Good Saturday morning Clash people all over the globe, this morning I feel like last night consisted of copious amounts of vodka, gin, rum, cider and unfiltered cigarettes however the truth is nothing happened last night and I just still have a stinking cold/flu combination which I think is about to run its course. The former sounds far more exciting however doesn’t it? Hopefully some of you have legitimate hangovers.

This time next week the Justice Tonight tour which features Mick Jones will be underway and I know from many of your comments that expectations are running high for this and rightly so. I think it’s fitting that it took a series of concerts for such a worthy cause to have Mick take this unprecedented step of playing live and featuring Clash songs rather than just a chance to line his pockets with cash. That speaks volumes about the choices that Jones makes, he could have pulled together an all star band of friends by calling in favours at any time over the last decade and gone out on a money spinning tour playing Clash songs over the last decade. He’s never taken that option because it never seemed right but the Hillsborough Justice Fund coupled with his friendship with Pete Wylie and others means next week will be something really special. I think what makes it even more enticing is that I don’t think it will happen again, I can’t see Mick calling up Paul and Topper in 2012 and proposing the ‘almost-Clash reunion’. Nor do I think they’d be interested. Anyway, I’ve rambled on at length enough probably and that’s partly cos I’m frustrated that I’m too far away to attend plus the cause is very important to me.

As for that short tour next month, thanks to those who have volunteered to cover the concerts for the blog in London, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool. I’ll contact you next week so we can keep current on the blog, if anyone is attending Cardiff or Sheffield and would like to contribute to the blog please let me know. As for the tour itself the special guest spots are really taking shape now and there’s some seriously good people making up the bill dependent on the the city in question.

In Cardiff Manic Street Preacher James Dean Bradfield will be the special guest whilst in Glasgow Glasvegas singer and poor man’s Joe Stummer impersonator  James Allan will be added to the lineup. In London guest stars are expected to include the excellent Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream/The Jesus and Mary Chain plus Don Letts as DJ and in Sheffield guests include a favourite of mine Richard Hawley plus Jon McClure (good article here in The Star). Hawley will DJ in Sheffield which I think would be a great night to make it along to. By all accounts there will be more guests announced as the dates draw closer and some who will probably remain as surprises until the very last minute. Rumours that Mr. Simonon might appear in London are just that at this stage but never say never, wouldn’t that be something? If you learn of other special guests before I do just add them to the comments and I’ll spread the word. Confirmed rumour is that more Clash songs are being added to the set.

It seems that London tickets are still doing the rounds on ebay but at exorbitant prices which seems like bad form for a charity concert. If anyone has unused tickets for any of the nights let me know via the blog and we’ll try and find you a taker from the readers. That’s all from me for now, thanks for reading.

This just in – tickets for Sheffeld on Ebay for just £10.00 are currently listed. Also, keep me posted via via Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed  thanks for stopping by.

A good Friday morning to you then, I’ve had better weeks but a cold isn’t enough to stop me from getting an update out to you fine people. There are a few things to get to some of which we’ve looked at before. I’m glad to say we broke the news of Julie Delpy being given the reins on the forthcoming Joe Strummer biopic before many of the other sites but over the last 48 hours it’s been given some coverage by many outlets. Here are a selection of those stories:

 BBC News gives a straightforward ‘just the facts as we know them’

The Guardian had a long and interesting article which they’ve now removed….very curious as to why

The Telegraph (honestly!) must now appeal to older Clash fans too

Rolling Stone (former Clash lovers) offer three sparse sentences

Variety suggests Delpy will be in the film itself….as Gaby I’m guessing

Spinner suggests the film will cover from 1982 right up until Joe’s death in 2002. That’s a new spin…

It would seem that official word is hard to find and a lot of speculation is beginning to dominate and I’m guilty of that too to some extent, but my biggest concern is the working title of the film. It’s a poor choice.

