Bernard Rhodes: Difference between revisions

'''Bernard Rhodes''' is a designer, band manager, designer, studio owner, record producer and songwriter who was integral to the development of the [[punk rock]] scene in the United Kingdom from the middle 1970s.<ref name="bl">{{cite web |title=Me, Punk and the World: Bernard Rhodes in Conversation |url=https://www.bl.uk/events/me-punk-and-the-world-bernard-rhodes-in-conversation |publisher=[[British Library]] |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> He is most associated with two of the UK's best known and influential punk bands, the [[Sex Pistols]] and [[The Clash]]. RhodesAccording was responsible for discoveringto [[John Lydon]], andRhodes arrangingwas hisresponsible auditionfor discovering him in the [[King'sKings Road]] and arranging the audition which led to Lydonhis joining the Sex Pistols.{{sfn|Lydon|1993|p=75}} HeRhodes introduced [[Joe Strummer]]<ref name{{sfn|Knowles|2003|p="k121" />121}} to [[Mick Jones (The Clash)|Mick Jones]] and [[Paul Simonon]], who with [[Keith Levene]] then formed [[The Clash]].

Rhodes was an important force behind The Clash not only managing their business but also guiding their marketing and creative direction.<ref name="k121">{{sfn|Knowles(|2003). |p. =121.</ref>}} 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.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2005|p=78}} In 1981 singer Joe Strummer demanded his return to the Clash or he would quit the group.

He is also known in Brazil for his friendship with [[Supla]] and baptising the band "Brothers of Brazil".

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 Aa Trip]] was her apprentice.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2005|p=81}}

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.'{{sfn|Lydon|1993|pp=117–118}}

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!".{{Sfn|Adams|2009}} Dexys Midnight Runners' single "Dance Stance" was released in 1979 on the Oddball Productions label owned by Rhodes.{{Sfn|White|2007|p=205}} He later signed the group to EMI Records.

During the late seventies he opened Club Left in Wardour Street [[Soho]].{{Sfn|G Spot|1993|p=39}} Club Left performances included [[Dig Wayne]], [[Anne Pigalle ]], Tom Cat, Lady Blue, Johnny Britton, [[Sade Adu|Sade]], [[Bananarama]], [[Georgie Fame]] and [[Slim Gaillard]]. The regular house band was Vic Godard and the Subway Sect.

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'.{{Sfn|The Clash|2008|p=290}} 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 "Scratch" Perry|Lee Perry]] and [[Funkapolitan]]. Rhodes states that it was because of these Bonds NYC shows that the public became more interested in [[hip hop music|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'.{{sfn|Gruen|2001|p=241}} The record company were not behind the triple album ''[[Sandinista!]]'' recorded in Rhodes's absence{{sfn|Gruen|2001|p=240}} but [[Kosmo Vinyl]] states that with the Bonds NYC residency, The Clash 'clawed their way back into the Premiership'.{{sfn|Gruen|2001|p=242}}

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.{{Sfn|Salewicz|2006|pp=373-375}}

The Clash's last album, ''[[Cut the Crap]]'' (1985), (originally ''Out of Control'')<ref name="j334">Jucha (2016), p. 334</ref> was produced by Rhodes under the name of 'Jose Unidos'. He also co-wrote all of the songs with Strummer.<ref name="RS">Gehr, Richard; Greene, Andy; Harris, Keith; [[Maura Johnston|Johnston, Maura]]; Newman, Jason; Weingarten, Christopher R. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/22-terrible-songs-by-great-artists-20160615/the-clash-we-are-the-clash-1985-20160615 22 Terrible Songs by Great Artists]". ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', 15 June 2016. [https://web.archive.org/web20190105094247/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/22-terrible-songs-by-great-artists-20368/the-clash-we-are-the-clash-1985-32110/ Archived] from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2017</ref>

The standout track, "“[[This Is England (song)|This isIs England]]"”, was co-written by Strummer and Rhodes,<ref name="RS">Gehr, Richard; Greene, Andy; Harris, Keith; [[Maura Johnston|Johnston, Maura]]; Newman, Jason; Weingarten, Christopher R. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/22-terrible-songs-by-great-artists-20160615/the-clash-we-are-the-clash-1985-20160615 22 Terrible Songs by Great Artists]". ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', 15 June 2016. [https://web.archive.org/web20190105094247/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/22-terrible-songs-by-great-artists-20368/the-clash-we-are-the-clash-1985-32110/ Archived] from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2017</ref> and described by Strummer as the 'last great Clash song'.<ref name="still">Spencer, Neil; Brown, James. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/oct/29/popandrock Why the Clash are still Rock Titans]". ''[[The Guardian]]'', 29 October 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190419212603/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/oct/29/popandrock Archived] from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019</ref><ref name="Popoff2018">Popoff (2018), p. 226</ref> 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 [[Jobseeker's Allowance|the dole]]."<ref name="SL">Samuels, Lennox. "The Clash's New Album Proves Musically Apt, Politically Irrelevant". ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', 24 November 1985</ref> 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."<ref name="vul">Wyman, Bill. "[https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/all-139-the-clash-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html 139 the Clash Songs, Ranked from Worst to Best]". ''[[Vulture.com|Vulture]]'', 11 October 2017. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171011193355/https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/all-139-the-clash-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html Archived] from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019</ref>

In 1990, Rhodes relocated from Los Angeles to [[Atlanta, Georgia]] where Doug Watts, lead singer of the [[black metal]] band [[Naked Truth (band)|Naked Truth]], asked him for help. Rhodes brought in a new bass player and rehearsed the band over several months. He independently produced the album 'Green with Rage', and secured a deal for the band with Sony Records.{{Sfn|RiffRaff | 1992}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Coon |first1=Caroline |author-link1=Caroline Coon |title=1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion |url=http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1976%20DATES.html |access-date=19 September 2011 |year=1977 |publisher=Hawthorn |location=London |isbn=0-8015-6129-9 |oclc=79262599 |archive-date=26 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026052834/http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1976%20DATES.html |url-status=dead }}

* {{cite book |last=Knowles, |first=Chris. ''|title=Clash City Showdown''. |location=London: |publisher=PageFree, |year=2003. {{ISBN|isbn=978-1-5896-1138-2}}

* {{cite book |last=Vermorel |first=Fred & Judy |title=Sex Pistols The Inside Story |orig-year=1978 |edition=3rd |year=1987 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=9780711-910904 |url=https://archive.org/details/sexpistolsinside00verm }}

* {{cite book |last=Westwood & Kelly |first=Vivienne & Ian |title=Vivienne Westwood |year=2014 |publisher=[[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] |location=London |isbn=9781-44-7254126 }}

* {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|Punknews.org|2010}} |url=http://www.punknews.org/review/973/the-clash-super-black-market-clash |title=The Clash – Super Black Market Clash |date=24 May 2002 |publisher=Punknews.org}}

* {{cite web |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/vivienne-westwood-in-malcolm-mclaren-funeral-216762 |title=Vivienne Westwood in Malcolm McLaren funeral row |newspaper=Daily Mirror|date=23 April 2010 }}