Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.)
Big Audio Dynamite was born from the ashes of The Clash. It was September 1983 when Mick got fired from his band putting a final nail in the coffin. Not long after he started making new musical moves. I remember hanging out with Mick and bass player Leo Williams at a club one night. Mick looked to his left and there was Leo, he looked to his right and there stood yours truly. He commented he thought we looked like a band and right there and then asked me to join. I immediately protested ‘but dude I can’t play anything!” and he simply replied, “Just remember Paul (Simonon) couldn’t play bass when he joined the Clash.” With the addition of drummer Greg Roberts and keyboard player Dan Donovan we were good to go. Our sound was a blend of New York beats, Jamaican bass lines, English rock n’roll guitar with me taking care of the sampled dialogue and movie stuff. The B.A.D. philosophy was to utilise all the elements of the media to create a fuller sound and write songs that were about something.
During the making of the album (and with Mick’s guidance) I threw myself into writing lyrics, which I approached as I would a script or treatment for a film. With Mick’s wide-screen vision for the band the songs took on a cinematic quality. This was further enhanced by our pioneering use of sampled dialogue which became a feature of the band.
Big Audio Dynamite Gallery
Big Audio Dynamite Gallery
Touring was a steep learning curve for a non-musician like me but with shades, a few ‘moves’ and coloured stickers on my keyboard to show me what to do; I managed to justify my space. Big Audio Dynamite was a huge success live, and gigs came thick and fast. In the following years we’d go on to play three sell-out nights at the Brixton Academy in London, eleven nights back to back at the Irving Plaza in New York City and seven nights in a row at the Roxy in LA. It wasn’t long before we were supporting U2 on their European tour playing in front of 100,000 people. I went on to perform and co-write four albums with B.A.D achieving several hits on both sides of the Atlantic including the top ten hit E=Mc2. In 2011 Big Audio Dynamite reformed for a world tour to sell out shows and critical acclaim.
'Not just a reformation - this is their time'….The Times 4 star review
'Easily the reformation of the year'……….. News Of The World
‘They remain a joy’……… The Observer