I’m extremely excited today to be posting about my recent correspondence with a long-term member of the band Big Audio Dynamite. For those of you who don’t know, Big Audio Dynamite (often abbreviated to ‘BAD’) was Mick Jones’ post-punk ensemble following his departure from legendary punk band The Clash. Despite being commercially less successful than its predecessor, BAD managed to exceed the longevity of The Clash, successfully operating as a group for two decades between 1984-1997. Big Audio Dynamite picked up from where The Clash left off, continuing to innovate through exploration of new musical styles, driven by the indefatigable zest of Mick Jones. Generally, BAD are considered to be just as – if not more – innovative than Jones’ former band. Heavily experimenting with electronic instrumentation, hip hop and beatboxing, the band were perhaps best associated with sampling – often using many musical samples and cinematic soundbites simultaneously. During their time, the band released 9 studio LPs, with 5 of these being arranged and produced by my correspondent Mr André Shapps. London-centric André was ingratiated into the second BAD collective (aptly named ‘BAD II’) following Mick Jones’ desire to replace all existing members after the release of 1989’s ‘Megatop Phoenix’. This change in personnel would provide Mick with a fresh new outfit geared and ready to take on the 90s. The new line-up would heavily rely on André who proved to be an indispensable member of the band, vital to their studio output. Having been on Mick Jones’ radar for a while through relation (something I only pieced together after discovering Mick’s cousin is high-flying Conservative Member of Parliament, the Right Honourable Grant Shapps – who happens to be André’s brother) and having previously worked with Big Audio Dynamite as a crew member, André had already experienced life with the band and joining them in a musical capacity was seemingly inevitable. At the time André had been working as a DJ, producing mixes that would eventually impress Jones enough to appoint him as an official member – citing André’s Philip Glass inspired version of ‘Last Night a DJ Saved My Life‘ as the record that realised Shapps’ potential as an asset to the BAD. André was officially drafted in sometime around 1989 to help Jones prepare for an ill-fated tour with Prince, which was ultimately aborted – a topic addressed in the song ‘Can’t Wait‘ on André’s first venture with the band, the studio LP ‘Kool-Aid‘. On becoming an integral member and creative director, both he and Jones struggled to assign a title to best describe his role within the band. Although André fervently insists he isn’t really a producer as his title would suggest, I’d argue that what he does is by definition “producing”, using the studio as his instrument of choice – which has been a thing ever since Phil Spector appeared on the scene in the 60s. Although I’m calling the studio his instrument, it’s worth noting André played a lot of the instrumentation for the band, especially bass and keyboards as well as handling string arrangements, orchestration and most of the sampling work – a real Jack of all trades it would seem!
André first appeared with the band under his professional moniker ‘DJ Shapps’ on 1990’s UK-only release ‘Kool-Aid’ – their first LP since becoming BAD II. The record saw André sharing credit with Oliver Maxwell (known professionally as Olimax) – an artist Shapps had frequently collaborated with prior to joining Big Audio Dynamite. The LP proved to be extremely experimental in nature, seeing the band dipping their toe and testing the waters before ultimately being revised and re-released a year later as ‘The Globe’. This reworking of ‘Kool-Aid’ was distributed worldwide in June 1991 (August in the states). ‘The Globe’ was well received by both fans and critics, as well as being a commercial success, spawning the hits ‘Rush’, the eponymous ‘The Globe’ and the album’s slow acoustic number ‘Innocent Child’. Despite the bulk of BAD’s commercial hits being produced during the 80s incarnation of the band, ‘Rush’ saw BAD II top the US Modern Rock Chart for 4 weeks consecutively – earning them the award for ‘Alternative Single of the Year’. The song also soared to the heights of No. 1 in the UK Top 40 (although a marketing strategy which saw it released as a double A side with The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’ definitely helped bolster its sales). The original guitar-based ‘Rush’ was handed to Shapps who in turn transmogrified it from a simple two chord A-D guitar progression into an incongruous dance-rock hybrid. André incorporated many samples, including The Sugarhill Gang‘s ‘Rapper’s Delight‘, The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ and Peters Sellers talking about “rhythm & melody” – leading to the single being referred to as “5 songs for the price of one”.
