Good morning and thanks for dropping in. It seems that the weekend is once again upon us which I’m sure will bring a collective sigh of relief for many. It’s not been a very good week, a number of major cities in England saw looting and rioting, Arsenal enter a new season with seemingly two of our better players to be sold in the next few hours and a combination of bad timing and the need to be responsible meant that I was unable to jet over to Los Angeles to see Big Audio Dynamite. I’m a glass half full person these days however so I’m glad to have a job, a brilliant bloggette and a chance to listen to a bunch of music as I work today.

I’ll have some busy days ahead as we try and catch up on the missing/missed B.A.D. gigs at both ends of California, (today’s image is Mick at Club Nokia in Los Angeles this week). If you attended/will attend any of those on offer and would like to contribute your thoughts, videos or images to the blog please feel free to contact me. I must also get my arse organised so that a suitable preview of all of the Joe Strummer events is on the blog and the calendar – look for those next week.

A little bit of housecleaning then first. Over on the right hand margin you’ll see a new addition of a Joe Strummer icon/picture badge. This little but lasting affiliation with Joe is a simple add-on to your Facebook or Twitter icon if you enjoy such things. They do look rather cool once added to your image, there were only four people enrolled when I added it to the blog and facebook page and now there are 45. Let’s get to 100 by the end of the weekend, you can either click on the image on the right or follow this link.

Glad to see that things seem a bit calmer back in England, although it was rainy the last few evenings. Tonight and tomorrow should be a good test to see if things have settled down although the conditions haven’t changed of course just due to extra policing. If you’re not in the US you may not be familiar with The Daily Show hosted by Jon Stewart. A nightly satirical program about (mostly) the news. The other night he did a 5 minute bit on the London rioting which if you can get past his cliched view of the UK is quite funny, he’s very funny in general…..remember when New York had some fire in it’s belly Jon? Yeah I know…it’s been a while. Anyway here’s a link to that clip which about a minute into it features a fairly weak pun/fake album cover in relation to The Clash. Have a look.

This blog only came up on the radar due to a newsfeed on Mick Jones. I think the author is correct about the identity of young girl but why on earth is there a need for the final paragraph of the article? It’s negative, insensitive and quite at odds with the story itself. I don’t think it merits more comment than that but I ask that you visit the site, read the piece (especially the last paragraph) and leave a comment if you will. Leave the shit raking to the gutter press. Blogging (ironically) can rise above that.

Okay lets end on something positive. How about Jimmy Cliff covering ‘Guns of Brixton’ just uploaded to soundcloud. Very nice indeed. I’ll be back soon. Tim

Guns Of Brixton by JimmyCliffMusic

Hello again on this perfectly stormy Monday night. I’m tired of hot weather and no rain. There….I’ve said it. Apart from that you could tell me ‘what do you expect, you live in a desert?’ to which I’d reply something bitter and dust storm inspired. Just you wait though, in sixty days you’ll be saying goodbye to summer just as it gets nice here, he who laughs last and all that.

I’m going to start my A-Z of Clash cities next month, I’ve decided it can’t wait any longer so if you know your way around a city and especially the old music halls and The Clash played there during their history then I would love for you to participate. I’ll be putting the full list together over the next two weeks so this can be somewhat organised as a work of reference. We’ll look at the times The Clash played in each city, the venues and other particularly insightful pieces of Clash related information for each town. Yes it sounds ambitious, but I also think it could lead to a Clash inspired travel book and of course you’ll all share in the credits of such a venture. It doesn’t mean that The Clash Cup has been shelved either, in fact look for a return of the internet’s longing extended election in the coming days.

Right then, on to some odds and ends that keep piling up. If you’ve ever fancied yourself as the next Mick Jones or even another Mick Jones this may be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. As you know there are a fair few Clash cover/tribute acts who regularly find gigs and some of them are rather good all things considered. One of them ‘London Calling’ is looking for a new Mick Jones so if you’re interested here is the link. Now they know exactly how Joe and Paul felt in 1984. Here is a clip of ‘London Calling’ playing London Calling and some other tracks.

