Bad Brains: a Band in D.C.

 

Whether you love Bad Brains or you’ve never heard of them, their story is worth listening to.  Lucky for all of us, it was edited down by Mandy Stein and Benjamin Logan into a perfect documentary titled Bad Brains: a Band in D.C.

The doc begins by bringing us back to the mid-1970s, when the group (four black teenagers from Washington, D.C.) met in middle school. In the beginning, the boys were mostly into jazz-fusion (playing under the name Mind Power) — bassist Darryl Jenifer says he used to write fan-club letters to Stanley Clarke of Return to Forever — but they soon turned to the faster, edgier sounds of punk rock.  The music/movement provided the perfect expression of their energy and angst.  And because of their jazz training, they were the tightest band on the scene, capable of playing the most complicated of parts at breakneck speed.  In a sea of white teenagers playing punk rock with no musical training, Bad Brains were awe-inspiring.

Then, they saw Bob Marley in concert in the late 70s/early 80s and delved deep into reggae music and the Rastafari movement.  They might have been unique to the scene before, but after this awakening Bad Brains melded punk and reggae into an innovative style that has yet to be copied.  Their shows were always amazing because you never quite knew what you were going to get. The clips below are both from their famed 1982 performance at CBGB …

With a cult following, and seemingly limitless talent you might ask what went wrong?  There were a few things along the way, including some organizational challenges, publicity issues, and the increasing insanity of frontman H.R.  You can see it all in the movie.  Bad Brains is revered as one of the greatest (punk) bands ever, whose influence can be heard in groups like the Beastie Boys, No Doubt, Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction and countless more, yet so many people don’t know of them … Bad Brains: a Band in D.C. tells their story in the most amazing way.  It’s a must see!

 

Daniel Johnston

 

 

Daniel Johnston is a multi-talented, but oh-so-tortured guy.  Johnston is often described as a genius, but he also suffers from manic depression (Bipolar Disorder) and Schizophrenia (for the record, I can easily imagine those two three going together); his overwhelmingly original creations have landed him spots on MTV and college radio, on the soundtrack of Kids and Where The Wild Things Are, in gallery exhibitions and the Whitney Biennial, while his illness has placed him more often than not in mental institutions.  

Johnston was born in 1961.  He grew up in the northern panhandle of West Virginia where he spent most of his childhood drawing, until Johnston discovered his love of music.  His favorites were Bob Dylan, David Bromberg, Neil Young, the Sex Pistols, and the Beatles. As a teen, Johnston and his friends would record their own tapes and trade them amongst each other. ‘Songs of Pain’ and ‘More Songs of Pain’ were just a couple of his contributions.  They told the tale of Johnston’s anguish for Laurie – his long-time crush who eventually married an undertaker.  Bummer.  

He moved to Austin, Texas and slowly but surely began to gain notoriety within the Indie music scene.   In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Kramer at his Noise New York studio.  Then, Kurt Cobain began to wear a t-shirt featuring the cover image of Johnston’s album Hi, How Are You.  By the early 90s Johnston was officially a star.  The only problem?  He was in a mental institution at the time

 

Mental breakdown or not, a bidding war to sign Johnston ensued. He refused a multi-album deal with Elektra Records because Metallica was on the label’s roster and Johnston was convinced that they were possessed by Satan and would hurt him.  He also dropped his manager (who brokered the deal), because Johnston believed he too was possessed by Satan.  Ultimately, he signed with Atlantic Records and released Fun, produced by Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers in 1994.

 

Throughout all of this, Johnston was always drawing.  He made his album covers, and just about everything else.  And his demonic obsession is evident in every one of his creations.

In 2004, he released The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, a two-disc compilation. The first featured artists such as Tom Waits, Beck, TV on the Radio, Jad Fair, Eels, Bright Eyes, Calvin Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips covering songs written by Johnston. The second disc featured all of the original recordings.  Johnston has also continued to draw and his work has been featured in art shows around the world (currently at Agnes B in NYC).  In 2005 The Devil and Daniel Johnston was released by Director Jeff Feuerzeig.  It tells the story of this amazing artist better than you could ever imagine.

Such a great story.  And Johnston’s most recent collaboration is with Supreme – way cool.

 

 

Mayor of the Sunset Strip, Mr. Rodney Bingenheimer

 

You’ve probably never heard of Rodney Bingenheimer, which isn’t surprising really.  He’s always been more of a “behind the scenes” kind of guy, but he has been behind just about every kind of scene.  He is a dedicated rock and roll fan, one of the biggest groupies to ever crash the scene, and while many have moved on from the heyday of the sunset strip, Binghenheimer remains committed … whether anyone cares or not.

Bingenheimer arrived on the streets of Hollywood at 16, and in his own words, he immediately “became the talk of the town because I had the perfect Brian Jones ‘do.”  (And that ‘do remains unchanged to this day!)   He had a seminal presence on the rock scene going back to the mid-’60s, introducing the early ’70s Bowie/Sweet/T Rex glam scene to America via his KROQ radio show and legendarily debauched Rodney’s English Disco club, and later championing punk rock when no one would go near it . Over the course of his career as a professional Hollywood scenester, Bingenheimer has always been at the forefront of musical taste, disovering countless acts from Bowie to Blondie to Coldplay.

Though the Hollywood of Binghenheimer days is long-gone, the radio DJ continues on.  His show has been pushed to the graveyard shift, his celebrity friends have retired, and the music scene has been taken over by manufactured pop icons, but Rodney is still on the strip quietly living his dream as a Hollywood icon …

I think his story is beyond compelling, and there is no better way to see it than on the big screen … or the little one via Netflex on demand.  Check out Mayor of the Sunset Strip, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

 

Raymond Pettibon, the Punk Years