Hello again, its suddenly the end of the week and while that on the surface that is a really good thing I feel like I’ve got too much to do this weekend to be celebrating the concept. That includes getting current on the blog so I’ll either try and cover a lot of ground with some multiple story links like tonight or write more frequently…or both. For now though the best bet is for to pay how much per litre ? (don’t make me sick I’ve been watching the UK news) and fill up my Ford Capri for a zoom along the Westway. If you’re new to the blog these are a series of shorter tales still worth a look but not a full post – just click on the headline in red. Buckled up? Let’s go then. Incidentally I’m hoping to get to the podcast over the weekend if time allows….can’t promise.

Durham Punk Festival – As soon as March rolls around all attention starts to turn to the summer festivals, I remember when it was easy and you only really had to keep your eyes open for a Glastonbury and Reading lineup. Now it seems that there must be at least a dozen (probably more) in the UK alone and then of course there are more than as many again in Europe and the US. I’d be lying if I said it was my favourite way to see an artist as I’m one for a sweaty club or at least something with a roof and indoor plumbing but obviously festivals are more popular now than ever before. As usual I’m off topic – I wanted you to check out the lineup for the Durham Punk Festival scheduled for Sat Sep 10th at Dunelm House. Confirmed at this stage are The Rezillos, Angelic Upstarts, Subhumans, Anti-Nowhere League and Goldblade and perhaps more to follow? I’ve also been away from the UK to have perhaps lost touch with ticket prices in terms of being good value but £25 for this seems decent to me. More information via the link.

Punk in France – A really well composed and interesting read from the BBC about  France and punk rock. It looks at the influence on the fashion, the french punk bands, the politics and the culture of punk. While many in England like to think the origins were decidedly London based you can’t ignore the influence of France on Malcolm Mclaren nor the fact that the very first punk festival (see above) didn’t happen in Camden or Croydon but down in the south of France in Mont-de-Marsan in 1976.  Highly recommended article.

Billy Bragg Tour – Regulars to the blog will know I’m a huge advocate of BB – partly from his politics, his great records and his lasting reputation as a ‘one-man Clash’. Bragg still is at the heart of pop and politics and never fails to show his debt to The Clash. He’s back on tour starting with the Hope Not Hate concert in Manchester, followed by a handful of dates in the US including 3 nights in New York and then 7 dates around Italy. If he’s playing near you go and see him.

B.A.D. ‘events’ on Facebook - Are you a Facebook addict? Do you wish more of your friends were hip to the fact that Big Audio Dynamite are back together and playing live for what looks like being the entire summer? Find new Facebook friends via this link and add friends who are going to the gigs with you. Maybe someone will even make sure you get home in one piece.

411 Music induct The Clash into their Hall of Fame - Ever heard of the 411 music website? No…me neither but they did have the good sense to induct The Clash into their online music hall of fame.  You can read exactly why on their site which includes this especially dodgy criteria “One of VH1′s Top 20 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”. Hard Rock indeed….still, nice for them to get the recognition. I don’t know what would be my favourite hard rock, I’m thinking granite.

I think that’ll do me for this evening, loads to follow and I’ll close with a video of Joe and the Mescaleros performing Pressure Drop on his last US tour. Not a video I’d seen in a while so hopefully the same applies for a certain number of you also (It’s on the excellent extras for the Let’s Rock Again DVD) . Be good…and come on Arsenal! – Tim

Joe and the pesky Meskys – Pressure Drop

Hello and welcome back to the centre of all things Clash. Thanks for dropping in although I’m not sure if I can live up to that initial pronouncement. I hope your day went well (Wednesday as I write, probably Thursday when you read this), mine was kind of like the Morrissey album Southpaw Grammar – it looked okay on the outside but the contents were similar to the feeling you get when you’ve stepped in dog waste. So the less said about today the better although I did have a revelation and determined the root cause – Mick Jones.

Perhaps I should explain, although my eyesight (still 20/20 and a great source of personal pride) serves me well at my old reasonable modest age of 43, my hearing is not faring quite so well. I guess I’ve been aware of that fact for the better part of seven years, in the office where I used to work I would always cradle the telephone to my right ear because it was easier to hear the other party that way. It seemed like common sense but it just became a habit to the point where I now never use my left ear if I’m on the phone, more recently I’ve noticed that if somebody’s sitting to my left it can be slightly more difficult to hear them, but seeing as I drive in preference to being a passenger I can always hear whoever is sitting in the passenger seat, regardless of wanting to. I don’t have a solution for that should I move back to England however.

I probably should have it tested but have reluctantly accepted the fact that it’s probably been this way for many years and chances are that it was set in motion when I was in my early teens. When I first went to concerts my priority was to be nearest the part of the stage that would be inhabited by Mick Jones or at least (if it were another band) the most likely location for the band’s guitarist. The trend became the norm and looking back I probably have headed to the front left as you face the stage 80% of the time at all concerts I’ve attended. It’s ensured that I’ve had up close views of Will Sargent, Johnny Marr, Graham Coxon and loads of others too numerous to mention but it’s also placed the left side of my head nearest in exposure to the PA stack at countless concerts over the last almost 30 years. It makes perfect sense to me now and of course I don’t regret a single thing, although I do wonder just what I was thinking when I would settle down 10 feet away from the noisiest possible place when seeing My Bloody Valentine or The Wedding Present. Within the last decade I’ve now spotted younger concertgoers downing their pint of Stella and adjusting their ear plugs before the headline act arrives on stage. I can even recall scoffing at their tenderness and wondering when everything changed although I’m sure they are capable of ambidextrous (is there a word for both ears?) telephone use. I guess I don’t mind really but I’ve just given away the game as to how I feel about you if I insist you sit on my left. As for Mick Jones, there’s no hard feelings I just wonder if a high ratio of 40/50-something female Clash fans are suffering reduced  hearing on the right side due to their insistence to be near Paul Simonon whenever possible.

