Good Morning London, Lisbon or Lima…or wherever this latest post finds you waking up with coffee and a grin on your face. I’m in fine fettle as I start this post with a strong mug of coffee following a superb Chicken Tikka earlier this evening. I’m beginning this post on Wednesday evening but I think I’ll probably wrap it up tomorrow. I’ve been sorting out my music collection in anticipation of the impending move and I am a bit embarrassed as to how many CDs I’ve got. There’s no excuse for it, some people choose booze or drugs and I’m an addict for music. I should really stop buying CDs. I thought seeing as the weather has been so nice it would be good to get an oil change, clean the windscreen and take a ride along the Westway for the first edition of Westway Traffic – our handy and easy to use guide to various Clash related snippets circulating on the internet. Its our 20th edition so let’s try and get through half a dozen or more along the A40. If you’re new to the idea it’s a series of shorter stories deserving of a mention but probably not an entire post. So…clutch is in so off we go.

Art Expo including London Calling cover shot coming to Allentown: I know we get a great number of readers from eastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia, so some of you might want to get along to the ‘Who Shot Rock and Roll’ exhibition coming soon to the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley from Feb. 11 to May 13. The entire exhibit sounds pretty tasty but the original Pennie Smith shots for London Calling will be included. Check the link for more and also the art museum’s site right here.

The 10th Anniversary starts here (on Facebook): Just like it says on the tin – a facebook page looking to honour, celebrate and share in the fact that 2012 marks the 10th year without Joe. The page is off to a nice start and if Facebook is your thing you’ll surely want to take part. I seem some regular faces already. Perhaps the owner of the page can mention this old blog too…

Top 10 films related to Elvis (not Costello) that aren’t Elvis films: From the STL Today website (now we know where to find people in St Louis online) comes a list of the best films related to Elvis Presley. My number one is his number two as Mystery Train which is perhaps Joe Strummer’s best appearance on film finds it’s way to number two on the list and was probably Jim Jarmusch’s finest hour. Its a good list though and I’d recommend all of the top 5 with the exception of Forrest Gump – it’s so long since I saw that and I don’t have great memories of it.

Strummerville Winter sessions down at HQ: I meant to write about this when it was posted last week but…well..it was last week. Here’s the official blurb and the video is beneath that, it is well worth a look & listen.

Here is a short video taken at our Winter Sessions 2011 gig down at our yard. We were thrilled to have Kai Fish (of the Mystery Jets) headlining proceedings alongside some of the fine talent we have supported throughout 2011:

Breadstealers
Gaz Brookfield
Huw Olesker
Hysterical Injury
Leon Fender Walker
She Makes War
The Gun$how
The Promenade

Punk Art expo starts today in Cardiff: A great story from Wales online explains how a then teenage Gerrion Jones traveled around the UK to see as many punk bands as he possibly could from 1976 onwards to escape the prevalent boredom of music at that time. Along the way he’s been carefully collecting and maintaining as much print, press and photographic memorabilia as he can to create what is now quite the archive featuring of course a fair bit of Clash. Happily hes putting it all on exhibit now in Cardiff starting today and running through Feb 2. Details are as follows: Punk Art Forever runs at the Howard Gardens Gallery at the Cardiff School of Art & Design from Thursday, January 12 until Thursday, February 2. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. Entrance is free.

Clash letterpress artwork on sale: Sometimes you see a bit of art and think I could do that and you’d probably be half right. Other times you hear music like Coldplay and you think why do they do that and you’d be completely right. As for me I’ve got a minor obsession with looking at creative ways to create art that focuses on The Clash if not the budget to acquire any. Wasted and Wounded have added a series of three punk pieces featuring The Clash, The Ramones and The Sex Pistols now for sale on their site, just click the link at the head of this paragraph.

 Clash and B.A.D. make playlists for Portlandia stars: I’ve never watched Portlandia but heard very good things about the comedy. Hopefully one person reading this can attest to that. I’m more tempted to try and watch it now as a recent piece on Stereogum revealed that the two stars have a musical taste that includes B.A.D and The Clash, even more specifically some knowledge about the bands and songs. In the case of Fred Armisen it was ‘E=MC2′ and for Carrie Brownstein it was ‘Charlie Don’t Surf’ which makes her my new pinup. To be fair she was previously a key member of sometimes good Sleater Kinney and has always been nice enough to look at.

Right then, that should be enough to be going along with. If you happen to visit anything listed above or have other thoughts I’d welcome them. Have a superb later part of the week. Tim

Everybody’s waiting for a Happy Monday or so the lyrics went so I’m going to do my best. Hope your weekend went well and you’re all recharged for another working week. I’ve got so much to do this week but an untold desire to do it so we’ll see if that lasts beyond Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for your responses to the ‘best of’ 2011 posts, I always find it remarkable that every single person I hear from who manages to briefly meet or be around Mick or Paul or in the case of last year Don Letts et al has nothing but good things to say about how friendly and accommodating the experience turned out to be. As you know I only had a short time with the two aforementioned during the tour with Gorillaz in October 2010 but the same sentiments would be attached. Friendly, patient and happy to be with people who essentially were complete strangers even if some strangely blog about them almost every day.

