Friday night according to the clock and here we are once more with the weekend at our disposal. If tax season didn’t coincide with Coachella I’d most likely be sleeping under the desert stars in Indio, CA with B.A.D. on the docket for tomorrow. Instead I’m sending a government that couldn’t agree on how to wipe their collective arse thousands of dollars so they can spend it all on planned parenthood with my blessing. Perhaps fewer Republicans will be born as a result. I’ve seen a robin and a worm have more in common with each other than the politicians in this country, perhaps time they simply called it The States….

So I’ve good news for you and some feel sorry stuff for me. Coachella being sold out and keen to take on advertiser’s money (of course) is offering a webcast of proceedings so you should be able to catch Big Audio Dynamite on your computer from every corner of the world. I’m watching it now (Friday night) and the audio/video is remarkably good. So check out this link tomorrow afternoon and evening and see how Mick Jones and friends are coping with the heat! Remember it’s 8 hours behind London. Interpol are on now…pretty bloody good. Tomorrow I’ll miss it because I’ll be playing football…alas.

Initial feedback of the gig at The Roxy in Los Angeles last night has been overwhelmingly positive so we’ll get more into that over the weekend I’m sure. Looks like the setlist mirrored

No Age playing at Stinkweeds, Phoenix

what was seen in the UK with 14 songs in all. Smiles, smiles and more smiles were the order of the evening and the positive energy of the tour continues. I’m really beginning to wonder if they may actually get around to working on a new album together, the camraderie certainly appears to be there and I’ve no doubt Mick and Don could write about 2011 in a way thats worthwhile. It’s looking more and more like a remix of 1984 anyway if you ask me.

Tomorrow (April 16th) is international record shop day. Before you raise your eyebrows and ask ‘are there still record shops?’ finish reading this blog post. The idea started just a few years ago and has gained incredible momentum. The reality is that yes thousands of record shops have closed down over the last 20 years but those that have been innovative enough and customer focused have survived. There are happily a number of excellent independent record shops still alive and well and in fact as places in the States that had no business selling CDs in the first place stop doing so, business is actually up again, there are even new shops opening. There’s also been a resurgence in collecting and vinyl is again hip…people are searching out good shops and being loyal. Not everyone wants a download. In Phoenix we’ve actually got a choice of excellent shops each of whom are prospering by providing excellent customer service, knowing their stuff and promoting good new music. You should check your town too, you just might find it’s great to hang in a record shop again. Here’s a link to the official site which will help you find a brilliant shop near you – I think every payday is record shop day but that is probably because I buy way too much music and haven’t really grown up yet.

Whilst I was already aware of Record Shop Day due to the fact that the labels are actually supporting (!!!) the shops by making available hundreds of different special edition releases, vinyl and cds, live tracks, rarities and exclusives – my interest was further peaked by a book I purchased a few months ago called ‘Last Shop Standing’ by Graham Jones. It received extra affection from me as I was lucky enough to work in a record shop from the age of 17 until 21 which helped pay for my cider, concerts and inevitably records. I’ve never earned as little per week in my life and until recently it was by far my favourite job ever. If at that age I wasn’t working in a record shop the most likely place you would have found me would have been a record shop. Getting to play and recommend records all day and even get involved with ordering records for the shop (I’d always be the indie buyer …for Rough Trade, Pinnacle and Jetstar) was enough to keep me more than happy despite the lack of cash. Add on the discounts on records, promos, concert tickets and meeting the occasional musician I was a very happy teen. Somehow I also studied during this time and did well enough to earn a ‘proper job’ afterwards but I also got my education in music. Oh…the book….Graham Jones is from the Northwest of England and his story is quite similar to mine, working in a record shop was his dream and he also got his foot in the door. He stayed in the industry, on the retail side, then as a rep for SP&S and then other ventures and now works for Proper Distribution. He’s seen the industry shrink from the manically successful 1980′s when records sold at amazing levels in the UK to an era where supermarkets undercut traditional record shops and the labels didn’t look after those who helped diverse and exciting music sell. The arrival of internet retailers and downloads partnered with the American Idol / X Factor mentality has seen the passion for pop music wane, shopping becoming old fashioned and the purchases wither. While the book is about the UK the story is global, thousands of excellent shops were unable to compete and went to the wall – great towns and districts in big cities were left without a neighbourhood shop. The book looks at how this happened, why it happened and why (at last) a renaissance is now happening. Those shops that remain are truly the strongest of a dying breed but I don’t think the future is written yet (Thanks Joe!) – record shops are coming back.  It’s a great book, full of facts and true stories, funny as shit and more than a little eye opening about the corruption of the charts. I’ll confess many times when I sold a Dire Straits or Madonna album I’d key in The Housemartins or The Smiths….trying to make a difference! The book involves Graham traveling throughout the UK looking at the best remaining record shops – the ‘Last Shop Standing’. (Cheers again Graham)

