Acme Attractions

By Don Letts and Jeannette Lee

Acme Attractions tells the story of a place, and its people, that found themselves at the heart of one of the country’s great cultural moments. While living and working through a now-legendary period of the capital’s history, Don Letts and Jeannette Lee found themselves simultaneously experiencing the pleasures and pitfalls of youth while witnessing the birth and heady, early excitement of punk. Their story, told here through a conversation that is warm, intelligent and compelling, touches on the revolutionary feelings of that time, as fashion, politics, music and art were all re-made in real time and, as we now know, things would never be the same again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rough Trade Books
• Release date: Mar 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781912722969

Don Letts

Don Letts is firmly established in the film and music world from the late ‘70s through to the millennium. In 1977 he turned a generation of punks onto reggae as DJ at The Roxy—the UK’s first punk club. That led to his first film The Punk Rock Movie with Sex Pistols, The Clash and others. He went on to direct over 300 music videos for artists ranging from Public Image Limited to Bob Marley. In the ‘80s he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones (ex-Clash). Don’s documentaries include films on Gil Scott-Heron, Sun Ra and George Clinton. In 1997 he scored a hit in Jamaica with his first feature film Dancehall Queen and in 2003 he won a Grammy for his Clash documentary Westway To The World. Along with Culture Clash Radio—his weekly show on BBC 6 Music—Don still DJs internationally and continues making films. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to British culture.