Song of the Day: Bad Brains “Big Takeover”

“Big Takeover” from Bad Brains‘ 1983 album Rock For Light is one of my all-time favorite songs. Bad Brains will forever be one of the most important bands to impact my life’s direction. This album, their second full-length release, has coursed through my being countless times, motivating me in incalculable ways. The group’s indelible mix of hardcore and reggae has inspired more bands and more people than I personally know than any other band on the planet!

I’m incredibly fortunate to have seen Bad Brains many times over a period of many years, and always with their original singer: the incomparable Mr. Joseph Hudson, better known to the world at large simply as ‘HR‘. A mysterious, charismatic and wholly unique individual, HR was probably the most compelling and powerful frontman I’ve ever seen. He lives what he sings. Onstage, his connection to his music, his band, his crowd, seemed super-human and super-charged with electricity. Being there was like getting a blast of life force, it was life affirming and life changing.

Bad Brains formed in Washington DC in 1977. Though they’ve had a turbulent run, full of line-up changes, break ups and reunions, the bond between the original members has endured. Together, they’ve more than made history as social, cultural and musical pioneers + renegades. They paved the way and opened doors for legions of bands from DC and beyond. Personally, I owe them a debt of gratitude that will never end.