Alright then, it’s blog time once more fresh from laughing so hard that my sides ache at the Iowa caucus. If you don’t live in the US (or pay attention to it) the election season here is the most protracted and tedious process on earth – the campaigns seemingly begin two years before the election and the media and many members of joe public just can’t get enough. It’s so much work to determine which fawning right wing fundamentalist (this time being the turn of the Republicans to find a new main man) will eventually lose the election in November. I’d really like to see people become more politically active but the popularity contest for President is so long and bizarre I can see why people often vote once and then give up. Perhaps this year will see something really change seeing as the world is an unqualified disaster here in the West….but then again. It’s a circus and if you don’t or never have lived in the States it’s hard to imagine something quite as odd/loud and tiring.

There’s been quite a bit of early season Clash news going on which I need to catch up on so to hasten that day let me continue my review of the most popular posts on the blog last year. So far we’ve covered January through to June so let’s get on with the next three months of the best of 2011.

July 2011 -

‘Covers and Anniversaries’ (July 4th)

For Americans July 4 seems to be a day to celebrate independence (from the UK who were taxing at a far lower rate than today incidentally…) but as you can see from this post last summer there is a more important anniversary to be celebrated than some old war. July 4th also mark the first official live appearance by The Clash which happened to have been 35 years to the day from the post above since that first gig up in Sheffield. A good post overall and worth a read as Billy Bragg defended his roots with The Clash and Joe Strummer whilst Vicky sent in some nice photos of B.A.D. who had just appeared at Glastonbury. Suddenly last summer seems ages ago.

August 2011 -

‘London’s Burning but this doesn’t deserve a Clash soundtrack’ (Aug 8th)

From time to time on the blog I can’t help but write about current events especially if I see it as impacting or somehow related to me or The Clash, either will do for the most part. I know the blog is ‘about the music’ by taking politics out of the equation for The Clash is a bit like playing football without goalkeepers. Naturally not everyone will agree with my politics either which is fine, you can comment and debate to your hearts content but for the most part you can blame The Clash or especially the lyrics of Joe Strummer for much of my interest in the subject in the first place.

Last August was bit different and will long be remembered for the week when the UK lost control as inner London, Manchester and other towns saw a mass outbreak of looting and arson. Rioting was loosely and inaccurately applied to the action in England but it all seemed a bit too opportunistic to me, which isn’t to say the youth should feel bloody helpless at the moment. They are at the bottom of the pile with a huge change taking place in the UK and elsewhere and subsidies that once looked set to last forever are being pulled away in the name of budgets. I expect we’ll see much more of the same this summer to come but my post was about how I didn’t see The Clash as being the most appropriate soundtrack to the events, the most obvious choice of course but typically taken by people who never took the time to study the lyrics of London’s Burning or White Riot. Anyway, I was very happy to see this was one of the most read posts of the summer.

August 2011 -

‘Orlando Bloom seeks to play Joe Strummer, world groans’ (September 7th)

Now there’s a headline worth rioting about. See….the blog isn’t just about politics, sometime we get offended by Hollywood gossip just as quickly and as offensive as this rumour was at least the post contains something enjoyable to read about Joe Strummer’s daughter Jazz. Like it or not 2012 might end up being the year of two Clash films, certainly one and perhaps both might see the cinema later this year and I’ve no doubt that speculation will mount as the projects near completion. I know the films have mixed opinions with many fearing the worst with both the London Calling film and the Joe Strummer biopic. I think the London Calling film has more potential and isn’t as ambitious but for now I’m hoping both films will be decent. Just remember, they aren’t being made for us but for very casual fans instead who won’t complain about Mick’s hair or the way Paul holds the bass in the movie versions.

Right then, I believe that is Friday night taken care of and I have a glass of white wine screaming my name so I better answer. Tim

Good evening Clash Blog people….what is your official title anyway? Blog readers? Friends? Yes, friends works for me as I’m glad that you take the time to visit and catch up with the latest and seeing as I’ve not had much time to blog over the last week we definitely have a lot of catching up to do so I’ll try and filter through most of that over the next few days. If you’ve already ready some of the information I’ve been compiling please accept my apologies – I’ll be back on top of my game in a few more days. Here at Clash Blog towers operation ‘find a new place to live near the sea’ continues but nothing quite sorted out yet. I expect we’ll have to go back to San Diego in a few weeks so if any readers want to meet for a beer just let me know, I’d murder a good pint at this stage.

