All the young punks, clothes & haircuts but not a tattoo between us
Hello again and welcome back to the blog on this Tuesday lunchtime, I say lunchtime but in all actuality it’s three p.m. and as of this moment I have failed to eat any lunch and have had too much coffee and a bowl of raisin bran since I woke up. Perhaps that’s why I feel like smacking somebody in the face? Thank you all so much for your feedback on the Topper Headon video yesterday, I was really pleased to find it and be able to post it as you don’t get too often of late which is a pity. Hopefully that will change in 2011. I believe it was Gil who remarked that they were surprised to see him with a tattoo and I was as well.
What’s with tattoos these days anyway – everybody has one? Doesn’t that make you less of a rebel..not more of one? When I was 16 it was all about your haircut, your mentality, your clothes and your record collection (apart from how many marches and protests you’d been on) and if you had a tattoo it usually signified one of four things -
1. You’d probably spent some time in jail
2. You were previously in the Navy
3. You were mental
4. You lost a bet
Thinking back to my days working in a record shop as a late teen it was number three in that list you’d often come across clutching a can of cider with a really poorly done spider web tattoo on their neck or better still ‘Made in England’ on their forehead (just in case they forgot). By the 1990′s tattoos were in full flow and it was your calling card of being ‘alternative’ whereas now anyone under the age of 25 without a tattoo is considered as unlikely as someone with a tattoo was back in 1983. Really conservative people listen to middle-of-the-road/pop music who think a good night out is a film and buying some new cookware seem to have intricate giant tattoos on their lower back, arms or legs. At least the forehead remains the official ink residence of nutcases? As far as I know.
Which brings me to today’s query for all you Clash experts – what tattoos if any did members of The Clash sport? We’ve all now seen Topper’s arm and I know of Paul Simonon’s pistol on his chest. There is a story behind that which I forget at this point in time so if you have it to hand please share it on the blog. As for myself I am tattoo free although I did have some silly/brilliant haircuts – the only two things I’ve ever considered (extremely briefly) tattoos of were The Clash and Arsenal (not together)- at least if I’d done so my regret would probably be somewhat moderate.
As for Topper, please get in touch with me if you’re located in East Kent as you’re probably aware he still resides in Dover as far as I know.
Topper's new (?) ink
I’m going to do some investigating and see if we can find out about his next appearance before the event and hopefully get somebody down from The Clash Blog to get some photographs and perhaps even arrange a chat if we can. I’ll be back.
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Paul has a tattoo now to commemorate the Gorillaz tour – I don’t think Mick got it. It says “Die Kunst” (the art) with an anchor between DIE and KUNST – too bad it’s gramatically incorrect (Das Kunst would be right). Paul designed it and lots of other people of the Gorillaz crew got it.
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9356/tumblrlbatzumafw1qe021n.jpg
Excellent inside scoop…thanks! Where did you find the snap…or did you take it??
oh…. and what does the incorrect tattoo translate to?
Clash Tattoos: In the 16 Tons tour, one day, Terry McQuade bounded up to the lighting riser to show me the ‘Clash City Rockers” he just got . It was on his upper arm. In 1980 Kos got ‘Pearl’ tattooed on his upper arm. Then, Peal started going out with Paul. Paul & Pearl walked into Electric Lady one snowy night in late 1981 with 2 giant bags of Dorritos (which caught my attention). Paul had to say ‘oi, Bwenda ‘ to get me to look up from munching. He had just gotten a brick tenement ,fire escape and 1950′s car tattooed on his upper (left?) shoulder. I think the tattoo artist was Bob Roberts.
I don’t know when Topper got his, but it looks like a late 90′s type of ‘tribal’ tattoo.
Haha no, someone of the Gorillaz fanbase got it from the Facebook of the place they got their tattoos (Damon Albarn got it, Jamie Hewlett, Darren Evans the bodyguard, Roses Gabor UK R&B/dance artist, Yukimi Nagano singer of Little Dragon, and probably more people… I didn’t get to check a lot of arms) at.
The incorrect tattoo still means “the art”, it’s just incorrect. The German “Kunst” is a sexless (Die is female) word, therefore it should be “Das”.
that’s Paul’s third now then, I believe (right? he has that one that looks like a city or something on his left upper arm and the gun on his chest)
third tattoo*
For me ink was popular in the 90′s cos of heavier rock and metal..which I guess was my punk rock…everybody got those tribal tattoos but I know a lot of people that went out to get something really different and that’s when tat art became really interesting.
My hubby has a ‘self afflicted’ one on his left forearm, the story goes that upon purchasing the first Clash album at 16 he realised everything was bullshit so he sat in class and gave himself a ‘The Clash’ tattoo on his arm with a biro. It’s still there.
It was actually the tip of one of those compasses you used in Technical Drawing and a bottle of Quink, and I was 14, but aye it’s still there
Esther- Martin’s your husband? Hard Core! (and dangerous). Mine’s self inflicted too. India ink & straight pin, I was 16.
Yes indeed Brenda…sorry babe I was nearly right
I finally see evidence of Paul getting his third tattoo done. Thanks very much for the pic Frou! Where did you find it? If you don’t mind I’ll ‘steal’ it to upload it here. =P It’s a great design, too bad for the gramatical mistake though. Fail! LOL
Frenchy,ex-roadie now music industry staging and steel fabricator,has “rebel rock” tattooed on his hand.I dont know who did Simmos upper arm Buildings piece but from the brief close up footage I have seen of ink going in I can tell you it was an”old school” tattooist.This I know from the way the artist is seen to be gripping Pauls arm to stretch the skin- before the advent of spirit paper stencils that transfer the outline onto the skin,acetate and graphite powder was used.The spirit stencil has the advantage that it is more robust and can be touched and indeed wiped over without losing the outline whereas the graphite system would be defaced by any touch,hence the artists who learned the older system used,and use,a stretching grip that avoids contact.
I know this because I apprenticed as a tattoo artist in NYC in the late 80s and has tatooed on and off since.And because I have met Frenchy through my own carrer in the music industry.
Talk about marginalia!Sheesh!!
Theres an older video, from 2009, of Topper playing with Heroes… the tattoo is there, so at least we know it’s not a recent one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQPec59WOcs&feature=related
Tim….I’m not going to mention seaside towns and football either….
Paul’s upper left arm shoulder tattoo was the building/fire escape and the ‘Brand New Cadillac’ parked out front, from what I can remember….
My tattoo is a Gibson Les Paul Standard sunburst guitar on the right shoulder as played by…..lots of guitarists….including Mick Jones c.1978.
I seem to remember reading about Paul’s tattoo soon after he got it. If my memory serves me it was of the back end of a Yellow Cab in front of a teneament block….I remember the interviewer being perplexed with Paul mumbling something about “after all, we’re not men with the eyes of (Sgt?)Bilko”…this always stuck with me as I’m a big Phil Silvers fan!!
I’m gonna see if I can find a photo of it somewhere…..
I’ve got one on my left arm. I wanted a Rolling Stones logo but I decided to go with the then current “Steel Wheels” design, 2 colors seperated by a zig zag down the middle. I figured everybody does the tongue so I’ll go with this design. I did a crappy trace job from a poster, which the tattoo artist perfecty copied, even the outline which I really didn’t want. Still, I thought it was pretty cool. I later saw an old friend and showed him the new tattoo and the first thing he says is “I know someone who has one just like that”! Ah, you bastard! Mine’s blue and red where this other guy had blue and orange. I got that in 1990 and it still holds up pretty well…