Good morning from a bleary eyed and sneezy Clash Blog Towers. Like a trooper/glutton for punishment I did go cycling this morning and the only people thanking me are the assorted birds (feathered) who laughed at my progress, I did however see some nice birds (non-feathered) out jogging.

I wanted to let the dust settle and provide an assortment of observations, updates and details about the forthcoming releases by The Clash scheduled for September, initially the box set Sound System. The specifics if you will as I’ve seen a lot of reaction to the new releases over the last 36 hours. Today I’ll just focus on  some of it.

Release date:  September 9 applies for the UK, the actual release date in the US/Canada will be the 10th as Tuesdays are new release dates here (no I never worked that one out either).

Format(s): The box set at this time is only scheduled to be in CD format. I realise, and share, the huge interest in a vinyl alternative but nothing is currently scheduled. My best guess as to the reason why no vinyl option and probably the correct one is due to cost as a vinyl pressing would greatly inflate the price of the box set, probably by as much as 30-40% which I don’t think would go over very well. It’s ironic and not the fault of anyone but the record labels that in the eighties vinyl was far cheaper than the CD version due to manufacturing capacity and technology I assume and here we are 25 years later with the reverse being true.

Update – Sony now this morning say there will be vinyl editions…just the studio albums in a ‘flight case’ box set. Price unknown. (I’m guessing that means the new/unreleased material won’t see a vinyl option)

Where’s the vinyl?

Pricing: The (somewhat) good news is that the North American price loaded on Amazon at $290 appears to be incorrect as I suspected as it made no sense whatsoever in relation to the UK price. Overnight they’ve magically lowered it to $250. Even at that I’ve never seen what is essentially a 11 disc plus DVD boxset priced anywhere near that level and the correct price should be  apparently $169 for the US and £111 for the UK so we’ll wait and see what happens, via the official site the prices are lower. I’m sure you can find € pricing online by now also? So let’s talk about the pricing situation at present and I’ll be polite – it’s a fucking car wreck. Whether you feel it’s overpriced or not is altogether a side issue, but where you live and how you go about buying it shouldn’t make a true difference in price of somewhere between 40-70% dependent on shipping, taxes and exchange rates. If something is imported that’s a different matter but I’m sure the US release will not be imported from England. Something I was so excited about is now a ball of question marks because Sony/Amazon and others have hugely inconsistent pricing at present and I think it needs to be resolved asap.

Which is to say nothing of it being expensive and I really feel that it is. I looked at all of the box sets that I own today and on average (per disc) they were between 35-60% less expensive than this looks set to be and many contained a lot more unreleased material. How much do I want (another) remastered copy of each studio album at this stage? As The Baker said on the Facebook page however, perhaps this box set isn’t aimed at us but the new/young/casual fan? But can that really be accurate? Sony know Clash fans are furiously loyal but on the other hand we’re not made of money, or maybe we are.

Now I guess whether you’ve already pre-ordered it or not may have more to do with your financial situation than your love of the band, in any terms that’s a big outlay for a collection of music that most already own to a great extent. On the other hand this will it seems be the last official release ever by The Clash and thus the nearest we’ll ever see to a full collection unless Sony have some sort of deluxe/platinum edition up their sleeves which I wouldn’t bet against. The remastering alone may well be that significant and I’m curious to see what others say when it does get released. My budget for music isn’t what it used to be in these economic times and for the same outlay I can purchase 12-16 new albums or attend half a dozen concerts or buy groceries for a fortnight. I can’t do all and I won’t be buying it at the current prices. My birthday is quite soon however.

At present there’s enough variables in pricing for me to write another blog post about it…which I might do at the weekend. For now I’d avoid online retailers and ask your local record shop what their shelved price will be. I’d always recommend that in fact.

Content: Before we look at what’s included let’s consider what has been excluded. Cut The Crap is again erased from the history of the band which is either airbrushing or a marketing decision by the band and label, fair enough but I think it should been included. You can think what you want about the album but for the amount of cash being shelled out it should have been included, it was on CBS, was an official release and while it didn’t feature two of the four key players it also did feature two. If you’re looking at the boxset to be the complete archive of The Clash which I assume was the purpose then Cut The Crap should have been included. I have a copy already but yes I’d like a nice shiny new one if I’m buying the definitive box set.

