Good Evening everyone hope things are sitting pretty wherever you might be. I’ve only got a few minutes for a brief post this evening so pardon me for my curtailed update. Not much to report here personally although two quick Clash related items are worth you knowing about. Did I mention we beat Spurs 4-1 yesterday?

Today marks the last day of summer and in fact it may well be autumn whereever you are reading this, so it seems a good time with the assistance of Trish over at Strummerville to look back at her video which captures a good deal of the flavour of the Strummerville campfire at Glastonbury this past summer. The video beneath is self-explanatory and chronicles the atmosphere of the campfire and the nearby stage, I for one hope this continues for many many decades to come.

Trish from Strummerville captures the sun and fun from Glastonbury

Tymon Dogg

Speaking of Joe Strummer a key individual in his life is playing a small gig in London tomorrow night that you might not be aware of (Sep 23). I’ve been doing a lot of reading about punk and The Clash recently and for whatever reason the combination of coincidences and ‘what ifs’ keep running through my head. The moving pieces and individuals, circumstances and chance meetings that allowed Mick Jones to meet Bernie Rhodes, Joe Strummer to have played on a bill supported by the Sex Pistols and even the unlikely circumstances that led to Topper Headon becoming the drummer for the band at the second time of asking. It might be a bit redundant of me to state that things only had to be marginally different for The Clash to have never existed in the first place although I guess the same logic applies to many things in life. It’s hard to know if Joe Strummer would have had the confidence to develop as the guitarist that eventually could bluff his way through the most rudimentary chords with the 101′ers if he had not befriended Tymon Dogg in their shared flat in North London in 1971. Dogg by that time was already an accomplished musician and he used to bring Joe along with him on his busking sessions in the pedestrian tunnels that led to station platforms at various central London tube stations. Joe apparently was there ostensibly to collect coins but also was armed with a ukulele and learned enough basic chords from Tymon to eventually busk on his own. Although many years passed before Joe became the front man for the 101′ers and eventually The Clash it may well have been the friendship with Tymon Dogg that began the journey itself. As you’re aware the old friendship was maintained over the years with Tymon recording with The Clash on Lose This Skin from Sandinista! Many years later the journey seemed to come full circle when Dogg became a full-time member of The Mescaleros with his old friend towards the very end of Joe’s life.

Tymon remained actively involved in music and is playing tomorrow evening at the Slaughtered Lamb pub right in the City of London (EC1). He will be performing with Alex Walker and Alex Thomas what looks to be soundtrack material and there will also be a book and CD signing event in conjunction with the gig. Information is below: (and here’s a map)

34-35 Great Sutton Street
Clerkenwell, London EC1 london EC1V0DX
Read more: http://events.myspace.com/External/Twitter/Event/View/7564444#ixzz10JxxqWG8

A Wave of Dreams – performance by Tymon with Alex Walker and Alex Thomas of musical soundscapes created as a ‘soundtrack to the imaginary films Louis Aragon’s eponymous text evokes in your mind’ (TD). Book-CD for sale at the event and on Amazon or www.thinmanpress.com

You can find out more about Tymon’s most recent work via his myspace page. He has a brand new album out next week – official blurb below, please make sure you listed to the song “Appearances” on his myspace page to hear his distinctive voice.

‘The Irrepressibe Tymon Dogg’ is a retrospective featuring a wide range of tracks and demonstrating the development of this extraordinary singer-songwriter, from the psycho-pop tracks penned when he was 14 in the 60s to the deeply political anthems of more recent times. Three tracks from the album are now on the playlist.

The record is available from Cherry Red, Amazon and all good record stores from 27 September 2010.

Tymon is also featured on a new book-CD from Thin Man Press. He composed five of the eight tracks on the accompanying CD. Book-CD available from Amazon, book stores and www.thinmanpress.com.

Good evening everyone how was your Saturday then? I just got home from playing football where it was a lovely 104f when we started but good fun nevertheless, in fact I imagined the ball was a particular person’s head (see previous post) so putting my boot through the ball had an extra level of satisfaction tonight. If this is your first visit your timing is good as it’s time for another edition of The Clash Cup. A very simple process that allows you to vote for your favourite Clash song via the blog; round one included every Clash song I could find and we are now well into round two. The pairings are completely at random and you can vote once over the next four or five days. Before seeing which names come out of the bag tonight we need to recap the previous battle from earlier in the month which was quite a close run thing.

