Don Letts: Grammy
Award-winning film-maker, celebrated DJ,
co-founder of Big Audio Dynamite, British black icon.
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 Rock Movie and set Letts on a career
resulting in over 300 influential promo videos featuring Sex Pistols, Pil,
the Slits, The Clash, Bob Marley, and even the platinum-selling Musical
Youth, and most recently Franz Ferdinand. His feature films include
Dancehall Queen, the Grammy Award-winning Westway to the World—his
documentary on the Clash—and Clash on Broadway.
He recently directed
feature documentaries for the BBC on Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron and George
Clinton as well as a major BBC documentary for 2007, Soul Britannia,
charting the impact of black music on British culture.
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 first hand account, told in Letts’ own words—it’s highly visual,
revelatory, irreverent, entertaining, and staunchly individual.
Don Letts was born in London, where he now lives. The authors will be
participating in a national broadcast and press campaign to coincide with
the publication of the book.
Autobiography/memoir
Publication date: 22nd March 2007
A Hardback Original
156mm x 234mm, 256 pp
Over 100 colour photographs and illustrations
UK £16.99 US $30
Report code: NP
ISBN: 0 946719 89 6
EAN: 978-0-946719-89-1
BIC Code: CV
Availability: Worldwide
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CULTURE CLASH
Dread Meets Punk Rockers
Don Letts
with David Nobakht
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