The day I finished the book I emailed Graham and asked if I could reproduce a page from the book with a personal story he had about The Clash. He kindly said that would be fine and I’ll feature that tomorrow – in the meantime I insist you visit an independent record shop tomorrow if you can – or at least grab yourself a copy of Graham’s book as it is simply brilliant. Here’s a link for you about the book where you can order it - or you can probably find it in an excellent indie record store – I did.    Tim

Good evening once again and welcome back to the Clash Blog from a rather windy and beautiful spring evening in the desert. It’s been a day full of laughs (thank you Tottenham) and unexpected costs (thank you old house for showing your age) but all in all I’ve had worse days and I wouldn’t swap shoes with anyone except perhaps the person who was able to secure an auctioned item that I briefly wrote about on the blog some time ago but wanted to revisit.

Firstly though I wanted to once again circulate the link to the biggest collection of which I’m aware of the world service broadcasts that Joe Strummer did for the BBC. I get asked for that link at least three or four times per month so wanted to share it again. If you’ve never trawled through the many hours of Joe as your DJ you’re in for a treat, he’s far more than a DJ though, more like a worldwide tour guide of music. With so many years now quickly passing since Joe’s death I find myself going back and listening to an episode or two every month or two. It’s great to hear the tunes he plays and better still are his introductions and ad-libs. The broadcasts deserved a bigger worldwide audience and as far as I know only his death stopped the continuation of a show that he absolutely loved making. Here’s the link (with special thanks to Radio Clash Blog) and according to my quick estimate there is about fifteen hours of entertainment there to be had.  If you’re getting in at the ground floor and this is your introduction to Joe on the radio you’re going to love it and if you simply miss Joe it’s a nice way to have him in your office or living room for an hour at a time. Radio was such a huge part of Joe’s youth and many of ours as well, it’s still the format that allows you to get lost in ways that video and television never will so why not do so with Strummer.

Last night I was looking at the bandwidth being eaten up by my eight (!?) email accounts and thought it might be a good idea to prune some of the oldest stuff that I’d sent and received. When doing so I came across one of the many excellent emails you’ve sent about The Clash over the last couple of years and realised that I’d only ever fully enjoyed this on my own time, so once again thanks to Pete in London for sending this to me in the first place. I’ve never had an extreme amount of spare cash beyond a lucky run on roulette now and then in Las Vegas (always returned to its source) and have usually resisted purchasing anything at inflated prices that was collectible. Especially when it came to music, and while I’ve got a number of records that are now worth a tidy sum it’s only because I bought them at the time and then looked after them in a consistent manner. Whenever I’ve had say $100 to spend on music I’ve been happier picking up 7 or 8 cds than dropping the entire amount on something ‘collectible’. If I did have some extra cash sitting around over the years I do think I’d have been tempted more than once to get hold of some original art pertaining to the music I love, whether collectible original photos, posters or album artwork. Back in December 2009 perhaps the single coolest piece of Clash related art (in my opinion) went to auction and ended up finding a new home for the princely sum of £72,000.

Ray Lowry greatly helped to create what many consider to be the most iconic album cover of all time when he worked with the band during the creative process for London Calling. I find it amazingly easy to recall first seeing that album cover very soon after its release and knowing, just knowing, that I had in my hands an album that would be for the ages. How could a record sleeve possibly be more exciting that the famed Pennie Smith photo of Paul Simonon about to reassemble his bass on the stage of the New York Palladium? Even the unintentional blur (of which Pennie is not terribly pleased) has its own story as she was backing away from a very angry Simonon who had been pissed off with his equipment all evening, she sensed he was about to lose his composure at that moment and was ensuring she’d be out of harms way as she moved backwards and caught the photo that became the front cover of the record. Ray was working with band throughout the late summer of 1979 and into the Autumn, before an album title was chosen or the image that was finally to feature.While people might choose other album covers as the greatest ever, this remains my choice because it was so bloody exciting and remains so, just like the best music should be. Hope that you’ll agree.

