Thursday afternoon then and now is your week going so far? I trust well but if not don’t worry you’ve only got one more day to navigate through. Cold and windy here today but atypically also very noisy as the next door neighbour is having a new roof put on his abode which means there have been four or five blokes bashing away at roof tiles and loudly chucking them down to the ground all day long. Don’t they realise that some people work from home and don’t want to put up with such a racket all day, come back on Saturday when you can piss off the entire street please.

I’m going to go a little bit off topic today if that’s alright but it still ties into our particular gang of Londoners anyway. I really do have a bit of an obsession with music and especially the way things evolve, splinter, fragment and then as often as not repeat themselves all over again. I’ve done a lot of reading lately and so much has been written about punk in the last 10 years, probably far more than was written when it was actually happening. If I try and define that period let’s just say 1975 to 1979 so we can include the New York scene in that definition. I think too many writers and observers get hung up on who was musically influenced by the early punk bands but I think the lasting influence or legacy of punk was an attitude of DIY when it came to making music, younger bands playing louder and faster than they had for many years and perhaps most importantly some major changes within the whole recording industry. The changes mind you were really good ones; the rise and rise of independent labels and the resultant indie or post punk music (now boringly labeled alternative) all came about because of punk, I don’t think that influence needs to ever stop in real terms. What I am always fascinated about however is what happened after the original implosion of that first generation of punk, the trajectories of music were very different but suddenly far more diverse than they had been five years earlier in 1974/5. While the UK fostered post punk, ska, goth, new romantics and synthpop in the immediate years afterward in the US the initial punk scene lasted a bit longer and stretched deeper and became more regional. Much of that of course was due to the sheer size of the US, a self supporting scene in Southern California for example didn’t rely on or even cross over to what was happening in New York or Chicago. Nor did it need to. One type of music that doubtlessly owes its roots to punk actually lasted far longer than the vintage variety I speak of but was for the most part a very North American trend.

I refer to hardcore which quickly gained a footing on both coasts and some of the acts developed a bigger following in the US than the early punk bands had ever experienced. When I look back at my record collection from 1980 onwards there are a number of things I’m not terribly proud of (Fiat Lux, The Lotus Eaters?) but I also realize that after punk and ska the floodgates were open to almost anything partly because of punk and I bought records from all over the spectrum. Hardcore grew in the US as an energetic diversion from what was still clogging up the charts in America in the early eighties, it didn’t suddenly go indie just look back and see. So tonight I thought I would touch upon the five bands that I consider to be the best of this bunch just in case you missed them first time round, I’d probably change my list in a few months!

Black Flag: Depending on where you draw the line historically, Black Flag were to hardcore what The Ramones were to punk, one of the very first and still one of the better of the genre. Furious Henry Rollins as a front man was ably assisted by Greg Ginn who also went on to form the SST record label which was one of the best of that era. The banner number of personnel changes while not remaining locked into any given style beyond the first of DIY punk, the origins can be traced back to 76 changing their name to Black Flag in 1978. Larger success and their first album did not follow until the arrival of Rollins in 1980. Inner wranglings and politics saw the band at their most creative spell rapidly followed by eventual breakup, few fans stayed with them for the whole journey as their sound has changed so much over the course of eight years leading up their conclusion in 1986. Some similarities with The Clash but a higher turnover of personnel. Best album – Damaged, 1981

Black Flag – Rise Above

Minutemen: Of all the US hardcore bands to emerge during that time the one I’m most likely to still go back and listen to is Minutemen, for many of the same reasons I can still find a lot of freshness in Sandinista! 30 years afterwards. Much of that is probably due to the variety of their songs which was less formulated than many of their contemporaries. Their songs were often a bit of a thrash but with lyrics and angles that make them stand out from the fray. The early death in a vehicle accident of singer guitarist D Boon (one day after Joe Strummer’s date of passing on December 23) in 1985 brought the band to a premature conclusion, while Mike Watt went on to form fIREHOSE as well as play with a list longer than your arm of other acts. Best Album – Double Nickels on the Dime, 1984

