Checking out the excellent 2022 documentary “Rebel Dread” on Amazon Prime, which admirably tracks the life and career of Don Letts; and reading his best-selling 2021 auto-biography, “There And Black Again”, probably just skims the surface of the full CV and what this multi-skilled creative force has achieved in his 69 years.
He tells me: “Between the book, my album and the film, ‘Rebel Dread, basically if you get those three things, that’s the sum total of Don Letts. Well, maybe not the sum total, because I’m still alive and I’m still kicking. But between those three things, that’s the closest anyone’s ever gonna get to me…”
Calling the man at his Brixton home in South London, the conversation opens with my summation of what I have seen and read: “What a life!” Don’s modest response: “Yeahhh. I can’t deny it; it’s been kind of interesting. I’ve been keeping busy. I don’t like to loaf around and twiddle my thumbs…” Understatement of the year as just a brief dip into just some of Don’s expansive CV will confirm.
Festival and gig goers who love reggae will know him from his sizzling DJ sets. Of course, he has a wide audience for his BBC6 Music radio slot, “Culture Clash Radio”. Those with longer memories will recall his brilliant band, B.A.D. aka Big Audio Dynamite, which he formed with former Clash guitarist Mick Jones.
The fact that did surprise me was his achievements as a music video film maker/director, with circa 400 music videos to his credit, many now famous.
He was neck deep in the origins of the punk scene in London and New York, close mates with John Lydon, The Clash and most of the originators of that sound and movement, as well as the fashion side of the scene back then; close to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, and he had a stint at managing legendary punk girl group The Slits
Don became friends with Bob Marley when he moved to the UK after being shot, and he spent time in Jamaica with John Lydon after he left The Sex Pistols, and with Chris Blackwell who set up Island Records.
“Now, because of my duality, raised on pop and bass, didn’t really bother me, ’cause it’s all about the taste, I’m the vinyl generation, and that’s how I got my start, combining clothes and music, and I turned it into art.” And that’s just the introduction… Don goes on to reflect upon the changing world around him and his own shifting perceptions.
Ironically he hadn’t really intended to make music of his own. But then lockdown hit and his old friend, producer extraordinaire and Killing Joke bassist Youth encouraged him to give it a go, even sending him some bass lines to work with, yet Don wasn’t entirely convinced.
That changed when he worked in the studio with dub producer Gaudi, another long time friend of Don known for his work with Steel Pulse, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Horace Andy to name but a few. The pair produced a remake of Big Audio Dynamite’s “Sightsee MC” for the dub-inspired post-punk band Megative. They then collaborated on a dub remix of B.A.D’s classic “E=MC2” for 2021’s Late Night Tales compilation “Version Excursion”.
Don and Gaudi sonically clicked and ended up working together in Gaudi’s studio for nine months, three days a week, navigating both lockdown and Don’s musical vision. The result was Letts’ debut solo album, produced and co-written by Gaudi. Featuring 11 tracks which reflect Don’s tastes and interests, as well as his unique worldview.
Guests include The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and lovers rock queen Hollie Cook. Don co-wrote the song “Situationist” with Zoe Devlin Love, previously of Alabama 3 and his daughter Honor sings on the sitar-studded electronic groove “Civilization”. The legendary Terry Hall also sang on two tracks (“The Doorman” and “The Universe Knows What You’ve Done”) but unfortunately his contributions had to be removed after Terry’s passing.
“For better or worse, this is me; although I ain’t saying I’ve got it down, as the lyrics in the single’s chorus readily acknowledges. Ultimately the album’s a soundtrack to my mind with some cool bass lines, mirroring the sum total of my cultural journey and reflecting the duality of my existence, which is Black and British.”
Don will do his thing on the Thursday. Why is this one so special, Don? “It is for the serious party people who love their music, particularly on the beat and bass tip. My set reflects the history and legacy of Jamaican music and the island’s gift to the world, which is bass. I play a reggae-based set that is like nobody else’s. If you understand the range of reggae and bass culture, it’s informed a lot of other things; it’s quite a wide net and it ain’t just what people would expect.”
I ask Don for a memory from Mucky Weekender and he replies with a chuckle: “If you can remember anything from Mucky Weekender, you weren’t there! It is like that; it’s a serious hard-core weekend. Because of the time of year, it’s a good wrap up of festival season, as it’s the last festival. I’ll tell you what; if it was one of the first festivals, no one would make it through to the rest! Yeah, at Mucky I get to play some hard core stuff that I don’t get to play the rest of the year.”
For an uber-creative guy who has been there, done it and got a metaphoric wardrobe full of tee-shirts, what ambitions are left? “Well I have spent my life throwing myself into this and that project, and I still enjoy creating, but now I like quality of life; I’d like to work because I want to, not because I have to. But hey, who wouldn’t?
“I ain’t complaining, I’ve had a good run and I’m still above ground and a lot of my contemporaries ain’t these days, so I don’t take that for granted.”
Turning 70 in January: Does The Rebel Dread have plans to celebrate? “You having a giraffe? The age thing; I sailed through 30, sailed through 40, sailed through 50, sailed through 60, but turning 69 the beginning of this year, it’s a trip you know. There’s nothing sexy about approaching 70. There is that old adage, you are only as old as you feel and there comes a time in your life where you have to acknowledge you are as old as you bloody are!
“But I am running around still DJ’ing all over the country…When I am dropping tunes and seeing the people moving, all of that stuff is gone out of my head. But, I have no wish to be young again, no way. I am as old as rock and roll and I wouldn’t swap my journey for anything. Just want to stay active, keep doing my shit and keep dropping tunes.”
- Don performs at Mucky Weekender on Thursday 11th Sept – the festival curated by Barry Ashworth of The Dub Pistols.