If you’re someone who has more time than they know what to do with then Listal might be a good website for you. The proviso is that you list the things you love and then rate them accordingly. Surely if you love it enough to list it then it scores high. A strange site but growing in popularity as a way to catalogue your music collection or just connect via social media with people who like the music or films that interest you. You also assign a score out of 10.0 to artists and albums you like, worth noting is that The Clash have a score of 7.6 that needs to be improved although I was happy to see that Coldplay registered a 6.8. Individual members need differing levels of support; Joe has a 7.5, Mick a 7.0, Paul a 7.3, Topper a 7.0. The site also reveals that Topper is just 5’6 tall, is that correct? Each of the albums and DVDs are also rated with London Calling taking top spot with an 8.4 which seems low if you ask me.

Unlikely lists part one (there may have been others but I forget). Check this link to the Hymie’s Vintage Records blog (an independent purveyor of vinyl in Minneapolis) to see an interesting list of ‘The Best Songs about Car Crashes’ which The Clash appear on. Bonus points if you guess the song before you check the link.

Finally today from the Jason Jack Miller blog – here’s a link to a great concert by The Clash at The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago (excellent venue) from September 14, 1979. Free download and decent audio quality, interesting to see that although London Calling was just a few months from release the 19 tracks featured just 5 (if we include Armagideon Time) that were still in the construction phase.

That’s me done for now, more to follow all things being even. If you’re attending any of the forthcoming B.A.D. concerts in the coming weeks and wish to submit a review please let me know. Until then I hope to see you in the comments or on Facebook and Twitter. You can also have a daily update sent direct to enjoy with your mineral water by subscribing to my RSS Feed here

Hello again from a very sweaty Clash Blog towers, not that it’s especially hot but I just tuned up my bike (bicycle) and after a few laps I’m knackered – then I was forced to play football with Jack and the neighbours kid. They got in trouble from the boy’s Mum for smacking a half volley against the garage door when in truth it was me, I owned up just in case the Rapture really happens later today I assumed it better to go out on a truthful high.  Obviously it won’t happen but you have to feel for people who believe in such nonsense, probably the same people who think that Coldplay are banging out one classic album after another.

This weekend looks to be fairly calm but next weekend if you are in or near the UK I sincerely hope you’re able to consider making it up to Manchester for Strummercamp 2011. This years three day festival looks all set to be the biggest and best one yet lots more information plus tickets are still on sale if you check this link. The festival kicks off on Friday the 27th at Manchester Rugby Club in Cheadle and runs through until Sunday. Not for the first time this year I really wish I was back in the UK as the lineup is pretty special this year. Friday features the UK Subs and Rebel Truce. Saturday has Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band plus the majority of a band I consider to be one of the most underated to ever come out of Manchester in the 1980′s – The Chameleons. Now operating under the name Chameleons Vox with Burgess and Lever on hand, strangely so many people were bypassed by The Chameleons and for my money that’s reason enough to be in Manchester. The final day has The Selecter and The Popes, two more fantastic acts. There are literallly dozens of other bands playing plus camping, a wide selection of catering and of course Strummercamp 5-a-side football. Of course this is Strummercamp so you’ll also be surrounded by the biggest gathering of people possible who appreciate the life and work of Joe Strummer.

One last thing I should mention especially as we’ve been bemoaning quite often the price of tickets to see bands lately and especially festivals. Strummercamp offers a very affordable 3 day ticket for £65 which is less than it costs for two people to see a film and have a nice meal in London these days. I’m sincerely hoping that we’ll get some videos and photos (maybe a report…hint!) from Manchester next weekend, I hope many of you are able to attend. As someone noted the other day I wonder if Mayor Boris will make it up.

Keep current with festival notes via the Strummercamp Facebook page. Please Tweet or share this one if you can – thanks.

I need to run for a shower before non-Strummer 5-a-side this afternoon, enjoy The Rapture everyone. See you in the comments I hope. Tim