I was helping a client of mine with their website content today and we got to the page titled career opportunities. Needless to say the combination of those two words aren’t something I can simply utter but am forced to sing, followed typically by ‘the ones that never knock’. I’ve been afflicted by that phrase as a musical statement of intent for over 30 years now and it made me realise just how much a band with great lyrics get into your subconscious or better still your vocabulary. Fortunately the person I work with is also a serious fan of The Clash and we laughed and considered that page of the website kicking in with the MP3 of Strummer bellowing about endless dead end jobs. After a brief discussion we determined it might not be the best message to send to prospective candidates for employment (even if we were helping their musical pedigree).

I can think of dozens of examples of Clash lyrics that I’ll drop as part of my daily lexicon and I’m sure you may well suffer with the same affliction if you’re a long standing fan of the band. Can you see the word Casbah in print without wanting to rock it? Do you occasionally mutter ‘who’s barmy now?’ as a way of closing a conversation. I struggle to get on a lift that’s about to climb without hearing “Elevator….goinnng up”. It’s constant and not just The Clash who fill my head. I often brush my teeth in the morning after hearing our bloody awful alarm and the funky bass of ‘Ring Ring 7am, move yourself to go again’ gives me a silent rhythm in my head to tackle another day. Tell me these things happen to you too?

Right I’ve got a few quick links to share with you as I don’t think I’ve the energy to chatter away for very long tonight. If the blog has only appeared on your radar in the last 3-4 months you might want to pop over to my facebook page as I’ve been posting some of the Mick Jones videos from his solo performance at the R+R Public Gallery last Summer, they seem to be ‘new’ to a lot of kind people so if you’ve not seen them go and take a peek. Stay Free and Train in Vain are both posted and seeing Mick perform them alone is rather lovely.

This is an interesting piece and worth taking the time to read. The short version is that the author of the piece suggests Joe Strummer’s lyrics present a strong case for his capacity to have been a law professor. It’s written from (essentially) a serious point of view and better still the author certainly knows his Clash history and Joe’s situational lyric writing. He sets it out as a potential curriculum, little did I know I guess we attended that class in gradual stages as we explored the lyrics of The Clash which rarely strayed into the realm of being too trivial. The whole article makes me a bit tense as from the age of about 13 until 18,19 Strummer’s lyrics formed the basis of much of my idealism or at the very least stirred an interest to want to explore more. It’s a smartly observed piece and brings couplets into the cold morning light of legal interpretation and yet the author manages to keep it informative and funny too. Also, as he points out many of Joe’s lyrics did involve the police or the justice system – quite an investment in the topic for someone who (generally) avoided sentencing and jail (fights in Glasgow notwithstanding). Here’s a snippet below and best of all the US based website serves a business need – helping the visitor to find a qualified lawyer. So if I ever get nicked he can be my barrister so the Judge will know ‘What’s my Name’.

In the logic of this world, the police are at best corrupt (”The Crooked Beat”) or ineffectual (”Red Angel Dragnet”). At worst, they are simply another armed and dangerous gang. The point is made explicitly in an early cover of “Police and Thieves”, a reggae classic that remained a touchstone for The Clash. “Police and thieves in the street,” the song evenhandedly observes, “Fighting the nation/With their guns and ammunition.”

Such equivalencies, of course, are no longer fashionable. Nor is the tendency to view crime as a phenomenon primarily affecting the perpetrator. But Professor Strummer would have made his students remember that the criminal justice system can render judgments about the powerlessness of the accused more reliably than on his guilt, and that sympathy need not be reserved solely for the innocent.

Much more soon and thank you for dropping in, also RIP Corey Haim…38 is no age at all, can simply wish you peace.

Tim

It’s pissing down with rain again – seems to be a weekend thing around here. Just two quick things and then should be back with a Clash Cup pairing later this evening.

I wrote a few days ago about a photo exhibit in Toronto of concert photography (Toronto Calling) which includes some great pictures of Joe Strummer amongst others. Steve was kind enough to write in to provide some more background to that story – and there’s also been a new article about the exhibition in the Toronto Star that he found. So..over to Steve:

I didn’t know if it was okay to post directly to the ClashBlog so I thought I would just send you the link this way. This is a review of that photo exhibit currently on display in Toronto. Interestingly they point out that Joe wasn’t in a good mood the night of the Clash’s first show in Toronto. He always seemed to be a bit grumpy when he performed here with the band. At another show at Toronto’s CNE you could tell he wasn’t feeling well or clearly did not want to be here (unfortunately Toronto wasn’t considered a major stop in those days for bands ready to conquer America). There is a great footage of his backstage indifference captured by the program The New Music (I sneaked backstage for one show by literally walking in backwards and can attest to his behaviour. The New Music, by the way, was a great weekly program that extensively covered music in the 80’s. It was hosted by J.D. Roberts (who went on to become John Roberts of CNN!).

In any case, Joe did an about face when he got older. He adored the crowd when he returned with the Pogues and when he was with the Mescaleros it seemed he had become comfortable with his role as, I dare say, an icon. I met him a couple of times in the years just before his death and he was funny, happy and accommodating. He signed every autograph and posed for every picture. The best image I have of him in my mind is him walking down Yonge St. in Toronto for an appearance at radio station CFNY. He was all dressed in black with his guitar slung over his shoulder. When he got to the studio some fans were waiting. One shoved a book in front of him and Joe said: “I’m going to write my own book about the Clash one day. I’m going to call it a bunch of fuckin’ goofs!” at which the crowd burst out laughing. Because he was late for the appearance, the DJs were adjusting their scheduling so, with some time to kill, Joe took his guitar out of his case and started busking on the street. Fantastic. During the recording of the show he played a few songs. During the commercial break I asked him for his guitar pick. He gave me one, but I asked him to give me the one he just played with so he handed that one over. After the taping of the show he hung around and talked to everyone who was there until only he and his record company rep were left. They then went next door to Starbucks for a coffee.
But I digress.

