"if you got a black list, I wanna be on it. It is better than a Grammy with me name on it.' Billy slides in such powerful one-liners so quickly and slyly. Love this man's talent.
Bragg got his break in the UK by delivering legendary DJ John Peel a biryani and persuading him to play his record. Peel had just mentioned on air he was a bit hungry. This is my favourite hero origin story.
Someone like Billy will and should make a big splash in any time period they appear. Alas, today music has become auto-tuned, pitch-corrected, sensationalized such that very little remains of honest musicianship and talent. Which leaves us with billions of empty-headed fans with no musical taste buds.
I would actually credit David Letterman for that. As a fan of generally non mainstream music I’ve noticed that Dave seems to really respect music that might not otherwise reach as mainstream an audience as he was capable of providing. And I think that Billy Brag was the best example of that commitment.
OMG Billy is such a baby here. I can't even begin to remember how many times I've seen him and I still see him most times he is in Toronto for the past 30 years, including the last night of his 3 at the Horseshoe celebrating their 70TH anniversary. He was awesome as ever.
Me too! That Horsehoe stint was amazing - I went to two of the three nights. I've been lucky enough to see him gig in London & Dublin on a few occasions over the decades as well. He remains such an incredible inspiration.
To this day one of Billy's best songs and this performance was a good one. The lyrics on this song are some of the best that have been put to paper and through the years he's adapted them to the times. This show happened back in the 80's and this is an earlier version, but still HELLA DOPE!!
I was trying to find a song for my wife so we could dance to it at our wedding. I had a list. Before I could run it by her, I played the music video for this song. She made the choice for me after that. I'm a very lucky man.
Billy, you don't even have to try. you're there. you were my days and my nights, but I always left you at the door (where, of course, you like to be). thank you so much. long live billy!!
I live in the great county of Essex in England (as it was the kingdom of the East Saxons) and we gave the world Billy Brag, Depeche Mode, Dr Feelgood and The Prodigy. Yes , you are welcome.
Love it, never seen that clip before, and 1988 was around the time I joined the 'Billy Party', tickets booked for Derby later this year for the 'Tooth and Nail' tour. Wonderful to see that even then Billy was playing with the lyrics of even his newest songs to make them relevant to the news. Gave me goosebumps!!! Thanks for posting it.
It seems like he made a very serious effort to ensure his every word was as audible as possible for this performance... that might have included keeping the guitar low
Great performance Billy. Some funny, funny lines. But, I think I'm ready for the great leap forwards. ( I don't mean violence. That would be illogical) but...
Bass too funky. Guitar too quiet. Keyboard too loud. Lacking an emotional trumpet solo. Looks more like a pop outfit than a protest singer. Fucking brilliant.
Great performance by the brilliant Billy Bragg but what bugs me is that it didn't click in Letterman's mind to ask Billy to do an impression of Stallone directing a New York taxi driver.
Am I the only person int he world who thinks he cannot sing AT ALL?! Heard him live last week and he was characteristically tuneless with no timeing. Some nice lyrics at times though.
OK dad, firstly "So what" is a question, and should have a question mark - even though you are using it as a rhetorical device. Even as a rhetorical device in argument, the question mark remains. Secondly, capitalisation should be reserved for the most dramatic and astounding remarks - not for careless indifference for someone else's view. Finally, I have no soul? That's your argument?! Best of luck to your four sons! Do you tell them to say that when someone disagrees with them? ps He IS crap!
This is fun isn't it? (Note: question mark, even though I already know the answer). I am glad you appreciated my reply: I was just in the mood for it - its my only plausible explanation. My soul cried to indulge in some pointless pedantry with a complete stranger. I did actually say in my first post that i find his lyrics great sometimes - my rule of the thumb is that the less political he is the better.
I saw him in 86 or 87 in Vancouver. A great, intimate show. Slowly over the years we both aged, funny how that happens. Looking at this I remember being young, being angry that the world wasn't all it could be. And lifting my head, I realise that little has change for the better, and Mr. Bragg is still out there telling us about it. What a great reminder that I should still be angry, that I should still be trying for a real great leap forward. I won't see it, but perhaps I can give my daughter a running start to clear that distance.
