It’s almost down to 90f in the desert tonight, the ClashBlog dog is looking at me expectantly and demanding we go for a late night wander. Thus I told her let me put together a quick update for the blog and then we’ll see if it’s cool enough out. Yes it’s been that sort of summer where 88f is going to feel pleasant, indeed these are the conversations I have with the dog.

A few updates on the wires that I wanted to share with you this evening because as ever you can find Clash related tales on the interwebs which is good as it keeps you informed and me out of trouble. First up then is a really enjoyable read from the Sabotage Times which takes an extract from ‘Shadowplay – The Rise and Fall of Factory Records’ (I need to buy this book!) and it looks back at the punk/post punk days of the The Factory at The Russel Club in Manchester, Tony Wilson’s live music fledgling venture that had a history so colourful I wish I had a time machine. The extract itself is brilliant and well worth a read if you bought a lot of records in the late 70′s even if you were miles from Manchester. Of course there is a reference/anecdote about The Clash which you’ll find just below the video on the post. Here is a list of the bands that visited just during the second half of 1978 and into 1979:

Magazine, The Fall, The Passage, Ultravox,Wire, Pere Ubu, Ludus and Penetration, while 1979 saw visits from Gang of Four, Crass, Stiff Little Fingers, The Cure, Cabaret Voltaire, Skids, Throbbing Gristle, The Human League, Mekons, Pink Military, The Raincoats, Simple Minds, The Cramps, Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, B-52s and Joy Division.

Can you even fucking imagine twelve months like that?

I know a lot of you enjoyed the article about Joe Strummer’s daughter Jazz the other day which looked at her cutting edge involvement with the textile industry. It made me smile more than a little (my grandfather was a tailor so clothing/fashion has always had a soft spot with me). Published this week the London Evening Standard also took a look at what the younger Strummer has been up to which you should take a look at.

Dog is now pacing….

Remind me to get back to this but I’m still on my quest to read eighteen books this year, book 13 is called ‘Bloody Confused’ which is about an American sportswriter throwing himself headlong into discovering the joys of proper (futbol, soccer) football when he moves to England. He becomes a supporter of Portsmouth (poor sod) but the book is so far an excellent investment of time and it just so happens that the author is a bit of a Clash nut. The book automatically seems better, even though it’s good anyway. Two glowing references to our boys and I’m only 80 pages in, what a coincidence and one I knew nothing of at the time of purchase. I’ll need to contact him about that when I complete the book.

Right, that should do for now – I will have more soon, time to put the dog in a better mood. Be Good…Tim

Good morning how goes it? All is well here, got coffee and and the right attitude for the time being. Let’s see how long that lasts. Don’t forget all images on the blog can now be enlarged by clicking on them and as a gallery when applicable. I’m also experimenting with some video walls which seem to be such a memory drain that I’m not sure the site can handle it without a dedicated server. I might go out with cap in hand to add more video. If everyone who visits the blog in a week donated a dollar I’d have enough for a server, hosting, new audio recording software and also a chance to send $2,500 to Strummerville. Hmmm, might set that up for Joe’s Birthday?

Viv in January 2011. Image courtesy MagicCube77 http://www.flickr.com/photos/25880052@N08/

Right then, straight into it. Some time ago we were lucky enough to be graced on the blog by a letter from Viv Albertine (formerly of The Slits) about her experience of getting back on stage with Carbon Silicon, hard to believe that was over eighteen months ago. Here’s the link to that post essentially written by Viv. Viv’s relationship and subsequent friendship with Mick Jones goes all the way back to art college where they met before The Clash came into existence. Then in turn the friendship and support given by each member of The Clash to the emerging Slits was well documented, itself a testament to the close-knit scene that early punk was in London. It’s been exciting to watch Viv reemerge as a solo artist in recent years, a nicer person is difficult to imagine. Here’s a link to Viv’s myspace where you listen to tracks and purchase her most recent album.

Return of the CIA (Clash Influenced Award) merits  an honourable mention in the direction of Boots Riley of The Coup. I like it when hip hop artists are tuned in enough to tip their cap in the direction of The Clash. It reminds me of the eclectic choices that The Clash made when choosing supports acts. This interview with Riley on punknews.org is a good read not least of all because of The Clash mention. Unfortunately as this video shows Bo Diddley wasn’t as enamoured with the chance to open for The Clash as they were with having him guest (and takes a good percentage of the takings by the way). Yes he’s talking more about the PA than the band but it’s a pretty funny interview.

Another CIA while we’re at it. A new book about ‘Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World’ takes the title ‘Rock the Casbah’. I do hope that Topper Headon gets at least a credit and ideally some royalties; here’s a review of the book in The L.A. Times book section by Wendy Smith. Sounds an interesting read, Rage and Rebellion would make a good album title.

Much more soon including a special event Clash infused event in Cleveland. Yes…Cleveland. Tim

Saturday night, the big one eh? Hopefully yours went well where ever you might be reading this and the weekend still has some mileage left in it. I would be wrong to not mention today being the anniversary of the tragic events that befell not just the US but anyone who wants a more peaceful world back in 2001. Hard to believe that nine years have passed since then, I have some strong sentiments about the event but don’t want to rehash what I’d already briefly written about it on a post at this time year, but please feel free to jump back to that and read it if you would like. What I would like to touch on this evening concerns another of the world’s great cities namely Sydney, Australia and the event ‘Revolution Rock’ that marks the anniversary each year of Joe Stummer’s Birthday. This summer it took place a few weeks ago on Saturday Aug 28 and spread for the first time to a second city – Melbourne – where the show also hit town the next weekend. Sorry for the delay in reporting back on this but Evan to co-organiser of the event had such a high octane week that he has been down with the flu ever since and I wanted to wait for his notes and suggested videos/photos. So before we get started huge thanks to Evan who starts working on the next year’s event with the help of Strummerville almost as soon as this event concludes. It takes a serious dedication of time and energy to coordinate these events and appreciation should go out to him and people like him. Celebrating the life of Strummer does things on many levels, it brings Clash fans together on a regular basis, it furthers the influence of The Clash and raises some funds for Strummerville to continue the great work that they do. Cheers again – the notes below are taken from Evan on his sick bed – get well soon mate.

• This year in Sydney was held in a new, bigger venue at the iconic Annandale hotel.
• Sydney show had bands from around Australia
• Sydney show featured The Domnicks, featuring Nick Sheppard of the Clash
• Show expanded into Melbourne with a 2nd show being held at the Birmingham Hotel (capacity crowds)
• Both shows raised a solid amount of money for Strummerville. (Last year we raised around $1,000. This year exceeded this by a fair bit, not sure yet of final amount)

Garage Joe playing Garageland in Melbourne