Video: Big Audio Dynamite II @ The Modern Rock Awards 1991
Following the success of ‘The Globe’, André went on to release 2 more studio LPs with the band – 1994’s ‘Higher Power’ (as Big Audio) and 1995’s ‘F-Punk’, before a disagreement with the band’s American record label Radioactive Records resulted in 1997’s ‘Entering A New Ride‘ having to be self-distributed – being made available as a free download through an internet hosting site – a pioneering move as it turns out, due to it inadvertently becoming one of the very first records to be released via the web. This unofficial release proved to be André’s last outing with Big Audio Dynamite, as ultimately, having found themselves without a label, the band decided to pull the curtain down on their 8 year existence (or 13 years cumulatively). Of the 5 albums Shapps created with BAD, the aforementioned ‘Kool-Aid’/’The Globe’ is considered their pinnacle. With the two being the same record in essence, it causes much debate between fans. Personally, I prefer several of the elongated, raw mixes featured on ‘Kool-Aid’ – yet ultimately I’d have to claim ’The Globe’ as the superior record, functioning better as a long-player, supercharged by the addition of the commercial hit ‘The Globe’. ‘Kool-Aid’ eponymously takes it’s name from a track on the album which in turn takes its name from the ‘Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test’ by Tom Wolfe – a “new journalism” book documenting the burgeoning hippie movement and synonymous experimentation with psychadelics. Likewise, ‘The Globe’ is also titled after its namesake single, a song about a “semi-fictitious” night club. Both records are heavily inspired by the emerging Balaeric club scene of the late 80s/ early 90s. I vaguely remember the album from growing up as a kid in the 90s, but it’s only since maturing that I’ve developed the absorption to truly embrace it. It’s also worth mentioning I was far too young to be going clubbing – although my elder sister was involved with the scene, often disappearing into the San Antonio night while we were vacationing on the Spanish island. Although I’ve tried, I can’t quite figure out why both ‘Kool-Aid’ and ‘The Globe’ were released consecutively – even André couldn’t come up with an answer. I think it boils down to a bit of devious strategic marketing – Paint A Vulgar Picture, anybody? Nobody seemed to notice though, and the band somehow pulled it off, shifting a hefty amount of both versions of the record here in the UK. I realise I’m directing a lot of my focus on two particular records, but André himself regards it as his most significant and proudest work.
“I’d never set up drum kit before the first gig at the Manchester International. I don’t think Greg was impressed”
– André Shapps on his time as roadie for the band
Anyway, I just realised I’m 9000 characters into my post, and I haven’t even begun talking about my correspondence with André, so I’ll get on with it. I first encountered André when I joined a Big Audio Dynamite social media fan page. For the first time in my life, I was engaging with people like myself who liked the band, communicating with people from all over “the globe” – if you’ll pardon the pun. After a month or so, I started to notice André would occasionally pop-up, answering queries and dispelling a few things. I’d posted a question or two in the group regarding material on ‘The Globe’ to which Andre responded each time. There was a little bit of conversation, but nothing big. After he’d commented on several of my posts, I tongue-in-cheekily asked if he would sign my rare Saudi Arabian cassette issue of ‘The Globe’. He replied “of course I will!”. I assumed he was being facetious – but as things transpired, it became apparent that he serious. After a few days had past, I got a message from André. I can’t recall exactly what was said, but he seemed genuinely enthusiastic and willing to help me out. I scrambled to get a parcel together and enclosed some things. I told him I’d recently bought the new ‘On The Road ‘92’ EP – originally released in 1992 but only just released for the first time on vinyl in 2018 for Record Store Day. “Throw it in” he said. Naturally, I wasn’t going to object, so I did – along with two copies of the ‘Higher Power’ single ‘Looking For A Song?‘ (an audaciously titled meta-song about how to compose a song and operate a successful band – quite innovative – isn’t it?). Anyway, I put the parcel together, sealed, and adorned the front with a spray-painted the BAD II logo. I assumed he’d sign ‘The Globe’ cassette as I originally requested, and then he could pick from one or two other things – to keep it a surprise – something which I did stress quite a few times as I was fully aware 2 LPs, 3 Cassettes and 2 CDs could have been construed as a bit of a piss-take! However, as things developed, it became apparent that André’s just an extremely amicable individual – a multi-talented, humble man of no regrets, proud of his work – and a fellow Big Audio Dynamite fan. Oh, and a unicyclist!
As it turns out, he didn’t just arbitrarily sign the odd record – he literally signed everything – and not only did he sign everything – he made it his mission to get the signatures of the entire band (something he remained disingenuous about, thus keeping it a surprise for me). Firstly, he managed to track down bassist Gary Stonadge, and not content with just signing all 7 items, he was also kind enough to throw in a CD for me – Rotten Hill Gang‘s ‘Teach Peace‘ (for which André offered his sincere apologies over!). From what I’ve heard, the Rotten Hill Gang project features an ever-changing lineup of mainly London-based musicians of all ages and walks of life. Throughout this ever changing list of guest musicians, Stonadge has been a constant. It turns out André has also collaborated with them several times as well making live appearances on occasion. I believe the record came out last year, and contrary to what Shapps claimed, it’s actually quite good. I think the whole concept is brilliant. It’s basically a group of people who sporadically perform whenever and wherever they feel like doing so – not restricted by touring commitments and expectations. It’s meant the band has been able to build up a bit of mystique, and seeing them perform live is definitely a rare treat so I’m lead to believe. Because the band has no permanent singer, the band often features an array of guest vocalists, with Mick Jones occasionally making cameo appearances.
