I remember when that Roir tape arrived in the mail I only got thru like half the tape hopped on my pee wee Herman bike rode so fast over to my friends house to have a listen absolutely blown away life changing music for sure.
From an article in 2022. "Countless musicians in the early 80's hardcore scene say they were the greatest live band they'd ever seen. Ian Mackaye said, " I saw the Bad Brains for the first time in June of 1979, opening for The Damned at The Bayou, this disgusting jock bar. I needed a fake ID to get in. The Bad Brains opened and transcended anything I'd ever seen. They were the band...that had a profound impact on me. They moved me." Vocalist Paul "H.R." Hudson, guitarist Gary "Dr. Know" Miller, bassist Darrryl Jennifer and drummer Earl Hudson in Washington D.C. began by playing jazz fusion in 1978, but after hearing records by Dead Boys, The Dickies, Ramones, The Clash, The Damned and Sex Pistols, they dropped fusion and punked out. Bad Brains add reggae songs on their albums. They've cited a few bands as inspiration. " A big influence was Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder and a group called The Dickies...Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder on the spiritual end. The Dickies more on the musical end. Because when I heard their music, I said ' Gee, it's fast. This is really bad.' That's what made me really start liking fast rock and roll, which eventually led to hardcore which is what we're into now." Dr. Know has said, "We wanted to be known as the fastest band in the world. The Ramones were the fastest but we could improve on that. At the same time, we didn't want to be doing that same three-chord routine. Not that there's anything wrong when the Ramones do it, but we had something to prove musically. That's how we've always been, wanting to keep it challenging and interesting. The gift of musicality is not to be taken lightly." Bad Brains' enduring legacy rests on four albums. Black Dots collects their earliest recordings from June, 1979, the album in this article, Rock For Light (produced by Ric Ocasek) and I Against I (not really hardcore, rather a muscular rock attack and simply one of the great American LP's of the 80's). Bad Brains were not the first hardcore band; that honor probably goes to Black Flag who recorded their EP “Nervous Breakdown” in January, 1978. (It was finally released in February, 1979.) But when Bad Brains first 7" single, "Pay to Cum" bw "Stay Close To Me," came out in June, 1980, it blew thousands of punk minds all over America. Suddenly it was a whole new ballgame. There had been fast hardcore songs before this, but nothing like the obliterating power unleashed here. My friends and I played "Pay To Cum" over and over, until the grooves were worn down. And with every listen we were in awe. Many times, I tried singing along to the lyrics of this 1 minute 32 seconds song but always wound up failing about a third of the way through, crumpled up on the floor, laughing like an insane person. This debut LP has fifteen tracks, twelve lightning fast hardcore and three much longer reggae songs that fit in surprisingly well, although that's not the band's strength. The blistering "Sailin' On" opens the record. " You don't need me anymore/ So I'll just walk right out the door/ Played a game right from the start/ I trust you, you used me, now my heart's torn apart." "Banned In D.C." (about their problems with the clubs there) " Banned in D.C. with a thousand other places to go/ Gonna swim across the Atlantic 'cause it's the only thing I can do/ You can't hurt me/ Why? I'm banned in D.C." The incredible "The Big Takeover" " So understand me when I say/ There's no hope for this USA/ Your world is doomed with our own integration/ Just another Nazi test." And the iconic "Pay To Cum" . " I make decision with precision/ Lost inside this manned collision/ Just to see that what is to be/ Perfectly my fantasy/ I come to know with now dismay/ That in this world we all must pay/ Pay to write, pay to play/ Pay to cum, pay to fight." Totally amazing singing and playing. Hear that debut album once and you'll never be the same again. A crowning achievement in modern American music"
I saw the live footage where H.R. was just sitting, or standing on the stage, looking at the crowd with vacant expression, not even singing. It was sad to see. Hope he's okay.
I met HR at a show in green bay just b4 he went on stage and he gave me a sticker. 1991
I remember when that Roir tape arrived in the mail I only got thru like half the tape hopped on my pee wee Herman bike rode so fast over to my friends house to have a listen absolutely blown away life changing music for sure.
