It’s not good for an interviewer to be late. Having been scheduled in a media slot for 3pm in Notting Hill, I stumbled into the Electric Cinema twenty minutes late, sweating, flustered and hoping that the superstar had not said fuck it and gone. Apologetic and frantically trying to get my equipment ready so I would not tick him off even more, he reassures me that he is fine, “Chill I’m easy”. He seems more concerned about me and offers me a drink of water. For a man who has done it all, been there and got the T shirt, it’s refreshing to see that he does not let ego get in the way of fame (of course it helped that he was supplied with free alcohol while they waited for my sorry ass). This though is typical of Don Letts…
If there is one word to describe Don Letts it would be pioneer. In 1976 a musical revolution was about to take place and Don Letts was at the forefront. English punk music was initially influenced by the garage rock coming out of the US; Patti Smith, the Stooges, MC5 and what have you. The English rendition, emerging from a climate of strikes, recession and lack of opportunities for the white working class youth in Britain, was the British equivalent of the blues, however it was Don Letts who tinged the Red, White and blue of the Union Jack with black gold and green of his parents homeland.
In 1975 he owned a clothing store called Acme Attractions on the trendy Kings Road, which drew in customers from the likes of the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde and Bob Marley. Maybe it was the clothes that attracted such an illustrious crowd, or maybe it had something to do with the reggae and dub music that was pumping out of the shop: “During the whole punk rock thing it occurred to me that it was through understanding our differences that made us closer, not by being the same. So we used our respective cultures to turn each other on. They dug my whole reggae-rebel, heavy baseline thing (they liked the weed as well, it has to be said), and I dug their whole DIY thing because it was through the whole punk rock explosion that I invented myself as a film maker”.
Punk had a name, a scene but no place to play, and Acme’s accountant Andrew Czezowski picked up on this and decided to open up the infamous Roxy Club in Covent Garden. All Czezowski needed was a DJ, and who better than the tall dreadlocked Letts who had already struck up a great relationship with the punk crowd.
“I give thanks and praise for being the original Roxy DJ” Letts says while sipping on his glass of water. The only problem being that the scene was so new, and no punk acts had been signed yet, that there was no punk records to play at the club. The only alternative was hardcore dub reggae. Letts muses over the punk reaction to his musical selection, “they liked the baseline, they liked the anti establishment stance, they liked the fact that the songs were about something. Songs like Chant down Babylon or I need a roof over my head or Money in my pocket or Armagideon time; black or white, if you were feeling the pressure anybody could relate to that.” The punk-reggae alliance occurred by a fortunate accident. The popular music of the time did not speak to either blacks or whites, it was the convergence of reggae and punk that drew together two cultures who were both alienated by the establishment: “That was a beautiful thing. I saw how I could use my culture to turn my white mates on. I didn’t have to try and be English, they didn’t have to try and be black. It was through understanding our differences that made us closer, not by trying to be the same. I didn’t have safety pins or a Mohawk, and (Joe) Strummer didn’t have dreadlocks. He held his thing down and I held my thing down, but we both had something to bring to the party. I was representing! You get me blood!”
Don Letts career since then has transcended many areas. He’s done music videos for the Clash, Bob Marley and Public Image Limited, documentaries on people such as George Clinton, Joe Strummer, Sun Ra and Gil Scott Heron. He’s done movies, such as the brilliant Dancehall Queen, he was in Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones and now he is a radio DJ for BBC Radio 6. He is thus regarded as multi-occupational, but he rebukes this notion, “the thing that connects them all is music. People say I do all these things but guess what? I actually think that they’re all the same thing. Music and film are my premier means of expression and the art forms that I love the most, and everything that I have done has been some kind of version of that.” Letts first foray into filmmaking was the ‘Punk Rock Movie’ which was a perfect documentation of capturing the spirit of punk’s social and musical context. I asked Letts if he knew that at the time he was in the midst of something so special and groundbreaking. “Back in ’77, I had no idea that 30 odd years later we’d still be talking about this thing punk rock. Which is a sad indictment of the last 30 years because there have been a lot of musical movements since then. But they weren’t as complete as punk rock …the thing about punk rock is that it produced photographers, poets, writers, fashion designers, graphic designers and people like myself; film makers. So it was very much a complete subculture and I think that’s why people keep going back to it.”
