# The Strange Magic of: Bad Brains



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I love the name of this group. Bad Brains. It works both ways--with Bad=Good, and with Bad=Bad. Clearly something was going on in the 1980s among black musicians: an eruption of noteworthy groups engaged in a dense mix of Funk, Metal, Reggae, Punk, Ska, "Alternative", and other sorts of sounds, many labeled as hybrids between/among genres. My own view is that part of the impetus was a re-examination and re-evaluation of the musics of both Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley, and how their legacies could be fused with the newer Punk and Alternative sounds. Groups like Living Colour (Cult of Personality) and Fishbone (Ghetto Soundwave), and Bad Brains. Lead singer H.R. and his brother, drummer Earl Hudson, would periodically leave and rejoin the group, but the scene on stage was often unpredictable chaos, and many thought the music also, though Bad Brains could be quite melodic, especially in their reggae-inspired offerings. But herewith one of their signature rave-ups, _I Against I_.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Here is somewhat more melodic Bad Brains: _The Meek Shall Inherit_, a lot more reggae in the recipe.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I liked these guys for a bit many years ago, and even played them as a college DJ. But that was a fairly brief stage of my life.


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2016)

Black groups started hardcore and Bad Brains is credited as the first but it was a Detroit band called Death who recorded this in 1974. Detroit always was ahead of the everyone else when it came to hard edge music. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys loves them. The opening song on the album, "Keep On Knocking", has the exact same guitar riff as Fear's "I Don't Care About You" only about 10 years before anyone heard of Fear.

Here's the whole album:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

@Victor Redseal: Thanks for bringing Death to my life! Great group and album.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Bad Brains was a great live act. Fantastic energy. Or so I hear. Some of my older friends went to some of their shows in the nineties.

I think Henry Rollins said that the only band 'he's' ever seen that blew them away on stage was (early) Jane's Addiction.

H.R. wasn't as cool as he seems though.

He got into an argument with Dave Dictor of MDC once over religion and ended up spray painting "_Burn in hell [email protected]!" _on the side of MDC's touring van- presumably because Dave wasn't receptive to the Word of Jah.

Anyway, Dave wrote a song making fun of the entire 'holier than thou' Rastafarian attitude of H.R. in an MDC song called "Pay to Come Along":






_We don't need no Jah fascist doctrine
We don't need to be so uptight
Hide your eyes from the truth
Not to be free but to be right

New World Order of old world lies
Jesus dons a new disguise
When people gave you homes and their love
You gave back hate from high above

Couldn't help us fight the fight
Get together black and white
Returned all your support with abuse
And intolerance beyond excuse

Black hardcore, hot and mad
Such good lyrics, it's so sad
Could have taken up a stand
Been the most important band

Looking out for number one holiest of guests
Smoking crucial herb while ignoring all your debts
They have shown for all to see, being musically blessed
Makes you no better than anyone else
Frail and human like all the rest

Oh, well we tell you what it cost
We'll never know what was really lost

Your selfishness has really been a burn
A lesson bitter we had to learn

We don't need no Jah jive security
We don't need to be so uptight
See you hide your eyes from the truth
Not to be free, but to be right_

I laughed so hard the first time I heard that song. _"We don't need no Jah jive security. We don't need to be so uptight."_ Aaaaaaah! Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Anyway, back to Bad Brains. How many people know that Ric Ocasek of the Cars produced the _Rock for Light _album?

That's not important in and of itself, but it 'is' important that Ric chose wisely when marrying, and became 'Mr. Paulina Porizkova.' _;D _


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

All credit to you, Marsch - without doubt the most entertaining endorsement of BB that I'm ever likely to read. Sail on sister/brother/whatever/delete where applicable.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Well, they took away _The Meek Shall Inherit_, the more reggae-ish BB clip. So here is _The Prophet's Eye_ by way of compensation....


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

We can't leave Bad Brains without another classic rave-up: _Re-Ignition_.......


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