Hello everyone, hope you’ve been well? I just got back from 4 well needed and thoroughly enjoyed days of cool breezes off of the Pacific in Los Angeles. Now I’m back in the home inferno (my excuse for using Devils in my title) of Phoenix, like a fool I somehow thought the heat that constitutes a desert summer might slacken during my time away. This didn’t happen, nor was world peace found….silly me.

I have to make a few comments about the city of Angels, despite some of the negative generalisations I still think it’s a tremendous city – a vibrant live music scene – dining that’s top class and scenery I’ll never tire of. Worth mentioning in the charmed environs of coastal inhabitants – recession? What recession?  I also passed a good number of Clash related haunts for old times (and Clash Blogs) sake which I will share in the days ahead. For a start name this one below?

Clash connection?

So what’s been going on the last 4 days? I’m catching up with your votes for the Clash Cup and will post the details tomorrow. Some songs look safe for the late stages, but still a week left to vote. There’s been a number of Clash related items on the wires so I’ll share some of them tonight and then get back to regular posts again tomorrow.

I count myself among those who felt Joe Strummer’s soundtrack to Walker is one of the most overlooked pieces of work he was associated with. If you don’t own it I encourage you to give it a try. Be warned it’s so far removed from most of his work that you must (I repeat must) ensure you listen to it with a very open mind. It’s simply a brilliant disc that captures Joe at his best in terms of span – the music has such flavour and richness I can’t find fault. I write about Walker as I found this article about drummer Steven Mitchell who worked with Joe on the soundtrack. Central Pennsylvania (I kid you not) is where you’ll now find Mitchell, who also worked on the soundtrack to amazing film Tucker. I recall that soundtrack being as brilliant as the film also – see it if you haven’t !

The music press (especially in England) must have lost rude photos that they don’t want the Hold Steady to publish such is their reverence for the band. I must be listening to the wrong tracks as I hear a B-list Springsteen fixation but perhaps that’s my ears playing tricks. What I will add though, and as this article from nj.com confirms their track ‘Constructive Summer‘ is one of the far too few that gives Joe Strummer a proper name drop as follows:

“Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer/I think he might’ve been our only decent teacher”

I think I should be more open with my sentiments toward the band, so if you can provide recommended listening I’ll give it a try – can’t say fairer than that right? In the interim here’s the track in question linked for your listening pleasure.

Addendum – Jason wrote in to offer:

For the Hold Steady, start with the Separation Sunday album and then go to Boys and Girls in America.Hugely influenced by Springsteen, yes, but B-list, definitely not. See them live if you ever have the chance.

If you haven’t tried lala.com yet – give it a go….pretty bloody amazing. The catalog isn’t perfect but it’s a great improvement on some other sites out there and allows you to play entire albums. Moreover, as I’ll always suggest – it can open you up to some new things that you might want to then purchase – and please do so the artists get the money, or at least some.

There’s a number of other cool news pieces to follow up on over the next few days – so please check back. Til then – cheers

Tim

I have to confess a certain degree of reverence for U2. It might be their longevity, it might be their commitment to some causes for which I share some affinity, it might be the fact that they evolved so much to avoid being locked into formulaic records. Mostly I think it’s been their honesty to admit their inspiration for forming a band and taking a stance -- which inevitably has often included the words Clash or Punk Rock.

With that in mind it’s cool to see them include a little bit of Rock The Casbah  within the bridge of Sunday Bloody Sunday during their current tour. See live video below for a the song from Friday night in Dublin. It’s subtle but still a nice nod to the Clash. As for that multi-paneled video screen above the stage….bloody hell.

More significant than that is that Bono and The Edge have very much been ready to be stand up and be counted and confess the significance of seeing The Clash when they were just starting out. This wasn’t just after the loss of Joe Strummer but beforehand also. The introduction by  The  Edge at the Rock and Roll hall of fame induction was also something I found to be sincere. In other interviews it was clear no Clash equated to no U2….I think they meant that.

Also worth linking are these, an interview in ’95 when Bono talks a lot about Punk and The Clash. Plus this piece in The Independent where again The Clash are referenced as a starting point for being politically charged.

I guess I’ve always liked my bands to sing more than love songs, and if your politics piss some people off then so be it. At the same time you’re going to show naivety when you write about politics in your 20′s -- certainly The Clash were at times idealistic one moment and then dreadfully vague the next. Incorporating politics into your musical agenda is a risky proposition, but better to do it and be wrong once in a while than to sing about Love Cats and Girls just wanting to have fun. By the way, Echo and The Bunnymen were miles better at morphing into covering other songs in midstream.

The Clash was the greatest rock band. They wrote the rule book for U2.       — Bono

Anyway -- cheers to u2 for keeping The Clash alive in your words and actions.

Tim

One of the things I hoped to do with the blog is ensure that good thought provoking writing was shared from other places related to The Clash. Here’s an example as Gigdoggy has written a great synopsis of The Libertines which orbits around just one song ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’, definitely worth a read.

Mick and the Likely Lads

I really enjoyed The Libertines and was more than a bit peeved when they imploded. Although the writing was on the wall I still hoped that something would make them realise that it was worth fixing the (huge) range of issues and inner conflict. It wasn’t to be of course but for 2 great albums and a short short spell they were making some great music. The Clash connection via Mick Jones as producer (and minder and PR) is well documented and the influence is debatable. At times they do capture similar sparks that were the trademark of the Clash yet a new setting. There were elements of a cavalier and cartoonish sort of portrayal of living as likely lads (chancers) in modern day London and England. Much like The Clash I think the time capsule of when they actually wrote will be forever linked to the band’s mystique. When I first heard them the press were telling me it’s like a ‘new clash’ or ‘punk reignited’ once I got beyond that and listened with a cleaner slate I appreciated them significantly more.

Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee:
“The Libertines were the best and most influential band of the last decade, please forget the hype and just listen to the music.”

Continued debate about them reforming stirs and although the window is open due to lack of time passing (it’s less than 5 years since they split) I’m not sure that they can revisit what they were. Nor is there anything to indicate that the furrows that caused the split are any less deep in 2009. The correlation to The Clash in terms of the breakup are similar also, it’s a crying shame that Joe Strummer wasn’t able to move on to making new records as soon as Barat and Doherty.

On a final note it seems logical to assume that working with The Libertines sparked the return of Mick Jones to the industry. I need to research if that logic applies, assuming it does then cheers to Carl, Pete, John and Gary.