We talk about The Slits, an all female band that Letts managed after he left the Roxy and who supported the Clash on the White Riot tour. Letts disputes the fact that he managed this groundbreaking band “when I say I managed The Slits, I tried to manage them. They were dread! I tell you 24/7 unmanageable!” However the Slits were a great indictment of the unprejudiced spirit of punk. Punk embraced feminism as much as it embraced male testosterone and there were many women within this genre, something which rock was not able to accommodate. The Slits, X Ray Specs, and Siouxsie and the Banshees were among many acts that had great success with the punk rock movement. “One of the great things about the punk rock movement was the way it got women, or in fact anybody who was marginalised involved. Before the whole punk rock thing women were kind of like cosmetic dressing for cock rock male lead singers. But all of a sudden punks are like, you have a good idea, you’re welcome. When the Slits tour England or X Ray Specs tour England, there’s all these young women out there that take strength from that and are like OK I can do this too. I’m not talking about getting on stage and being in a band I’m talking about empowering yourself and being in control of your destiny.”
The important thing about punk and its alliance with reggae was also its political edge. It was made by young and for young. It was a forced reaction by pissed-off individuals, whose own establishment had alienated them and let them down. “Back in my day we got into music to be anti-establishment, but nowadays a lot of people get into music to be part of the establishment, and it’s very hard to do anything radical or rebellious if you want to be part of the establishment.”
His statement might directly refer to the Pop Idol/ X-factor/Simon Cowell world that we all know, but Letts refers to less obvious examples of a generation who all want their 15 minutes of fame. “I think a lot of people’s attitude generally to get into music because they want to be famous or they want to be on MTV or TV. Whereas back in my day, we got into music because we wanted to express ourselves and you had something to say, we wanted to communicate ideas.”
The punk movement was born out of a revolt against the rock music which had become too conformist by the mid 1970’s. As Letts tells me, the unique thing about punk was breaking down the barrier between the listeners of music and the makers of music, long before Myspace entered the realms of World Wide Web. “The thing about punk is that it said look, if you’ve got a good idea, you can be part of this thing too, which was kind of a revelation because all the music and the artists that had come before that, kind of revelled in the fact that they were on stage and you were the audience. But punk was like nah, nah, nah, lets break down that wall. You got a good idea? Get on stage.”
Music’s current state is one of grave concern for Letts. Punk and reggae were more than just music. It was as much a political movement that reflected the social environment of it’s time than it was organised noise for crazy ball heads to bang their heads to. As he talks about today’s music Letts voice is tinged with animosity: “To me the cultural climate feels like punk never happened, and western culture has become increasingly conservative”, at this point he stands up and apologises for his unorthodox methods, but clearly this is something he feels very strongly about. It is hard not to be captivated by what Letts says. Whenever he talks, as those who listen to his BBC show will testify, he delivers his words with passion and conviction. As he laments over modern musical standards, I become entranced. It’s as if Letts is prophesizing something monumental and I had the first scoop. Even hip hop is worth his criticism. “When it first exploded on the scene, it was very much like that punk spirit, and that punk attitude, now it has become- HIP POP. I mean I was listening to people like Chuck D and KRS one, and now it’s all Puff Daddy and Snoop Dogg. It has become very corporate. I mean hip hop has become the new pop music of the planet and I’m down with Chuck D when he said Hip Hop aint doing anyone any good especially black people. We need a new rebellion and it’s well overdue.”
But it’s not just the modern malaise of the music industry that gets Letts’ goat. We somehow start talking about Noel Gallagher’s comments on the decision to book Jay Z for Glastonbury. “I like Oasis. Listen. Noel is actually an intelligent guy. Liam is as funny as hell and both of them are the most honest people in rock and roll. That’s what he thought, and in this instance he made a mistake. I mean I was actually at Glastonbury on stage watching Jay Z and it was an incredible thing (the white man love it Rasta). From the back to the front it was dread.”