The world will never be all it could be in some Utopian concept. The Great Leap Forward was into the grave for a huge number of people, and into terrible tyranny for the rest.
@@garyfinch8267 That's the funny thing; they are always waiting, waiting for SOMEBODY to get it right. I'm sure 2021 will offer an opportunity for success for Socialism. Keep the faith!
Your words just hit me directly in my now overweight, corporate American gut. I think that deep down I’m still angry, but much of it is now directed more inwardly. Billy is still out there preaching, but I didn’t do my part.
What a pleasure to hear this old clip. Billy Bragg always strikes me as a hard-working British version of Woody Guthrie (though even that comparison makes me a bit parochial). Thanks Billy, thanks Letterman, and thanks to whoever posted.
Your comment got my attention because in the early 90’s I was at a folk festival in Edmonton and Billy was at a smaller stage doing a workshop with Arlo Guthrie it was epic.
Billy is the custodian of Woody Guthrie's music as his family gave Billy the rights to his unpublished music. Dylan asked for it but they said no, Billy was chosen and rightly so.
Nearly 30 years on and this song has been near and dear to my heart since I was a teen. Brilliant beyond reckoning. What to say, what to say.....? On this New Years Eve I'm getting a little reminiscent and sweaty eyed as it's hot in this room I'm in.....
Fully agree. Still trying to work out (in my house in the UK) when "socialism" became a dirty word. When I did my Politics degree in the late 80's it meant that you were a believer that we could all work together to help each other. FOX changed that apparently......
+Nobby Nolevel And nowadays, more than a dirty word, it has even become a crime all around the Western world... I just hope some other generation finds out what socialism really means (and learns from the past mistakes), or this world will get digested and craped by itself!
jamesg3456 Explain your definition of socialism. To me this isn't about communism, capatilism or any ism for that matter. There's programming of a kind going on, coming from every side of the coin. There's good people and there's bad, There's good ideas and bad. A good leap forward is asking oneself what one really feels and knows in comparison to what one thinks one knows. Maybe. Not having a go here, just asking question that I ask of myself. I hold no strongly held beliefs in any dogmatic ideologies. There are other methods of living that are coming into view. There's tough times ahead and neither communism nor capitalism in its current form is the answer.
5 years after your comment and now 20% of working class but deeply ignorant Americans following a billionaire called Trump as their economic woes answer, are calling in clueless chorus, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for being socialists or commies, as if these two really were even 'liberals' at all.... how distorted things have come off any Reality as they're fiddled by that side road charlatan swindling all with lies and more lies
Billy was playing this song when I was 7 years old and he's still able to turn the same tune to brand new lyrics and situations when I'm in my 40s. Magic.
What a pleasure to hear this old clip. Billy Bragg always strikes me as a hard-working British version of Woody Guthrie (though even that comparison makes me a bit parochial). Thanks Billy, thanks Letterman, and thanks to whoever posted.
Billy Bragg makes the most out of what he has. It's not just in his heart-felt music, but also in the way he lives and fights for equality. There are no mindless smoke and mirrors as in Techno/House/Trance. Perhaps that's why everyone is upset, Billy actually makes you THINK.
This is a gem, thanks for posting this! I saw Billy play in Mpls around this time, before and after, excellent performer. "Worker's Playtime" is a classic album.....
RACISM ????? So many people whinge when a truth is told about a non white! The fact that there where many taxi drivers who didnt speak a word of English isnt racist its true! I lived in Queens from 87 to 92 and yes Lettermans correct ! so fukin what if the joke offends a few people hahahaha I , and obviously Letterman, coud not give a fuk ! By the way I love being white ! .
Still don't believe Oliver North. And it pisses me off he was born the same day as my mother and I have to think of that each time she gains another year.
I've seen Billy live a few times, including an impromptu two songs on the counter of Paul Hudson's now defunct Comic Showcase shop in Monmouth St, London as part of a charity day. He never fails to deliver and this is one of his great songs.
I like that the American host has no clue to what to ask this socialist legend. Billy sings an incredible song about the growing international socialist movement: ‘How old are you’, ‘wow you have an accent.’
Too fvcking awesome on so many levels. So sorry Millenials., We fvcked up. We failed. I'm so sorry. Make the best of what's left of the mess we made. So sorry...
