Don Letts
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Don Letts
Donovan "Don" Letts (born 10 January 1956) is a British film director, disc jockey (DJ) and musician. Letts first came to prominence as the videographer for the Clash, directing several of their music videos. In 1984, Letts co-founded the band Big Audio Dynamite with former Clash lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Mick Jones (The Clash guitarist), Mick Jones, acting as the band's Sampling (music), sampler and videographer before departing the band in 1990. Letts has also directed music videos for Musical Youth, the Psychedelic Furs, Fun Boy Three, the Pretenders and Elvis Costello as well as the feature documentaries ''The Punk Rock Movie'' (1978) and ''The Clash: Westway to the World'' (2000). Biography Letts was born in London, and educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Tenison's School in Kennington. In 1975, he ran the London clothing store Acme Attractions, selling "Electric blue (color), electric blue zoot suits and jukeboxes, and pumping dub reggae al ...
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Big Audio Dynamite
Big Audio Dynamite (later known as Big Audio Dynamite II and Big Audio, and often abbreviated BAD) were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones, former lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The band mixed various musical styles, incorporating elements of punk rock, dance music, hip hop, reggae, and funk. After releasing a number of well-received studio albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Big Audio Dynamite broke up in 1997. In 2011, the band embarked on a reunion tour. History T.R.A.C. (1984) After being fired from the Clash in 1983 and following a brief stint with new wave band General Public, Mick Jones formed a new band called Top Risk Action Company (T.R.A.C.). He recruited bassist Leo "E-Zee Kill" Williams, saxophonist John "Boy" Lennard (from post-punk band Theatre of Hate), and former Clash drummer Topper Headon. Headon was quickly fired for his heroin addiction and Lennard either left or was fired and the band ...
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Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist, Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Costello number 80 on its Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Costello began his career as part of London's Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album ''My Aim Is True'' was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His second album ...
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Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for initiating the Punk subculture, punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Their fashion and hairstyles were a significant influence on punk fashion, punk image, and they are often associated with anarchism within music. The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), guitarist Steve Jones (musician), Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock; Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of Malcolm McLaren, the band attracted some controversies that both captivated and appalled Britain. Through an obscenity-laced television interview in December 1976 and their May 1977 single "God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song), God ...
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Hammersmith Odeon
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Hammersmith, London, it is an art deco Grade II* listed building. The venue has hosted numerous concerts by major stars, including the Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Iron Maiden, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington amongst many others. History Designed by Robert Cromie, who also renovated the Prince of Wales Theatre, in the Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace, with a seating capacity of nearly 3,500 people, being renamed the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962. It has had a string of names and owners, most recently AEG Live and Eventim UK. It became a Grade II listed building in 1990. The venue was later refurbished and renamed Labatt's Apollo following a sponsorship deal with L ...
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Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture to this day. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. In 1976, Marley survived an assassination attempt in his home, which was thought to be politically motivated. He also supported legalization of marijuana, and advocated for Pan-Africanism. Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, Ma ...
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Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola (the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic); the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some to the north-west. Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people either were killed or died of diseases, after which the Spanish brought large numbers of African slaves to Jamaica as labourers. The island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered it, renaming it ''Jamaica''. Under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with a plantation economy dependent on the African slaves and later their des ...
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The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ...
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Dub Reggae
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.2 Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, emphasis of the rhythm section (the stripped-down drum-and-bass track is sometimes referred to as a riddim), and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.Michael Veal (2013)''Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae'', pages 26-44, "Electronic Music in Jamaica" Wesleyan University Press Dub was pioneered by Audio engineer, recording engineers and producers such as King Tubby, Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Errol Thompson (audi ...
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Electric Blue (color)
Electric blue is a color whose definition varies but is often considered close to cyan, and which is a representation of the color of lightning, an electric spark, and the color of ionized argon gas; it was originally named after the ionized air glow produced during electrical discharges, though its meaning has broadened to include shades of blue that are metaphorically "electric" by virtue of being "intense" or particularly "vibrant". Electric arcs can cause a variety of color emissions depending on the gases involved, but blue and purple are typical colors produced in the troposphere where oxygen and nitrogen dominate. The first recorded use of ''electric blue'' as a color name in English was in 1845. The color electric blue (the version shown below as ''medium electric blue'') was in vogue in the 1890s.Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Discussion of color Electric Blue, p. 156 Variations of electric blue Deep electric blue (French electric blu ...
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Acme Attractions
Acme Attractions was a London clothing store on Kings Road, Chelsea, London, that in the early 1970s provided a place for many punk and reggae musicians and scenesters to hang out. Shop assistant and manager Don Letts described Acme Attraction as a place "where the interaction between the different factions became more important than selling merchandise, even though at that age it was a deadly combination." History Acme Attractions was inspired by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's Fifties-inspired boutique Let it Rock (revamped in 1972 and renamed Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die). In spring 1974, a radical change saw their shop become Sex, selling fetish wear and Westwood's innovative designs. Acme's owner, John Krivine, decided to venture into clothing with Steph Raynor. In 1974, Acme Attractions initially opened as a stall in the antiques market Antiquarius on the King's Road, Chelsea. While it was owned by Krivine and Raynor its public face was Don Letts who says that A ...
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Kennington
Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the Lambeth and St George's parishes of those boroughs respectively. It is located south of Charing Cross in Inner London and is identified as a local centre in the London Plan. It was a royal manor in the parish of Lambeth (parish), St Mary, Lambeth in the Surrey, county of Surrey and was the administrative centre of the parish from 1853. Proximity to central London was key to the development of the area as a residential suburb and it was Metropolis Management Act 1855, incorporated into the metropolitan area of London in 1855. Kennington is the location of three significant London landmarks: the Oval cricket ground, the Imperial War Museum, and Kennington Park. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011 was 15,106. Kennington is serve ...
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