Listen: People Just Do Something – Sound against the system – punk, rave and Dave from Faithless
Nearly 40 years on, Dave Randall, the guitarist from Faithless, can remember the moment that cemented his path onto a lifelong journey from his Essex childhood into music and activism – captured in his 2017 book Sound System – The Political Power of Music.
“I went to a festival when I was about 14, and the DJ dropped the song ‘Nelson Mandela’ by the Special AKA – Jerry Dammers, the Specials – it’s the song we probably all remember as ‘Free Nelson Mandela, that’s the chorus,” he explains on this week’s episode of People Just Do Something.
“I had no idea who Nelson Mandela was,” admits Dave, who now lives in Bristol. “But I knew by the end of the first chorus that I wanted him to be free!”
The 1980s, when that formative incident took place, was a very different era, for good and bad. Thatcher’s bleak economic policies were helping to shape the world in which most of us have ended up spending our lives. Meanwhile far more extreme right-wing groups regularly stalked Britain’s inner-city streets – scenes that were shockingly resurrected during this summer’s unrest.
But music provided an arena for very tangible pushback whether through left-wing figureheads such as Billy Bragg, or the grassroots Rock Against Racism movement. Then, in the late 80s, the dawning of the rave scene birthed a new countercultural movement – which saw a huge backlash from government, culminating in the 1994 Criminal Justice Act that sought to ban gatherings based around “repetitive beats”.
What, in Dave’s opinion, became of that utopian outlaw spirit? Years later, what were the events that led Faithless to take a stand by refusing to perform in Israel? And in a time of streaming platforms and corporate festival sponsorship, does music still retain any political bite?
Tune into this week’s episode to find out the answers – and to discover whether Priyanka can stop her co-host Isaac from dragging Dave down a wormhole of misty-eyed rave reminiscence.
The first series of People Just Do Something will run from August to October, with six episodes coming out every two weeks. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
