Hello again and thanks for stopping by to the Clash Blog. Seems that Q Magazine article (see the previous post) about the ’20 greatest front men in rock history’ has brought out the knives amongst you – though I can’t fathom quite how bad the overall list was coupled with the fact that Joe Strummer didn’t make the top 1o. I’ve tried to conjure up a suitable reply to Q in hopes that it will get published but every time I start a letter I realise its heading rapidly into abuse such is the paucity of the list they compiled. So how was your Monday then? Ours was a bit shite to be honest, major home restoration and repair issues have left the inner third of our house with these bizarre air chambers so they can demolish some internal walls. The house was built in 1958 and to our joy it seems we have asbestos in the construction so they have to wear the yellow boiler suits tomorrow for their safety before tearing down the walls that need work. Not sure if I’m more concerned about my health or what the eventual costs of these repairs will run to – either way I intend to play some Devo when they arrive in the morning and hope to get some photos for the blog.

Onto sunnier news – a whole series of interviews with Don Letts recorded while he was supporting the Strummerville invasion of SXSW and promoting the documentary about the charity were released last week. I’d meant to get that posted a few days ago but those other stories cropped up. There were 4 videos in total posted the first is beneath:

The first part above is about Don’s time with Big Audio Dynamite. In part two he gives a quick overview of the Strummerville film, and then he talks more about music in general and getting involved – not just in music but in our society as a whole (passive consumerism is the phrase he chucks in there). Part four he delves a bit deeper into the foundation that is Strummerville Sorry to have you click all over the place but I’ve never liked the aesthetics of 4 consecutive youtube clips on a blog post. Trust me it won’t take more than 7 minutes of your time to watch all of the clips and Letts is on great form overall. I’ll dig out some reviews of the film in the days ahead and share them with you.

Apart from that, its worth making the official rumour official – Mick Jones and Paul Simonon will be appearing at Coachella as part of Gorillaz next month in the desert of Southern California and I do believe that tickets are still available. They headline on the final evening of the three day extravaganza which is set somewhat coincidentally less than 100 miles from the last official performance of The Clash at the US Festival back in 1983. I’m far more interested in getting tickets for the warm up show a few days prior in Los Angeles – details still pending but I’ll keep you posted. If you’re in Los Angeles and know more than I do at present drop me a line. That said I’d rather like to see Pavement too, who are 2nd on the bill that last night. Pavement…don’t get me started, probably my favourite American band of the 90′s.

Alright – sorry for short post but I better pack it in for the day before the arrival of the boiler suits tomorrow. If I miss a day this week with an update it may be because they had to seal off the second bathroom and relocate us to a hotel for a night or two. Bloody marvelous fun I tell you.

Good Morning, hope you are in good spirits this weekend? I’ve had better weeks and then my chosen football club allowed a 92nd minute goal yesterday which confirmed a bad 3 day spell. If you are from Birmingham or support BUFC please take my frustration with you on this day (especially Aston Villa who rolled over for Chelsea to allow seven (!) goals at the bus stop in Fulham). Enough about me and football let’s instead focus on some Clash related news as its decidedly more upbeat.

Don Letts interviewing Joe Strummer

Where to begin then? I need to thank a Clash Blog reader named Anja for sending in news of the documentary about Don Letts that is coming out this Summer. Its titled ‘Superstonic Sound – The Rebel Dread documentary’ and based on the preview it looks excellent. Every single time a film like this gets made I start lamenting I don’t live in the UK, New York or Los Angeles as seeing independent films in much of the US can be a serious challenge at best. The film is scheduled to be previewed at the Roundhouse in London on June 7th, the official tag for the film is a Documentary film on Don Letts and his family legacy. From Dub To Punk; A journey with the legendary DJ who witnessed Britain’s Culture Clash. The paths of the The Clash has been nicely intertwined now for over 30 years and it looks to be a film that Clash fans will want to see. Read a lot more via the official site – here is the overview:

Don Letts is an unsung hero of British music. “Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread” is a documentary about the Letts family legacy that mirrors the history of BASS in the UK from Dub, Reggae and Punk to 80s pop, Hip Hop and Dubstep; a musical, cultural and personal link between past and present. Don’s father was amongst the first Jamaican immigrants to Britain and he brought his sound system with him, introducing London to Jamaican Dub with its heavy BASS accent.

Don grew up in Brixton, immersed in Dub and Reggae. In the context of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech and KBW – Keep Britain White – grafitied across the walls of London, Don became the lone Rebel Dread crossing musical and cultural boundaries between black and white. He became DJ at the first Punk club, the legendary “Roxy” where in between live Punk sets, he played hard core Dub-Reggae and fortunately for him…

“The Punk kids liked it. They liked the obvious anti-establishment vibe, they liked the BASS lines and they didn’t mind the weed either.”His son Jet, now 24, is trying to make it as a DJ and producer of Dubstep – the latest sound in British music and a direct descendant of Dub, Reggae and Hip Hop. If Reggae was black music and Punk was white guys influenced by Jamaican music, Dubstep is perhaps the first true combination of black and white musical and cultural traditions in today’s post-racial London.

Three generations of DJ; the Letts family has been an integral part of British music for over 50 years. Their story IS the story of BASS in British music.

The preview should get your blood flowing too !