People forget, but this is a perfect example of why Letterman was so great at 11:30. "Making his network television debut, please welcome Billy Bragg.""If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it. It's better than a Grammy with my name on it" - so Billy Bragg.
So true. I'm both a huge Letterman fan and Bragg fan. In fact, I became a Bragg fan after first catching him on Letterman in '88 and must've seen Billy gig over 25 times in three different countries since then.
The band is so awesome. I appreciate it that they’re so entertaining in each episode, as they compensate for Dave when he lays an egg, says something stupid or insensitive or more likely talks over the guests, but here they’re drowning BB out. Part of his story is being one guy with his electric guitar and unfailingly relevant lyrics.
As an American, this is the 4th major song (with somewhat popularity) from my childhood, of a British artist singing with a thick British accent, (as opposed to most other British songs/artist that have been popular here in America)
Dylan got the Nobel Prize but I will personally lend my pensioner bus pass to Billy Bragg. He deserves it.
Comment of the week!
Absolutely!
Yip he is the real deal only cares about the working man
Genius ❤
Bragg is an incredible lyricist but doesnt even touch bob
"if you got a black list, I wanna be on it. It is better than a Grammy with me name on it.'
Billy slides in such powerful one-liners so quickly and slyly. Love this man's talent.
Ahm sure he wis on ah blacklist but ay
:D I'd never noticed the 2nd part of that until you mentioned it. Nice.
Also ‘those that burn books will later burn people’. Couldn’t ring more true today.
Nothing says a blacklist like being invited on late night talk shows
Bragg got his break in the UK by delivering legendary DJ John Peel a biryani and persuading him to play his record. Peel had just mentioned on air he was a bit hungry. This is my favourite hero origin story.
"Those who burn books will later burn people." How true.
Yip so true
Absolutely profound....
Will humans ever learn.....
A real working class hero!✊
Absolutely ❤
More a Champagne Socialist these days sadly 🥲
@@Chrisdavies33because workers should never have champagne? You're a fetishist! Have you ever been poor?
@@Chrisdavies33Indeed he is, unfortunately.
Someone like Billy will and should make a big splash in any time period they appear. Alas, today music has become auto-tuned, pitch-corrected, sensationalized such that very little remains of honest musicianship and talent. Which leaves us with billions of empty-headed fans with no musical taste buds.
What are you all talking about - Billy Bragg has a lovely singing voice 'mixing pop and politics' like a true poet. And still around to do it today.
Fucking goosebumps. Impossible to comprehend there was a time when Billy Bragg would be shown on US network TV.
I would actually credit David Letterman for that. As a fan of generally non mainstream music I’ve noticed that Dave seems to really respect music that might not otherwise reach as mainstream an audience as he was capable of providing. And I think that Billy Brag was the best example of that commitment.
OMG Billy is such a baby here. I can't even begin to remember how many times I've seen him and I still see him most times he is in Toronto for the past 30 years, including the last night of his 3 at the Horseshoe celebrating their 70TH anniversary. He was awesome as ever.
Me too! That Horsehoe stint was amazing - I went to two of the three nights. I've been lucky enough to see him gig in London & Dublin on a few occasions over the decades as well. He remains such an incredible inspiration.
To this day one of Billy's best songs and this performance was a good one. The lyrics on this song are some of the best that have been put to paper and through the years he's adapted them to the times. This show happened back in the 80's and this is an earlier version, but still HELLA DOPE!!
Dave deserves major props for having Billy on.
Weller, Costello, Difford & Tillbrook, Billy rubs shoulders with the best with his lyrics.
I was listening to this and thought I wonder which band would have been even better with him as lead singer?
Cudos to Dave for bringing him on. America needs more democratic socialism.
dahlski Screw reformist socialism, we need a fucking nitrogen fire to burn up capitalism, and a revolution to pummel through it
Nestor's Dragon sounds like you’re waiting for the great leap forwards
All socialism is democratic
@@zooms6316 *laughs in Mao Zedong*
#bernie2024
I was trying to find a song for my wife so we could dance to it at our wedding. I had a list. Before I could run it by her, I played the music video for this song. She made the choice for me after that.
