This Is Big Audio Dynamite

This Is Big Audio Dynamite is the debut studio album by English band Big Audio Dynamite, led by Mick Jones, the former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. It was released in October 1985 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 27 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 103 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the BPI. Three singles were released from the album, all of which charted in the UK. "The Bottom Line" barely made the Top 100, peaking at No. 97, becoming their lowest charting single, whereas its follow-up single "E=MC²" became their only Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 11, and becoming their best-selling single. The last single from the album, "Medicine Show", became their last single to chart within the Top 40, peaking at No. 29. The music video for "Medicine Show" featured two other former members of the Clash, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon as police officers as well as John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd.

This Is Big Audio Dynamite
Studio album by
Big Audio Dynamite
ReleasedOctober 1985
Genre
Length43:09
LabelColumbia
ProducerMick Jones
Big Audio Dynamite chronology
This Is Big Audio Dynamite
(1985)		 No. 10, Upping St.
(1986)
Singles from This is Big Audio Dynamite
  1. "The Bottom Line"
    Released: October 1985[2]
  2. "E=MC²"
    Released: March 1986
  3. "Medicine Show"
    Released: June 1986
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB–[3]
Mojo[4]
PopMatters[5]

A remastered Legacy Edition was released in 2010 with a second disc composed of alternate mixes and versions. In 2016, independent vinyl reissue label Intervention Records reissued the album on 180-gram vinyl.[6]

Album cover

The album's cover depicts most of the band dressed in cowboy clothing as a four piece band, minus keyboardist Dan Donovan who took and designed the photo.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jones and Don Letts, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Medicine Show" 6:29
2."Sony" 4:30
3."E=MC²" 5:54
4."The Bottom Line"Mick Jones4:35
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."A Party"6:40
6."Sudden Impact!"5:03
7."Stone Thames"4:05
8."BAD"5:54
Total length:43:09
Legacy Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Medicine Show" (12-inch remix)7:10
2."Sony Dub"4:15
3."E=MC2" (12-inch remix)6:31
4."The Bottom Line" (12-inch remix, edit version)7:20
5."A Party Dub"7:01
6."Sudden Impact" (12-inch mix)6:07
7."Stone Thames" (12-inch mix)6:18
8."BAD" (vocoder version)6:28
9."Electric Vandal"3:22
10."Albert Einstein Meets the Human Beatbox"5:35
11."BAD" (US 12-inch remix)6:16
12."This Is Big Audio Dynamite" (7-inch non-LP B-side)3:44

Personnel

Big Audio Dynamite

Production

  • Mick Jones – producer
  • Paul "Groucho" Smykle – engineer; mixing
  • Johnny Shinas – assistant engineer at Redan Rec
  • Renny Hill – assistant engineer at Sarm West Studios
  • Adam "Flea" Newman – technician "dynamite"
  • Dan Donovan – sleeve artwork; photography

Samples used on the album

Medicine Show

Sampled liberally throughout this song are sound bites from four motion pictures, three of them Spaghetti Westerns. This list is based on order of appearance.

  • "Get three coffins ready." (Clint Eastwood from A Fistful of Dollars)
  • "Who the hell is that? One bastard goes in and another comes out....I'm innocent of everything!" (Eli Wallach from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
  • "You makin' some kinda joke?" (A Fistful of Dollars)
  • "I don't think it's nice, you laughin'." (Eastwood from A Fistful of Dollars)
  • "Wanted in fourteen counties of this State, the condemned is found guilty of crimes of murder, armed robbery of citizens, state banks and post offices, the theft of sacred objects, arson in a state prison, perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, inciting prostitution, kidnapping, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, passing counterfeit money, and contrary to the laws of this State, the condemned is guilty of using marked cards...Therefore, according to the powers vested in us, we sentence the accused here before us, Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez ('Known as The Rat') and any other aliases he might have, to hang by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on his soul. Proceed." (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; "Known as The Rat" was uttered by Eastwood.)
  • Ennio Morricone's main theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
  • "Duck, you sucker!" (James Coburn from Duck, You Sucker!)
  • "I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" (Alfonso Bedoya from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
  • Laughter from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.[7]

Sony

E=MC²

Sudden Impact

  • The two note choral motif (Aaah aaah) heard throughout the song is a sample of the Close Encounters of The Third Kind soundtrack.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Review: This is Big Audio Dynamite. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-04-09.
  2. http://www.45cat.com/record/a6591
  3. Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 17 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. Ian Harrison Mojo, June 2010.
  5. Fairall, Jer. Review: This is Big Audio Dynamite. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-06-11.
  6. "This Is Big Audio Dynamite 180G LP – Intervention Records". www.interventionrecords.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. This Is Big Audio Dynamite – esmark.net.
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