One of the best hardcore bands on the face of the earth.
From an article in 2022.
"Countless musicians in the early 80's hardcore scene say they were the greatest live band they'd ever seen. Ian Mackaye said, " I saw the Bad Brains for the first time in June of 1979, opening for The Damned at The Bayou, this disgusting jock bar. I needed a fake ID to get in. The Bad Brains opened and transcended anything I'd ever seen. They were the band...that had a profound impact on me. They moved me."
Vocalist Paul "H.R." Hudson, guitarist Gary "Dr. Know" Miller, bassist Darrryl Jennifer and drummer Earl Hudson in Washington D.C. began by playing jazz fusion in 1978, but after hearing records by Dead Boys, The Dickies, Ramones, The Clash, The Damned and Sex Pistols, they dropped fusion and punked out.
Bad Brains add reggae songs on their albums. They've cited a few bands as inspiration. " A big influence was Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder and a group called The Dickies...Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder on the spiritual end. The Dickies more on the musical end. Because when I heard their music, I said ' Gee, it's fast. This is really bad.' That's what made me really start liking fast rock and roll, which eventually led to hardcore which is what we're into now."
Dr. Know has said, "We wanted to be known as the fastest band in the world. The Ramones were the fastest but we could improve on that. At the same time, we didn't want to be doing that same three-chord routine. Not that there's anything wrong when the Ramones do it, but we had something to prove musically. That's how we've always been, wanting to keep it challenging and interesting. The gift of musicality is not to be taken lightly."
Bad Brains' enduring legacy rests on four albums. Black Dots collects their earliest recordings from June, 1979, the album in this article, Rock For Light (produced by Ric Ocasek) and I Against I (not really hardcore, rather a muscular rock attack and simply one of the great American LP's of the 80's).
Bad Brains were not the first hardcore band; that honor probably goes to Black Flag who recorded their EP “Nervous Breakdown” in January, 1978. (It was finally released in February, 1979.) But when Bad Brains first 7" single, "Pay to Cum" bw "Stay Close To Me," came out in June, 1980, it blew thousands of punk minds all over America. Suddenly it was a whole new ballgame. There had been fast hardcore songs before this, but nothing like the obliterating power unleashed here. My friends and I played "Pay To Cum" over and over, until the grooves were worn down. And with every listen we were in awe. Many times, I tried singing along to the lyrics of this 1 minute 32 seconds song but always wound up failing about a third of the way through, crumpled up on the floor, laughing like an insane person.
This debut LP has fifteen tracks, twelve lightning fast hardcore and three much longer reggae songs that fit in surprisingly well, although that's not the band's strength. The blistering "Sailin' On" opens the record. " You don't need me anymore/ So I'll just walk right out the door/ Played a game right from the start/ I trust you, you used me, now my heart's torn apart." "Banned In D.C." (about their problems with the clubs there) " Banned in D.C. with a thousand other places to go/ Gonna swim across the Atlantic 'cause it's the only thing I can do/ You can't hurt me/ Why? I'm banned in D.C." The incredible "The Big Takeover" " So understand me when I say/ There's no hope for this USA/ Your world is doomed with our own integration/ Just another Nazi test." And the iconic "Pay To Cum" . " I make decision with precision/ Lost inside this manned collision/ Just to see that what is to be/ Perfectly my fantasy/ I come to know with now dismay/ That in this world we all must pay/ Pay to write, pay to play/ Pay to cum, pay to fight."
Totally amazing singing and playing. Hear that debut album once and you'll never be the same again. A crowning achievement in modern American music"
Short and to the point punk rock docs! Very cool! The robot narrator? Not cool.
Maybe their real voice is just worse
Brilliant band
Not gonna listen to a robot
I saw the live footage where H.R. was just sitting, or standing on the stage, looking at the crowd with vacant expression, not even singing. It was sad to see. Hope he's okay.
ONE OF??????
Finally