At this point, I was yet to realise the task André had set himself – so I assumed the parcel would be on its way back. I hung around my door for a few days expecting the parcel. When nothing came, I started to get a little anxious. However, as it turns out, he’d been holding out to try get a hold of band leader Mick Jones! Obviously, I’d be made up to get Mick’s scribbles – not only did he create some of my favourite records with Big Audio Dynamite, but as chief songwriter of The Clash, Mick wrote a lot of the songs that influenced me during my formative years. Being the humble guy he is, I guess André knew it would mean a lot to me (although once again I did stress that I didn’t expect anything other than the scribbles of Mr Shapps – and now Gary Stonadge).
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get a hold of Mick. A few months went by, but it was always on my mind. Shortly after Christmas, I received a text from André which read “I got mick! I got him!”. I’m not ashamed to say I came over a little manic. I’d got the signature of Mick Jones and André got to reunite with his cousin. Apparently it had been quite a while since André saw Mick and his family, and Jones’ mother happened to be in the country too, visiting from the states where she now resides. I was made up!
“We didn’t really know what my credit would be. My suggestion was “Decomposed by André Shapps”, because taking things apart was really what I did, but Mick wouldn’t go for it. So we settled on ‘Producer’. I’m not really a producer.”
– André Shapps on his creditted role in the band
Anyway, a few weeks passed and again I began to worry about the parcel getting lost in the post. I texted André to find out what was happening (something I didn’t make a habit of because I had no right to pressure a guy who was doing me such a huge favour anyway). In the back of my mind, I was aware that there was still one member that hadn’t signed it – drummer Chris Kavanagh. Yes, you’ve probably cottoned-on by now – André was holding it back for a while to obtain Kavanagh’s scribbles and complete the full set for me. Unfortunately, we both realised it wouldn’t ever be truly complete, as sadly, guitarist Nick Hawkins passed away in 2005 at the age of 40. It’s a terrible shame, and despite his absence, his contributions to Big Audio Dynamite certainly won’t be forgotten. On a lighter note, about a week later I received another text from André. “I tracked Chris down. He was down Portobello Road!”. At last, the full set! He managed to snap a photo of Chris signing my sleeves, and expressed regret at not thinking to do so earlier when Mick and Gary signed them. I can’t be certain, but I think the “x” Chris signed off with is supposed to resemble drumsticks – which my girlfriend found to be a rather cute touch.
Chris Kavanagh Signing My Records
The following week, there was a knock on the door – it was my postie, holding the parcel graffiti-tagged with the BAD II logo. I actually left it lying around the house for two whole days as I just couldn’t bring myself to open it and end what had been building up for over 5 months! This was the first time I’d seen my records since sending them to André, and I couldn’t believe he’d actually carried around all 7 items! I felt both cheeky and extremely lucky! As I previously stated – I genuinely expected him to take ‘The Globe’ LP with him on the road, and then sign a few of the other things personally – but the guy literally carried around 2 LP sleeves, 3 cassette sleeves and 2 CD sleeves. I don’t know how he convinced the guys to sign everything – but they did! A week after I’d posted the original parcel, I’d managed to track down and import a decent copy of ‘Higher Power’ on vinyl which set me back a bit. It’s a shame, If I’d have hung on I could have had that signed too – but that really would be pushing it!
I’m already quite aware it’s an unusual way to go about obtaining signatures, but ultimately it worked out really well as I’ve discovered a lot about André and the band that I wouldn’t have otherwise known as well as having a great story to tell my friends – not to mention some priceless records to pass down to (and hopefully be treasured) by my children. Remember, this all came about as the result of a tongue-in-cheek request – a joke that Shapps actually acquiesced to – and made a mission out of on my behalf! It was an absolute pleasure to correspond with him and to have the opportunity to pick his brain. He inadvertently introduced me to some new music too while discussing his influences and favourite records. Although I don’t wish to continue to bothering him now it’s come to an end, it’s nice to know he’s there, always happy to help!
