Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers

by Don Letts, David Nobakht

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 of influential videos featuring Sex Pistols, Pil, the Slits, The Clash, Bob Marley, and even the -platinum-selling Musical Youth. His feature films include Dancehall Queen, the Grammy Award-winning Westway to the World —his documentary on The Clash—and Clash on Broadway. He has 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.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Autobiography, Punk

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Don Letts is a British DJ, musician and film director. He co-founded Big Audio Dynamite in 1984 with former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, and was a member of that band until 1990. After the release of his first film, 'The Punk Rock Movie' in 1978, he has directed several others, as well as television features and music videos.

Reviews

[Candice Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like punk & reggae then you’ll love this auto biography of Don Letts. A man of many talents including film & documentary maker, DJ, musician and original hipster.
Culture Clash takes you on a journey of the early days of black youth culture from the 60s to present day. With lots of tales of filming The Clash, John Lydon sweating it out on Jamaica and playing keyboard by colour coded stickers, this autobiography is truly boss !

[Janellyn51 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I was part of the music scene in Boston in the late 70's (still am) and worked at Trash and Vaudeville on St. Marks in NY during the Clash's Bond's residency. I sold Paul leather pants, then got to see him wear them on stage that night! I know or have met a lot of the people in the book. In many ways it was a trip down memory lane. I did find it interesting reading about Don's upbringing. I liked all the stuff about Acme and the clothes stores, since I always worked in hip stores myself. When people ask me how I got to meet so many people, I say because I dressed better than most people and got picked out of the crowd....sounds obnoxious I know, but i wore my clothes with attitude. You can wear any rag if you have the attitude to back it up. I was way into reggae, still am really, and realize how lucky I am to have seen Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, the mighty Diamonds, Toots....I've met Lee Perry when he was working with my brother in law's band, the Terrorists, he's way on another planet! Don's observations about Joe Strummer are right on the money. I was just saying recently, if he liked you, he would give you a little job, putting you in the fold, could be something as simple as Jan, go make sure so and so gets let in the dressing room! He bought me a drink one night at Foleys, a Boston bar he loved....drink in hand, I started to walk away....He said, where are you going? I said to the ladies room. He took the drink out of my hand, put it on the table and said then leave that here so I know you'll come back! I've seen him in a foul temper too, and if you were smart, you'd give him a very wide berth!
For people reviewing this book who think towards the end Don pats himself on the back over much, he did everything he said he did, so, shut up! We're lucky he had his camera and documented so much for us.loved B.A.D. I saw them 3 times, twice with Don in the band i confess the first time at Metro, I got thrown out before people were let into the dressing room, bagged for smoking pot in the club! I don't know Mick like I knew Joe, but it always amused me that he'd give me the once over and then nod approvingly!
When punk hit, It felt like home to me. I'd lived in P Town in the mid 70s. It was a place where if you wanted to go out with bells on your toes and a bone through your nose, more's the bette, with the understanding that it was way before tattoos were a dime a dozen, and unless you were really into music and had some flair, clothes, over all, were pretty pedestrian.....moving to Boston after that was ridiculously provincial, but one night on the Dudley bus I met the cutest British boy in bondage pants on his way to spin punk records at a party, and did I want to come? I looked like a dork in work clothes so I said no, but filed it away, and within weeks I was in the thick of it! I feel for kids who weren't old enough to experience it. My brother is 16 years younger than me but I will always be his best sister because I took him to see the Clash!

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard of Don Letts when I was around 15 and the first Big Audio Dynamite album came out. I was a huge Clash fan (still am) and was eager to hear what would be rising from their ashes. Much later I came to understand that he is a DJ, filmmaker, raconteur, and all around scenester. This is basically his oral autobiography, stitched loosely together into print.

Letts was born in London in 1956, the son of Windrush-era Jamaican immigrants and as a teenager was at ground zero of the fashion stories, salons, and group houses central to the forming punk scene. Basically, Letts was everywhere and knew everyone, and adopted the DIY punk ethos to DJing (notably as house DJ at the Roxy in 1977 for its brief life) and filmmaking.

The book follows a standard chronology, starting with his family, childhood, etc. before getting to his time as a mix-tape maestro and what we would now call an "influencer." His view onto the birth of punk is interesting, as is the connection to reggae, and there's plenty of time spent on the musical cross-breeding. He was with the Clash in New York and tapped into hip-hop along with them, and spent plenty of time in the clubs there, and then down in DC working on the Good To Go go-go music film. Then on to Big Audio Dynamite and one or two lesser known music projects before focusing more on music videos.

