Bernard Rhodes
Bernard Rhodes | |
---|---|
Birth name | Bernard Rhodes |
Born | England |
Occupation(s) | Designer, band manager, record producer, songwriter |
Years active | 1960-present |
Website | bernardrhodes |
Bernard Rhodes is a designer, band manager, studio owner, record producer and songwriter who was integral to the development of the
.Rhodes was an important force behind The Clash not only managing their business but also guiding their marketing and creative direction.[3] Disagreement with the group about direction led to his sacking by the Clash in 1979. Rhodes meantime continued with other successful signings to his label Oddball Productions and major record companies.[4] In 1981 singer Joe Strummer demanded his return to the Clash or he would quit the group.
Rhodes nurtured and managed other bands including
He is also known in Brazil for his friendship with Supla and baptising the band "Brothers of Brazil".
Early life
Rhodes was raised in Stepney, east London. He says he never knew his father. He was placed in a Jewish orphanage in South London where he remained until he was 15. His mother worked long hours for Huntsman's tailors in Saville Row making suits for people like Cary Grant and later Hawes & Curtis where Rhodes' friend John Pearse who co-owned Granny Takes a Trip was her apprentice.[5]
In the early 1960s Rhodes and Pearse shared a flat at 68 Hamilton Terrace, St Johns Wood, London.
Early career
Towards the late 1960s Rhodes won a
During this period he became re-acquainted with an old friend,
Sex Pistols
By 1975,
Lydon says that Rhodes 'was important to me in so many ways.... He would indicate to me where the problems with the Pistols would be in the future. He would sow a seed and then wait to see if I would pick up on it.'[14]
The Clash
After his offer to co-manage Sex Pistols was rejected by McLaren, Rhodes was instrumental in The Clash's formation in 1976. Mick Jones was wearing one of Rhodes' Wake Up T-shirts when he approached Rhodes after a Sex Pistols gig thinking he was a keyboard player. They started talking about groups and the relationship was the starting point for what would eventually become The Clash.[15]
Strummer credits Rhodes as his mentor, stating "He constructed The Clash and focused our energies and we repaid him by being really good at what we did".[16] Rhodes told them to write about social issues occurring at the time, i.e., the housing problems, lack of education, dead-end futures.[16] Strummer said that Rhodes was the only one who understood how one should go about getting known.[16]
On 25 January 1977, Rhodes signed The Clash to CBS Records with CBS Records UK chairman Maurice Oberstein who promised to allow the group to do what they wanted on record and CBS would promote it. After a couple of albums, including their first, which Rhodes helped produce with Mickey Foote, he felt the group were drifting away from their street ideals and they parted company in late 1978.
1979–1981
From his Rehearsal Rehearsals studio, Rhodes nurtured and managed groups Subway Sect, The Specials, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Black Arabs and other musical projects. The intro to The Specials' version of "Gangsters" released in 1979 begins with the line: "Bernie Rhodes knows: don't argue!".[18] Dexys Midnight Runners' single "Dance Stance" was released in 1979 on the Oddball Productions label owned by Rhodes.[19] He later signed the group to EMI Records.
