great band. i was listening to a load of early demos last night. the early demos are very loose and rough with different lyrics. the first album has been one of my faves since it came out and it recently got a 2cd deluxe edition with a bunch of great unreleased extended versions

the band are also currently touring the uk before hitting the states and playing coachella. original lineup and playing mostly stuff from the first 2 albums. they were a bit unprepared for the first couple of shows, fucking up rush which was the first time played with the original band, but they picked up towards the later shows as they got used to playing together again

^Thank you, Ive never heard this version of the song, I really rather like it.

there are a few versions of the bottom line. i can't remember all the names, but you have the album version, then there is an extended album version (on the album it says "part 2, party 2" and fades out) that has a rap and loads of extra lyrics, then there is the rick rubin remix that removes a lot of instrumentation and it's very drum beat orientated but it has the part 2 lyrics and rap. there are another 1 or 2 extended versions, such as the one thats on the deluxe edition of the album, and there are at least a couple of very rough demos, one of which was by the pre BAD band called TRAC (Top Risk Action Group) that had some BAD members plus topper headon on drums, who was sacked due to herion abuse

the deluxe 2cd edition of the album is particularly interesting as it has alternate/extended versions of all the tracks from the album, most of which are unreleased and different to those that appeared on 12"s, and again different from the demo versions (that are pretty rough and obviously demos recorded in a crappy studio, but interesting to hear). there is a vocoder version of BAD, and a 10 minute of A Party which is similar to the dub mix on the e=mc2 12"

thing is, there were quite a lot of remixes from around the time that were released, and even more that weren't and don letts took on board scouring the archives for cool stuff for the reissue. it could have easily been a 3cd set if they put the official 12"s and b sides on another disc

hopefully they do the same for no 10 upping street, as that was a decent album, and again there are a lot of extended and alternate versions both released and unreleased. theres even more rare and unreleased stuff from later albums, but when you hear some of it you understand why it's not released. there's probably a good 15 cds worth of non album studio tracks in circulation, and out of that perhaps 2 or 3 discs of unrealeased songs (if you ignore the unreleased album "entering a new ride")

one other thing that would be nice is a compilation of the unreleasead early non album tracks, as there were loads of them from the first album, such as james pond and keep off the grass (aka the bonanza theme tune), but i doubt that will happen in a hurry unless the comeback tour springs them into superstardom again, which is unlikely. they did record the london show to 24 track for possible release, which would be nice as that was one of the better recent shows. nicer still would be dvds of some earlier original lineup shows, as the only official release is a BAD2 show from about 1992 at the town and country club in london. there are tons of bootlegs of gigs though, same with the clash, i literally have countless clash and BAD boots, dozens and dozens of them, like most if not all shows on a tour, and some tours they did 2 shows a night and i have both

I loved BAD up to and including Tighten Up Vol '88. Then I lost interest. I was never interested in all that BAD II stuff etc.

They were great live back in the day (as you can attest to unique, that Edinburgh show at Assembly rooms was one of the best gigs I have been to).

Great songs, remixes, etc.

A deluxe edition of No 10 Upping street would be stellar.

TheDigitalGardener said:

I loved BAD up to and including Tighten Up Vol '88. Then I lost interest. I was never interested in all that BAD II stuff etc.

They were great live back in the day (as you can attest to unique, that Edinburgh show at Assembly rooms was one of the best gigs I have been to).

Great songs, remixes, etc.