It's all pretty neat, but would have benefited from some deeper digging and interviewing to tease more details out. It really has the feel of him just kind of spinning yarns and recollections as they occur. There are some interesting threads, such as the difference in black youth in the UK vs. US and the effect of the Civil Rights movement in the US on that. Readers interested in a true "I was there" account of the birth of punk subculture will be interested, but on the whole I'm not sure it holds together very well if you aren't already familiar with the music and players.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. My life is boring! It's great to read about Don Letts. I've only ever heard about him through what I've read about the Clash. What an interesting life! I found the first part of the book more compelling as Don talks about Post-War Britain and the struggles of the new Jamaican immigrants. Hearing about how hard things were then really makes me thankful for the boring, middle-class upbringing that I had. But I also feel like, "What have I done with my life?" Don Letts had done more in the first years of his life than most people will ever do. Truly inspiring. The rest of the book sort of reads like a who's-who of music and art as inspiration for the author. I had never heard of most of the artists named. This book is a fantastic read and is a huge eye-opener. Bravo!

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting because as Don Letts talked about his own life as a first generation British black man and his personal involvement in punk and Jamaican music culture, I learned more about the intersection of black and white culture as it related to early punk in England. The early punks were first influenced by reggae and other musics from Jamaica in the late 70s and then by hip-hop from the US in the early 80s. Letts was a friend with Johnny Rotten as well as the Clash and went on to be a member of Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones (formerly of the Clash). Letts is best know for his documentation of this scene as a filmmaker and went on to make many videos and music related films.
I have to say that the writing is not my favorite in this book. It is almost stream of consciousness spilled out on to the page. It can feel all over the place, sometimes it rambles, other times it doesn't flesh out the story as much as I would have liked.
Still an enjoyable read if you are interested in this era of music in England as seen through a viewer/participant.
Much more about Don Letts and his experiences rather than another early punk history book.

[Jim Dunedin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into a man who crossed cultures and was in and around an amazing time in music and fashion. He gives a measured and honest account of himself and those he knew.

Also from my Medium review: ‘Culture Clash: Dread meets Punk Rock’, Don Letts. Immortalized forever on the cover of the Clash’s ‘Black Market Clash’ EP as the Rasta on the run/confronting the police? This is a man with the gift or fortune of being in the right place in musical history. Hilariously he recounts he was just crossing the road when the immortal picture was snapped. Part of the young wave of clothes shops scene on the Kings Road by day, Jamaican music clubs, punk rock gigs at night, introducing the Clash to reggae, introducing Bob Marley to punk. This man has stories to tell and he tells them well, and that’s before we get to film making, joining Big Audio Dynamite and more. See:
https://medium.com/music-voices/the-r...

[Mikal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great people's history of the rise of the UK Punk movement. Don has a firsthand account behind the creation of much of the culture, and also gives you a look behind the scene to reveal the core influences, and philosophy of it. A semi-biographical trip through his incarnation as culture vulture, documentarist, singer, artist and first generation British born rude boy. What I love most about this book, and books like it, are it reveals the very organic and human process of creativity, and how nothing is formed in a vacuum. As well, Don shows that Art is for art sakes and if it is not speaking to the people or of the people, then no matter what it is..it ain't Art. More inspiration for the initiated, more truth for the ignorant, more headaches for the status quo.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book highlights the difference between an oral history and talking into a recorder then transcribing it. It just seems unedited. There are some good insights into the differences between black youth from the UK vs North America--ie; that the UK didn't have a civil rights movement in the same way and rebellion looked different....and some analysis of how the market and business people infiltrated and changed the punk movement and DIY culture. Interesting stuff about how punk, reggae, hip hop and go go were born out of DIY and political movements....but too much name dropping and boring anecdotes about Clash videos. I'm glad I read it and he made some movie recommendations that I will look for like They Harder They Come and his own The Punk Movie.

[heidi mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

don letts was at ground zero of punk rock in england, and made the association between reggae and punk by playing reggae records between punk rock acts in clubs. i have always thought this association gave britain an unfair advantage! an interesting story from someone with impeccable punk credentials and who apparently didn't do so many drugs that he couldn't remember what happened, and who never let his own importance get the better of him. essential reading for any punk fan.

[Tobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

don letts hung out with the clash, managed the slits, djed punk shows, makes films, was in big audio dynamite and was a part of the kings road proto-punk/punk anti-fashion scene...this is a great book, read it if you are interested in cultural history, racism, punk, reggae, post-colonial london or the politics of style.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts off with lots of energy and is quite an interesting recollection of the West Indian experience inEngland and vivid recollection of punk. But it peters out into a self indulgent wank as mr. Letts shows off about his glamorous jetsetter life,during the 80s and 90s.

[Tim Parker]

Fantastic book - absolutely love Don Letts and was thrilled when he wrote this book. He is an exceptional man with numerous stories. If you want to read about personal insights on the punk and reggae scene in Britain , and have a keen interest in cultural history read this!

[Mark Rubenstein · Rating 1 out of 5]

As near a perfect example of sanctimonious self-reverence as you're ever likely to find.

[Adam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tight and fast-paced story of one of popular music's most interesting characters.