In the original draft stages a number of ideas were put forward by Ray which already show that the unforgettable and Elvis Presley inspired/nicked font (although it wasn’t a font…technically) and colouring had been arrived and agreed upon. Although we now of course see the familiar version with London Calling being left spine and bottom respectively the original ideas captured on today’s blog show that ‘The Clash’ looked to be the bigger part of the text in the draft stage. The sleeve almost featured a photo of the band in a side street in downtown Detroit, an urban shout from the wasteland that was the ashes of the 1970′s. In the final version ‘The Clash’ found it’s way to the top of the image in a much smaller almost less significant font of white on a grey background which worked with Pennie’s photograph. It seemed the title of this record was the siren that Lowry and the band agreed should be heard most prominently and so it was. A message from London to it’s own citizens but also to the faraway towns and not just those in England but wherever the excitement of music still held firm, which can and should be everywhere. Which in turn takes me right back to where I started with Joe’s worldwide musical tastes and subsequent broadcasts.

Nice work…you found your way back to The Clash Blog so thanks for dropping in. Is it really Thursday night already, it seems just yesterday it was Monday and I was trying to see how many tasks I’d accomplish this week. Best laid plans.

Hope all is well in your world, I should have a podcast lined up for you either tomorrow or more likely over the weekend but you’ll want to swing by as there is some rather big news I’m keen to share. Did any of you manage to see the Bob Gruen documentary on Sky Arts 1 in the end? I’m hoping so and also tell me it did more than give a passing reference to The Clash. Surely? Let me know and speaking of great rock photography which when discussing Bob Gruen we are doing by default I wanted to share with you a useful internet tool which I know some of you will use. Have you ever stumbled over a great photograph and wondered if it was safe to ‘borrow’ (you should always credit if you can) or if there was a higher resolution (bigger) version of the image available elsewhere online? This site accomplishes both tasks and having tested it I’d say it works a treat, you can either provide the site with a web address of the image you are interested in (if there are many image files you’ll just need to select which one) or if you have a photo on your hard drive you can upload that also. The site will then provide you with a list of locations that the image appears upon and give you the image size and more information too, it’s really handy if like me you really enjoy photos and collect them for your Tumblr, Blog, Twitter or Facebook account. Oh yeah you’ll need the link won’t you? The site is called ‘TinEye’ reverse image search and its close to being idiot proof, let me know what you think.

Clash stuff? Yes I’ve some of that too….how does a lovely weekend in sunny Spain sound? How about if the weekend included another music festival that featured Big Audio Dynamite? I know…Mick’s gonna get either get a suntan or sunstroke the way this summer is shaping up but the B.A.D. boys will be appearing at the Benicàssim Festival July 14-17 in the town of the same name. What you need to know, its a beautiful beach town on the Mediterranean just down the coast from Barcelona (dive dive) and between the seafood and red wine you’ll be able to get your hands on you will be all set. I never did take a summer off to just travel around Europe and see bands, this would have been a bloody good one. As for the festival it features Arcade Fire (joined at the hip with B.A.D.), The Strokes, The Streets (!!), Portishead, Elbow and some band that sang ‘Golden Brown’ and invented punk rock. All the details you need are available via this link, 4 day tickets are £165 which includes a camping spot. I’ll see you there then…

As you know it is getting hard to track Big Audio Dynamite’s whereabouts this summer and they’ve been good enough to update their MySpace page with all the info you need and I’ve also added the festival details on the left. I make that a (magnificent) 7 festival appearances lined up, wrist bands will be the order of the day.

In other news, if you are the rare breed who still prefer buying CDs over downloading (me too) that Gorillaz album that snuck out over Christmas is finally to get a proper release next month. More info on that soon at which point I’ll give it a full and proper review, most people who have offered me an opinion told me its really good if a little bit experimental. Then again it was recorded on tour buses and an etch-o-sketch or something wasn’t it?

Otherwise here is an interesting piece about the early days of The Stone Roses and if you read it you’ll notice that The Clash were apparently quite a large influence on the band. I guess I find that a bit of a shock but in a good way, I think I’ll play their debut album this week in honour of them acknowledging The Clash. Ahh…The Stone Roses, did any band ever make such a fantastic debut album and then fail to deliver on that promise quite as epically? Answers below please.

Right back to the business at hand, The Clash Blog beagle has been sick all day. She was (the vet thinks) bitten or stung by an insect and her poor old head is puffed up like Coldplay’s own sense of self-importance and her medication has her all wonky too. Tim