Birth name Don Letts Name Don Letts Genres ReggaePunk | Years active 1975–present Children Jet Letts Website Don's BBC6 show | |
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Occupation(s) Disc jockeyFilm director Associated acts 1978 -Steel Leg v the Electric Dread1984 - Big Audio Dynamite1990 - Screaming Target Albums Kool-Aid, This Is Big Audio Dynamite, No. 10, Upping St., Megatop Phoenix, Hometown Hi-Fi, Tighten Up Vol. 88 Movies Punk: Attitude, The Punk Rock Movie, The Clash: Westway to the World, Dancehall Queen, One Love | ||
Don letts saicos and punk rock saicomania
Donovan "Don" Letts (born (1956-01-10)10 January 1956) is a British film director, DJ and musician. Letts first came to prominence as the videographer for The Clash, directing several of their music videos. In 1984, Letts co-founded the band Big Audio Dynamite with Clash guitarist Mick Jones, acting as the group's sampler and videographer before departing the band in 1990.
Contents
- Don letts saicos and punk rock saicomania
- THE DON LETTS SUBCULTURE FILMS
- Biography
- Music
- Books
- Films
- References
Letts also directed music videos for Musical Youth, The Psychedelic Furs, The Pretenders and Elvis Costello as well as the feature documentaries The Punk Rock Movie (1977) and The Clash: Westway to the World (2000).
THE DON LETTS SUBCULTURE FILMS
Biography
Letts was born in London, and educated at Tenison's School in Kennington. In 1975, he ran the London clothing store Acme Attractions, selling "electric-blue zoot suits and jukeboxes, and pumping dub reggae all day long." He was deeply inspired by the music coming from his parents' homeland, Jamaica, in particular Bob Marley. After seeing one of Marley's gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon (June 1976) Letts was able to sneak into the hotel and spent the night talking to and befriending Marley. By the mid-1970s Acme had quite a scene, attracting the likes of The Clash, Sex Pistols, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, Deborah Harry and Bob Marley.
Seeing the crowd at Acme, the then promoter Andy Czezowski started up the Roxy, a London nightclub during the original outbreak of punk in England, so that people could go from the store and have some place to party. As most bands of that era had yet to be recorded, there were limited punk rock records to be played. Instead, Letts included many dub and reggae records in his sets, and is credited with introducing those sounds to the London punk scene, which was to influence The Clash and other bands. As a tribute, he is pictured on the cover of the EP Black Market Clash and the compilation Super Black Market Clash. He was able to use the fame and money from DJing and the Acme story to make his first film, The Punk Rock Movie (1978).
Letts quit the retail business to manage the band The Slits. He was able to get The Slits to open for The Clash during the White Riot tour. While on the White Riot tour he decided that management was not for him, but continued to shoot material for The Punk Rock Movie.
Letts went to Jamaica for the first time when, after the Sex Pistols broke up, Johnny Rotten decided to escape the media frenzy by going with Richard Branson to Jamaica. It was on this trip that Branson was inspired to start up Virgin's Frontline reggae record label.
I guess he thought that since I was black and Jamaican – well, sort of – he'd be in good hands. Little did he know that the closest I'd been to Jamaica was watching The Harder They Come at the Classic Cinema in Brixton.
A portrait of Don by photographer Dean Chalkley featured in the exhibition Return of the Rudeboy at Somerset House in the middle of 2014.
In a conservative culture that feels like punk never happened, the time is right for Return of the Rudeboy.
Music
In 1978, Letts recorded an EP, Steel Leg v the Electric Dread, with Keith Levene, Jah Wobble and Steel Leg. After Mick Jones was fired from The Clash, he and Letts founded Big Audio Dynamite in 1984. In 1990 Letts formed Screaming Target. As of 1 April 2009, Letts is presenting a weekly show on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Books
In 2006, he published his autobiography, Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers.
Films
Since his first movie, The Punk Rock Movie, Letts has expanded to doing documentaries and music videos for multiple bands. In 1997, he travelled to Jamaica to direct Dancehall Queen. His film Westway to the World won a Grammy Award in 2003.