See Hear Podcast episode 129 - Bad Brains: A Band In DC
From See Hear by Kerry Fristoe, Tim Merrill, Maurice Bursztynski
August 26, 2025 · 1h 2m · Episode 129
About this episode
This episode discusses the unique contributions of Bad Brains to punk and reggae music as explored in the documentary 'Bad Brains: A Band In DC'.
Punk music branched out in the late 70s / early 80s into a harder, faster, thrashier style than its earlier predecessor. If (as is often claimed) the original wave of punk was a reaction to the complexity of prog and the lack of danger in other forms of popular music, then hardcore was the next phase of that during the era of post-punk. It was about catharsis and screaming out about injustice. Then there was Bad Brains. Welcome to episode 129 of See Hear Podcast. Tim has selected the 2012 documentary Bad Brains: A Band In DC for round table discussion. Bad Brains brought something different to the table for their time. In America in the early eighties, punk bands generally weren't playing reggae music as a regular part of their sets. Certain British bands were combining punk energy with a reggae outlook in their music. Bad Brains had gone from being influenced by the jazz fusion stylings of Return To Forever to being converted to punk via the Sex Pistols (already making them unique). Seeing Bob Marley perform made them convert to Rastafarianism and incorporate reggae as well as hardcore punk into their music – not a hybrid, but two sides of the same coin. The documentary goes…
People in this episode
Host: Tim
Topics covered
- punk music
- hardcore punk
- reggae
- Bad Brains
- documentary
- music history
Keywords
- punk
- hardcore
- reggae
- Bad Brains
- documentary
- music history
- Sex Pistols
- Bob Marley
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bad Brains, Return To Forever, Sex Pistols
Books & works: Bad Brains: A Band In DC
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