THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

867-Big Audio Dynamite-E=MC2.

1986-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 3.37. You don’t have to be an Albert Einstein to work out just how good this song is.

Big Audio Dynamite, which is often abbreviated to ‘BAD,’ were formed in London, England, in 1984, by Mick Jones, following his dismissal from ‘The Clash’ (see also best songs 638 and 294). Big Audio Dynamite, who would later become ‘Big Audio Dynamite II,’ and then ‘Big Audio,’ were active between 1984-1990, as ‘Big Audio Dynamite,’ and then between 1990-1993 as ‘Big Audio Dynamite II,’ and then as ‘Big Audio,’ between 1994-1995, they then became ‘Big Audio Dynamite’ again between 1996-1998, in 2011 the group reformed as ‘Big Audio Dynamite’ once more. In total there have been 13 different members come and go, with Mick Jones being the groups one constant.

The discography of ‘Big Audio Dynamite’ in all of it’s different guises, includes nine studio Albums released between 1985-1999, and 17 singles issued between 1985-1998, there are also seven official compilation Albums, and three live Albums available. In the UK, ‘Big Audio Dynamite’ have had two top 40 singles, with ‘Medicine Show’ from 1986, being their other chart entry, when peaking at Number 29. In 1991 their track ‘Rush’ was released as a double ‘A’ sided single with ‘The Clash’s’ song ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go,’ which went all the way to Number 1 in the UK, but the UK charts official compilers ruled against ‘Rush’ being granted Number 1 status as it was not a song by ‘The Clash,’ and therefore it was officially seen as the ‘B’ side for chart purposes. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,’Rush’ was granted double ‘A’ sided status, and charted at Number 32, giving them their only top 40 hit in that country, although seven of their songs have made the Billboard ‘Alternative Airplay’ chart, with ‘Rush,’ and ‘Just Play Music’ from 1988, both reaching Number 1.

Mick Jones was born Michael Geoffrey Jones, on June 26th, 1955, in Wandsworth, London, England. His first venture in to music was as a guitarist with the ‘Glam Rock’ band ‘Delinquents,’ in the early 1970’s. He then met Tony James, (see also best songs 163) and formed the ‘Proto-Punk’ group, ‘London SS,’ until they split in 1976. When Jones was 21 years old in 1976, he was introduced to Joe Strummer, (1952-2002) and later that year the pair were two of the co-founders of ‘The Clash.’ In 1983 Jones was fired by ‘The Clash,’ and became a founding member of ‘General Public,’ where he appeared on their debut Album ‘All the Rage,’ before leaving to form ‘Big Audio Dynamite.’ Other projects that Mick Jones has been involved in, include, performing with the ‘Gorillaz,’ ‘The Justice Tonight Band,’ and ‘The Flaming Lips.’

‘E=MC2’ was co-written by Mick Jones, and fellow band member Don Letts, with the production credited to Jones. The song was the second of three singles released from ‘This Is Big Audio Dynamite,’ the debut studio Album from ‘Big Audio Dynamite,’ from November 1985. The majority of the lyrics to ‘E=MC2’ were written by Don Letts, and the song is a tribute to the English film director, and cinematographer, Nicolas Roeg (1928-2018.) The lyrics refer to several of Roeg’s films, including, ‘Performance,’ (1970) ‘Walkabout,’ (1971) ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth,’ (1976) and ‘Bad Timing’ (1980.) ‘E=MC2’ also heavily samples dialogue from the 1970 film ‘Performance,’ which starred Mick Jagger (see also best songs 933-662-452-160 and 77.)

‘E=MC2’ is Albert Einstein’s (1879-1955) formula that made Nuclear Power possible. It states that energy (E) is equivalent to mass (M) times the square of the speed of light (C.) In other words, matter is energy, and mass is the measure of an object’s energy. (After reading that, I think I had best stick to my music.)

‘Space guy fell from the sky, scratched my head and wondered why. Time slides into time, across international dateline. Scientist eats bubblegum, hall of fame, baseball Senator’s a hoodlum, big chiefs in the hall.’