Don Letts’ “Track Record”
1. First song you recall hearing as a child?
Jim Reeves: “Welcome To My World”. For black folk he was huge; Jamaicans like crooners and they love Country and Western as well. So Jim Reeves, and Brook Benton, and Nat King Cole, and that kind of stuff.
2. First single you owned?
First one I remember buying is “Penny Lane”, by The Beatles. But actually, before that in our local corner shop – remember, I am really old right, I am as old as rock and roll, I was born in 1956 – the corner shops would sell what they called ‘dinked 45s’, which meant the middles were missing because they were ex-Juke Box records.
Back then Trojan was big….. You’d get things like Double Barrel and things like The Pioneers, I was getting them and you’d get like five records for two and six.
3. First LP/album you owned?
First one I remember buying was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”, a Godly record. It is a complete piece of work, not just a few tracks. But I was pre-empted by my father who had stuff like King Stitt “Fire Corner”, and I had two older brothers who were buying stuff like Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. So there were loads of albums around me and a variety of genres.
4. First CD you owned?
Probably when I bought The Beatles’ “Sergeant Peppers…”; because I was a massive Beatles fan. I had a shit load of vinyl, so it wasn’t a question of buying anything new on CD. I would have wanted to check the sonics of that album and its CD version compared to the vinyl version that I had. [Don once owned the second largest collection of Beatles memorabilia in the UK – and swapped the lot for “a big fuck off American car!”
5. Last music you bought and in what format (CD/vinyl/digital download)?
I got Lavender’s album, “We’re Having a Barn Dance” on Nightime Stories, a new band; I played a couple of their singles on my BBC6 radio show.
A copy of the Beatles’ album with the banned “butcher” image cover. [The 1966 US LP, “Yesterday and Today”, that was manufactured for release, but then banned by Capitol Records before distribution after public objections to the cover image showing the Fab Four in bloodied white coats, with raw meat and severed dolls heads and limbs strewn over them.]
7. Favourite album? (Choose more than one if need be…)
I go back to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. Bob Marley and the Wailers: “Catch A Fire”. Public Enemy: “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back”. Maybe Sly & The Family Stone”. Oh, I don’t know, that is a bloody hard question.
8. Best record ever made (can be single/album/EP – and choose more than one if need be)?
The Beach Boys: “Pet Sounds”. But there are lots and lots….
9. Guilty secret (or anything unusual or perhaps unexpected) in your music collection?
Loads of stuff. I went to see Father John Misty last night at the Royal Albert Hall, and I love the brother. Love his lyrics, love his vocal delivery, yeah. So there you go; Father John Misty is one – Maybe the album “Pure Comedy”.
10. What does music mean to you and how does it make you feel?
For some people music is a job and for some it’s a hobby. For me it’s a liberty, it is the core of my very being. Everything I am and have ever done is because of, and connected to, music; literally. I am a testament to the power of music to help you be all you can be. It is what I grew up on.
It’s not about a soundtrack to sell you sneakers, it was about changing your mind. I am a product of that. I am a great believer in the power of music to change people. Kind of corny, but I think I am living proof that the shit works. I am all about the culture clash and my music of choice reflects the duality of my existence, which is black and British.
11. Which song or album is a guaranteed mood booster?
Prince: “Sign Of The Times”.
12. Which song or album would be the soundtrack to a film about your life?
Yeah, my own debut album, “Outta Sync”; which I actually describe as the soundtrack to my mind. It is me reflecting, looking back…with some wicked bass lines.
13. Your favourite driving track – or music to exercise to?
Driving track: The Clash, “Overpowered By Funk”.
14. Best song or album for a romantic moment?
Marvin’s Gaye’s album: “What’s Goin’ On” has got to be the go-to album for that. Or the Prince track, “I Wish You Heaven”.
15. Which song was played for the “First Dance” at your wedding?
We didn’t do that, it was a quick in and out job at the register office. [Don has been married to Grace for 28 years].
“E = MC2” by Big Audio Dynamite, because I know the words and wouldn’t have to put my glasses on to read the screen! [Written by Don and Clash guitarist Mick Jones].
17. Which song takes you back to your childhood – and to which specific memory/memories?
Jim Reeves: “Welcome To My World”. Growing up in a two-up, two-down in Brixton, with this whole journey in front of me. Yeah, welcome to my world was a good title, because my world then was wide-eyed and about to be involved in this culture clash thing that was unfolding in front of our eyes; it didn’t exist yet.
The multi-culturalism was all a confusing mess back then. When “Welcome To My World” came out, I was a little kid, six or seven or eight and naive to the really big things I was about to face. Also unaware of the possibilities that would be open to me through listening to music; like Radio Luxembourg back then.
18. Favourite band (or bands)?
Amyl & The Sniffers. Kneecap.
19. Favourite singer (or singers)?
Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson would have to be up there if you are talking about classic singers. Sometimes it is not about singing, it’s about the attitude, so Prince… Father John Misty, Bob Marley and again with Bob, it is also about the attitude.
Smokey, there is a crooner; these guys like him and Marvin just don’t come along no more. There is a singer who doesn’t get credit, because maybe he was a bit out there; Terence Trent Darby. He was a great soul voice…and that reminds me; David McCalmont is one of the top soul singers in the UK. Then there is that guy John Turrell of Smoove and Turrell.
20. Which song would you like played at your funeral?
The Jam: “Going Underground”, or a song by The Flaming Lips called “Do You Realise”.
Photos by: John Behets (captioned JB), Mike Gray (MG), Helen Ofreddy [HO], BBC 6Music. All other images PR-supplied.
Interview by Simon Redley
