Culture That Made Me: Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers picks his touchstone influences
Jake Burns and Stiff Little Fingers.
Jake Burns, 65, grew up in Belfast. In 1977, he co-founded the punk band Stiff Little Fingers.
The classic single ‘Alternative Ulster’ appeared on their first album, Inflammable Material, a seminal record in the catalogue of Rough Trade Records.
Burns now lives in Chicago with his second wife.
- Stiff Little Fingers will perform with special guest Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, etc) on Thursday, August 17, at Cyprus Avenue, Cork; and the Academy, Dublin on August 18. See: www.cyprusavenue.ie
I remember when I was about 12 years old. It was about 1970.
I was watching the football results on Saturday afternoon and straight after they finished, I got up to leave the front room and this sound started from the television.
The BBC had recorded Taste’s farewell concert from Queen’s University and they were showing it.
I froze in my tracks: What is that sound? I turned around and sat down. I was transfixed.
From that point on, I remember looking at Rory and thinking I want to be that guy.
It was his honesty. He was for real. There was no showboating.
I played Rory’s first album late last night. He’s still with me to this day.
As a boy, I disliked Hank Williams heartily because he was my dad's favourite artist.
His music was in the background all the time in a lot of Irish households – country and western music was huge then, and still is.
It’s only looking back now I realise how much I was influenced by him.
On some level, he permeated my brain. Country music is something I listen to a lot now.
It’s the “three chords and the truth” thing that a lot of artists like Hank Williams lived and died by.
It struck a chord with me.
I’m a sucker for David Lean’s epics.
Lawrence of Arabia would be the one that jumps out. It's a magnificent film.
I don’t know how true to T.E. Lawrence’s life it is, but it’s a great story.
The performances are fantastic. Peter O’Toole is incredible.
You can see why the women of the world – and quite a few men – were head over heels about him.
I don't think I've seen more piercing eyes in all my life than in that movie.
It's an astonishing piece of work – the scale, the scope of it.
It's a film I can sit and watch over and over again, even though it takes up an entire afternoon.
Around 1974-75, I was getting fed up listening to heavy metal bands – the Black Sabbaths and Led Zeppelins – because it all seemed to be endless guitar solos.
I heard Dr. Feelgood for the first time and it was an electric shock.
I was a perfect recruit for when punk rock turned up because at stage suddenly the short, sharp shock of the three-minute rock'n'roll song was right up my street.
The sound of the guitar from Dr. Feelgood drew me in straight away.
As a live act – I only saw them with Wilko once – they were electrifying.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw The Clash play. I was electrified by Joe Strummer.
Just the sheer energy that came off the stage.
It was also the passion for what he did as well.
Without being too big-headed, I was getting to the stage, as regards guitar-playing, where I was thinking, I can never be Rory Gallagher, but I can probably do what The Clash are doing.
The great thing as well about The Clash was that they had a fire about them.
They were writing songs that pertained to their own lives. That was a big turning point for me.
I automatically buy anything by Ian McEwan.
I read a lot when I was a kid. Going to the library with my mum was my favourite time of the week.
I got out of the habit once music entered my life; I stopped reading books altogether.
When the band started taking off, my girlfriend at the time was at university.
She was a big reader. She couldn't believe that as a songwriter I didn't read books.
She was slightly outraged. I mentioned to her I'd read a short story in a magazine – Reflections of a Kept Ape by Ian McEwan.
Long story short, in the next couple of days she bought me a copy of the book where that short story came from, In Between the Sheets. I devoured it.
From that point on, I got back into reading.
Bob Dylan’s songwriting was peerless. People say, “Oh, he writes great songs, but the man can't sing.”
I love his voice. I hugely admire him, but I could never do what he does. I could never write with that level of skill.
What he writes is poetry. The imagery is incredible.
If I was only allowed to listen to one song for the rest of my life it would be Like a Rolling Stone. You get impression he had a specific person in mind when he wrote that song, and it wasn't somebody he was particularly well disposed to.
There's a lot of venom in that whole “How does it feel?” chorus, which seems to get more and more vindictive as the song goes on. It's such a glorious putdown. It’s so beautifully done.
I love Alfred Hitchcock movies. I love, for example, North by Northwest.
It's almost like the precursor to the Indiana Jones movies.
It's a real thrill ride. I love Cary Grant so I'll watch anything with him in it.
A book that struck me was Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernières.
They made a lame-ass movie of the book, they missed so much out in it.
I read it on vacation. It's probably the only book I've read that reduced me to tears. I wept like a kid.
It's hugely moving and beautifully written.
The World at War is a documentary series that ITV did in the 1970s. It was narrated by Laurence Olivier. It’s an incredible piece of work.
I've read a lot of stuff pertaining to World War II. My parents lived through the war.
People of my generation, our parents’ memories were completely focused on – and informed – by World War II.
It was such a huge event obviously. So when it was shown, it was required viewing.
At least every other year, I'll rewatch The World at War. I'll sit down from episode one and just go right through it. It's amazing.
