02 August 2014

On the Right T.R.A.C.





After parting ways with the Clash in 1983, Mick Jones briefly played with the band General Public. In 1984 Mick formed a new band called Top Risk Action Company (T.R.A.C.). He recruited bassist Leo 'E-Zee Kill' Williams, saxophone player John 'Boy' Lennard (from Theatre of Hate), & former bandmate & ex-Clash drummer Nicky 'Topper' Headon. Headon was quickly sacked (as from The Clash) for his heroin addiction. Lennard soon after moved on to other projects & T.R.A.C. folded. The band was basically a prototype for Big Audio Dynamite (see "The Bottom Line"). Although T.R.A.C never released any material, they recorded these demos.

T.R.A.C. – Breakdown the Nation: The First Demos bootleg, 1984.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –
Interaction
Nation Dub
Apprentice
Du Cane Road
Fare Dodgers
The Bottom Line
Euroshima
The Prolific

Enjoy,

8 comments:

  1. k8ikP2RYqTE59KID0H_e1nASQotLVBZEdDcqWUrpRuk

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  2. Nice. I'd all but forgotten this adjunct to The Clash.

    Was it a Theatre of Hate anthem which carried the refrain, "Do yo believe in the Westway..." ? Or was it Spear of Destiny ?

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    1. Theatre of Hate from their Westworld release - "Do you believe in the..."

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  3. Yes, of course. "Westworld". As in Yul Brynner with a cautiously sculpted buzz cut.

    Westway is very much like sections of Glasgow, where Edwardian and Victorian terraces and tenements have been welded to vast overhanging structures of steel and concrete. All but swallowed up by the inner city slipstream of arteries and severed veins.

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  4. Howdy, iB! I was unaware of this part of the BAD family tree. Somebody call Pete Frame! Leo 'E-Zee Kill' Williams was recruited from the mighty Basement 5, and continued playing with Mick Jones after BAD in the band Carbon/Silicon (which included Tony James of Gen X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik). Leo Williams also made a record under the band name Screaming Target with Don Letts (another Clash colleague and Big Audio Dynamite member). The busy Mr. Williams plays bass in another dub project called Dreadzone.

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    Replies
    1. Basement 5...Carbon?silicon.
      Anyone want some?

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  5. And I just remembered that the Clash documentary directed by Don Letts is called "Westway to the World"...

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  6. Ah, the quantum entanglement of it all.

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