- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: SAF Publishing Ltd (10 May 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0946719896
- ISBN-13: 978-0946719891
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
885,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #27 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Rock & Pop > Singers & Groups > Clash
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Product Description
Synopsis
Don Letts is Grammy Award-winning film-maker, celebrated DJ, co-founder of Big Audio Dynamite, British black icon. As a first-generation British-born black, Don Letts quickly learned to assimilate aspects of Jamaican culture into inner-city urban London life. Leaving school, he gravitated to Chelsea's King's Road, inhabiting the fashion world alongside Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. As resident DJ at the fledgling punk club The Roxy, Letts pumped a roots-reggae soundtrack to a predominantly white audience that included members of The Clash and the Sex Pistols, forging a link between the two clashing cultures. A chance meeting provided him with a Super-8 movie camera, the result of which was released as "The Punk Movie" and set Letts on a career resulting in over 300 influential promo videos featuring Sex Pistols, Pil, the Slits, The Clash, Bob Marley, and even the platinum-selling "Musical Youth", and most recently Franz Ferdinand. His feature films include "Dancehall Queen", the Grammy Award-winning "Westway to the World" - his documentary on The Clash - and Clash on Broadway. He recently directed feature documentaries for the BBC on Sun Ra and Gil Scott-Heron.Alongside The Clash's Mick Jones in Big Audio Dynamite, Letts pioneered dance culture and sampling techniques, hanging out with Africa Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and the cream of the New York City hip-hop scene. Admired by Fellini, a friend of Bob Marley and John Lydon, and a documentarian of The Clash, Don Letts has never pigeonholed himself. This book is a firsthand account, told in Letts' own words - it's highly visual, revelatory, irreverent, entertaining, and staunchly individual.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an interesting but surface skimming account of what is an extraordinary life. Having followed his career - mainly via the Clash connection..from the Jah Wobble/Keith Levine 12" - Punk Rock Movie - Basement 5 - BAD -Screaming target - Dancehall Queen - Westway to the World and Punk Attitude..etc etc - here is a man who really managed to cross over cultures, absorb and interpret and create.
And he's right...or maybe we are both getting old and nostalgic...but so much creativity came out of punk...which nothing else really has managed to repeat.
Don Letts does drop names ....a lot of names...but influential and respected...not five minutes wonders....but quite how he got to produce a video for US "Hair Metal" band RATT is beyond me...
Having just recovered from the Strummer Biog...which is in so much detail..I find this a bit lacking in depth....I'd like to have found out more.
Maybe DL is a shining example for us all...he has kept the Rebel stance - while at the same time making some groundbreaking and crucial films/documentaries and music. He has taken what works for him from other cultures - but maintained his own roots...something I fear is not happening enough in the UK today!!
And he's right...or maybe we are both getting old and nostalgic...but so much creativity came out of punk...which nothing else really has managed to repeat.
Don Letts does drop names ....a lot of names...but influential and respected...not five minutes wonders....but quite how he got to produce a video for US "Hair Metal" band RATT is beyond me...
Having just recovered from the Strummer Biog...which is in so much detail..I find this a bit lacking in depth....I'd like to have found out more.
Maybe DL is a shining example for us all...he has kept the Rebel stance - while at the same time making some groundbreaking and crucial films/documentaries and music. He has taken what works for him from other cultures - but maintained his own roots...something I fear is not happening enough in the UK today!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Don Letts is one of those names who will be forever linked to the punk explosion of '76. His attitude, talent and two fingers up at conformity shine through in this book. Whilst he is probably better at shooting films than writing books, this is an important book - by someone there at the time of the greatest musical revolution known to man!
If you like this I also recommend: One Love Two Colours: The unlikely marriage of a Punk Rocker & his African Queen, by Margaret Oshindele. It's a book that shows how a Nigerian woman can marry an English punk rocker and still keep her sanity!
If you like this I also recommend: One Love Two Colours: The unlikely marriage of a Punk Rocker & his African Queen, by Margaret Oshindele. It's a book that shows how a Nigerian woman can marry an English punk rocker and still keep her sanity!
Format:Paperback
I have been looking for a book by Don Letts for a while then found this, an excellent read and a great insight from someone right at the heart of the Punk scene.
Buy this book!
Buy this book!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brixton born brother
I was already quite familiar with the Don Letts story. Loads has already been written on Letts' involvement with The Clash and reggae, but what I enjoyed most about this book was... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by Lionel Joseph
Letts talk
How many black film-makers are there actually out there? Not many. Despite the odds, Don Letts picked up a Super 8 camera and went for it. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by Chicken Head
Ok as far as it goes...
Don Letts is a good geezer, and I have followed him since old punk rock days, so I rushed to check out the book -- but it isn't up to much, just lots of stuff we've already read in... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2007 by Barney Dread
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