The Jaydee Mark King Bass Guitar Played By Shapps On Kool Aid/The Globe
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An Interview With: André Shapps
While I had André at hand, I asked if he’d participate in a Q & A. Luckily for me, he obliged – meaning I got to conduct my first original interview for the blog! He was a great sport, providing me with all the salient information, new revelations and some rather interesting anecdotal digressions. I also asked if he could answer my questions with the provision of links to any material he denoted – so there’s a few links to things for you to check out! I had originally planned to channel legendary French interviewer Bernard Pivot, however, I amended my questions to acquire information for BAD fans – for whom this post is a must-read! Ultimately, it makes for a fascinating read full of articulate anecdotes and humorous digressions. He knows how to tell a good story – and a joke!
[Interview conducted February 2019]
What was the first record you ever bought?
‘Top of the Pops Best of 1973’. I bought it on holiday in Malta.
My first single was ‘Rock around the Clock’ when it was released in the early/mid 70s.
What was the first musical instrument you picked up?
Probably the violin when I was 7 – and I gave it up about 6 weeks later [laughs].
Well, what instruments CAN you play?
Well ostensibly I play keyboards, although I always maintain that my position in Big Audio Dynamite was due to me being the least worst keyboard player available. My main instrument is definitely bass, followed by guitar, followed by ukulele. I’ve been working up some standards on my uke – more jazz than George Formby!
And when did you first start making music?
Well it was quite strange actually. I started writing and arranging around the age of 8 or 9, and I got to the age of 15 before I realised that I’d been calling myself a musician for a few years, but couldn’t actually play anything. Then a neighbour gave me an acoustic guitar which I sort of electrified by putting a magnet under the strings and a pieces of wire from the head and bridge ends across all the string and plugged it into my dad’s reel to reel to use as an amp. The record head was in a different place to the playback head, so I could get a delay and learned to play an approximation of Brian May’s Brighton Rock solo. Shortly after than I realised the folly of putting steel strings on a guitar meant for gut strings as I watched it, helpless, fold itself neatly in two one day. That was 1977 as it happens. My school did exchange trips to stay with families in other countries during the holidays, like a lot of schools did, but in our case I went on an exchange to New York and stayed with a guy my age who was a really talented jazz guitarist. He introduced me to a load of muso jazz rock (Weather Report, Return to Forever etc), but mainly he inspired me to learn to play better. Then I joined a jazz band at school and for reasons that escape me, started playing bass, which it turned out I’m much better at than guitar. The guitar I wired up with the magnet picked up Radio Moscow pretty clearly by the way!
What was the first thing you released?
My first proper recording would have been in 1986. Here it is in fact:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoeQtqTmeqE]
I did all the music and scratching – I forgot to mention my early turntablism! Paul Oakenfold was our plugger on that. He used to plug Def Jam in the UK. That was before he was doing music himself. He plugged the follow up too. We paid him £400 to do both of them.
So, when did you first get involved with Big Audio Dynamite, and what was your role?
Mick [Jones] first played BAD stuff to me in 1984 and gave me an early mix of The Bottom Line. I used to hang out with them a bit back then, but my first formal role was roadie in 1985. For some reason Flea drove the band on that first UK tour, so I got to do the backline alone. I had never done backline before and in particular I’d never set up drum kit before the first gig at the Manchester International. I don’t think Greg was impressed [laughs].
Any tales from being on tour? Were you exposed to anything in particular that influenced you?
So I roadied on the 1st UK tour and the mini East Coast (1 gig in Boston, 2 in NY) at the end of 1985. In New York I got to see Jazzy Jay messing around on his decks during the sound check and I loved the way he was creating new songs out of old stuff. The tune he used that stuck in my mind was the theme from the Andy Griffith Show because there was a record out at the time “The Greatest TV Themes Of The 50s & 60s”. I’d already been DJing and scratching since the end of the 70s, but this was a revelation. Also Greg, Dan and I went out around town with the Beastie Boys after the whole band went to the Palladium the day after the gigs. I forget where we went first, but we ended up in a Ukrainian Restaurant called Kiev in the East Village, which was a treat if you came from a Jewish background, as I and the Beasties were, mostly. Rather charmingly, Adam Yauch was driving us around in their mother’s car. I asked them how old they were and one of the others replied “We’re 16 and he’s 17”, although on reflection either they were lying or my memory has been playing tricks ever since because they must have been 2 or 3 years older than that if their wikipedia pages are correct. The last show I crewed on was the AAA one on Clapham Common in 1986 (you can see me in the video if you look hard enough), but by then I was already in the process of releasing my first record. BAD were, of course, recording their 2nd album in Soho.
When did Mick Jones ask you to work with him as a musical contributor?
