Every Beatbox is not on the same album as Medicine Show)

Also can't figure out who that Beastie Boy looking guy is at 2:45 in the "C'mon Every Beatbox" video is.

He's also at the start, and also in the Medicine Show video - guessing that he's Flea.

(C'mon Every Beatbox is not on the same album as Medicine Show)

good point.
a case of crap memory groove on my side.

still, i am definitely not wrong re Megatop Phoenix.

Lol at Flea.

D'oh! Who knew there two guys wiling to call themselves Flea?

Anyway, hard to tell comparing with more recent photos.

quick question : Kool-Aid vs The Globe

personally, despite the truly dreadful cover, i prefer the sample excess of Kool-Aid ..

Major fan of Megatop Phoenix (Tighten Up '88 isn't bad either). Stalag 123 gives me goosebumps every time. The flow of the album is just ace.

assume that's Greg Roberts the drummer around 2:45

Yes! Never heard of his other band, Dreadzone. They seem to be a bit of a punchline around these parts.

Might start a Big Audio Dive-a-mite but have a feeling “Beyond the Pale” will remain my favorite.

Also weird that there is a long section of this thread about REM.

Bassline on “E=MC2” reminding me of “Marquee Moon.”

until this revival i had totally forgotten that i actually have 2 albums by dreadzone.

going to listen to Upping St. for the first time in a very long time.
i saw B.A.D live in leeds on the release tour when they had 2 stages.
the main stage for them and their main supports, chiefs of relief, and the second stage that was used while things were being set up.
at the time i thought it was amazing - you watched an act, then turn around and watch another act.
turns out that one of the acts on the second stage was rodney p.

oh, and before the gig
(at the big refectory venue i.e. where The Who etc etc),
i happened to bump into Mick and Leo.
they signed my Leeds Uni union card ..
and yeah, i was a total dumbstruck fanboy of course.

for various reasons, for a couple of days, i have the unreleased final album in FLAC form sitting in my FTP site.
if there are folks in this thread who have not grabbed it over the years and are interested in hearing it then holla via the ilx email option.

p.s. to any folks interested, i need an email address to send the link to ..

Don't Renege: nice one on E=MC2 // Marquee Moon. Absolutely.

btw.
if you check the discogs page for 'Entering ..'
then there was meant to be a 2nd cd i.e. tracks 12-18 :

https://www.discogs.com/release/4757692-Big-Audio-Dynamite-Entering-A-New-Ride

if those that have enjoyed the source album are wanting more, then i can help.
the files are not in FLAC quality or even high mp3 quality, just 192s.
but still.

That discogs page is "for" a web page hosting a fan-made bootleg, and makes it clear that the bonus tracks are not compiled from the same source as the album. (Most of them were from Radioactive label samplers, iirc, so oddly enough could have FLAC versions...)

But here's a recently-revised version of the album by band DJ "Lord Zonka"

ta for the clarification sic.
i got my cd-r from someone on the BAD forum after the band stopped posting mp3s of individual tracks.
it had digital hiccups on several tracks, but still was the only way i was able to hear the album.
i found the FLAC version via the bands wiki page last year (link has since been removed) which increased the sound quality quality,
and removed the hiccups (which i now kind of miss !).
had no idea re the zonka version.

https://www.discogs.com/release/836966-Big-Audio-Dynamite-Big-Audio-Dynamite-II-The-Lost-Treasure-Of-Big-Audio-Dynamite-I-II

well, this is quite a compilation.
12" remixes that have been mentioned upthread on the first cd, and other non-album tracks.
had no idea it existed until last night.
the rick rubin remix of 'bottom line' is absolutey the one for me.
as per discussion upthread - it was a freebie one sided 12" with the c'mon every beatbox 12", and is totally wonderful.
also, pretty sure the E=MC2 is the Widescreen remix - same remix credit.

who oh why was this 2cd set not released in the uk !

I like "Free" though - it's nice having that on a compilation instead of hunting down the Flashback soundtrack. (Prescient sample: "Once we get out of the '80s, the '90s are gonna make the '60s look like the '50s.")

― birdistheword,

tracked this down, and my head was all 'i know this ... '
of course i did.
it's an early version of one of my fave tracks of theirs.
with that all important sample as mentioned.
the 'song' starts at 2:46.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjn-bUE6bzk

That Bert Bevans mix of E=mc2 had its intro nicked for "Life is a Rollercoaster" Ronan Keating...

(I've been looking for that version on cd for ooh...)

hope your ilx email is still valid mark g.

here is wrong toms love for sightsee mc

https://skankblogbologna.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/a-dynamite-mc/

Hi, thanks! Wunnerful!