The first album by Subway Sect, What's the Matter Boy, was produced by Rhodes and released by Oddball in 1980.[20] Rhodes also introduced the idea of using a Burundi drum beat to Malcolm McLaren[21] who gave it to Adam Ant. This led to the sound of Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980) by Adam and the Ants.[22]
Club Left
During the late seventies he opened Club Left in Wardour Street
. The regular house band was Vic Godard and the Subway Sect.Sean McLusky said that Rhodes gave him a break at Club Left in 1981 and then got a deal and success for his band JoBoxers, who enjoyed mainstream success on both sides of the Atlantic with their single "Just Got Lucky". McLusky says, "Bernard never got the credit for things that were his. He has been the undefined force".[23]
Return to the Clash
Strummer said if Rhodes did not come back and manage the Clash he would quit.[24] Once back, Rhodes decided to remix "Magnificent 7". A 12" single dance remix "Magnificent Dance" was released on 12 April 1981. Production was credited to 'Pepe Unidos', a pseudonym for Strummer, Rhodes and Paul Simonon.[25] Pepe Unidos also produced "The Cool Out", a re-mix of "The Call Up".[26]
Bond's, NYC
Mick Jones said 'Bernie came back on the scene because people thought that we'd gotten out of control and the first thing he wanted to do was book us for seven nights in New York'.[27] The residency at Bond International Casino in the first two weeks of June 1981 was organised by Rhodes on his return as manager of The Clash. Support acts included Grandmaster Flash, The Sugarhill Gang, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Texan bad boy Joe Ely, Lee Perry and Funkapolitan. Rhodes states that it was because of these Bonds NYC shows that the public became more interested in hip hop. 'I endeavoured to get these guys on like Grandmaster Flash, not that most of the audience liked them but that led to a helluvalot'.[28] The record company were not behind the triple album Sandinista! recorded in Rhodes's absence[29] but Kosmo Vinyl states that with the Bonds NYC residency, The Clash 'clawed their way back into the Premiership'.[30]
Jones’ sacking
Paul Simonon states that Rhodes was not aware he and Joe were going to sack Mick Jones nor was he in favour of that action. (The sacking took place in 1983). However Simonon says Jones did not know this until the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction after Joe Strummer's death.[31]
This is England
The Clash's last album, Cut the Crap (1985), (originally Out of Control)[32] was produced by Rhodes under the name of 'Jose Unidos'. He also co-wrote all of the songs with Strummer.[33]
The standout track, “This Is England”, was co-written by Strummer and Rhodes and described by Strummer as the 'last great Clash song'.[34][35] Critic Samuels Lennox described it as a "tuneful, beautifully crafted overview of social decay in England, where political philosophies joust for hegemony while the country sinks into ignominious decline and millions of youths turn to the dole."[36] In 2017, the journalist Bill Wyman praised Rhodes' production, writing that his "sound collage and the gentle, troubled synth lines undergird the song unerringly, and for once the group-shouted chorus, though still over-loud, conveys some wan meaning."[37]
The song has inspired many other artists, including Shane Meadows who used the title for his movie and TV show centering on young skinheads and Oi! punks in England in the 1980s, in reference to the Cut the Crap song.[34]
Watts
In 1990, Rhodes relocated from Los Angeles to
Recent
In 2014 Rhodes designed a range of biker T-shirts for Lewis Leathers, Britain's oldest motorcycle clothing company.
In May 2016, the British Library invited him to give a talk entitled Me, Punk and the World as part of its Punk 1976-78 exhibit.[1]
Rhodes launched the website cancerclash.com in June 2022 to ‘dynamically demystify the world of cancer’[39] and provide a cultural space to deal with the impact of the disease. Rhodes was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.[40]
References
- ^ a b "Me, Punk and the World: Bernard Rhodes in Conversation". British Library. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ a b Lydon 1993, p. 75.
- ^ a b Knowles 2003, p. 121.
- ^ a b Gilbert 2005, p. 78.
- ^ a b Gilbert 2005, p. 81.
- ^ Gilbert 2005, p. 82.
- ^ Letts 2007, p. 50.
- ^ Savage 1991, p. 83.
- ^ Rimmer, Dave. New Romantics: The Look. Omnibus Press, 2003. ASIN: B00GS97DIY
- ISBN 0-9552017-0-5.
- ^ Savage 1991, p. 102.
- ^ Strongman 2008, pp. 84–85.
- ISBN 0-7119-1817-1.
- ^ Lydon 1993, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Gilbert 2005, p. 60.
- ^ a b c d Clash 2008, p. 88.
- ^ Gilbert 2005, p. 117.
- ^ Adams 2009.
- ^ White 2007, p. 205.
- ^ "Subway Sect". Record Collector, 14 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021
- ^ Vermorel 1987, p. 236.
- ^ Vermorel 1987, p. 236.
- ^ a b G Spot 1993, p. 39.
- ^ Gilbert 2005, p. 286.
- ^ Martin, Gavin. "Joe Strummer: Good Ol' Joe". New Musical Express, 26 July 1986 – via Rock's Backpages (subscription required)
- ^ Andersen, Mark. Heibutzki, Ralph. We Are The Clash. Akashic Books, 2018
- ^ Clash 2008, p. 290.