Here is the link to the story.

Keep up the great work. I look forward to reading the blog every day. One more thing, this spring brings the Specials, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Beat, and Public Image to town on various nights.

Thanks so much Steve – great stories you have to share and thanks for letting me indulge them further via the blog itself.

So what to do on a rainy day like this? I’ve watched some football from England, had far too much coffee and listened to some old Joe Strummer London Calling radio broadcasts, I wish we had more of those to enjoy. The link I’ve mentioned before but if you have never listened to Strummer’s stint as a BBC DJ I encourage you to take some time and bookmark this page!

I’ve got football later in the mud, in the meantime have a look at this - Pressure Drop, the play. I heard about this a few months ago – Billy Bragg is going to be in a play that is ostensibly exploring what it means to be English in contemporary Britain. That said I’m sure it expands far beyond that and might be fascinating, Bragg wrote a fascinating book a few years ago with the lofty ambition of studying that same topic. In a country (like so many in Europe) that straddles the thin line between the extreme right and the extreme left – the conversation is a natural one to be having. I find especially interesting what Billy wrote about the pressure to renounce being English.

“There are plenty of things that I’m ashamed of that England did. And there are plenty of things that we do now that I’m ashamed of. But to renounce that part of my identity which I define as English would be to surrender to the bigots on the right and to the cynics of the left. Instead, I’m determined to engage with both sides and to challenge their perceptions of what it means to be English”  (Billy Bragg)

Finally, I bought more new music yesterday (as usual). We’ve talked about Gorillaz enough this week so I’d suggest you listen to the new Editors album ‘In The Light and on This Evening’. Here’s the link to ‘Papillon’

See you later…and thanks for dropping in – my thanks again to Steve.

Good Morning, welcome back (or thanks for your first ever visit), I’m armed with coffee and a touch of melancholy today. Some sour things (there’s a trio of deaths lingering around us this week….these things really do happen in threes) are offset by the fact that the sun is out the breeze is lovely and Arsenal just won another critical game (staying alive one game at a time) and if Wolves can win in the next hour a pint of lager will be in order later on.

I’ve only got one real bit of news this morning but I’m quite excited about it. Since the earliest days of the blog I’ve always felt it natural to lend our support to Strummerville as much as possible. As most of you know Strummerville was established shortly after the death of Joe by Lucinda Strummer who oversaw the original ideas behind the trust, she remains a trustee. I don’t think it would be wrong of me to say that for many of those who love Joe and The Clash that Strummerville has become a living, breathing idea keeping alive the spirit of Strummer. If not the embodiment of what Joe was all about then certainly as near as we can ask for. If someone had to keep the ideals going, far better that it was the people who work hard each day for Strummerville than CBS/Sony, the rock and roll hall of fame, or some other option. Elvis has Graceland and Strummer has Strummerville, having experienced both I know which side our bread is buttered on. What’s remarkable about the trust is the growing diversity of projects that they support, you may be surprised at the breadth of work that they now do. The assistance they provide in developing new music is about the most fitting tribute to Joe Strummer that I can imagine.

Joe was someone who never gave up his desire to make a difference via music and relished sharing his love of new artists from all avenues. From his boyhood days in boarding school being obsessed with listening to pirate radio under the covers, to his final touring when nothing made him happier than digging through a record shop to see what he could uncover and add to his carrier bag. His passion for music never waned. For some of us the importance of music in our life remains as critical in our 30’s, 40’s, 50’s as it did when we waited for the next single by our favourite band when we were thirteen. It seems though that for so many getting an education, a good job, having a family, new hobbies gradually relegate music until it becomes little more than a soft soundtrack to life in general and the passion for new music flickers out and then dies. I can’t relate to that. I’ve been asked ‘why do you still care so much about music?’ and ‘why didn’t you grow out of being excited about new bands’ – I’ve been just as confused by their stance when reality TV, a bigger car, or new golf clubs take the place in their heart and desire that used to be occupied by music. I’ve never found a substitute for music and I hope I never do – I feel lucky to be in the same place that Joe Strummer always seemed to be – that the next record you hear might be one of the best you’ve ever heard. Accidentally (as usual) I’ve gone way off topic.

I write about Strummerville today as I’m thrilled and honoured to announce an exclusive interview with Trish Whelan the Charity Director at Strummerville. Trish is just getting all the loose ends together for the trip to the SXSW festival in Austin which is having a huge slice of Strummer related events (see yesterday’s post). As much as I lament living in a world without Strummer (I constantly read ‘we really need Joe Strummer in days like these’) I think we should be thankful that we have a world with Strummerville and the work that they do.

I’ll ask Trish as many questions as I can think of but hoped you might be able to help me out with other ideas? If there is a specific question you have for Trish about Strummerville I’d love to include it when we speak. Email me via the blog – or contact me via the facebook page or twitter – I’ll do all I can to get all questions answered. I know Strummerville are proud and excited at the growth of these last six years and a growing profile in North America can be anticipated. Get in touch – this will be fun.

Cheers – Tim