Not for the first time I’ve gone completely off track but I do have three short things to attend to all of which can be related quite quickly.

One – The Clash feature in the newest edition of Rolling Stone. It’s nice to see the bands name on the cover of the formerly esteemed publication, but why there’s a photograph of some young lady named Justin on said cover is beyond me. As for the article, do what I did at the supermarket the other day, after grabbing some pears and a selection of fine cheeses make your way to the magazine aisle and save the $4.99 and read the article in-store. It’s not that good anyway, however a note to Rolling Stone – if you had put The Clash on the cover I might have purchased your magazine.

Win Butler...comparisions with Joe?

Two – The NME is still going strong and apparently the new issue features a list of the 50 best front men of all time. If you happen to be in England and want to try the same shopping trick I’ve outlined above could you please advise exactly where Joe Strummer ranks on that list? I’m hoping and assuming he’s in the top five but you never know with the modern and forgetful NME writers. Incidentally you can see those who ranked 26 through 50 on the NME website if you’re so inclined.

Three – Win Butler should be a name you know (if not, he is the vocalist of the recently Grammy grabbing Arcade Fire). I’m seeing a number of tweets, articles, comments and posts that the Californian/Texan/Canadian front man of Arcade Fire is somehow channeling the convictions, spirit and/or the appearance of Joe Strummer. Does anyone else support this concept? At the risk of being beaten down I’ll confess that I do like Arcade Fire very much but as an authenticity measure let me point out that I bought their debut album within a week of its release and saw them at a venue (Modified) a few weeks later that holds fewer people than the average Burger King. Having seen him at close quarters and of course subsequently apart from the semi-Mohican hair currently being sported I don’t find any of the connections with Joe to truly be applicable. So please tell me where I’m going wrong? A related note – I do like the bands cover version of Talking Heads ‘This must be the Place (naive melody)’ I wish that they had never tackled The Guns of Brixton. It doesn’t work for them.

Right that’s me checking out for the time being, much more to follow including a podcast and other news as it comes in. Cheers – Tim

Hello once again looks like we made it to the end of another week so well done you if you’re not working over the course of the weekend. I regret that I didn’t have time today to put together a podcast but there wasn’t much to cover as it happened, if I can I will get something done either tomorrow or Sunday including a list of competition winners for the Joe Strummer Tribute DVD. The drawing will be tomorrow morning and overseen by the accounting firm PWC or at the very least George (the ClashBlog cat). No earth shattering news today that I’m aware of but I did notice a large number of stories related in some way or another to Joe Strummer, sometimes I find it remarkable just how often and consistently his name is related to a story or in some cases just name dropped. Some of tonight’s examples range from very significant to the “what English singer’s name could we use to make the story more interesting” variety.

First of all a bit more news about Subway Gallery and specifically the Joe Strummer Subway itself (a pedestrian underpass at Edgeware Road tube station). While I have heard from the gallery that it seems that the lease will be renewed and the threat of closure is no longer lingering, I was unaware that the actual subway itself was in danger of being closed entirely due to its age/being out of date (I assume?). According to this piece published today in West End Extra architect Sir Terry Farrell intends to step in and save the subway where Joe once busked if need be. Many similar underpasses that were built to facilitate better pedestrian options when the Westway was constructed in the 1960′s have subsequently been bricked up. The underpass itself is owned by Transport for London (very clever renaming of London Transport) who have been considering closing it entirely. Farrell is an urban planning expert and promises to make this his next project if need be to protect the subway as a cultural asset. Hopefully good news will follow.

Next up from the less inspiring file comes news that new Pearl Jam album “Live on 10 Legs” contains a cover version of Strummer’s ‘Arms Aloft’. I like Pearl Jam about as much as I enjoy mussels, so I don’t have much of an opinion but perhaps some of you like mussels?

Most of you probably also saw that Rolling Stone reproduced much of their older scribblings about The Clash this week. The article itself doesn’t cover much much new ground but the added inclusion of a 1978 with Joe and Paul Simonon at the Tate Gallery certainly makes a visit to the website worth your time, which you can do by linking here. Interesting to note that they wanted to play behind the Iron Curtain and a shame that it never happened.

Meanwhile the Irish Times features a short interview with Craig Finn of The Hold Steady and as you might expect he manages to name drop (appropriately enough) Joe Strummer into the conversation. I’m not sure that I’ve ever read an interview with Finn where he doesn’t mention Strummer which is absolutely fine with me.

Finally tonight if you are in or near Toronto you might want to make it down to the Canadian Music Week Film Festival which runs on March 11 and 12 at the Tiff Bell Lightbox (350 King St West). Films being shown include Quadrophenia and Tommy but also the Canadian premiere of the Dr. Feelgood film by Julien Temple “Oil City Confidential” which does of course feature Joe Strummer.  For more information check out this link or visit the Canadian Music Week main site.

That will do it for this evening, more tomorrow including some really good news from Central London. Tim