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Biography
The band formed in 1975 as a jazz-fusion group called Mind Power. However, since the group’s inception every member of the band had a voracious appetite for music of all forms, and were never going to be tied down to playing one form of music. Mind Power toured and recorded together for two years before Sid McCray, a friend of the band, introduced them to a number of first wave punk bands like the Sex Pistols and the Dead Boys. Punk rock grew into an obsession that the whole band shared, and soon enough the songs they were writing became straight up punk rock anthems.
The band changed their name to Bad Brains in tribute to the song of (nearly) the same name by The Ramones, but what truly changed them into one of the most influential punk bands of the age was yet to come. After taking in a Bob Marley concert, the band decided to temper their heavy punk sound with influences from dub and reggae, and soon, thanks to their unmistakeable sound and astonishing live performances, they were one of the must see bands of the thriving D.C hardcore scene. In fact, their live shows got so intense and their crowds got so rowdy that they were actually banned from performing in many D.C clubs and venues, which of course made the demand to see them even stronger.
By the end of 1981 they had signed to Neil Cooper’s ROIR Records and released their self-titled debut album in January of the next year, For an underground record it got an unprecedented amount of attention, and their next effort, 1983’s “Rock For Light”, was produced by The Cars’ Ric Ocasek. The band spent the rest of the decade as one of the most critically acclaimed punk acts around, despite the fact that their line-up was in constant flux. The band split in 1995 but reconvened in 1998 and have since toured frequently and released some of the best material of their career in the interim. To this day, Bad Brains come highly recommended.
Live reviews
Bad Brains is one of the most influential punk bands to come out of the Washington DC area and they are well regarded for a reason. To say the least a Bad Brains show is inspirational with their shows having motivated many young musicians to start up punk bands, one of these musicians being Ian MacKaye who formed the bands Minor Threat and Fugazi.
Bad Brains is more than a novelty act consisting of all black musicians blaring punk music, they are a band of enthusiastic, talented musicians who have a strong motivation to get their message across to their audience. Although the band is highly influenced by other punk music such as the Dead Boys and the Ramones (they named themselves after the Ramone’s song “Bad Brain”), they also drew influence from other genres such as jazz-fusion and reggae.
Most of Bad Brains early performances were completely wild with audience members stage diving off of balconies and massive mosh pits forming all while singer, HR, was yelling his lyrics and prowling around stage erratically. There most recent performances are still as heavy as ever, but their stage presence is more subdued. They have become more mellow with old age, not playing with as much pent up energy from their former days. Bad Brains manages to incorporate their more chilled presence into their performance quite well. They add more laid back reggae music into their performance allowing them to create pleasing tones with their jamming. This diversity of music in their setlist is very intriguing as they go back and forth between their heavy punk music and their good-vibe reggae music.
A Bad Brains show still consists of the inspirational elements from a show of theirs back in the day, but this time around there is a broader range of material to be inspired by ranging from the classic hardcore punk tunes to their more recent brand of reggae songs.
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