The programme includes The Damned’s set-smashing performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test and the Sex Pistols' anarchic trip on the Thames. It also features powerful live performances from Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Gang of Four, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Tubeway Army, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, The Selecter, Joy Division and the Au Pairs. In addition, there are gems from The New York Dolls, The Fall, Blondie, Pete Shelley, The Police, Devo, X-Ray Spex, Klaus Nomi, Laurie Anderson and many more.
Himself
Documentary about reggae music and culture in London in 1977. Filmed in Super 8 camera by Don Letts. With participation of Richard Branson, Neneh Cherry, Paul Cook, Sly Dunbar, Paul Weller, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Siouxsie Sioux, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and others. Released in 2017.
Self
Documentary about feminism in music and the challenges it has faced through the years from the '70s to present day.
Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential musicians and poets of the last 50 years. In Don Letts's documentary, Gil tells his own story for the first time-from being one of the first black children to integrate an all white Southern state school to becoming the Godfather of Rap. There are contributions from Chuck D, Mos Def, Richi Havens and the Last Poets, among others. Filmed in October 2003, Gil performs live and recites poetry out on the streets of Harlem, which have inspired so much of his music.
Self
A portrait of Salford-born poet, storyteller and comic, John Cooper-Clarke. His poems, a satirical blend of humour and social comment, are delivered at a fast pace, often with musical backing. His style, and that of his contemporary Linton Kwesi Johnson, have influenced a generation of younger poets involved in a revival of popular poetry in Britain.
This vibrant portrait of dub poet and political activist Linton Kwesi Johnson transports us back to the turbulent streets of Brixton in the late 1970s. Jamaican-born Johnson explains with precise and powerful eloquence the violence and racism meted out to Black and Asian communities in London and beyond - and how his poetry acts as a weapon in the struggle for justice.
