Band Profile - Bad Brains

El_Shiznit · 02-10-2005, 09:36 PM

Now that I have 2,000 posts under my belt, I figure that it is about time for another band profile to mark my monumental post. And what better band to it on? Really, there are tons of Bad Brains fans on this site. I don't think anyone here dislikes them. They were one of the first few punk/hardcore bands I listened to. They are one of the most influential bands in history. They remain one of the first and one of the only all black punk bands in history. So here goes it...
EDIT: It's no longer my 2,000th post. There were too many profiles to post this at the time. But now here goes it...

Bad Brains

Main Members:
H.R. - Throat
Dr. Know - Guitar
Earl Hudson - Drums
Darryl Jenifer - Bass

Lesser-Known Members:
Sid McCray - Vocals
Chuck Mosely - Vocals
Mackie Jayson - Drums
Israel Joseph-I - Vocals

Record Labels:
ROIR (1982)
PVC (1983-1985)
SST (1986-1989)
Epic (1993)
Maverick (1995)

Bad Brains is often said to have formed in 1979. But just a year earlier, the core of the band was already playing together in a jazz fusion band called Mind Power. It was not until a year later when a man by the name of Sid McCray showed up at Darryl's apartment all dressed up with safety pins and punk records in his hand that the band took an interest in punk music. So, technically 1979 was the year that Bad Brains was formed. Sid became the band's lead singer, while H.R. was just a secondary vocalist and guitar player at the time. The band played a series of basement shows where Sid would start singing "Regulator" and his girlfriend, Tally, came and tackled him off stage. This would happen almost every time, and every time it did, H.R. would pick up the microphone and sing the rest of the song. It wasn't long before Sid gave up his duties as a vocalist and let H.R. take care of it himself. Sid later just dropped the idea of being in Bad Brains altogether.

But the punk injection into former-Mind Power's music wasn't the last influence to strike the band. In late 1979, Ras Prophet Bob Marley put on a little show in the DC area. The band snuck into the show to catch a glimpse of Marley's performance. The members were mesmerized with the thumping sound of the reggae music as well as the Rastafarian faith presented in the music. This especially spoke to H.R. and Earl Hudson (did I mention they were brothers?) whose mother hailed from the blessed isle of Jamaica. Thus, the final addition to the band's early sound, dub/reggae, was added in.

The band strived on, and got all their recognition from live performances. Their recordings were extremely difficult to find. The band's first single "Pay To Cum" was pressed only in limited numbers. Their debut album issued by ROAR in cassette tape format, also in limited numbers. Before and during these periods of recording, the band was finding lesser opportunities to play venues. While opening up for The Dam'ned, Jenifer got kicked out of the club by a bouncer and then got into an altercation with him. This resulted in the band being banned from that particular club as well as others in the D.C. area. So, what else could the band do but head on over to New York where the scene was budding in clubs such as CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, etc.?

In 1983, the band moved to PVC for their follow-up album, Rock For Light. After that recording, the band took a break from making new music and concentrated on playing shows. The band still was very hard to hear because of poor distribution and erratic touring that constantly plagued the band in the early to mid eighties. After their 3-year break, the band finally released a full-length follow-up to Rock For Light in the form of a new styled music, I Against I. This album marked a major change for the band's style. This album focused more on heavy metal and funk styles than that of the traditional hardcore style the band was previously known for. The record received very mixed reviews and a great change was certain to happen.

Darryl Jenifer and Dr. Know wanted to continue pursuing hard rock while the Hudson Brothers were more interested in making dub/reggae music. The band was still together, but over the next three years, the brothers frequently left to make dub albums. The album, Quickness, was released in 1989 and shortly after the release, the Hudson Brothers called it quits. They were replaced by Israel Joseph-I (born Dexter Pinto) and Mackie Jayson. Chuck Mosely, former Faith No More singer, even joined the band in their pursuit of a lineup. He left after he complained that the band wanted him to sound too much like H.R. Over the next few years, a few Bad Brains live albums surfaced from former record companies. In 1993, the alternative rock boom came along and the new line-up was finally offered a contract from Epic Records. The band released the album, Rise, later on that year. The record bombed and their contract was terminated.

In 1995, Maverick Records offered the group a contract just so long as the original members got back together for an album release. The Hudson Brothers were contacted and the deal was made. The band released the album, God of Love, that summer which received mixed reviews and poor sales. The brothers left again after the release and the band was dropped from Maverick Records. The band reunited once again in 1998 and began touring under their new name, Soul Brains. The band released a live album and is planning on recording a studio album in the near future. They claim they want to finally revert back to their old hardcore style. Keep an eye out for it real soon.