A deluxe edition of No 10 Upping street would be stellar.

i went to all the edinburgh gigs. my first ever gig was BAD at the playhouse with schoolly d as the very first opening act

i think the best gigs were the ones at the queens hall though. adamski (before having the hit with seal) was one of the supports, and cheifs of relief. they kinda got into acid house about that time, which made the album megatop pheonix a jumble of shite, but it worked well live with the 303 machine. i always used to end up in bruises as everyone goes mental in the mosh pitt and i was always front row. i remember the assembley rooms for a few reasons, one is goodbye mr mackenzie was one of the support acts (with shirley manson pre garbage and terminator and big john duncan pre nirvana- he roadied for them as gary (also from exploited) did a bit of roadying and got him into it and he ended up playing second guitar onstage - i think kurt was a bit of a punk fan), i had a BAD cap and someone grabbed it from me and threw it in the air into the crowd, and i ended up with massive bruises on my pelvic bone area from being banged up against the stage. i actually even remember walking home afterwards and arguing with someone who i thought nicked my cap

i have at least one or two BAD edinburgh shows on bootleg, and i have quite a few edinburgh clash shows, they toured like fuck. playhouse, cameo, coasters, etc. started in bigger venues (like BAD i suppose) and moved to smaller ones. mick actually mention during the other weeks glasgow gig that the current tour setup was a mid size one for them (they supported u2 in 1992 and played stadiums in mexico etc) and they put it together i 8 weeks, 2 weeks of post production, 6 weeks of rehearsals, and still can't remember the lyrics and miss cues. don and leo stare at each other to cue them in for lyrics etc!

one thing i noticed on some of the clash and BAD boots is the venues are wrong, they only played the playhouse once in 86. i remember at the queens hall when it was particularly chicken oriental at the front that mick stopped the show and asked everyone to take 3 steps back as the front were getting squashed, and he said something about he would go back to playing the playhouse if everyone went mental, but he preferred the smaller intimate shows, even if he could get more people and more money at the bigger ones. it's nice to have a band do something that's not just for the money. i presume mick made a right packet from the clash and he doesn't seem the type to splurge out, and considering his umpteen illnesses in which he nearly died at least once, it's good he still plays live, but BAD after the original lineup was shite i never saw them after that as they didn't bother playing here, and did glasgow instead

i hope they do another uk tour and play here the next time instead of weedgieville. the weedgieville bootleg is pretty decent sounding even though the performance is a bit lacking in confidence. medicine show was pretty fucking good, and come on every beatbox

I'm going to d/load the Glasgow gig later, sounds good.

TheDigitalGardener said:

I'm going to d/load the Glasgow gig later, sounds good.

yeah its really good quality for an audience recording. it's not a bad gig, mick is quite apologetic and nervous about the responce, which is good from the fans, but it's not a noisy recording, very listenable

Wow a thread of mine that didnt go straight to the bottom of the bin. You all give me hope.

lazycrockett said:

Wow a thread of mine that didnt go straight to the bottom of the bin. You all give me hope.

With music like Big Audio Dynamite, there is always hope.

Was very surprised to hear they're back together. Enjoyed 'em, back in el day. Definitely ahead of their time. Some faves from the BAD-II-and-beyond phase:

• "The Globe"
• "Looking for a Song"

Ace said:

Was very surprised to hear they're back together. Enjoyed 'em, back in el day. Definitely ahead of their time. Some faves from the BAD-II-and-beyond phase:

• "The Globe"
• "Looking for a Song"

i didn't like the bad2 stuff. the post original lineup stuff was mostly shite. but the funny thing is that some people liked it, even though it's a mile away from the original stuff. a bit like radiohead making their fucking bleepy shite instead of playing proper instruments and making actual songs

unique said:

it's a mile away from the original stuff

You really think so? How so? To me, it all sounds of one piece (guitar-based, electronic dance beats, samples).

