Hello again and thanks once more for stopping in at The Clash Blog. Tuesday night here as I begin this one but I’m not certain I’ll finish it tonight as it’s already rather late, I could put some coffee on but that might result in me staying up until the stupid hours so I’m not completely sure what’s best to do. I’ve also made a fatal blogging mistake by starting this post without being entirely sure about what I plan to cover which may deter you from lurching on with me to the next paragraph but go on, if you take the chance I’ll keep writing.

Some semblance of focus might be best so that I don’t ramble on endlessly, so that will be my approach. I do have a quick question aimed at those who collect a lot of Clash books and there are more now than you can probably justify so I’m getting a little more picky about what I need to add to my collection. In late 2009 a book titled ‘The Clash : Essential Interviews’ was released I believe in paperback only. I sat on the fence at the time about grabbing a copy and now it seems it has gone out of print and with that reached insane prices. My understanding was that it compiles many of the major interviews that the band gave the major music press; NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone etc. and reproduced those exchanges in full. While that’s not a bad overall concept for a book many of those interviews have seemingly already been reproduced online or in magazine specials (much like the new Uncut one that just came out). If you happened to purchase the book let me know what you thought and whether it was worth the cost/time and such, incidentally here’s the link so we’re on the same page. It does run to over 300 pages so there’s some depth in there regardless.

Speaking of books, in 2012 I am going to add a section of permanent pages to the blog that review DVDs and books that are fully or partly devoted to The Clash/Clash members. If you might be interested in helping out with that please let me know as the help would be greatly appreciated. Ideally I’d like to add a three hundred word synopsis and review of each book and DVD that might be of interest to your average Clash fan. Ideally we’ll also be adding interviews with some of the authors of the better stuff, which is also on the cards for coming months should all go to plan.

At this point you’d wonder if more could be written about The Clash but the excellent work of authors such as Chris Salewicz, Kris Needs and Marcus Gray show that there’s layers to the story that merit more understanding and analysis. The very existence of The Clash was really quite brief but that doesn’t limit the interest shown in that era which says so much about the evolution of the band and it’s components that I’d place it in on level pegging with that famous four from Liverpool in terms of where the story takes you in such a short time. Perhaps the complexity of The Clash was the only thing that clarivaled their brilliance. Summer of 1976 to Summer of 1983 is all you really have to work with and yet I feel there’s still much more to understand even though I feel like an anorak just typing those words. The good news, we still haven’t seen a book with Mick’s, Paul’s, Topper’s or even Terry’s version of events which would certainly add even more colour. I’m sure we’ll see at least three and perhaps all four of those take shape in the near future with two already on the cards (more on that soon). As for Joe’s story of course we can’t get closer than we already have with the excellent “Redemption Song, The Ballad of Joe Strummer” by Chris Salewicz. In my opinion that is the definitive story of Joe Strummer and if for some reason you haven’t already read it then I suggest you address that immediately.

Right then, from a starting point of asking about a book I’ve prattled on for a while about ‘Clash books’ but please take the time to build that library if you haven’t. There’s a lot to be said and written about a band that were so busy making music that they were never properly chronicled when it was all taking place. The other funny impact of history is that Joe was barely given the time of day and The Clash were seen by so many critics as a sell out from 1983 through to the early-mid 90′s that the very thought of reviewing just what the band meant was considered fairly inane and with a limited audience. The reverence that is so often attached to the band today wasn’t the norm after they broke up. We knew best yes, but then again we were fans of the band at the time – not critics or assessors. On the positive side of that we’ve had that much longer to enjoy the band than the press who now venerate them. Odd that isn’t it? Goodnight for now. Tim

Hello again, I’m just about to have a bit of lunch so I thought I’d get a short update together while I’m at it. Hope the weekend went well and you’re fighting the good fight at work or school. After yesterday I didn’t fancy the loss of another icon but indeed I hear that Ken Russell has died at age 84 today – if you ever wanted to know what a punk rock filmmaker in the 60′s & 70′s looks like you’d do well to check out his career. I’d sum him up in one word – brash – in an industry that is so often dull and predictable which makes it more of a shame that he spent the last 20 years on the sidelines from notable success. Right then, some Clash related things to rifle through.