Minutemen – Corona (acoustic) I can always picture Joe Strummer doing this one

Bad Brains: Sadly my awareness of Bad Brains only came about just around the time they initially broke up in 1984 but before that they’d been amongst the very best hardcore acts in the states. The Washington DC group were originally a jazz band who reinvented themselves with the arrival of punk to become one of the fastest and most intense attacks on stage in that era. The fact that all the members were black made them even more revolutionary as a punk act. Best Album - Rock for Light, 1983

Minor Threat: Few bands apart from The Sex Pistols and The Stone Roses had a bigger impact in a short period of time than Minor Threat. Although they failed to last three entire years their sound was the benchmark for many of the bands that played with them and after them. Always at risk of self-destructing and causing difficulties with their lyrics the band were quick to disown the scene that they had helped to create. Best Album – Minor Threat, 1981

Husker Du: Along with Henry Rollins of Black Flag, Bob Mould of Husker Du went on to become the two definitive figures of second-generation US punk in the 1990′s (I’m putting The Ramones on a different shelf). For nearly a decade Minneapolis’ Husker Du routinely turned out the most creative music from the scene which progressed greatly from its hardcore origins to something that was far more accessible for the masses. Which is not to say they started making junk, in fact they were (due to their growing maturity and success) perhaps the missing link between punk and alternative before the nineties began and what was to become an alternative/college rock scene ever had it’s own label. Best Album – Zen Arcade, 1984 (or any of a number of others)

Husker Du – Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely

Even as I write this I realise I’ve excluded Dead Kennedys, Flipper, Naked Raygun (brilliant) Agnostic Front and Misfits to name just a few. I’d suggest you experiment with some of the bands mentioned above and then branch out if it appeals to you. You’ll find that different cities had their own local scenes that were equally strong. One of these days I’ll invest the time and money into my collection of earlier US punk from the West Coast and East to cover the time period before hardcore arrived, but hopefully you’ll find the above interesting. Cheers – Tim

Good evening…..white wine?…..check. Arsenal win a thrilling game after being behind for most of the match?…….check. Another update from your friendly Clash Blog featuring a video that hasn’t been seen by many people unless your memory for English children’s television circa 1980 is especially good?…….check.

Actually this won’t be a very long post as I’m stupidly tired due to failing to get to bed at anything approaching a normal time for the last few nights and I’m also really cold. It’s going down to 32f/Oc tonight here which is cause for panic as people cover their orange trees and roses….its an action packed start to February in the desert let me assure you. Before I get to the video I wanted to tell you that the creator of the stunning Joe Strummer image on the left (as featured a couple of days ago here) and I’m going to see if we can’t just help him sell a few and/or work on commissions in a related vein if you might be interested. More details will follow in the days ahead I hope.

Now then, on to that video and a large thank you to Damos for contacting me about it earlier today. I would have liked to have posted it sooner but I really did want to run the story about Richey Edwards as today marked the anniversary. I know I’d never seen the video below prior to today although I did know it was probably in existence somewhere, if you’ve seen it previously you are probably in the minority. Considering their overall chart success and record sales The Clash made relatively few television appearances in the UK, partly by design and stubborn management – not appearing on Top of The Pops extinguished the single biggest avenue any band who aspired to climb the charts had in that era in the UK. Their boycott of the program may have germinated with Bernie Rhodes but the tradition was to remain in place for their entire career, costing them lost sales without a doubt but some added credibility by not appearing on a broadcast just to mime.

By late 1979 however Bernie Rhodes was no longer in charge and new management or a different outlook (or perhaps a combination of the two) meant that The Clash were more likely if only slightly to be seen on one of the (then) three television channels on offer in Britain. As you can imagine with only three channels the total hours devoted to rock or pop music was rather limited and the Saturday morning kid’s programs were one of the few places bands would appear. Tiswas was the name of the show and in a sharp contrast to form The Clash actually appeared twice on the show. The first time was 25/11/78 and then the video below right after the release of London Calling on 5/1/80. Large thanks to PresidentNed for uploading this to YouTube.

