Was Damon Albarn the catalyst to the B.A.D. reunion?
Hello hello, thanks for stopping by once more or indeed for your first visit in which case you’ve got some catching up to do. I hope your week has gone well, I can’t complain but am glad for the arrival of the weekend at last.
One small thing for now and a dedicated effort for a follow up post later if I don’t die from heat exhaustion playing football. If you cast your minds back about 16 months there was a lot of chatter when the video appeared that showed not only Paul Simonon (which wasn’t a huge shock due to TGTBaTQ) but also Mick Jones were involved in the then forthcoming Gorillaz album. Of course one thing led to another, a huge tour followed and by the end of 2010 Jones and Simonon had spent the better part of the entire year with Damon Albarn and the rest of that nautical crew. I of course was very happy, leaping at the chance to see two members of The Clash share the same stage for the first time since 1983 but I accepted my endorsement was more pronounced than many as I also had been a follower of Albarn since the early days of Blur almost two decade prior. Others saw the decision as questionable at best and embarrassing at worst although I maintained that if they were enjoying it and were invigorated by the involvement then surely it was on balance a good thing, it was never a case of ‘where is the similarity between Guns on the Roof and Melancholy Hill?’. That debate was as misplaced as comparing the later sound of B.A.D. in relation to The Clash.
As it turns out something I’ve wondered for a while turns out to be true. Especially after reading that Damon Albarn influenced by B.A.D. years back but also was present when they played in London this spring was he perhaps a catalyst in the reformed band getting back on stage this year after such a long hiatus. It seemed unlikely after so many years but there were also rumours that it (the reunion) was on the cards before Damon was working with Mick. Thus I was interested to see that according to this recent interview excerpt in the San Francisco Examiner it was Damon’s admiration of or inspiration from Mick’s earlier work that planted the seed for a B.A.D. reunion. Although the article infers that more than takes a direct quote from Jones which would have been more useful. Either way I think it’s very likely and further illustrates just how beneficial last year’s sojourn with Gorillaz turned out to be. I’d be curious if anyone can recall reading or hearing a quote from Mick this year that clarifies exactly that.
Moreover I think it certifies the fact that not only is Damon Albarn a talented and observant musician but it spells out just how many ceilings B.A.D. were breaking in the 1980′s. Of course George Clinton and other black musicians were crossing those lines between funk and rock before B.A.D. but Jones alongside the ideas of Don Letts reversed those tides and broke a lot of ground for white musicians with sampling and rap being added to a more conventional rock set up, by all means a continuation of the experimentation he craved and drove while with The Clash. Thus a nod not only to Damon for reminding Mick about the importance of B.A.D. but also a reminder that Albarn told Mick what we could have years ago, he could and should have continued with B.A.D. in the first place. Ultimately I’m glad Mick feels inspired to keep playing and hopefully recording too.
Weird fact of the week, a retail chain (half price books and music) I was in this weekend have large stocks of factory sealed copies of The Clash (debut reissue) for $5.58 and The Essential Clash for $11.48, not sure where Sony pulled these from, perhaps Borders? They get some interesting items in there at really low prices…anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading.