Ace said:

unique said:

it's a mile away from the original stuff

You really think so? How so? To me, it all sounds of one piece (guitar-based, electronic dance beats, samples).

yeah, the first album was rock guitars like the clash, lyrics like rock the casbah or magnificent seven, dub reggae basslines, a bit of toasting similar to on some later clash stuff, hip hop style beats, and the samples were usually from either sergio leone cowboy flicks, or cult movies from nic roeg

the second album had a bit more of a rockier feel with joe strummer coproducing

things started to go wrong with tighten up, there were too many twee sounding songs. the hard edge was lost. then they lost the plot with megatop pheonix. for a start the name and cover were awful, and trying to embrace the acid house scene just didn't work for them. it certainly failed in the studio, even if the acid house touch worked well in concert

then the original band split and mick basically formed a new band and named it BAD2, and took it in more of an electronic dance direction. the dub reggae and hip hop from the earlier sound was replaced by house/techno LITE. emphasis on lite. other people embraced dance music and made some great records, like primal scream, but it didn't work for BAD. and mick also did more of his twee songs. daft cheesy lyrics

then you had kool aid followed by the globe, which was basically the same tracks on both albums, but named different and different versions, and loads of shittey remixes on singles. a load of fucking shite. i just gave up on them and didn't bother getting higher power upon release, even though i was working in a record store at the time. i remember it coming in and thinking "i bet this is just shite". they lost the dynamite from the name too. then more shite with p funk and the next album didn't even get released

but the old stuff was great, it was boombastic. the lyrics are mental on the first album, but when the song starts i can remember every word to every track, i know the movies the samples are from. it just takes you back that first album. the later stuff is very dated sounding

unique said:

Ace said:

You really think so? How so? To me, it all sounds of one piece (guitar-based, electronic dance beats, samples).

yeah, the first album was rock guitars like the clash, lyrics like rock the casbah or magnificent seven, dub reggae basslines, a bit of toasting similar to on some later clash stuff, hip hop style beats, and the samples were usually from either sergio leone cowboy flicks, or cult movies from nic roeg

the second album had a bit more of a rockier feel with joe strummer coproducing

things started to go wrong with tighten up, there were too many twee sounding songs. the hard edge was lost. then they lost the plot with megatop pheonix. for a start the name and cover were awful, and trying to embrace the acid house scene just didn't work for them. it certainly failed in the studio, even if the acid house touch worked well in concert

then the original band split and mick basically formed a new band and named it BAD2, and took it in more of an electronic dance direction. the dub reggae and hip hop from the earlier sound was replaced by house/techno LITE. emphasis on lite. other people embraced dance music and made some great records, like primal scream, but it didn't work for BAD. and mick also did more of his twee songs. daft cheesy lyrics

then you had kool aid followed by the globe, which was basically the same tracks on both albums, but named different and different versions, and loads of shittey remixes on singles. a load of fucking shite. i just gave up on them and didn't bother getting higher power upon release, even though i was working in a record store at the time. i remember it coming in and thinking "i bet this is just shite". they lost the dynamite from the name too. then more shite with p funk and the next album didn't even get released

but the old stuff was great, it was boombastic. the lyrics are mental on the first album, but when the song starts i can remember every word to every track, i know the movies the samples are from. it just takes you back that first album. the later stuff is very dated sounding

Oh, okay. The only albums I've heard in full are the first and the one that was released under "Big Audio" (yeah, that was one crap, IIRC). I'm just going by the greatest hits CD I have and really like "Rush", "The Globe", "Looking for a Song" and few others from that period.

Ace said:

unique said:

Oh, okay. The only albums I've heard in full are the first and the one that was released under "Big Audio" (yeah, that was one crap, IIRC). I'm just going by the greatest hits CD I have and really like "Rush", "The Globe", "Looking for a Song" and few others from that period.

checkout no 10 upping street as that's second best, then tighten up and you can see it going wrong, then megatop pheonix, then it just turns to shite with bad2 danceshit. not that i don't like dance music, it's just it's shite when they do it

......... saw them on the 3rd April, it was a good gig, i hope their creative jucies start to flow and they write a new album!

Picture of Mick's LINN Drum :

londonmale said:

......... saw them on the 3rd April, it was a good gig, i hope their creative jucies start to flow and they write a new album!

Picture of Mick's LINN Drum :

i got a recording of the shephards bush show

they are considering a new album btw. nothing written yet though afaik