Discography
Bad Brains EP - 1982
I And I Survive/Destroy Babylon EP - 1982
Bad Brains - 1982 (Often referred to as "ROIR Sessions")
Rock For Light - 1983
I Against I - 1986
Live - 1988
Quickness - 1989
Youth Are Getting Restless: Live In Amsterdam - 1990
Spirit Electricity (Live) - 1991
Rise - 1993
God Of Love - 1995
Black Dots - 1996
Omega Sessions - 1997
Live In San Francisco - 2002 (Soul Brains release)
I & I Survived (Dub) - 2002
Banned In DC: Bad Brains Greatest Riffs - 2003

Similar Artists
H.R. (H.R.'s solo project)
Soul Brains (Essentially Bad Brains under a different name)
Faith No More (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist)
Cement (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist)
Haircuts That Kill (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist)
Black Jack Johnson (Dr. Know played guitar for this band)
Cro-Mags (Mackie Jayson played drums for this band)

Recommended Downloads
Pay To Cum
F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers)
Leaving Babylon
Don't Need It
How Low Can A Punk Get?
I Against I
The Meek
She's Calling You
Banned In D.C.

Download anything from them. It's all good I say. Actually I haven't heard their early 90's releases, so I couldn't tell you there, but anything off of their 80's albums is great. Their hardcore songs are some of the best. Their dub/reggae songs are some of the best. You can't go wrong with this band.

Nerdcore753 · 02-10-2005, 09:43 PM

Nice profile, there was a lot that I didn't know. I hope the new album comes out soon.

honkybrewster · 02-10-2005, 09:44 PM

Another great profile. Nice work.

oopyman · 02-10-2005, 09:45 PM

Amazing band. Dr. Know was a **** good guitarist too. Add I Luv I Jah and Sailin' On to the song list.

***40 oz 2 freedom*** · 02-10-2005, 09:45 PM

Dayum. Rep ++.

El_Shiznit · 02-10-2005, 09:46 PM

Thanks much guys.

Yeah, I cannot wait for this new album. It will be one of the greatest things to happen in the lat 10 years at least for music if it's as good as they are making it out to be. I'm such a nerd and I'm thinking about it like 5 times a day now. I'm a loser, but I love this band so much.

Let's Chop Cats! · 02-10-2005, 09:47 PM

Awesome. Twas a good read.

Excursions · 02-10-2005, 11:42 PM

Twas indeed good to see you talked about Mind Power

warrenpeace · 02-11-2005, 12:35 AM

I have the Live in Amsterdam album. Its great. Def one of my favorite bands. Good job on the profile.

sketchyjoe · 02-11-2005, 02:36 AM

Nice profile. It was a bit lacking in areas, such as the controversy over their homophobic attitude. There's loads more info on that and other stuff (including some intervies with the band) here:

http://www.30underdc.com/bands/badbrains/

albert_bass · 02-11-2005, 03:28 AM

Good profile yeah. I've only heard the self-titled and I loved some of the songs. I think you are forgetting Sailing On, awesome song. As always, I can't rep you.

02-11-2005, 05:37 AM

I was going to do this profile, but you did a way better job than my lazy a'ss would've done.

If I don't need to spread it around first, rep++.

02-11-2005, 05:38 AM

Quote:

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to El_Shizzy again.

Sorry.

murray_lindsay · 02-11-2005, 07:35 AM

i think the bad brains are awesome when they played their fast stuff but their reggae stuff dont sit well with me.
I never knew that they were homophobics until i read one of the links. Also sounded like they were free loaders too (flipside 31 interview with some band)
a good band that inspired many people to form their own groups like minor threat and black flag.

El_Shiznit · 02-11-2005, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sketchyjoe

Nice profile. It was a bit lacking in areas, such as the controversy over their homophobic attitude. There's loads more info on that and other stuff (including some intervies with the band) here:

http://www.30underdc.com/bands/badbrains/

Yeah, I did leave a few parts out that I wasn't totally informed about. I thought it was only H.R. that was a homophobe.