Justice Tonight/Kick It Over defeated The City of The Dead 37 – 30

That was quite the result, it was close from the very beginning and the original lead set by the eventual winner got smaller and larger until it ended as a very tight affair. As it stands, the City of The Dead looks set to continue into round three as one of the most successful runners up however that is subject to change based on the overall results from this round. I know I had a hard time picking between these two and it seemed so did you. The battle of the B-Sides indeed! Now we’ll use the random number generator for the next two:

Round 2 Match 11

Four Horseman versus  English Civil War

I do believe we have another difficult decision on our hands based on the above. I know both songs will get good support but on this occasion I know instantly which one I’ll pick but don’t let my thoughts influence what you do nor should you let the current votes impact your decision because I do see some big changes from day to day with these votes. This could be another situation where the runner-up gets enough support to make it into round three or perhaps I’m totally misjudging how the votes will fall. For me, English Civil War was one of the first Clash songs that I became completely obsessed with as a kid and I still find it’s one that sends my blood racing. Great to sing along to and then one of the first songs I learned to play very badly on guitar when I eventually learned how to do many years later, still learning don’t hold your breath. On the other hand Four Horsemen was never amongst my top 10 tracks from London Calling which means it will probably go and win this handsomely.

Form book:

Round 1 – Four Horsemen defeated Lover’s Rock          71% of the vote
Round 1 – English Civil War lost to London’s Burning    with 31% of the vote but stayed in the competition due to most votes for a runner-up in round one

Odds:

I’d completely forgotten that English Civil War had lost in round one but got a lot of votes which enabled it to continue on. I’ve actually read that a lot of people felt the song was too gimmicky and the lyrics too naive, not to mention the fact it wasn’t technically an original composition either. I may be in the minority willing it to go forward in The Clash Cup although I think it’s probably not going to make it this time. London Calling just has so much support spread across its 19 tracks so that songs from the album will usually be a favourite until we get to the final 32.

Stuff:

When people listen to songs that are more than a decade old or so the phrase ‘how has it dated’ often comes up. My opinion for what it’s worth is that Four Horsemen even years ago was the only track on London Calling where the production maybe didn’t bring out the best in the song and I’d say the passing of time emphasizes that a little bit more. As for English Civil War it technically a Clash cover version with the tune of course taken from Johnny Comes Marching Home and/or Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye. So whether the origin of the folk song is American or Irish is up in the air. I would guess Irish and then rewritten during the Civil War by Irish-Americans as a reworked folk song to mark the brutal war. Common sense tells me my personal affection for English Civil War came from knowing it from when I was a toddler although I don’t remember attending any Irish folk sessions it could be my Mum’s fault I would venture (yes she’s a Dubliner, not one of the Dubliners mind you, I don’t want to misrepresent her).

As always I encourage you to give both songs a final listen before voting which you can do by way of clicking the options that follow. Voting itself is equally easy but all votes are final, if you feel like justifying your decision or indecision please feel free to add your comments as it would be nice to hear from you. As for the versions, I almost forgot Animal Farm was one of the most influential ‘proper’ books that resonated with me at an early age and as you know the cover of the English Civil War 45rpm sleeve featured the aforementioned conflicted farm animals. Don’t know why that came up but there you have it and if you resort to read one book this year that you’ve never read, try that one or To kill a Mockingbird. Back on track here is Four Horsemen which features Joe adding vocals from the making of London Calling DVD with Guy Stevens working his magic. (Warning for the ladies tasty Paul Simonon alert on the video). As for English Civil War it just had to be the Rude Boy clip/outtake where Strummer looks positively charged and ready to shout the lyrics through your head if need be.

Happy voting, thanks for voting and I will speak to you very soon.

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Hello everyone and thanks for taking a few moments to drop in again on the blog. By all accounts you are reading this either on Thursday or Friday so well done on getting to the end of another week. If any of you have found yourself in the unlikely position of having some extra cash in your pocket this week then this post will be right up your alley as we bring you the fifth installment of Clash shopping (*see note below)! I realise it’s not the most creative bit of writing I do for the blog but I am a bit tired and still wanted to offer something fresh for your perusal. The normal rules apply, just click on the head of each mini story to find out more about the Clash goodies I’ve come across this week or on the image for a better glimpse where applicable. If indeed you do purchase something please let me know so I can tell the seller what a generous audience we actually are.