Image courtesy 'mudkiss' http://www.flickr.com/photos/vivamel/with/6455103519/

Mick Jones as you know has had a December almost as busy as mine with the warmly received Justice Tonight tour to benefit the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. There’s been more a flicker of rumour that we might see a return to the stage of this Clash-centric billing in 2012 and there’s even been talk that it might be taken over to North America. Not sure if that’s speculation or gossip (is there a difference?) but that would surely be a hot ticket. If we ran a form book for 2012 events and were setting up odds I’d put money on Jones appearing overseas in the new year the question is will it be the continuation of the Justice Tonight concept or something else? There’s a guaranteed audience for a gig that features a core of Clash songs with Mick being the star of the show but the Hillsborough cause won’t really translate overseas although of course it should. Add to that the question of whether Pete Wylie and The Farm would be game/available and it might be a stretch, if it happens I expect it would only be a 5 or 6 cities versus a full tour but it would certainly make for some interesting guest stars. Of course there’s also B.A.D. to consider which left off earlier in the year with promises of more live dates and potentially new recordings neither of which seem far fetched. Finally but just as valid is Carbon Silicon who remain Mick’s most ‘current’ commitment. At this point I think bringing that band on the road earlier in 2012 in the UK and then over to North America might be the most likely scenario. All of this is pure guesswork on my part – I think I need to find a way to talk to Mick! Having said that I bet he’ll change his mind more about 2012 as the mood takes him, which is a great position to be in.

During the tour earlier this month I hoped that a more in-depth interview would take place with Mick and was excited to see that one was conducted by the excellent Sabotage Times. You can read the long chat with Mick via this link and you’ll enjoy the candour that Mick shows as he talks about Joe, the influence of The Clash, the riots this past summer, the Hillsborough tour and many other topics. It won’t come as a shock to you to learn that Mick is very proud and simultaneously humble that he’s been able to do all he has, both recently and in the past. His love for what he does seems to be at the core of it – if Mick Jones wasn’t to be a musician I don’t think Mick ever developed a plan B. I have to respect that. Here’s a quote below and thanks again to Sabotage Times for publishing this one – they are are a great online magazine so please bookmark it. I’ll be back soon – hope your week has zipped by.

“We always got criticism in The Clash but we always thought ‘you should be happy. We’ve gone a long way and it represents what you can do’, you know what I mean? We took it all the way to Broadway and that meant something. When we got the flack we thought we don’t care because we represent something that will go a long way”    Mick Jones

Hello again and thanks once more for stopping in at The Clash Blog. Tuesday night here as I begin this one but I’m not certain I’ll finish it tonight as it’s already rather late, I could put some coffee on but that might result in me staying up until the stupid hours so I’m not completely sure what’s best to do. I’ve also made a fatal blogging mistake by starting this post without being entirely sure about what I plan to cover which may deter you from lurching on with me to the next paragraph but go on, if you take the chance I’ll keep writing.

Some semblance of focus might be best so that I don’t ramble on endlessly, so that will be my approach. I do have a quick question aimed at those who collect a lot of Clash books and there are more now than you can probably justify so I’m getting a little more picky about what I need to add to my collection. In late 2009 a book titled ‘The Clash : Essential Interviews’ was released I believe in paperback only. I sat on the fence at the time about grabbing a copy and now it seems it has gone out of print and with that reached insane prices. My understanding was that it compiles many of the major interviews that the band gave the major music press; NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone etc. and reproduced those exchanges in full. While that’s not a bad overall concept for a book many of those interviews have seemingly already been reproduced online or in magazine specials (much like the new Uncut one that just came out). If you happened to purchase the book let me know what you thought and whether it was worth the cost/time and such, incidentally here’s the link so we’re on the same page. It does run to over 300 pages so there’s some depth in there regardless.

Speaking of books, in 2012 I am going to add a section of permanent pages to the blog that review DVDs and books that are fully or partly devoted to The Clash/Clash members. If you might be interested in helping out with that please let me know as the help would be greatly appreciated. Ideally I’d like to add a three hundred word synopsis and review of each book and DVD that might be of interest to your average Clash fan. Ideally we’ll also be adding interviews with some of the authors of the better stuff, which is also on the cards for coming months should all go to plan.

At this point you’d wonder if more could be written about The Clash but the excellent work of authors such as Chris Salewicz, Kris Needs and Marcus Gray show that there’s layers to the story that merit more understanding and analysis. The very existence of The Clash was really quite brief but that doesn’t limit the interest shown in that era which says so much about the evolution of the band and it’s components that I’d place it in on level pegging with that famous four from Liverpool in terms of where the story takes you in such a short time. Perhaps the complexity of The Clash was the only thing that clarivaled their brilliance. Summer of 1976 to Summer of 1983 is all you really have to work with and yet I feel there’s still much more to understand even though I feel like an anorak just typing those words. The good news, we still haven’t seen a book with Mick’s, Paul’s, Topper’s or even Terry’s version of events which would certainly add even more colour. I’m sure we’ll see at least three and perhaps all four of those take shape in the near future with two already on the cards (more on that soon). As for Joe’s story of course we can’t get closer than we already have with the excellent “Redemption Song, The Ballad of Joe Strummer” by Chris Salewicz. In my opinion that is the definitive story of Joe Strummer and if for some reason you haven’t already read it then I suggest you address that immediately.

