Memories of rudeboys and Bob Marley

 
Pauline Black and Don Letts (Picture: Dave Benett)
13 June 2014

While much of London divides into tribes of Sloaney ponies and hipsters, one of the capital’s original rebels despairs for today’s creative types.

Don Letts, credited with introducing reggae to the Seventies punk scene, and who founded Big Audio Dynamite with the Clash’s Mick Jones, was at the private view of Return of the Rudeboy at Somerset House last night.

“How did the parents become cooler than the kids?” asked Letts, pictured at the exhibition with Pauline Black, former lead singer with ska band The Selecter.

“Everyone looks like an office worker now. Where are the Bob Marleys?” Letts is an expert on that subject, having befriended the reggae legend through dubious means. “I saw his show in Hammersmith and followed him back to his hotel,” he recalled.

“I just joined his friends as they went in, met him inside and got talking.” Those of the younger generation take note: it might work on One Direction.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in