Big Audio Dynamite... Medicine Show & Show # 355

Following his departure from The Clash, Mick Jones formed a new group that would cater to a 80s New York Hip Hop sound. A full length album was released in 1985 titled This Is Big Audio Dynamite. The third single released from the album was the song "Medicine Show". The song which clocks in at just over six minutes is a song that features a lot of samples, all of which originate from movies. Within the song you can hear samples from primarily Spaghetti Westerns, A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Duck You Sucker, and samples from the film The Treasure of The Sierra Madre. The songs found on BAD’s first album, and a large majority of their albums all experimented with sampling methods and music that was at times Hip Hop, Dance and Rock. Part of the reason this song contains so many samples from movies could be due to the fact that Don Letts was a member of the group and he had a film background. He would often film events as they occurred in the late 70s British Punk scene as well as making music videos, and eventually documentaries (The Punk Rock Movie, Westway To The World which won a Grammy, and several others).

What is interesting about this song is the music video. It features many members from the British Punk community, the most obvious being Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash. John Lydon is also featured at the end of the video. Big Audio Dynamites 1986 album No.10 Upping St featured Joe Strummer in the producing seat as well as the collaborating, which he did with Mick Jones. In January of 2011, fresh from playing with The Gorillaz Mick Jones reformed Big Audio Dynamite for several live shows, mostly at festivals.

This Week's Play List:

1. Radio Birdman - Descent Into The Maelstrom
2. Moon Dogs - Imposter
3. The Roughnecks - You're Driving Me Insane
4. 11 Lucky Strikes - Put Your Cat Clothes On
5. Teenage Head - You're Tearing Me Apart (45 Version)
6. Rock and Roll Bitches - Wild West
7. The Dirtbombs - I'll Be In Trouble
8. The Castaways - Liar, Liar
9. Michael & The Messengers - Romeo & Juliet
10. Folk Town Massacre - Idle
11. Cigarettes - The Wrong Parts
12. Generationals - Goose & Gander
13. Dan Sartain - Voo-Doo
14. Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi - Two Against One
15. Swell Maps - Ripped and Torn
16. The Points - In The Park
17. V-Necks - Sand Overload
18. TBA - Through My Fingers
19. Kinetic Ideals - Me And The Sky
20. Big Audio Dynamite - Medicine Show
21. David Bowie - Repetition
22. The Stranglers - (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
23. Luger Boa - Asteroids and Satellites
24. The Saints - L-I-E-S

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for June 7. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.