Good evening everyone and cheers for the visit as always. As much as the Europa Cup final in Dublin sounds a better night out than Wembley I’m still chuffed that Arsenal didn’t self destruct tonight and won 3-1 in a must win match in London. Speaking of must win events that phrase will also surely apply to The Clash Cup of which we have another installment this evening. You can’t really win The Clash Cup but hopefully we will end up with the best 16 songs ever recorded by the band so you can make the ultimate mix tape, or mix CD or whatever it is we now do when we compile music. We’re deep into round two now at the end of which we will have 64 songs left standing and each one seeking your votes for the final 32 where I can imagine decisions be nearly impossible. Few decisions were harder than the last pairing which saw the lead changed hands numerous times before the eventual winner was revealed.

Charlie Don’t Surf beat  I Fought the Law 43-40

Excellent turnout on the voting for which I must thank you and the best news is that with a final vote tally so close “I Fought the Law” pulled in enough support to make the next round (unofficially at this point) which is probably as it should be. As you know all the pairings are completely at random so let’s pull the next two songs from the remaining list.

Clash Cup Round 2 Match 14

Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad versus   White Riot

While we have had quite a string of unpredictable results in recent votes this one looks like it should probably be a lot more one-sided unless I’m completely misjudging how you are likely to vote. A proper matchup of the first and second albums although probably not the best songs on either (again, feel free to disagree) I recall being really surprised that White Riot wasn’t originally seeded we began this policy. Everyone voted for songs that shouldn’t face elimination in the early rounds and White Riot didn’t get enough support to protect it from the early voting variances. Even with that said if it gets paired up with the right songs I would still say it’s got a very good chance of making the final 16 or even the final eight. That being with the assumption that it will be able to defeat Julie’s Been Working…

Form Book

Round 1 – Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad defeated Are You Ready 95% of the vote
Round 1 – White Riot defeated Silicon on Sapphire 91% of the vote

Both songs have robust wins under their belt in round one against a fairly simple pair of opposing songs. Round 2 brings a lot of extra pressure and I would say with pretty good confidence that White Riot will win with at least 70% of the vote. Julie’s Been Working will need at least 40% of the vote with a high turnout to have any chance of progressing.

Stuff

Do I have a personal preference? Yes it would certainly be for the earlier song which although I didn’t find the most appealing song on the debut album back when I first heard it as a kid, it’s certainly grown in stature and relevance to me over the years with a better appreciation of how it was written and why it was written. The fabled inspiration from the Notting Hill Riots in late summer 1976 has taken on the place of proper Clash folklore when it comes to why some songs were written in the first place. Strummer’s combination of exhilaration and fear, frustration and confusion all resulted in a song that said where’s our riot and why are we doing just what we are told. The ‘we’ that he referred to was essentially any disaffected youth that weren’t of Jamaican origin and thus controlled by the inhibitions that might stop a riot from starting in the first place. A furious bundle of energy that sounds as coiled today as it was when first recorded.

Everything that White Riot was (short, focused, angry) Julie’s Been Working really isn’t. On an evolutionary scale you can say it speaks much to the constantly evolving style and song structure of The Clash between the debut album and 1978′s follow-up. While I think lyrically “Julie’s” shows Joe trying to pull together a lot of ideas somewhat successfully the song but essentially focused on current events (a police drug raid in Wales) of itself it now seems overly long and a bit too much R&B or piano based to my untrained ears. While Sandy Pearlman promised ‘GTER’ would have ‘more guitars per inch’ than any album ever recorded – this wasn’t the song that demonstrated it, more romp than stomp and while it would be a good song for most bands it’s not at the top standard for The Clash.

As always before you vote I suggest you clear your head of other distractions such as wikileaks or the lack of a Christmas bonus and devote six or seven minutes tearing both tracks one last time. For White Riot I had to include the Rock against Racism clip from 1978  – whereas for Julie’s Been Working… I would try this demo version which is pretty raw and some squealing sax. Still one of my favourite lyrics ‘they arrested every drug that had ever been made’ which sounded both sing-song and cynical at the same time.