There’s been a fair amount of hand wringing already about what’s not been included *(full concerts, more live releases, more demos, some of the material on the London Calling 25th anniversary and a total exclusion of Every Little Bit Hurts and One Emotion come to mind). I would have loved the boxset to include essentially everything no matter how good or bad we might consider it and that of course just like Cut The Crap comes down to personal taste. I would have loved to have seen the unreleased material and DVD get a release as a free standing item but understand why it got packaged in the set.

I genuinely hope that the remastering is a major factor and Mick Jones is saying as much in interviews, I’d tend to think he’d know best. If I can listen to each album and hear things I’ve never heard before then that is truly enticing. At present that will probably be the deciding factor for me, although perhaps not for all potential buyers.

What we do have are three discs of special recordings beyond the remastered studio albums plus a DVD and the full track listing is as follows:

Disc One
1. White Riot (Single version)
2. 1977 (B-side)
3. Listen (Capital Radio EP) / Interviews (Capital Radio EP)
4. Capital Radio (Capital Radio EP)
5. London’s Burning (Live B-side Remote Control)
6. Complete Control (Single version)
7. City Of The Dead (B-side)
8. Clash City Rockers (Original single version)
9. Jail Guitar Doors (B-side)
10. White Man In Hammersmith Palais (A-side)
11. The Prisoner (B-side)
12. 1-2 Crush On You (B-side Tommy Gun)
13. Time Is Tight (Black Market Clash)
14. Pressure Drop (B-side English Civil War)
15. I Fought The Law (Cost Of Living EP)
16. Groovy Times (Cost Of Living EP)
17. Gates Of The West (Cost Of Living EP)
18. Capital Radio (Cost Of Living EP)
19. Armagideon Time
20. Bank Robber (A-side)
21. Rockers Galore On A UK Tour (B-side)
Disc Two
1. Magnificent Dance (12”) 5:36 (available on Singles box set)
2. Midnight To Stevens (Outtake)
3. Radio One (B-side Hitsville UK)
4. Stop The World (B-side The Call Up)
5. The Cool Out (US 12” B-side of The Call Up)
6. This Is Radio Clash (A-side)
7. This Is Radio Clash (B-side 7” – different lyrics)
8. First Night Back In London (B-side Know Your Rights)
9. Rock The Casbah (Bob Clearmountain 12” mix)
10. Long Time Jerk (B-side Rock The Casbah)
11. The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too (Outtake)
12. Idle In Kangaroo Court (Outtake listed as Kill Time)
13. Ghetto Defendant (Extended version – unedited)
14. Cool Confusion (B-side Should I Stay Or Should I Go 7”)
15. Sean Flynn (Extended ‘Marcus Music’ version)
16. Straight To Hell (Extended unedited version from Clash On Broadway)

Disc Three
Extracts from The Clash’s first ever recording session at Beaconsfield Film School 1976. Recorded by Julien Temple
1. I’m So Bored With The USA
2. London’s Burning
3. White Riot
4. 1977
Polydor Demos – The Clash’s second recording session January 1977
Produced by Guy Stevens
5. Janie Jones
6. Career Opportunities
7. London’s Burning
8. 1977
9. White Riot
Live at The Lyceum, London 28th December 1979
10. City Of The Dead
11. Jail Guitar Doors
12. English Civil War
13. Stay Free
14. Cheapstakes
15. I Fought The Law
Bonus DVD
Julien Temple Archive – 6:20
White Riot Interview – 7:10
Promo and interviews with Tony Parsons
1977 1:87
White Riot 1:48
London’s Burning 2:05
Sussex University 1977
I’m So Bored With The USA 2:14
Hate & War 1:94
Career Opportunities 1:42
Remote Control 2:73
Don Letts Super 8 Medley 11:40
White Riot 1:52
Janie Jones 1:73
City of the Dead 2:04
Clash City Rockers 2:15
White Man in Hammersmith Palais 2:53
1977 1:41
Clash On Broadway – 19:50
London Calling
This Is Radio Clash
The Magnificent Seven
Guns Of Brixton
Safe European Home
Promo Videos
Tommy Gun 3:00
London Calling 3:20
Bankrobber 4:00
Clampdown (Live) 5:00
Train In Vain (Live) 2:10
The Call Up 3:10
Rock The Casbah 3:20
Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Live at Shea Stadium) 2:50
Career Opportunities (Live at Shea Stadium) 3:00

I’d imagine beyond the posters and buttons it is these four discs that will make people’s minds up as to the overall value of the boxset. I’m keen to see the Don Letts footage along with Sussex University footage in particular. The more I peruse this list the more I wish I had the cash or a willing sponsor at Sony Music. Are you listening Sony?