*Ahh yes, before I forget – Clash Shopping has had an official name change - ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ will now be the semi-regular feature for our tour around the internet for Clash products of all varieties.

The Clash on Broadway- the interviews disc: I’m fairly sure that some of you will already have this and if so you might be able to share with us if it’s worth the eight dollar investment on eBay to get our own copy. The Clash on Broadway was of course the three disc compilation on CBS that chronicled a very decent cross-section of the band’s output. At the time before reissue and repackage mania caught hold the box set was one of the premium collector’s piece for your self respecting Clash Fan, for me the info laden booklet that came with the box set was almost worth the price of admission. I do believe this interview disc may have been with promotional copies of the original release as the disc mixes interview clips with everybody except Topper (?) along with tracks from the box set. ‘…On Broadway’ was released in ’91 with much less fanfare than the equivalent compilation would receive these days but the band were involved with the album and conducted interviews with Kosmo Vinyl for the box set. I’m sure someone will come along and point out these are available online as a torrent or MP3 but let us traditional music collectors get a little plastic box with a CD inside it on this occasion eh? I think I just realised why Topper wasn’t interviewed in ’91, that makes me sad.

Vinyl, Walker soundtrack – tasty! : I can feel it happening and there’s no need for it but I can still feel it happening, I’ve got this itch that says I should have all Clash and Clash related albums in mint condition or at least in similar condition. My Clash vinyl is showing its age, in the case of London Calling quite dreadfully so although everything else is not too bad considering the age. The records are in better nick then the sleeves and my obsession with putting every record I purchased in the durable plastic outer cover didn’t begin until around 1984 therefore with the exception of Combat Rock all of the sleeves have that well-worn look sadly. Walker came out in 1987 before I was purchasing CDs and my original copy was a cassette which I’m sure I purchased at the Notting Hill record and tape exchange, when the album was re-released a few years back I finally got a copy on CD. Therefore I never had the vinyl what better excuse do I need? He’s only got one for sale so if I resist the urge you might be able to get this before I do. I only sit on the fence as its a promotional copy – he didn’t pay for it so why should I?

Joe Strummer watch – It’s cheap, it’s nasty, it tells the time and it has a picture of Joe Strummer on it: Is that reason enough to purchase this ‘Joe Strummer sport metal watch’ ?? I’m thinking no as the days where I even wore a watch are long gone, if I did still wear one I don’t know that this particular $0.39 model would adorn my wrist. But as I mentioned it is cheap especially if you ignore the fact that the shipping far exceeds the cost of the watch. The seller is in Hong Kong so if you also you might be able to avoid those hefty shipping charges and just drop in and give them $.50 and tell them to keep the change as you walk out with your proud new wristwatch on.

Joe Strummer Mural embroidery: I know what you’re thinking The Clash and embroidery don’t go hand-in-hand but wait just a minute, if you love The Clash and you love embroidery (this obviously is possible) then they go together like Strummer/Jones. I can’t sew a button but I can still see that this is something very creative albeit out of my scope. I must say while I like the Strummer mural in New York I I don’t think it’s one of the more iconic images of Joe so you know what I’m doing next don’t you? Yes looking for Clash embroidery (for when things get really slow). This is a one-of-a-kind piece and would’ve taken a long time to make my best guess seeing as I don’t (honestly) do any embroidery. For more details visit the link and I think the price is really reasonable for something that is unique.

Joe Strummer Animation Drawings: I simply love the work by Japanese artist Nob – and his online nobartco. You’re probably familiar with the Clash figurines that appear in Mick Jones rock ‘n roll public library that he made, his distinctive flair and ability are just fantastic for this writer. He also designed the artwork for the Mescaleros tour in Japan T-shirts if I’m not mistaken. Not only is his work unique and really appealing it’s also relatively affordable. This two-piece collection of Joe in 1978 is offered for $89. I’d be thrilled if someone’s reading this that decides to pick up his collectible work.

That’s all I can manage here for now….hope something catches your fancy or at least brings a grin to your face. Cheers for stopping in and if you have a second please click twice (below) to give the blog a vote on Wikio. I’d appreciate it!  Also….should we call this series of posts Lost in The Supermarket? Instead of Clash Shopping??? (CB note – the jury decided…change was made)