Don Letts on Notting Hill Carnival, Bob Marley and the cultural impact of Reggae

LONDON’s melting pot of music and art is in danger from gentrification and local authorities’ absurd restrictions on nightlife.

Luckily, we still have Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place at the end of this month.

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MARK GWINNETT caught up with Grammy-winning film director, DJ and presenter Don Letts, who has worked with Bob Marley and The Clash, to talk Notting Hill Carnival and his Reggae 45 podcast. You can listen to the latest instalment of the podcast .

You recently celebrated 50 years of Trojan Records with your Reggae 45 podcast. How does it feel to see such an iconic label reach this milestone?

My parents were of the Windrush Generation invited to the UK to help rebuild the country after World War Two. They brought their hope, dreams and culture to a land that was all Andy Capp and “Knees up, Mother Brown” and ultimately it was their culture as typified by Trojan Records that helped them assimilate.

What have been Trojan’s highlights for you?

Its first UK hit with Tony Tribe’s Red, Red Wine in 1969, because my white skinhead mates were digging it too – I’m talking about the fashion version of skinheads, not the fascist one years later. The next year Trojan had a hit with Bob Andy and Marcia Griffith’s Young, Gifted And Black when I was just 14 – an empowering record for a black kid trying to work out where he stood in racially tense times. Then in 1971 Trojan scored its first UK No1 single with Dave and Ansell Collins’ Double Barrel. That gave me musical equity with my white mates because now it was “my” music that was rocking the joint.

You have worked with Bob Marley, The Clash and John Lydon. Who had the biggest impact on you?

Those people and all the others I’ve been fortunate to work with are all part of who I am today and, as I’m as old as rock ’n’ roll, that’s a lot of people.

Tell us more about Reggae 45 podcasts. I understand the next centres on Notting Hill Carnival?

My excursion into podcasts is relatively new. I did a series called Joining The Dots – conversational pieces with interesting folk – and for Turtle Bay I’ve done a four-part reggae series, a Trojan Special and recently a Carnival Session which are all more music-driven. Next stop, Lovers Rock.

Please share some Notting Hill Carnival memories with us.

I’ve been going for nearly 50 years. I remember walking the streets with Bob Marley, rocking till midnight to the live sound of Aswad’s Warrior Charge and being in the frontline of the riots in ’76. Back in the day, one of my favourite spots before gentrification used to be the junction of All Saints Road and Westbourne Park Road – sound systems piled high on every corner, as a steel band pulls in. Tree-lined West London got a slap upside the head as calypso, soul, soca, ragga, reggae and hip-hop fought for space.

How important has the carnival been for spreading the sound and culture of reggae?

It’s the perfect place to chart the evolution of urban music in the UK, to find what’s hot and what’s not, and many tunes have been “made” by carnival.

How influential is reggae in contemporary music?

The sonic experiments created in Jamaica are now part of the fabric of popular music. Putting the bass centre stage, using the mixing desk as an instrument in itself, the art of rap, all started in Jamaica.

What is Notting Hill Carnival’s cultural legacy?

Carnival charts the journey of multi-culturalism in London and the UK. It’s a testament to culture’s role in uniting the people. We get closer by understanding our differences, not by trying to be the same.

What bits of the carnival are not to be missed?

The floats and their followers. A great deal of work goes into what is the heart of carnival, reminding us it’s not just about partying, as many floats have social themes both local and global. Carnival’s not a spectator sport. You get out of it what you put in. Like life, if you just stand and stare it’ll pass you by.

You can listen to Don Letts and Turtle Bay’s Reggae 45 podcasts on now.