Of course it looks cool, from the box itself to the extras and the sleeves I think perhaps all of that extra shine helped drive costs up. Is that punk? Well you can debate that yourselves, as I’ve written endlessly The Clash were a great rock band that evolved in the punk era. We’re not going to get London Calling or Sandinista! value in 2013 whether we like it or not. However I do think you need to compare the pricing in different markets and with other existing box sets by other artists.

Extras: I’ve bought a good number of boxsets in the past and my primary motivation has always been the music, the particulary hard to find tracks or unreleased versions. I know some people get excited by stickers, badges and posters and the boxset offers a lot in that direction if that’s your thing. New republished copies of The Armagideon Times parts I & II are also appealing as is the new part III which might be fascinating to collectors.

Variations: Again more than you can probably stomach today such as digital versions and studio albums only but I will get to it I promise, so I’ll save that for the weekend too. The US version from the official site does include a signed print (by Mick, Paul and Topper) which does sound very cool, especially for those with nothing autographed.

Thanks for letting me ramble, I’m trying to sort out all of the details and I’m sure the band spent a long time putting this together so I wish the marketing was a bit more polished especially concerning the pricing. The other topic that I don’t have time for today is the band finally putting to rest the notion of them playing live ‘as The Clash’ at any point. While I never thought it wise nor likely this should kill the speculation for once and for all with all three being in the same room at the same time giving the same answer. As Topper said ‘nobody can replace Joe’.

Your comments are welcome as I’m by no means the authority on all of this.

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Good evening and welcome back to the blog, I’m just watching the terrible images coming in from Oklahoma City and I hope if you’re reading from there or have family or friends in the city that they are all safe and well. Amazing footage and undeniably tragic. Instead of that I’ve got some images that will hopefully brigthen a grim day from Spain.

When I was in school and we had the chance to learn a second language I opted for French and I’ve regreted it ever since, in part because I wasn’t very good at it and in part because I’ve rarely had a chance to use it and like they say use it or lose it. Dozens of times since I’ve wished I had instead learned Spanish, having visited Spain a good few times for work and holiday and now living in the US it would have come in handy. I’d have like to have been able to speak Spanish today and to have also been in Granada, Spain as it was a rather special day as you’ll see from the images below. We were lucky enough to have some of the earliest images of the Plaza Joe Strummer last month when Karl visited and let us share these images.

Today was the official dedication of the square and the guests of honour were none other than Joe’s widow Lucinda and at least one of his daughters. I believe both attended but I’m not 100% sure at the time of writing. As you’ll see the street sign for the plaza was indeed temporary and isn’t it great to see so many in attendance. If you’ve found additional photographs online please let me know and I’ll be happy to add them to the blog. Until then please join me in thanking Marty for bringing these pictures to our attention, just arrow through the full gallery.

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Good Saturday to you all and welcome back to the blog. In time-honoured fashion the whole household was sick at one point or another during the week missing school or work respectively making sure I didn’t succumb until the weekend. Typical innit? So I’ll publish this post, sleep for 20 hours and then watch Arsenal win tomorrow.

Today is part two of my chat with Randal Doane the author ‘Stealing All Transmissions-A Secret History of The Clash’. If you somehow missed part one it’s linked here and you can purchase the book if you haven’t already from Amazon in the US or WH Smith in the UK. Unfortunately you’ll have to do some research for other markets but starting with the monster named after the big river in South America is probably a good bet. Make sure you check out the insightful comments on the last post from The Baker too. So I’ll hand it back to  myself and Randal below and cover my throat in medicine, until next time good people and please join me in thanking Randal for taking the time.

The relationship between New York and The Clash is considered (after London) the most important one the band built, at times perhaps more so. What do you put that down to?