Many of us enjoyed the Mick Jones Rock and Roll public library last summer under the Westway. Whether you were able to attend personally or viewed the many videos and articles (we did quite a few!) that were online it was the second chance to get a unique view of Clash and cultural memorabilia that Mick Jones had gathered together over the decades. For over 9 months I’ve seen some clamour for the exhibition to go mobile (although not sure if crossing the Atlantic will happen it would be lovely to see) I’ve got some good news as it will be heading to East Anglia in the late Spring. While you might expect the exhibition to make it to Manchester, Glasgow or the Midlands in contrast you can find it in Norwich later this year. Specifically the Rock and Roll Library will be presented from 13 April to 22 May at the Norwich University College of the Arts. Full details available via the site and we’ll note this on the calendar nearer the time. I’m hoping that this signals we can expect other cities to be visited soon, the initial choice of Norwich is an interesting one. If you are in the states its a bit like finding out that after New York the first city the exhibition visits is Des Moines (not to offend Iowans but trying to draw an analogy) as Norwich is a small city of 135,000 in East Anglia  fairly remote from much of England though fairly near to Cambridge, Ipswich and Peterborough (hmmm that just reinforces my point).

I’m just gathering other info from Austin – but to close for now this really pissed me off (as I already mentioned on the Facebook page). Q Magazine published a list for the ‘greatest frontman of all time’ as voted for by their readers. While I appreciate that the list of twenty names was compiled in 2010 I sincerely assumed that Joe Strummer would make the the top five even though 5th would be a bit of a sham. The actual results tell me more about Q readers than about the history of Rock and Roll but you might be amazed. Who would be your top five? Here are Q Magazine’s (more on this here) top 20.

1) Liam Gallagher
2) Bono
3) Freddie Mercury
4) Damon Albarn
5) Chris Martin
6) Matt Bellamy (Muse)
7) Jim Morrison Bob Marley
9) Paul McCartney
10) John Lennon
11) Robbie Williams
12) Debbie Harry
13) Mick Jagger
14) Morrissey
15) John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon
16) James Brown
17) Bruce Springsteen
18) Robert Plant
19) Tom Meighan (Kasabian)
20) Joe Strummer

Strummer in 20th? Hard to fathom or even consider, Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, Kasabian’s singer? Come on…what a pile of shit, time to write to Q – I’ve long ceased reading the photo-heavy journalism-light mag. Here’s my top 5 just off the top of my head based only on bands that I’ve seen live:

1 – Joe Strummer 2 – Damon Albarn 3 – Jarvis Cocker 4 – Morrissey 5 – David Gedge

Love to hear your list ~ be back soon and cheers for stopping in.

Good Evening and thanks for stopping by the blog. Its just ticked on over to Saturday as I write this at the end of a quite brutal 48 hours ~ complete with 48 thrills. Our house is falling down, the clash blogettes ex is a pathetic lunatic and I broke an E string on my guitar. Tomorrow will be better I’m sure of it. So let me try again to share some news cos I owe you that.

Thanks to Prince Blanco who is the man behind the Shatter The Hotel project for sending me a great article I wanted to share. Mark dug out this piece from the SourceMag.net about the ‘West London Rock and Roll Tour’ which heavily features The Clash. London as you’d expect is literally full to the rafters with locations relevant to Clash fans or in truth music fans of all persuasions. When I was younger I used to frequently have to drive past the tree where Marc Bolan lost his life and sing (out of key of course) a bit of Telegram Sam, you just feel the history around you. The article is a good introduction to places connected with Clash folklore but the list is endless, I might need to expand on that as an idea within the blog. I’ve always loved to visit pubs, clubs and music venues armed with a bit of knowledge about the history of the place, it just adds to the enjoyment. West London naturally is crawling with Clash points of interest from the squats occupied by Joe right through to Acton Town Hall where he played one last time on stage with Mick Jones. It wasn’t coincidence that I lived in West London throughout my twenties, I’ve always preferred North London but felt a need to be in Clash territory.

South by Southwest has rolled out of Austin for another year and for Clash fans it was the most relevant event yet. Jail Guitar Doors USA got an introduction, Strummerville had music showcases to promote the mission (and the acts) associated with the charity, and the premiere of the Don Letts documentary about Strummerville was unveiled. On that topic don’t forget to send in any questions you have for me to ask Trish Whelan the charity director of Strummerville who I’ll be interviewing for the blog in the very near future, additional details are right here. I’ll put aside some time this weekend to tie up the loose ends of SXSW, for the time being can I recommend a fantastic article written by friend of the blog Cathey who made it to Austin and wrote her account of events from a very Clashcentric perspective. She’s a great writer and her piece made me kick myself in the arse once again for not being there to share a pint and enjoy the festivities. Best of all it served as a reminder that great music didn’t stop in 1978, 1982, 1996 (I’ve heard all the arguments) but that it continues every single day – we just have to perhaps look a bit harder than before to find it as we lose our John Peels and Joe Strummers who served as our guides.

A quick favour if you have five minutes and enjoy the blog? Seems we’re nominated for “best pop culture blog” and I’d love if you can cast a quick vote. Apparently its quite painless if you can visit this site and choose ‘pop culture blogs’ from the left hand margin you should fine me. Thanks ~

I’ll be back after what I hope is another Arsenal win in a few hours with more stuff ~ have a splendid weekend and cheers for stopping by. Emancipate yourselves!

Tim