Good morning to you, it rained all night here so the air has a nice and fresh quality rarely associated with the desert. Lovely. This won’t be a long post therefore as I need to fuel up on coffee and then take the bicycle out and get some exercise or at the very least go and walk the Clash Blog dog (written earlier, completed this evening). Kim just bought the dog a red wool jumper, I don’t know about that. I noticed on yesterday’s post a glaring error and normally if I make a mistake or don’t fact check I’m corrected rather quickly by readers, this time though, nothing. The title of the post yesterday referenced Paul performing once again with The Good, The Bad and The Queen which I abbreviated to TGTGaTQ in the post headline which means nothing at all, brilliant. A schoolboy error and once I’m shocked to have got away with. What next? Mike Jones, Joe Strimmer, Paul Simon, Tipper Headon? Perhaps I’m getting senile after all, I noticed yesterday I’m struggling to remember lyrics from songs more often than once before.

Old songs are what brought me to today’s post also as I was listening to Madness while working in the ‘garage of fear’ yesterday sorting through a ridiculous mountain of stuff. I know that The Specials and The Beat are the two bands from that genre that I’ve returned to more often over the years but for a good spell during those first 3 or 4 albums especially I was essentially mad about Madness too. I liked the fact that they were from north London and although they were hugely successful (in Europe if not North America) you always sensed that it hadn’t gone to their collective seven (and then six) heads. Madness as a live band were never going to be as fiery as The Clash or attract quite the same element as The Specials but they were the best band imaginable if you were a teenager racing down cider and planning to dance badly for an hour and a half.

Madness live in Australia, 2009 (Image courtesy TrentSC on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/trentcsc/with/3450776465/)

To the casual fan who bought the singles and the average observer Madness were seen as a good times for everyone pop band who merged ska, sixties R&B and classic skinhead moonstomping into the ‘nutty sound’. If you weren’t paying attention you might have missed that they had a lot to say as well. Suggs’ lyrics were sharp and observational as the band developed that looked at politics, homelessness, poverty and many inner city issues that the band were in tune with. What was most telling was that the moment the band decided to get far more ‘serious’ in tone on their final album proper the sales dried up and they split up essentially, returning as ‘The Madness’ later on. Subsequently they’ve reformed a few times and continue to tour to great acclaim for the most part.

I’m only nattering on about Madness as Suggs took part in the Quietus (one of my favourite music blogs – bookmark it if you can) ongoing series of ‘my favourite 13 albums of all time’. His selections overall are rather great in my opinion and happily features the debut album by The Clash. What makes the series so interesting is rather than just a list of albums and a sentence about each the artist gives a lengthy explanation as to why he or she chose it. The Clash notes in particular are really interesting but all are worth a read as it describes the impact of The Clash on him, his band and the scene at large. I’d have loved to have been a bit older and kicking around Camden Town in those years. Here’s a link to his thoughts about the Clash album and also one for the entire list. What artists would make your thirteen best albums?

But I always had a soft spot for The Clash, because they had the reggae thing, like us, and there was a bit of soul in their music, for want of a better word. Joe Strummer definitely had a bit of soul in his voice. Every fucking track on that album’s brilliant, but my favourite’s ‘London’s Burning’.        – Suggs of Madness on the Clash

Right, I’ve got to get ready for a busy Monday so we’ll talk soon, don’t forget to stay current via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed  thanks for your support and sharing of the blog. Tim

Middle of the week already? Bloody hell. How goes it today? A very quick bit of self promotion (looking for ways to pay for hosting and bandwidth improvements), you might notice some links on the right to Amazon.com – if you happen to shop there please visit Amazon via the links on the blog and any purchases you make result in a few coins going in the direction of your blogger. It’s appreciated. All is quiet here, leaking roof seemingly repaired and normal sunny weather has returned if a bit chilly causing a house-wide panic with everyone wondering where their coats are. As the days get shorter it always reminds me that November was the month (next week in fact, on the 15th) when Joe Strummer played at Acton Town Hall back in 2002. This probably would have been a footnote to his tour except for the fact that Acton is a rather handy location for Mick Jones who unplanned and unannounced decided to leave this place in the audience and join Joe and the Mescaleros on stage for the last three numbers that night. I’ve never spoken first hand to anyone who was there that night but if you fancy writing your memories for the blog next week on the anniversary of that date it would be rather brilliant. Either way we’ll look back at that in more detail next week.