RD: New York’s the US’s most international city, and its bars close at 4am. It also has a rich rock’n'roll history, and of course the growing popularity of rap and hip-hop culture circa 1980 held quite the allure for The Clash, too. New York, then and now, teems with possibility for long-time residents and interlopers alike, and The Clash made the most of the vintage clothing shops, the recording studios, Studio 54, bars in midtown, the Village, and in Soho, and then there was Bob Gruen, who ensured that they could tool around in 1954 Buick as if they were stars in a noir thriller.

Are you still listening to much new music, what do you enjoy most that is recent?

RD: Each February, I assemble a Village Voice Pazz & Jop-inspired mix disc, so that I have a sense of what “the kids” are tuning into. I dig Carbon/Silicon, of course, and I can be caught dancing in the kitchen with my daughter to Teddybears or Tune-Yards a couple nights a week. I think the Kopecky Family Band achieved a measure of pop-confection perfection with “Heartbeat,” and that Air Traffic Controller comes close with “You Know Me.”

My favorite contemporary performer for the past few years, though, is Hamell on Trial. Imagine The Clash meets George Carlin on acoustic guitar. He’s got it all.

Do you think that The Clash would have achieved more than for example U2 on the global market if the band had managed to regroup and stay together/overcome Topper’s issues and the conflicts with Mick?

RD: In terms of quality, or quantity? I think Joe had difficulty with the “Rock the Casbah”-level of fame, let alone Superbowl-halftime-show level of fame. It seems as if the last time Joe and Paul had fun together as The Clash was that busking tour when they lived hand-and-guitar-to-mouth. Could they have had fun as the size of U2? Hmm …

I’d like to side with Don Letts on this question. Seven years is a long time for any band, and The Clash amassed a host of great, great songs in those seven years (76-83, of course), and blew away a lot of people who saw them live. Plus, I don’t know that I would trade Big Audio Dynamite’s debut for the album that might have succeeded *Combat Rock.* I just love the humor, the sound, and the joy and–perhaps most surprising of all–the lack of bitterness of that album.

 What’s the main reason a seasoned Clash fan might want to read the book?

RD:  The main reason? Hmm … I wrote the book for folks like your readers so that they might wax rhapsodically with greater accuracy about the righteousness of our youth and our music, and to tell the stories of select deejays and rock journalists who really mattered. I also hope my reflections on music, technology, and fandom resonate with readers in the US and UK who grew up listening to vinyl, cassettes, then CDs. Likewise, I think folks should know the modest number of degrees of separation between Hilary Rodham Clinton and The Clash.

I want to own up to this now, too, so there are no illusions: I understand that I erred when I identified Joe’s last gig as Acton, rather than Liverpool. I’m delighted to set the record straight in a subsequent printing of the book, and look for your guidance in terms of the number of hail-marys I need to say before I might be forgiven by The Clash faithful.

Favourite Clash album and song – and why?

RD: I’m still making sense of Sandinista! (which is amazing), but I’ve got to give the nod to *London Calling.*  It fit perfectly on a 90-minute XLII tape with the 5-song EP by Echo and the Bunnymen that came out in ’84, and I wore that tape out. *London Calling* was an audacious move, but it’s effectively a 3-sided, filler-free LP at 66 minutes (rather than 2 hours+), and every song sings with the band’s determination, their sense of humor, and the brilliant mixing work of Mick and Bill Price.

Song-wise: “Charlie Don’t Surf” gets the nod today over “White Man in Hamersmith Palais,” but try me again next week. The lyrics of “Charlie” are awe-inspiring in their poignancy and simplicity, and the hook and the spacious dub mix just draws me in.

What three people living or dead would you most like to have a few beers with?

Karl Marx– I’d like to talk to him about parenting.

Joe Strummer –There’d be so many topics of interest, but I’d ask him first about compassion and laughter.

Ralph Ellison–He was such a sharp dresser, so I know I’d have to starch up my finest shirt and press my favorite tie before settling down for a conversation about jazz, prose, and freedom.

You’ve got one sentence to tell a 15 year old kid today why they need to invest time in The Clash. What would you tell them?

RD: ”This is the stuff of Robert Johnson at the crossroads, kid, but The Clash isn’t asking for your soul, just your ears, and your mind.”

Thanks for the time/space on theclashblog, Tim, and keep up the good work

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