- ^ Gruen 2001, p. 241.
- ^ Gruen 2001, p. 240.
- ^ Gruen 2001, p. 242.
- ^ Salewicz 2006, pp. 373–375.
- ^ Jucha (2016), p. 334
- ^ Gehr, Richard; Greene, Andy; Harris, Keith; Johnston, Maura; Newman, Jason; Weingarten, Christopher R. "22 Terrible Songs by Great Artists". Rolling Stone, 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2017
- ^ a b Spencer, Neil; Brown, James. "Why the Clash are still Rock Titans". The Guardian, 29 October 2006. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019
- ^ Popoff (2018), p. 226
- ^ Samuels, Lennox. "The Clash's New Album Proves Musically Apt, Politically Irrelevant". The Dallas Morning News, 24 November 1985
- Vulture, 11 October 2017. Archivedfrom the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019
- ^ RiffRaff 1992.
- ^ "Former manager of The Clash Bernard Rhodes announced new cancer website that aims to demystify the disease". Louder Than War. 2 June 2022.
- ^ cancerclash
.com
Sources
- Books
- Clash, The (2008). The Clash. London: ISBN 978-1-84354-788-4.
- OCLC 79262599. Archived from the originalon 26 October 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- Gilbert, Pat (2005) [2004]. Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash (4th ed.). London: OCLC 61177239.
- Gruen, Bob (2001). The Clash Photographs by Bob Gruen. London: ISBN 1-903399-34-3.
- Gray, Marcus (2005) [1995]. The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town (5th revised ed.). London: Helter Skelter. OCLC 60668626.
- Jucha, Gary. The Clash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Clash City Rockers. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4803-6450-9
- Knowles, Chris (2003). Clash City Showdown. London: PageFree. ISBN 978-1-5896-1138-2.
- Letts, Don (2007). Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers. London: SAF Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-946719-89-1.
- Lydon, John (1993). Rotten:No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs. London: ISBN 0-340-63528-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7603-5934-1
- Savage, Jon (1991). England's Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock. London: ISBN 978-0571227204.
- Strongman, Phil (2008) [2007]. Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk (US ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. OCLC 173299117.
- OCLC 63129186.
- Vermorel, Fred & Judy (1987) [1978]. Sex Pistols The Inside Story (3rd ed.). London: ISBN 9780711-910904.
- Westwood & Kelly, Vivienne & Ian (2014). Vivienne Westwood. London: ISBN 9781-44-7254126.
- White, Vince (2007). Out of Control: The Last Days of "The Clash". London: Moving Target Books. ISBN 978-0-9555-0380-1.
- Films and documentaries
- OCLC 49798077.
Web, journals and magazines
- Adams, Owen (30 March 2009). "Label of Love: 2Tone Records". Culture > Music > Label of love.
- "The Clash – Super Black Market Clash". Punknews.org. 24 May 2002.
- Related articles
- Fisher, Judith (March 1992). "Naked Truth". Riff Raff Magazine.
- Holden & Van Schreven, Michael & Keld (August 1993). "Def by Misadventure". G Spot. No. 8. van Schreven & Westall.
- "Gangsters by The Specials". Songfacts.com.
- Mir, Sabuhi. "Clash Culture – Central St Martins". RFB.
- "Vivienne Westwood in Malcolm McLaren funeral row". Daily Mirror. 23 April 2010.
- O'Hagan, Sean (25 April 2010). "The surreal day we laid the old anarchist to rest". The Observer.
- Pattison, Louis (7 May 2007). "Clash manager's racist outburst a reminder not to get rose-tinted about punk". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- "Bernard Rhodes speaks". Mojo. July 2007. p. 18.
- Righi, Len (20 April 1984). "Joe Strummer tells why the Clash is carrying on". The Morning Call.
- "Ex-Clash manager causes uproar with N-word". CMU Daily – On The Inside. CMU Music Network. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- "Last chance to see – Entertaining the Nation". News. The Jewish Museum London. 27 January 2012.
Further reading
- Salewicz, Chris (2006). Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 76794852.