Don Letts
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Donovan Letts (born 10 January 1956) is a British film director, disc jockey (DJ) and musician. Letts first came to prominence as the videographer for
the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
, directing several of their
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s. In 1984, Letts co-founded the band Big Audio Dynamite with former Clash lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Mick Jones, acting as the band's sampler and videographer before departing the band in 1990. Letts has also directed music videos for Musical Youth,
the Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler (singer), Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from ...
, Fun Boy Three,
the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
and
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
as well as the feature documentaries '' The Punk Rock Movie'' (1978) and '' The Clash: Westway to the World'' (2000).


Biography

Letts was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, 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 Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
, in particular
Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 â€“ 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...
. After seeing one of Marley's gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon in 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 The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
, Sex Pistols, Chrissie Hynde,
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
, Debbie Harry and Bob Marley. In a 2022 interview, Don Letts discussed growing up in London and the discrimination he faced in relation to Steve McQueen's series '' Small Axe''. Discussing mistreatment at the hands of police he remarked that: 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'' (1980) and the compilation album '' Super Black Market Clash'' (1993). He was able to use the fame and money from DJ-ing 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'' (1978). 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 entrepreneur
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
to Jamaica. It was on this trip that Branson was inspired to start up
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
's Frontline reggae record label. A portrait of Letts by photographer Dean Chalkley featured in the exhibition '' Return of the Rudeboy'' at Somerset House in the middle of 2014. In recognition of Letts' unique contribution to music, on 16 October 2013 he was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge of Merit.


Personal life

Letts is married to Grace and the couple have two children. He also has a son and a daughter from a previous relationship. In September 2020 Letts and his wife Grace were featured on BBC's '' Gardeners' World'', showing how they had combined their different tastes for plants and culture in their town garden in north west London. In 2022, Letts received an honorary doctorate from
Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
.


Creative projects


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
weekly show
on BBC Radio 6 Music. in 2022 Don's singles 'Outta Sync' and 'Wrong' were released in anticipation of his debut album 'Outta Sync' produced by Gaudi and released on 29 September, 2023.


Books

In 2006, he published his autobiography, ''Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers''.


Films

Since his first movie, ''The Punk Rock Movie'' (1978), Letts has expanded to doing documentaries and
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s for multiple bands. In 1997, he travelled to Jamaica to direct '' Dancehall Queen''. His film '' Westway to the World'' (2000) won a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in 2003. A new documentary, Rebel Dread (2022) about Letts was released discussing his story as a first generation Black British, cultural mover and shaker, filmmaker, and musician.


Filmography (as director)


Music videos


Quotes

"A good idea attempted is better than a bad idea perfected." – Don Letts to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''


References


External links

* * *
''Don Letts' Culture Clash Radio''
(BBC Radio 6 Music)
Don Letts Homepage



‘There And Black Again’ book review [Greek
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Rebel Dread (2022)
(a documentary about Don Letts) * Don Letts: “Jamaican Music Gave British Punk Its Distinct Identityâ€

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letts, Don 1956 births Living people People from Brixton Big Audio Dynamite members English people of Jamaican descent The Clash English DJs Black British DJs Grammy Award winners People educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Lambeth Black British rock musicians English music video directors BBC Radio 6 Music presenters Film directors from London DJs from London Basement 5 members