I won’t spoil your viewing pleasure but it is thoroughly worth the 2:59 it takes to watch Sally James interview the band, not least of all for the reaction of the assortment of seven and eight year old kids sat behind The Clash. Some more information about the video tomorrow, but for now enjoy it…the sound isn’t excellent but the 31 year journey backwards certainly is.  Tim

The Clash interviewed on Tiswas, Jan 5th 1980

Good evening everyone, cheers for stopping in at the blog. I seem to remember making commitments to keeping some of the regular features on the blog rotated on a more frequent/consistent basis but not for the first time a combination of other interesting news or my own sense of chaos seems to have prevented me from fulfilling that. In this electronic age I really should be far more organised than I am when it comes to the blog, but what I’ve determined that what I really need to do is purchase an old fashioned paper calendar to remind myself of tasks. Between work and the various blogs and projects I try and maintain eight email accounts to which I often email myself reminders, only to find my reminders are often opened a day or two after intended. Does this happen to you too? Is my technical skill level permanently going to reside in 2004….will a smart phone somehow make me feel less saturated or more so? Answers via email…no…scratch that…

One ‘regular’ feature on the blog was/is Video Clash which I just noticed I haven’t managed to get to now for sixty days which in itself is impressive in a ‘just what have I been writing about the last two months?’ sort of way. I realised today when I finally got around to adding the first video beneath to the facebook page. So…standards are as ever that these are more recently uploaded Clash related videos to YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion et al that I hope most of you have not seen before. I’m sure you’ve seen some perhaps but I’d sincerely doubt all unless you’ve simply got too much time on your hands. My loose commitment as of today is to try and run through these a few times per month. Or…once a month at the very least.

Mick Jones with Rotten Hill Gang at the Tabernacle on New Year’s Eve 2010/11: This video reminded me just how overdue my update was for the blog. Mick as ever looks as happy as the proverbial at the tail end of what was a very busy and travel filled year for Mr. Jones. While I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that ‘Should I Stay..’ remains a huge crowd-pleaser do you think it’s often chosen as a sing along when Mick appears because the band he guests with tend to know the song or that the crowd aren’t anticipating Atom Tan? The Tabernacle (that I’m not familiar with) incidentally is tucked away behind Westbourne Park Road, Ladbroke Grove (West London).

The Clash at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea: While I’ve read and written a great deal about this appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon on December 27, 1979  I’ve never handed over the cash to own the video nor the DVD that (I think) was released later by Miramax. This was The Clash right on the cusp of a new decade and an album (London Calling) that while receiving favourable press had many asking exactly what had happened to The Clash as a punk rocker’s concern. This stunning version of Armagideon Time shows a band that have the song as fresh in their repertoire as can be….still (to this writer) the best later Clash song never to make it on a studio album by the band. Can you imagine (or perhaps some of you actually) did have tickets for that evening and then the following which featured The Specials, The Pretenders and The Who? Heady days indeed.

Chap ranting about Mick and Paul’s time with Gorillaz: This shows that you can upload anything whatsoever to YouTube. I don’t have time to explain this video although I wish that chap watched the AOL sessions instead of ASL? It’s funny on balance…does he have a guitar plectrum in his mouth perhaps? I know that his opinions were shared by many when Paul and Mick were added to the tour roster but I think the tide gradually turned after concerts were attended and Paul and Mick showed what a great time they had. Damian (sic) Albarn has been warned….

Notting Hill Carnival mini-documentary: In the dark days of winter the Notting Hill Carnival seems a long way off but this short documentary might cure your midwinter blues. Loads of great vintage footage and a Clash provided soundtrack kicks off about half way into the video. Old newsreels and modern video from the carnival peppered with some clips from the White Riot inspiring events in the summer of ’76.

That’s all I have time for this evening…your thoughts, ideas and suggestions all welcomed. If you prefer a debate about gun control you can join that (already in progress) on my other blog….sigh. Thanks for swinging by…more tomorrow I’d say.