Thanks in advance for all your votes and if you feel inclined please add comments as to why or spread the news around so that more votes get tallied. I’ll have the polls open through until Sunday. Cheers – Tim

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Good morning all from a legitimately cold desert today, I could see hints of frost this morning and I don’t mean the ace 1970′s interviewer. I must write about the special reissue of the film ‘Straight to Hell’ this week – I even bought an Alex Cox book yesterday to get me in the mood, he’s done a series of new interviews about the subject many of which ask about Joe Strummer – some interesting reading although his memory seems as patchy as my brothers. Not ideal.  Anyway I need to sit and watch the film again for the first time in quite a few years also which I must. Are you like me in that you own a number of DVDs but don’t often feel like watching them again? I’ll always watch Shaun of The Dead or Scorsese films but that’s about the extent of it, probably as I’m usually listening to music instead and music allows you to do something else simultaneously which a film doesn’t afford you. Anyway, miles off topic once again as its actually time for ‘Lost in The Supermarket’ where I have a quick trawl for Clash related items for sale online from the collectible to the chintzy. As usual just click the link for more purchasing information or the thumbnail photograph for a better view.

Clash 1979 US Tour Shirt – One of the better visual creations by CBS records was for a marketing poster for the first US tour by The Clash featuring the Statue of Liberty tied up in thick rope and clutching her new copy of ‘Give ‘em Enough Rope’. I think it was a great image but not one that became terribly symbolic of the band although it should have. This shirt is just a reproduction but rather cool and affordable and just $12.99 on ebay although it would be shipping from Thailand so allow a few weeks for shipping I’d suggest. Vintage shirts are usually everywhere online but chose to feature this as the ’79 tour graphic is rarely used.

Joe Strummer Stencil - Visually this is pretty stunning, not inexpensive but an original. Here is the blurb -Awesome 12″ x 16″ canvas with acrylic transfer, acrylic paint, and a 3 color stencil. Signed on the back. Excellent condition. Amazing original for The Clash icon. The artist for this piece is Chuck Keppler. – Ships from the US and priced at $250 on ebay..

Shepard Fairey Original – If anyone reading this blog has $7,900 sitting around I’ve got a business investment we need to discuss, but if you’d sooner pick up a one of a kind piece of Clash memorabilia this might work instead. I’ve no idea how to assess the value of art of course, I was told once that art is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it and so it goes with this piece. It is of course the image used for the Antonino D’Ambrosio film ‘Let Fury Have the Hour’ and taken in Victoria Park in April, 1978. The official blurb – Original Screenprint on Wood with Hand Finish. Limited Edition 2 + 1 AP（Artist Proof）Total 3. This is very rare Artist Proof. Signed and Dated by Shepard Fairey, Size: 605 x 455 x 40 mm, 23.82 x 19.91 x 1.58 inches. Condition: Perfect New condition.  This famous live scene from “Rude Boy” and “Let Fury Have The Hour”. The Clash live at Victoria Park in London 30th April, 1978. Paul Simonon on Bass – I’ve liked the image since I first saw it for both the original photo and use of colours. If you insist on getting it to me for Christmas I won’t say no.

Sandinista! Poster (record shop dealers special) - Much more reasonably priced and something I’ve never seen before but having worked in record shops as a teen we’d get cool stuff like this for free. The poster is made for dealers and proudly displays for purchase price for the shop of £3.64 *and 1/2 for the shops. No wonder The Clash were struggling to make returns on their first albums, a triple album at that dealer price was madness but they wanted to compete with standard albums during the Christmas rush. I think it originally sold at 5.99 or 6.49 but I could be wrong. Still it is a lovely poster and there is a live auction right now with current bidding being at £20.99, bidding ends tonight!

With the holidays upon us I’ll try and do a mad dash through much more of these in the next fortnight. I’m off to bid for the Sandinista! poster….Tim

Good evening how are things with you then? I trust well…I just got back from playing football and for once it was below 75f but was still like running around on concrete. The ‘grass’ in Arizona is typically about as lush as the rocks on the mountains around here and the bumps and grooves in the hard dry surface leave you yelling out ‘bad bounce’ every 5 or 10 minutes to deter any sentiments that you are completely hopeless at the beautiful game. I may have moaned about the weather in England but there was almost always a nice spot of grass for a kickabout. Anyway that’s not why you visited the blog is it? Let’s get to some Clash related stuff.