Kind of contradicting since he later changed the meaning of H.R. to Human Rights. It originally stood for Hunting Rod by the way.

honkybrewster · 02-11-2005, 07:53 AM

Yeah, apparently their members were kind of... jerks. Ah well, I love the music anyway.

guns_of_brixton · 02-11-2005, 07:54 AM

another great profile. rep++ unless i have to spread it around.

guns_of_brixton · 02-11-2005, 07:55 AM

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to El_Shizzy again.

honkybrewster · 02-11-2005, 07:55 AM

Yeah, I have to spread around some rep too.

skateMASTERbater2 · 02-11-2005, 09:25 AM

great profile , but i have to spread rep first

02-10-2005, 09:36 PM	#1
El_Shiznit Including Violence Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 4,684	Band Profile - Bad Brains Now that I have 2,000 posts under my belt, I figure that it is about time for another band profile to mark my monumental post. And what better band to it on? Really, there are tons of Bad Brains fans on this site. I don't think anyone here dislikes them. They were one of the first few punk/hardcore bands I listened to. They are one of the most influential bands in history. They remain one of the first and one of the only all black punk bands in history. So here goes it... EDIT: It's no longer my 2,000th post. There were too many profiles to post this at the time. But now here goes it... Bad Brains Main Members: H.R. - Throat Dr. Know - Guitar Earl Hudson - Drums Darryl Jenifer - Bass Lesser-Known Members: Sid McCray - Vocals Chuck Mosely - Vocals Mackie Jayson - Drums Israel Joseph-I - Vocals Record Labels: ROIR (1982) PVC (1983-1985) SST (1986-1989) Epic (1993) Maverick (1995) Bad Brains is often said to have formed in 1979. But just a year earlier, the core of the band was already playing together in a jazz fusion band called Mind Power. It was not until a year later when a man by the name of Sid McCray showed up at Darryl's apartment all dressed up with safety pins and punk records in his hand that the band took an interest in punk music. So, technically 1979 was the year that Bad Brains was formed. Sid became the band's lead singer, while H.R. was just a secondary vocalist and guitar player at the time. The band played a series of basement shows where Sid would start singing "Regulator" and his girlfriend, Tally, came and tackled him off stage. This would happen almost every time, and every time it did, H.R. would pick up the microphone and sing the rest of the song. It wasn't long before Sid gave up his duties as a vocalist and let H.R. take care of it himself. Sid later just dropped the idea of being in Bad Brains altogether. But the punk injection into former-Mind Power's music wasn't the last influence to strike the band. In late 1979, Ras Prophet Bob Marley put on a little show in the DC area. The band snuck into the show to catch a glimpse of Marley's performance. The members were mesmerized with the thumping sound of the reggae music as well as the Rastafarian faith presented in the music. This especially spoke to H.R. and Earl Hudson (did I mention they were brothers?) whose mother hailed from the blessed isle of Jamaica. Thus, the final addition to the band's early sound, dub/reggae, was added in. The band strived on, and got all their recognition from live performances. Their recordings were extremely difficult to find. The band's first single "Pay To Cum" was pressed only in limited numbers. Their debut album issued by ROAR in cassette tape format, also in limited numbers. Before and during these periods of recording, the band was finding lesser opportunities to play venues. While opening up for The Dam'ned, Jenifer got kicked out of the club by a bouncer and then got into an altercation with him. This resulted in the band being banned from that particular club as well as others in the D.C. area. So, what else could the band do but head on over to New York where the scene was budding in clubs such as CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, etc.? In 1983, the band moved to PVC for their follow-up album, Rock For Light. After that recording, the band took a break from making new music and concentrated on playing shows. The band still was very hard to hear because of poor distribution and erratic touring that constantly plagued the band in the early to mid eighties. After their 3-year break, the band finally released a full-length follow-up to Rock For Light in the form of a new styled music, I Against I. This album marked a major change for the band's style. This album focused more on heavy metal and funk styles than that of the traditional hardcore style the band was previously known for. The record received very mixed reviews and a great change was certain to happen. Darryl Jenifer and Dr. Know wanted to continue pursuing hard rock while the Hudson Brothers were more interested in making dub/reggae music. The band was still together, but over the next three years, the brothers frequently left to make dub albums. The album, Quickness, was released in 1989 and shortly after the release, the Hudson Brothers called it quits. They were replaced by Israel Joseph-I (born Dexter Pinto) and Mackie Jayson. Chuck Mosely, former Faith No More singer, even joined the band in their pursuit of a lineup. He left after he complained that the band wanted him to sound too much like H.R. Over the next few years, a few Bad Brains live albums surfaced from former record companies. In 1993, the alternative rock boom came along and the new line-up was finally offered a contract from Epic Records. The band released the album, Rise, later on that year. The record bombed and their contract was terminated. In 1995, Maverick Records offered the group a contract just so long as the original members got back together for an album release. The Hudson Brothers were contacted and the deal was made. The band released the album, God of Love, that summer which received mixed reviews and poor sales. The brothers left again after the release and the band was dropped from Maverick Records. The band reunited once again in 1998 and began touring under their new name, Soul Brains. The band released a live album and is planning on recording a studio album in the near future. They claim they want to finally revert back to their old hardcore style. Keep an eye out for it real soon. Discography Bad Brains EP - 1982 I And I Survive/Destroy Babylon EP - 1982 Bad Brains - 1982 (Often referred to as "ROIR Sessions") Rock For Light - 1983 I Against I - 1986 Live - 1988 Quickness - 1989 Youth Are Getting Restless: Live In Amsterdam - 1990 Spirit Electricity (Live) - 1991 Rise - 1993 God Of Love - 1995 Black Dots - 1996 Omega Sessions - 1997 Live In San Francisco - 2002 (Soul Brains release) I & I Survived (Dub) - 2002 Banned In DC: Bad Brains Greatest Riffs - 2003 Similar Artists H.R. (H.R.'s solo project) Soul Brains (Essentially Bad Brains under a different name) Faith No More (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist) Cement (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist) Haircuts That Kill (Chuck Mosely was the original vocalist) Black Jack Johnson (Dr. Know played guitar for this band) Cro-Mags (Mackie Jayson played drums for this band) Recommended Downloads Pay To Cum F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers) Leaving Babylon Don't Need It How Low Can A Punk Get? I Against I The Meek She's Calling You Banned In D.C. Download anything from them. It's all good I say. Actually I haven't heard their early 90's releases, so I couldn't tell you there, but anything off of their 80's albums is great. Their hardcore songs are some of the best. Their dub/reggae songs are some of the best. You can't go wrong with this band.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

