Billy Bragg
February 10, 2018
Earlier this week it was International Clash Day - so this week on Teenage Kicks - a songwriter inspired by the Clash: the great Billy Bragg.
He started as a punk with a band called Riff Raff back in 1977, but after they broke up in 1980 he found himself working in a record store and actually trying out the army for a few months, he started busking around London solo, accompanied by electric guitar.
He posed as a TV repairmen to get in to see Peter Jenner, who had once managed Pink Floyd - Jenner put out his first record - Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy, and... nothing really happened.
Then one day Billy heard legendary BBC host John Peel say he was hungry on the radio, and he rushed to the studio bearing Indian food - and Peel played his record on the air - at the wrong speed. He later corrected that mistake, but soon, Billy's career was off and running.
Mixing pop and politics with the best, he had toured the world, collaborated with Wilco, REM, Joe Henry and others, written a book about Skiffle, and continues at age 60 to shake up the status quo with great songs and spirit.