It was of course the last time Joe and Mick ever shared a stage, there is something majestic in that for a number of reasons almost like it was preordained somehow. Sadly and with no warning Joe Strummer was to pass the following month, there was no warning of that and no health scares would have crossed Mick’s mind to make him think “I better do this now there might not be another time”. Somehow it was meant to be. I also find it very fitting that it was in Acton, only a stones throw west of where Bernard Rhodes took Joe Strummer for his first informal meeting with Paul and Mick in the flat on Davis Road just off the Uxbridge Road. That was where the seeds of the band took root in the early summer of 1976 and just over a quarter of a century later for the most amazing songwriting partnership I’ve ever enjoyed to be reunited just one last time so close by screams poetic justice. I’ve also got a sentimental attachment to the neighbourhood and the venue itself having lived in Acton for a while in the 1980′s and attended a pair of anti-poll tax meetings at Acton Town Hall where the concert took place. Oddly, it’s not even a  concert hall by any description but knowing it took place somewhere I’d felt so invigorated a dozen years earlier all added to a sense of comfort when I read that story nearly nine years ago.

I can’t honestly believe nine years have passed since that remarkable night, nor can I believe it’s twenty two years since I was in that same  building with perhaps 100 people who were angry about the way England was going at the time (sound familiar?). That first meeting led to me knocking on the doors of every council high rise building in South Acton looking for people who would join the fight against an ill-informed tax germinated from the madness of Margaret Thatcher. It all works though, I only lived in west London because of my love for The Clash (mad perhaps but true) and was probably only as politically active due to growing up on a band who said (to me at least) ‘Do something, get involved, question the status quo’. It leaves me reflective but thankful, some people are never inspired by anything.

Good evening and thanks for landing on this site once again or perhaps welcome for the first time, bookmark me in that case as there is a lot to be said. I wanted to start with an invitation tonight – if you’ve ever wanted to write about The Clash whether it is the influence of the band on your life, a favourite concert or memory or simply your thoughts about a song or an album please submit it to the blog. Sometimes I  worry if my somewhat opinionated and Lond0n-centric view of the band gets a bit old and I do want the blog to be as inclusive as possible and share all sorts of viewpoints. Your submission doesn’t have to be solely about The Clash but should link to them in some way ideally. I don’t need you have the writing ability of a Thomas Hardy or the photographic skills of a Bob Gruen – just a love for your subject matter and the desire to be ‘published’. Ideally 350+ words will get things rolling. If you are interested please get in touch and we can talk.

For tonight I realised that it’s been ages since I had a scan around the internet to see what interesting/daft/unique or rare Clash items were on sale. It’s less than seven weeks until Christmas so I thought it a good time to note some ideas for Clash nuts in your life or gently infer to the people who love you that you’d love to see this or that in your stocking.

A few weeks ago I featured the piece of art on the left created by Amy Hood of Hoodzpah. I understand that you don’t expect to see Joe Strummer with such an avian amigo but what makes this such a nice piece of art is the fact that it’s been uniquely created by Amy and I think her interpretation of Joe is brilliant. Learn more about the piece via this link, what I didn’t know when I wrote about it previously was that a limited edition of 50 would be going on sale. The price is (I think) a reasonable $20 and here’s the link to Etsy if you want to grab one. You also will probably enjoy the development phases of drawing Joe’s face which is featured on the initial link above.

Clash drink coasters (drink mats!) – yes I want these. I like a good cup of tea, mug of coffee and the occasional pale ale and I take more pride than I should in having a good mug or glass to consume it from. I’ve also got a bad habit of leaving said vessel on top of a nearby CD case rather than mark the desk or coffee table. A solution at last! Here’s the specifications (yes it’s remarkable that Cut The Crap is one of the four, perhaps that’s for American beer?): “Drink coasters made from 4.25″ cream colored ceramic tiles. Classic rock or jazz or other album artwork is laminated on top. They come in sets of 4. They have protective felt on bottoms so they don’t scratch anything.” $29 and they can be yours, if you need my address to send me a set just ask.

Zombie Clash Skeleton destroying bass. Yes, more than a bit odd but if you like this sort of thing then perhaps it might go perfectly with the rest of your London Calling collection. I’m not made keen on it though it’s an improvement on Mickey Mouse taking a rodent turn on Paul Simonon’s famed angry moment with his instrument in New York back in 1979. I’m sure you’ve seen that if not go and look it up. Here are the details: “Each skeleton is made by hand from steel (1:9 scale), and stands approximately 8″ tall if welded upright. Depending on the pose the final sculpture may be taller or shorter than 8″. I cut the parts individually to allow for different posing options as I weld them together. The photograph is of the first one I made in that pose. If it has sold, I will make another in the same pose, but it may turn our slightly different. They are not finished with any paint or clear coat and if left outside, will eventually rust. ” Available via this link at a price of $59 if you fancy..

Lots more to come in the weeks ahead I’ll surely find something you can put under the tree. I’m going to have to go and create some dinner now as I’m starving. Until next time you can follow the blog  via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed  thanks for reading and circulating the blog all over the place. Tim