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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, Black Flag....)
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 [email protected]
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Kerry Fristoe, Tim Merrill, Maurice Bursztynski
4.3
1010 ratings
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, Black Flag....)
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 [email protected]
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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