I’ll argue at length that alongside The Clash one of the most important British punk bands were Buzzcocks and even if others may have developed a bigger following I think they have inspired loads of great bands since in addition to their own brilliance. What was very unique about them was that a key member left right as the band were getting started. Howard Devoto was an integral part of their formation but departed after they only played live eleven times but not before they had completed the brilliant spiral scratch EP. Devoto didn’t vanish though as he immediately formed the very different but exceptionally good Magazine who soldiered on until 1981. Therefore if you’re one of the few who saw the original lineup of Buzzcocks you’d be one of a very rare breed of probably less than 3,000 people. Does that apply to any of you? (we may need proof). However I just read via Louder Than War that the original members are going to play two very special shows together for the first time since ’77 next year. The concerts take place May 25/26 in Manchester and London and I know that’s a long way off but if you’re interested I’d nab a ticket immediately if I were you. I should get over eh? Ticket details are via the linked page above.

Clash collections might be getting a little larger in the printed variety this week with Uncut Magazine released a 148 page special edition devoted to nothing but The Clash. I don’t have a copy yet but it will feature reprints of old interviews, some summaries, dozens of photos and a specially written introduction by Mick Jones. I’ve picked up a few of Uncut’s previous specials and they are good if you’re a collector so look out for one. If you’re in the UK they are at newsagents for £5.95 if you’re elsewhere good stores that offer import magazines should have it within a week or so. Failing that you can order a digital version online here and also be environmentally friendly or ask someone on the blog or facebook page to send you one for Christmas. You can help me get one or grab me a coffee over on the right too….

I need to get back to work, but you can keep in touch via Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed  thanks for reading. Tim.

Good morning everyone, a bright and sunny Sunday here and the calm before the storm that is often December. I really miss a lot of things about London but luckily with the internet I can still get a lot of them (football, music, television) and finally you can find good tea, pickled onions and even a Toffee Crisp in towns as unsophisticated as Phoenix. December is different though, I really miss London during the holidays. Yes it gets dark horribly early, it’s cold and crowded with shoppers and commuters but if feels like Christmas. Whereas here Christmas lights wrapped around a cactus when you’re wearing short sleeves in 70f weather doesn’t make you feel that festive. Last night I went to a ‘Festival of Lights’ Christmas parade where all the vehicles and people are covered in Christmas lights (I know…it’s extremely punk rock…I did at least fail to applaud the police!) and whilst it all looked nice enough it was a lovely warm evening and a cold drink was in order. Not very Christmas like at all. Still, Christmas hasn’t really been the same since 2002 but that’s for reasons that are personal to me and most of you I’d expect and as fans of The Clash you can’t get through December without the shadow of the anniversary of Joe’s death looming large. We’ll try and make it something very positive next month so I hope you can take part in that.

For this morning I just wanted to share some photographs. As you can imagine trying to compose the blog I’ve probably seen several thousand photographs of The Clash in their prime and it’s members since they split up. I try and dig out good shots as often as I can and I know many of you are instantly familiar with probably 500 plus that you’ve all seen before. So many of those photos are almost as iconic as the band itself, from the early paint splattered days of the first tour through to The Clash Mark II where Joe and Paul never looked entirely comfortable with their new colleagues. Sometimes I come across photos I’ve not seen and take the approach that hopefully at least half of you haven’t seen before either, in which case I’ll add them to the blog. Everyone has their favourite images of band but I think the series taken below of Joe in New York are rather magnificent. It’s also great to see a set of photographs from the same session. Based on the weather and Joe it was obviously taken in the summer of either ’99 or ’01 I think as he was there with The Mescaleros both of those years, I think it was probably the former. If I’ve uploaded these correctly you should be able to click on the first image and then cycle through each of the others, five in total.

I hope these photos speak to you as loudly as they did to me, each one certainly has a different feel to it. What I think you can read between the lines is just how happy Joe was in New York City. The Clash enjoyed such creative and rewarding times there and Joe made many lifelong friends in the city, it became almost a second home at times and it’s interesting that the longest time he lived in the US was Los Angeles rather than Manhattan but again he’d built a new network of friends on the west coast as well. I’ll never tire of photos like these it has to be said. As for the source they were all on the flickr account of Hitsville UK 08 and thanks to him or her, I don’t think these were an official set by Bob Gruen but if I’m incorrect please let me know so the photographs can be credited properly.

On another very sad note this morning I know many of you share my affinity for football and if you’re a fan of the game in the UK you were probably as devastated as I was to learn about the death at just 42 of Gary Speed the current manager of the Wales national side. I’d seen Gary Speed play many times over the years against Arsenal and always thought he was a class player, by all accounts he was a gentleman off of the field and obviously a great competitor and success. Tragically he had apparently committed suicide early this morning leaving behind his wife and two children. It’s too early to speculate but the dark spectre of depression was apparently something he had hidden. If someone you care about suffers from depression make sure you’re involved in their lives, you can make a huge difference. Rest in Peace Gary Speed.