As I mentioned on Facebook that above and beyond being concerned about how the project will turn out I also think ‘The Right Profile’ is simply the wrong title for it. Yes it’s a Clash song but it also happens to be very specifically about troubled film star Montgomery Clift, thus the title (to a Clash fan) refers more to Clift than it ever could to Joe Strummer. I think we need to concoct a better title, I think simply ‘Strummer’ would work or even go back to the original ‘Joe Public’ which I didn’t think was great at the time but certainly more apt than what’s now getting selected. I don’t know how we contact Julie Delpy although we could try and bombard her facebook fan page although I doubt she reads it. Anyone well connected enough to have Julie’s ear please drop me a line and while you’re doing that I think I’ve come up with the ideal title for the film. How about just calling it ‘Joe’?

image courtesy hitsville uk 08 http://www.flickr.com/photos/26858003@N04/

The film is on track to be in production around the same time as the film about the making of London Calling which could make for a very interesting or disastrous 2012 at the cinema depending on how these projects actually turn out. Let’s keep our optimistic goggles in place at least until we find out who is being cast for the films then we can make an immense racket. I still think the wisest solution for both films is to cast an unknown actor in the key roles as it would be more believable than the calls for John Cusack and James McAvoy that I’ve seen thrown around. Also, nothing personal rest of the world but the actors needs to be British and preferably Londoners, I don’t want my Mick and Joe having a UCLA background thanks very much. What has been confirmed is that ‘The Right Profile’ will centre around the period of time when Joe Strummer went missing in Paris in 1982, again a strange part of The Clash story to focus in on if you ask me. Especially when you could I imagine easily build a film around the creation of the band, the early tours, conquering the US or even the extended stay at Bonds. 1982 wasn’t the peak of the tale and is strange era to zoom in on. Right then, I’ll be back tonight or early tomorrow with lots of news about the Justice Tonight tour.

In the meantime a huge thanks to those additional kind hearted Clash lovers who have donated to the blog in recent days (over on the right margin), it’s greatly appreciated and I’m flattered that you were able to help the blog out and view it in such a good light. Remember there’s no ‘minimum donation’ if you care to help out every penny counts. Thank you! If you’ve got a good idea for that film title please add it in the comments. More soon – Tim

Good evening, a buoyant Arsenal inspired mood then last night (that’s how you do it Manchester(s) and Chelsea) and a heady dose of medicine has me on the happy train. Thanksgiving has been spent sleeping which sits with me more effortlessly rather than celebrating the events that unfurled due to the European expansion in North America. However that’s a longer tale for another day. With that said a short post is probably best for all concerned and I think I’ve got just the thing.

I can’t profess to have seen every single video clip of Clash related footage that exists online, nor can I verify the authenticity of everything I see. I do know that there are some serious Clash anoraks out there who (it seems) are aware of every single live recording and the origins of all video footage available for public consumption. One of those experts may well explain that the video below exists elsewhere or was taken from source a or source b – but I know for myself this is the first time I’ve seen the video below. With that in mind I hope it will be first time for many/most of you also. If you have seen it before my advance apologies, but it’s still worth a watch I’d venture.

Background on this: It was sent to me by a Rikki E who asked me to take a look at the Super 8 video footage that he’d just converted to digital (thank you Rikki). The video was filmed in 1979 and while he’s not sure of the exact date I decided to do some research. Based on the weather and chronological events early in 1979 this looks like it was the day of the infamous cancelled appearance at Beaufort Market on March 31st, 1979. The market was to be closed down and the partial owner (I believe) had arranged a benefit show for free with a number of punk bands that day. Punks streamed into the Kings Road and it seems The Clash were present but the gig was canceled before it ever took place due to a very heavy police prescence and sporadic outbreaks of violence between the police and those who would have made up the audience. I’d only ever read about this event and see one photo of Joe in the crowd before things turned ugly but never seen video before.

The video below is fascinating for the first 1:25 just for the scenes of that part of west London in early ’79 and the fashion of the young punks (they look incredibly young!). At around 1:27 you’ll see a group standing on the pavement and the back of a hat which then cuts forward to reveal none other than Joe Strummer mingling with the kids. Is that Gabby to his right by the way? I need a historian. Things did get messy that afternoon with more than seventy arrested and a number of policemen injured. Were you perhaps there that day?

Enjoy this – it’s rather cool and please join me in thanking Rikki for sending the video over, I genuinely hope it to be unseen (of course most of it certainly is, I refer to the Strummer ‘appearance’). The only similar footage I’ve seen is much of the work compiled by ‘Captain Zip’ between ’78 and ’81 all along The Kings Road and Sloane Square but none of it features Joe Strummer. I remember finally getting down there in early/mid 1982 when hadn’t yet turned 15 to still find stragglers with giant mohicans loitering about, but by then the scene had changed to being one where photos of the punks were exchanged for money or cigarettes.

Archive footage of punks and Joe Strummer. Kings Road, London March 31, 1979