In April ’86 there was a mini West Coast tour that I couldn’t resist going on and that meant leaving my nice, secure software job – the gigs at the end of ’85 I’d done during holiday that I took from work. When I got back I spent my tour money on a pair of SL1200 decks and a mixer to begin my hip hop “career”. Which I did for a couple of years – my second record reaching the giddy heights of #96 in the singles charts. Then I realised that i could probably be making a living if I wasn’t spending so much of what I was earning on studio time and decided to buy my own setup, for which I needed a lone and to get a loan I needed something called a job, so in early mid ’88, just as acid was breaking big time, I returned to the software company I’d previously worked for and bought the studio gear. Over the next couple of years I did a few tunes, mostly with input from Oli, the guy credited as co-producer on some of the Kool-Aid and TheGlobe tracks. The two that got us the most attention were a bootleg mix of Alexander O’Neill & Cherrelle’s “Saturday Love” and a version of “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” in the style of Philip Glass.The latter of those is the tune that prompted Mick to ask me to work with him.Well – that and then Dan left the fold (having hung in there for a while after Don, Leo and Greg left to do Screaming Target) just after BAD were offered the Prince tour. Mick turned up at my studio on Talbot Road one day with an Akai MPC something-or-other sequencer (now I think about it, my dad’s reel to reel I used to play my first guitar through was also an Akai), told me about the Prince tour and said “We need help with this thing because we have the combined brain power of a pea”
That’s actually completely untrue – Mick is most certainly one of the most intelligent people I know. Probably genetic! As is well documented, not least on track 2 of The Globe (Can’t Wait), the Prince tour didn’t happen. For some reason I was round at Mick’s one day and he asked me to work with him, citing Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. We didn’t really know what my credit would be at that moment. My suggestion was “Decomposed by André Shapps”, because taking things apart was really what I did, but Mick wouldn’t go for it. So we settled on “producer”. I’m not really a producer. My “production” was basically an excuse to play every kind of music I’d ever liked however I felt like doing it.
Do you have a favourite of the records you made with BAD?
Well I’m split between Kool-Aid and The Globe. Kool-Aid has a fretless bass solo on it – that shouldn’t be a reason to like something, but I’ll make an exception in this case. Wow, a reasonably concise answer!
Very concise! Do you have a particular favourite song from these albums?
Favourite track, hmm. If I say ‘I Don’t Know’ I’m being literal rather than giving you the answer [laughs]. I’m torn between Can’t Wait, In My Dreams, and When the Time Comes. I’ve heard Rush and The Globe too many times to be objective!
There are a lot of samples, particularly on Kool-Aid/The Globe – who contributed these samples, and who is the Kraftwerk fan?
Samples on Kool-Aid and The Globe – that was mostly, though not exclusively, me – mainly because beyond the recording of the raw tracks I was either alone in my studio or with Mick. If I listened through I could probably tell you who selected what.
Is that a possible YouTube video in the making? André Shapps spending 50 minutes listening to and dissecting every sample on The Globe?
Ha ha! The most boring video ever! Actually one of my favourite tracks didn’t make the cut, “Treat me Right“
While we’re on the subject, what’s the deal with Kool-Aid & The Globe? Marketing?
I’m not sure I have a plausible explanation actually. I know it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Are you still involved in music? What’s new from DJ Shapps?
I joined a band playing some sort of as yet undefined modern-jazz as it happens. I mainly play with Loretta Heywood, who was the singer with Bomb the Bass on the tunes that had lyrics (actually she wrote a lot of them). She’s in the jazz band and also in another band where we play standards, reggae, soul and the odd Bomb the Bass tune. That band usually involves a couple of members of Transglobal Underground and occasionally Skip McDonald (“Liittle Axe”), most interesting to me because he was the guitarist in the Sugar Hill Band. Sadly the one record he didn’t play on was Rapper’s Delight. Loretta always manages to get great musicians around her for some reason!
Do you follow soccer, and if so, what team?
I’ve only ever been to one football match in this country [England] – a Division 3 match between Watford v Grimsby in 1975. The next match I went to was with Mick to see the 1994 Ireland Italy match at Giants Stadium when he and I went to New York to mix some of Higher Power (none of those mixes were used). All the other games I’ve been to have been to see Hammarby while visiting our close Swedish musician friends in the late 90s and early 00s.
Any regrets?
Regrets – um – I don’t think so actually!
Thanks for taking part!
It’s my pleasure [smiles]
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I realise this post is “slightly” long and somewhat personal, but hopefully you’ve enjoyed hearing about my experience. Oh, and just to give some veracity to the unicycle thing – here’s a photo of André with his trusty wheel – and if you venture down Portobello Road you’ll probably find him speeding around on it. Thanks for reading!
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