I'm a very lucky man.
The little things the bassist does here is incredible. Like listen at "thinks that he should warn here" or "basking in the light" SO fucking good
nobody can make me hold back tears like a 6 year old like billy bragg
I'd love to know if theres a database somewhere of all the various verses he's built up over the years
Can not believe I missed this. Biggest Fan Girl right here! for 30 years now!
Never thought I’d see Billy Bragg on Letterman
Bill was so young then....time FLIES
I always forget what a great house band Paul created.
I loved catching this- just loved it!
I feel its only appropriate that i comment here
I've been waiting for you...
What a Great song for The Great Leap Forward!
Billy, you don't even have to try. you're there. you were my days and my nights, but I always left you at the door (where, of course, you like to be). thank you so much. long live billy!!
I live in the great county of Essex in England (as it was the kingdom of the East Saxons) and we gave the world Billy Brag, Depeche Mode, Dr Feelgood and The Prodigy. Yes , you are welcome.
Love it, never seen that clip before, and 1988 was around the time I joined the 'Billy Party', tickets booked for Derby later this year for the 'Tooth and Nail' tour.
Wonderful to see that even then Billy was playing with the lyrics of even his newest songs to make them relevant to the news.
Gave me goosebumps!!! Thanks for posting it.
Billy and Dave made my 20s special
Billy for prime minister
Hellworld is relentless, especially in 2020, but we'll get there. Solidarity y'all.
Still loving it in 2019!
Fantastic.
Thanks for posting. A real treasure.
just awesome.....
That was really good.
saw this Letterman episode live. great time. great song.
Brilliant
Lets not wait!!!
Beauty.
This is a great performance besides, but it sure sounds like they forgot to plug in his guitar.
It seems like he made a very serious effort to ensure his every word was as audible as possible for this performance... that might have included keeping the guitar low
Clear as day
Brilliant songwriter.
Epic!
The name of the song is 'Waiting for the great leap forwards'
Me Uncle Bill going up to the podium. Fear takes a back seat.
Brilliant English accent as he sings!
Yeah, that's cos he's English!
That's Essex, that's what that is.
Great performance Billy. Some funny, funny lines. But, I think I'm ready for the great leap forwards. ( I don't mean violence. That would be illogical) but...
Letterman has no idea what to make of him... viva murhikkah.
We don't share the same politics, but we do share the same goals. Bragg is an international treasure.
Which side are you on?
@@AwesomeLover98 theres a side ?
@@unwind6553you don't get the reference.
Boaby the Barman playing some mean guitar here.
Whoooaahha. Waiting for the next pint of Tenants.
I say I say, I say gawd dayum!
Someone knows where can I found a live concert of Bragg singing THE HOM FRONT? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here you go - track 9 x archive.org/details/bbragg1986-06-21.flac16
The Bard of Barking
The Woodie Guthrie of this passing age.
Bass too funky. Guitar too quiet. Keyboard too loud. Lacking an emotional trumpet solo. Looks more like a pop outfit than a protest singer.
Fucking brilliant.
Too bad, you fucked up, no response- total toad.
Vocals near perfect
Great performance by the brilliant Billy Bragg but what bugs me is that it didn't click in Letterman's mind to ask Billy to do an impression of Stallone directing a New York taxi driver.
What is a 'preformer'? You've literally just got to read words off a screen, Dave.
'Mr Bojangles', with different lyrics
What the hell is a preeformer?
Venezuela had a Great Leap Froward and it turned out great. Still surprised after 100 years of attempts?
You may be cool but you will never be as cool as the guitarist (whose name escapes me) and his matching shoes.
That's Sid McGinnis.
I love billy and the Great Leap Forward and the third reich to last 1000 years!
Am I the only person int he world who thinks he cannot sing AT ALL?! Heard him live last week and he was characteristically tuneless with no timeing. Some nice lyrics at times though.
"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room."
Says it all.
Rocket Racoon
How much room, as a percentage of a semi-tone? 50%?
garethb1961 Rocket Racoon's point still stands. This is reality.