02-10-2005, 09:43 PM	#2
Nerdcore753 Hispanic! at the Disco Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 844	Nice profile, there was a lot that I didn't know. I hope the new album comes out soon.

02-10-2005, 09:44 PM	#3
honkybrewster With a Linoleum Knife Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: 803, SC Posts: 1,855	Another great profile. Nice work.

02-10-2005, 09:45 PM	#4
oopyman BACON Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 3,309	Amazing band. Dr. Know was a **** good guitarist too. Add I Luv I Jah and Sailin' On to the song list.

02-10-2005, 09:45 PM	#5
*40 oz 2 freedom* Iller Than Most Moderator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Austin, TEXAS Posts: 9,193	Dayum. Rep ++.

02-10-2005, 09:46 PM	#6
El_Shiznit Including Violence Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 4,684	Thanks much guys. Yeah, I cannot wait for this new album. It will be one of the greatest things to happen in the lat 10 years at least for music if it's as good as they are making it out to be. I'm such a nerd and I'm thinking about it like 5 times a day now. I'm a loser, but I love this band so much.

02-10-2005, 09:47 PM	#7
Let's Chop Cats! God Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Gumnut Cottage Posts: 1,209	Awesome. Twas a good read.

02-10-2005, 11:42 PM	#8
Excursions Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,748	Twas indeed good to see you talked about Mind Power

02-11-2005, 12:35 AM	#9
warrenpeace I hate runnin Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 363	I have the Live in Amsterdam album. Its great. Def one of my favorite bands. Good job on the profile.

02-11-2005, 02:36 AM	#10
sketchyjoe GREAT GOOGA-MOOGA! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Desolation Row, London Posts: 16,329	Nice profile. It was a bit lacking in areas, such as the controversy over their homophobic attitude. There's loads more info on that and other stuff (including some intervies with the band) here: http://www.30underdc.com/bands/badbrains/

02-11-2005, 03:28 AM	#11
albert_bass Unibrow punx unite! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Unibrowland Posts: 5,800	Good profile yeah. I've only heard the self-titled and I loved some of the songs. I think you are forgetting Sailing On, awesome song. As always, I can't rep you.

02-11-2005, 05:37 AM	#12
SlappedByTheClash Guest Posts: n/a	I was going to do this profile, but you did a way better job than my lazy a'ss would've done. If I don't need to spread it around first, rep++.

02-11-2005, 07:35 AM	#14
murray_lindsay Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 116	i think the bad brains are awesome when they played their fast stuff but their reggae stuff dont sit well with me. I never knew that they were homophobics until i read one of the links. Also sounded like they were free loaders too (flipside 31 interview with some band) a good band that inspired many people to form their own groups like minor threat and black flag.

02-11-2005, 07:53 AM	#16
honkybrewster With a Linoleum Knife Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: 803, SC Posts: 1,855	Yeah, apparently their members were kind of... jerks. Ah well, I love the music anyway.

02-11-2005, 07:54 AM	#17
guns_of_brixton omfg jessica! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Schaumburg, IL Posts: 4,672	another great profile. rep++ unless i have to spread it around.

02-11-2005, 07:55 AM	#18
guns_of_brixton omfg jessica! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Schaumburg, IL Posts: 4,672	You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to El_Shizzy again.

02-11-2005, 09:25 AM	#20
skateMASTERbater2 . Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Zürich, Switzerland Posts: 3,107	great profile , but i have to spread rep first