Topper at Wessex during the recording of London Calling

The Clash had a pretty unique career in that in just over 5 years (of recording) they managed a two single albums, then a double, then a triple and finished (essentially) with a another single – Combat Rock in 1982. If you’re younger than a certain age (30?) then the concept of double and triple albums is probably essentially lost on you. Since the advent of CDs most ‘double’ vinyl albums will happily fit on single CD, such is the case with London Calling where 19 tracks and over 60 minutes of music fit on just one disc. Even Sandinista! made it on to two cds. I still remember getting that on CD and finding it odd that disc one ended at the end of side three, which totally changed the impact of the disc oddly. In the digital age do we even notice when a double album comes out? I’m not sure of the last really notable release that was 20-24 tracks long? That of course was your golden (unwritten) rule 25 years ago – a single album better have at least 8 tracks and ideally 10 or more, when you got beyond 14 tracks you were heading into the realms of a double album unless it was early Ramones and everything clocked in at about 2:10. Thinking back I believe London Calling was the first double album I ever bought and there haven’t been that many others from the vinyl era. Two other extremely popular double albums were releaed near the time of London Calling – Pink Floyd’s The Wall (which interestingly came out just 2 weeks before The Clash released their double album) and Bruce Springsteen’s The River which arrived about 10 months later in the Autumn of 1980. Perhaps where was something in the water in 1979, but I doubt 3 double albums as historical as that trio were ever released in a 12 month spell. There is a lot of rumour and theory attached to why The Clash suddenly released 10 sides of music from late ’79 to late ’80 – much of it concerning the collective goal of hastening the end to their contract with CBS records. However forensic work from authors and analysts have shown that this simply was wishful thinking, the CBS contract tied the Clash down to optional additional albums so that wasn’t the main catalyst.

Original sketch ideas for London Calling sleeve by Ray Lowry

I think the reality is that by the Spring of 1979 the band were really gelling as a unit with a lot to prove (backs against the wall will do that to you), taking more collective influences from one another and writing/experimenting almost constantly. Don’t forget too that a number of tracks never made it onto London Calling and songs as good as Bankrobber and Armagideon Time were completed just after and whilst finishing London Calling respectively. While 1980 offered more of the same, the early goal of releasing a single each month never made it to fruition but the year still ended with a triple album spanning 36 tracks this time with Sandinista! I constantly hear those who complain that the triple album was too ambitious and there was too much noodling, dub, throwaway tracks and filler – but I can’t imagine the album any other way. I’ll even put my neck out and say that 30 years later its the album that I find most interesting and fresh (but only on some days I’ll quickly add to cover my arse). Critics and fans alike have debated for years that S! could have made a fantastic double album or an earth shattering single, but again how can you efficiently decide and edit what songs shouldn’t have made it. One More Time needs One More Dub to compliment it and you can battle long and hard for inclusion and exclusion based on personal preference. As I said I’ve heard this discussion many times – but on the Pop Matters site today I came across a debate I’ve never heard before – “Was London Calling too long as a double album?” Pop Matters regularly run the debate sessions and they are often good fun.

My answer is the same as for Sandinista! NO -  but even more so, how on earth can you elect to pull 3,4 or 5 songs from London Calling and have anything less than a culled version of a classic? To mean the excellence of London Calling is the 19 tracks that comprise it – take away any piece and it has lost far more than 5% of what makes it so special. The Pop Matters debate is linked here and while its somewhat tongue in cheek its worth a quick read. One suggests it would be like trimming an entire scene or two from The Godfather, you’d be left with a very different film. While I was much less satisfied about events when they were happening (1982 and 1983) time has taught me that almost everything that happened to The Clash happening for a reason. Three things I wish had not happened I reluctantly accept – Topper should have got the help he needed and the band took six-twelve months off and released a live album while Topper recovered – Combat Rock should have been the original mix and likely a double album – Mick Jones should not have been fired. Over simplification of course but nothing can be changed now and nor should the length of the albums that they did release.

I’ll be back soon…thanks as always for dropping in and supporting the blog. Tim