OK dad, firstly "So what" is a question, and should have a question mark - even though you are using it as a rhetorical device. Even as a rhetorical device in argument, the question mark remains. Secondly, capitalisation should be reserved for the most dramatic and astounding remarks - not for careless indifference for someone else's view.
Finally, I have no soul? That's your argument?! Best of luck to your four sons! Do you tell them to say that when someone disagrees with them?
ps He IS crap!
This is fun isn't it? (Note: question mark, even though I already know the answer).
I am glad you appreciated my reply: I was just in the mood for it - its my only plausible explanation. My soul cried to indulge in some pointless pedantry with a complete stranger.
I did actually say in my first post that i find his lyrics great sometimes - my rule of the thumb is that the less political he is the better.
Shame he's turned into such a misogynist!
Good songs. Great singer, songwriter and guitar player. It's a shame he's communist.
Baikonur 920 nothing wrong with him being a communist, better than being a fascist.
I saw him in 86 or 87 in Vancouver. A great, intimate show. Slowly over the years we both aged, funny how that happens. Looking at this I remember being young, being angry that the world wasn't all it could be. And lifting my head, I realise that little has change for the better, and Mr. Bragg is still out there telling us about it. What a great reminder that I should still be angry, that I should still be trying for a real great leap forward. I won't see it, but perhaps I can give my daughter a running start to clear that distance.
Well said.
The world will never be all it could be in some Utopian concept. The Great Leap Forward was into the grave for a huge number of people, and into terrible tyranny for the rest.
@@anthonyodonnell8724 he's not talking about that one...hence 'still waiting'
@@garyfinch8267 That's the funny thing; they are always waiting, waiting for SOMEBODY to get it right. I'm sure 2021 will offer an opportunity for success for Socialism. Keep the faith!
Your words just hit me directly in my now overweight, corporate American gut. I think that deep down I’m still angry, but much of it is now directed more inwardly. Billy is still out there preaching, but I didn’t do my part.
What a pleasure to hear this old clip. Billy Bragg always strikes me as a hard-working British version of Woody Guthrie (though even that comparison makes me a bit parochial). Thanks Billy, thanks Letterman, and thanks to whoever posted.
Your comment got my attention because in the early 90’s I was at a folk festival in Edmonton and Billy was at a smaller stage doing a workshop with Arlo Guthrie it was epic.
Billy is the custodian of Woody Guthrie's music as his family gave Billy the rights to his unpublished music. Dylan asked for it but they said no, Billy was chosen and rightly so.
he put music to woody lyrics.. two albums of pure exllence in the mermaid avenue songs
Nearly 30 years on and this song has been near and dear to my heart since I was a teen. Brilliant beyond reckoning. What to say, what to say.....? On this New Years Eve I'm getting a little reminiscent and sweaty eyed as it's hot in this room I'm in.....
This is gorgeous in every way. I used to sing this until I knew every word and force myself to start again if I slipped
Worker's Playtime is a work of genius.
.... A socialist in America? how times have changed.
Fully agree.
Still trying to work out (in my house in the UK) when "socialism" became a dirty word.
When I did my Politics degree in the late 80's it meant that you were a believer that we could all work together to help each other.
FOX changed that apparently......
+Nobby Nolevel And nowadays, more than a dirty word, it has even become a crime all around the Western world... I just hope some other generation finds out what socialism really means (and learns from the past mistakes), or this world will get digested and craped by itself!
jamesg3456 Explain your definition of socialism.
To me this isn't about communism, capatilism or any ism for that matter.
There's programming of a kind going on, coming from every side of the coin.
There's good people and there's bad,
There's good ideas and bad.
A good leap forward is asking oneself what one really feels and knows in comparison to what one thinks one knows.
Maybe.
Not having a go here, just asking question that I ask of myself.
I hold no strongly held beliefs in any dogmatic ideologies.
There are other methods of living that are coming into view.
There's tough times ahead and neither communism nor capitalism in its current form is the answer.
5 years after your comment and now 20% of working class but deeply ignorant Americans following a billionaire called Trump as their economic woes answer, are calling in clueless chorus, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for being socialists or commies, as if these two really were even 'liberals' at all....
how distorted things have come off any Reality as they're fiddled by that side road charlatan swindling all with lies and more lies
@@HairyBosch You've got to be kidding. You cannot be that credulous at your age. Or, I guess you can.