When everyone seems to say the same thing you realise that’s just the way Mick (especially as he’s been most active as far as touring etc) and Paul are. It’s good to read and hear and reaffirms that being ‘fans’ isn’t the one-way street it can often seem, they genuinely appreciate the support and interest as far as I can tell. Right then on to this morning’s post which will be very short as I’ve only got time to share a video which came to my attention via Gil W who not for the first time digs out some great stuff. Outside the UK you might not be familiar with the concept of a pantomime but every Christmas you’ll find them in towns throughout England (do the Welsh and Scottish do this…I’m not even sure) and they’ll be plays heavily reworked for slapstick comedy and strong audience participation. Often featuring celebrities in unlikely roles such as Aladdin or Dick Whittington they are a strange event which remain popular as part of the festive routine. So it was with Mick Jones’ daughter at the Portebello Panto production of Robin Hood this year and a certain someone makes an appearance as King Richard. Press play below for the rest….

The event was for a good cause with funds benefiting the Shepherds Bush Families Project deep in the heart of Clash territory. Mick obviously was having a good laugh with this but not sure it’ll rival the Shea Stadium version at any time.

The cause: Shepherds Bush Families Project works with families in severe housing stress, including those living in B&B hotels, hostels, refuges and living in temporary accommodation which are in unsuitable and affected by overcrowding and disrepair.

Thanks go to Roughler TV who chronicle a lot of cool stuff from Portobello, so check out their YouTube page to learn and see more. I’ll be back with more soon – Tim

So quickly has the first week of 2012 rushed past that I feel it almost a stale concept to complete my review of 2011 but I’ve started as they say so I’ll finish. My original intent was to get these posts tidily delivered as a summary of the year just ended over the first four days of the New Year. Good plans often fall by the wayside when you’re trying to balance work and the looming shadow of moving house. I’ll give you my word that by the time February snows are ruining your week the Clash Blog will be on a nice steady daily diet of updates. Speaking of please be sure and look in tomorrow for one of the strangest updates I’ve ever shared. It’s odd and funny but nothing nasty, moreover I’ve a feeling few of you will have seen it. I’m writing this following a day spent packing and sorting out the debris of my adult life and trying to decide what to keep versus sell/donate before we load up the lorry and head west. I can see why some people never move but for some reason I can’t stay in one place too long without going a bit mad.

2011 was a good year though and we’ve already looked at the most popular posts for the first 9 months so let’s wrap it up by reviewing the most read stories for October through December and then crack on with 2012.

October -

‘Joe Strummer features in giant Shepard Fairey mural’ (October 10th)

In a continued theme on the blog stories about art and tributes are very popular and this one was the most read post in October. Mr. Fairey isn’t to everyone’s taste but you have to tip your cap for his love of The Clash which he’s always keen to incorporate in his work. I think his art is hugely influenced by the great (looking) government propaganda artwork of the early days of the U.S.S.R. but what’s that saying about all art being borrowed? Even The Clash managed more than a bit of that especially the dependence on the chords of The Who on some of the early songs. As for the Fairey mural it was completed on a large wall in New Jersey and included Joe alongside other lesser punk immortals.

November -

Joe Strummer in Manhattan photoset and a Welsh tragedy (November 27th)

Besides listening to The Clash I think most of us agree that they were the coolest looking band ever, fortunately they are literally thousands of photographs that take us back to 1978 or 1981 available online. Sometimes I come across photographs that I don’t think have been seen by everyone so I  share them on the blog. Amongst the very best this year was this series taken of Joe Strummer in New York (I think in 1999? confirmation still sought). Stunning photos that show Joe back on top of his game and well worth another look. The post also reflected on the tragic loss of Gary Speed and whilst this isn’t a football blog it tends to creep into my writing from time to time.

December -

‘Mick Jones and Paul Simonon electrify London on Justice Tonight tour’ (December 8th)

December is usually dominated by our online tribute to the inevitable passing of another Joe Strummer anniversary reflecting on his unexpected death back in 2002. This year of course marks the 10th anniversary and it will be a strange realisation to accept it will have been a decade since that event. Perhaps a very good time to ask ourselves what we do now as a result of Joe’s impact on our lives. In reality that’s the best way to pay tribute to what Joe is and was.

However this December that just passed was marked by something that instantly finds it way into the upper levels of Clash lore as Mick Jones took the hugely successful role as lead chap on the Justice Tonight tour of the UK. A tour that seemed a bit far fetched and would feature a revolving cast of guest stars but buoyed by Jones, Pete Wylie and members of The Farm. The set would climax with a growing list of Clash songs and somehow it all worked and the punters loved it. More significantly it was for a cause that mattered – to try and help correct a long standing wrong in the campaign for Hillsborough justice. Naturally  the London event at The Scala was hugely anticipated and rumours were bouncing around from the moment the tour was announced who might guest in London. As it turned out we saw Paul Simonon join Mick on stage playing Clash songs for the first time in decades, it would have been nearer to perfect if Topper was part of the event. With that said 2012 could see more from the Mick Jones review, I’ve learned the last few years to never say never.

So there we have it – 2011 all wrapped up. There were 236 posts on the blog and there’s your top twelve. It’s also a good time to thank each of you for visiting the blog over 370,000 times last year. Let’s see if we can improve on that in 2012. You can help by sharing the blog with friends via Facebook and Twitter – I appreciate that more than you know – and don’t forget you can always buy me a cup of coffee to keep me motivated to keep on typing. Thanks for reading. Tim