Bad Brains
USA, 1976–now
Washington DC band formed in 1977 by musicians who had played jazz fusion. Their combination of very fast hardcore with reggae sections became a model for American hardcore punk.
MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Bad Brains and 5 artists Bad Brains influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Bad Brains?
- Mahavishnu Orchestra — Bad Brains began as jazz-fusion band Mind Power in the mould of Mahavishnu Orchestra — they carried Mahavishnu's furious speed straight into hardcore punk.
- Ramones — The band took its name from the Ramones song 'Bad Brain' — the New York punk spark that redirected the fusion players.
- Sex Pistols — Discovering the Sex Pistols drove Bad Brains' about-face from fusion to punk — applying their jazz dexterity to hardcore.
- Bob Marley — After seeing Bob Marley live the band embraced reggae and Rastafari — the slower half of the Bad Brains set alongside the hardcore blur.
Which artists did Bad Brains influence?
- Beastie Boys — Bad Brains' blazing hardcore was a founding model for the young Beastie Boys' punk incarnation.
- Minor Threat — Bad Brains were the DC hardcore band MacKaye looked up to — their blinding speed the local model Minor Threat sharpened.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers — Bad Brains' hardcore-meets-funk energy was a direct influence on the Chili Peppers' punk-funk attack.
- Fugazi — Bad Brains are the band the whole Washington hardcore scene came out of, and their reggae-inflected hardcore is audible in Fugazi's rhythm section.
- Foo Fighters — Bad Brains' ferocious hardcore is part of the punk lineage Grohl wove into the Foo Fighters' heavier moments.