At his finest 😊 young and carefree and didn't he just blow the crowd away. Brilliant.
The Rushdie reference is brilliant. As the rest of it, obviously.
Billy was playing this song when I was 7 years old and he's still able to turn the same tune to brand new lyrics and situations when I'm in my 40s. Magic.
Bernie Sanders wishes he was as cool as Billy Bragg....
Billy endorsed Bernie a while back.
Fuck you
What a pleasure to hear this old clip. Billy Bragg always strikes me as a hard-working British version of Woody Guthrie (though even that comparison makes me a bit parochial). Thanks Billy, thanks Letterman, and thanks to whoever posted.
Billy Bragg makes the most out of what he has. It's not just in his heart-felt music, but also in the way he lives and fights for equality. There are no mindless smoke and mirrors as in Techno/House/Trance. Perhaps that's why everyone is upset, Billy actually makes you THINK.
This is a gem, thanks for posting this! I saw Billy play in Mpls around this time, before and after, excellent performer. "Worker's Playtime" is a classic album.....
Hmmmm bit of casual racism there from Letterman, see Billy look away feeling awkward at his comment.
I noticed that as well.
RACISM ????? So many people whinge when a truth is told about a non white! The fact that there where many taxi drivers who didnt speak a word of English isnt racist its true! I lived in Queens from 87 to 92 and yes Lettermans correct ! so fukin what if the joke offends a few people hahahaha I , and obviously Letterman, coud not give a fuk ! By the way I love being white !
.
@@darrenlacy3975 Shut the fuck up boomer.
@@darrenlacy3975 Jesus Christ, Darren
Still don't believe Oliver North. And it pisses me off he was born the same day as my mother and I have to think of that each time she gains another year.
I've seen Billy live a few times, including an impromptu two songs on the counter of Paul Hudson's now defunct Comic Showcase shop in Monmouth St, London as part of a charity day. He never fails to deliver and this is one of his great songs.
I like that the American host has no clue to what to ask this socialist legend. Billy sings an incredible song about the growing international socialist movement: ‘How old are you’, ‘wow you have an accent.’
not sure what year, but I saw him in concert, must have been '85 or '86, between the songs he would talk and I could not understand ONE word he said.
Remembering my dad letting me stay up late on a school night to watch this.
Young Billy biting his tongue as Letterman throws in some cases xenophobia.
A national treasure.
Complete kont Bragg total w⚓️
"From East Berlin to the Letterman Show"!
I really love watching Paul's band back Billy Bragg!
Too fvcking awesome on so many levels.
So sorry Millenials.,
We fvcked up. We failed. I'm so sorry.
Make the best of what's left of the mess we made.
So sorry...
Satwa Dude Tell it to the post-millennials. They’re the ones who are going to drag us into the streets.
Well there goes almost 3 1/2 decades…
billy coughs at the racist overtone. 👍
People forget, but this is a perfect example of why Letterman was so great at 11:30. "Making his network television debut, please welcome Billy Bragg.""If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it. It's better than a Grammy with my name on it" - so Billy Bragg.
So true. I'm both a huge Letterman fan and Bragg fan. In fact, I became a Bragg fan after first catching him on Letterman in '88 and must've seen Billy gig over 25 times in three different countries since then.
Me too! I saw this episode of Late Night when it aired, not knowing who Billy was. But I was hooked and have seen him perform many times since.
Check out Billy's new EP - Bridges Not Walls.
My god this sounds so good
How could David Letterman think that the Kinks were dead?
The band is so awesome. I appreciate it that they’re so entertaining in each episode, as they compensate for Dave when he lays an egg, says something stupid or insensitive or more likely talks over the guests, but here they’re drowning BB out. Part of his story is being one guy with his electric guitar and unfailingly relevant lyrics.
Billy has shaped my life
Billy!
As an American, this is the 4th major song (with somewhat popularity) from my childhood, of a British artist singing with a thick British accent, (as opposed to most other British songs/artist that have been popular here in America)
Oops, my bad. I just made the correction. Thanks!
Billy like anyone in that audience could even try to understand what you were saying :)
Billy Bragg: The real deal