Right then, from a starting point of asking about a book I’ve prattled on for a while about ‘Clash books’ but please take the time to build that library if you haven’t. There’s a lot to be said and written about a band that were so busy making music that they were never properly chronicled when it was all taking place. The other funny impact of history is that Joe was barely given the time of day and The Clash were seen by so many critics as a sell out from 1983 through to the early-mid 90′s that the very thought of reviewing just what the band meant was considered fairly inane and with a limited audience. The reverence that is so often attached to the band today wasn’t the norm after they broke up. We knew best yes, but then again we were fans of the band at the time – not critics or assessors. On the positive side of that we’ve had that much longer to enjoy the band than the press who now venerate them. Odd that isn’t it? Goodnight for now. Tim

Hello again, I’m just about to have a bit of lunch so I thought I’d get a short update together while I’m at it. Hope the weekend went well and you’re fighting the good fight at work or school. After yesterday I didn’t fancy the loss of another icon but indeed I hear that Ken Russell has died at age 84 today – if you ever wanted to know what a punk rock filmmaker in the 60′s & 70′s looks like you’d do well to check out his career. I’d sum him up in one word – brash – in an industry that is so often dull and predictable which makes it more of a shame that he spent the last 20 years on the sidelines from notable success. Right then, some Clash related things to rifle through.

I’ll argue at length that alongside The Clash one of the most important British punk bands were Buzzcocks and even if others may have developed a bigger following I think they have inspired loads of great bands since in addition to their own brilliance. What was very unique about them was that a key member left right as the band were getting started. Howard Devoto was an integral part of their formation but departed after they only played live eleven times but not before they had completed the brilliant spiral scratch EP. Devoto didn’t vanish though as he immediately formed the very different but exceptionally good Magazine who soldiered on until 1981. Therefore if you’re one of the few who saw the original lineup of Buzzcocks you’d be one of a very rare breed of probably less than 3,000 people. Does that apply to any of you? (we may need proof). However I just read via Louder Than War that the original members are going to play two very special shows together for the first time since ’77 next year. The concerts take place May 25/26 in Manchester and London and I know that’s a long way off but if you’re interested I’d nab a ticket immediately if I were you. I should get over eh? Ticket details are via the linked page above.

Clash collections might be getting a little larger in the printed variety this week with Uncut Magazine released a 148 page special edition devoted to nothing but The Clash. I don’t have a copy yet but it will feature reprints of old interviews, some summaries, dozens of photos and a specially written introduction by Mick Jones. I’ve picked up a few of Uncut’s previous specials and they are good if you’re a collector so look out for one. If you’re in the UK they are at newsagents for £5.95 if you’re elsewhere good stores that offer import magazines should have it within a week or so. Failing that you can order a digital version online here and also be environmentally friendly or ask someone on the blog or facebook page to send you one for Christmas. You can help me get one or grab me a coffee over on the right too….

I need to get back to work, but you can keep in touch via Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed  thanks for reading. Tim.

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

Tuesday afternoon – welcome back. I need a break from looking at numbers so I thought instead I’d write some words and see what came out, ideally a good ratio of them will be related to The Clash so you’ll want to read the whole thing. Apart from the heat it is a beautiful day here and one that makes me wish I owned an old TR4 and take a spin on west London’s most exciting road. Now I hope that you’ll know what a TR4 is and failing that realise which road I’m referring too. It is such a sunny day that I think we should take a run with the traffic on the Westway – our quick stop review of assorted good, bad and oddities in the world of all things Clash. So if we’ve got enough cash for petrol we’ll ease on and see what lays ahead.

 Do you miss your Big Audio Dynamite vinyl? You can follow that link to get a full mp3 download of The Globe 12″ from almost 20 years ago. I wish that wasn’t true but it is (early 1992) saw the arrival of this often overlooked single plus more remixes (4) than you can shake a stick at. The new version of B.A.D. were very different from Mick’s first line up and this track remains one of the very best in my humble opinion. For added MP3 goodness there is also the 8 minute mix of Rush. Thanks to the site Fun With Vinyl – always a great site and something I’d love to do if I had some spare time.

Some Joe Strummer art. Yes it’s pictured to the left but please visit the website of Amy Hood instead for three reasons. 1/ It’s a bigger image and therefore better quality 2/ You can learn about Amy and see more of her work 3/ It’s Joe Strummer. You don’t need more reasons, she’s also looking for feedback on her work. I can’t create art so I bow to everyone who can, especially when they realise a Clash member makes a good subject. Yes, Joe does have a hawk perched on his shoulder and Amy explains why on the site.

Bob Gruen interview and exhibition: Regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan of great Clash photography and Bob Gruen sits right up there with Penny Smith when it comes to The Clash. They should do a speaking tour together, can you imagine both of them discussing so many of the greatest photos ever taken of a band? Gruen’s track record is long and remarkable and his work alongside his deep friendship with Joe Strummer and the rest of the band can’t be undersold. This interview with Gruen in The National Post is short and sweet but it’s in conjunction with his ongoing exhibition at the Liss Gallery in Toronto which runs until Nov 3. Hope some of you can get along to that!

Shepard Fairey and Joe Strummer: The Vinyl District is an exceptionally enjoyable site and they’ve come up with a great piece about Fairey and Strummer in relation to the recent mural that I covered last week recently completed in Asbury, New Jersey. Angie compiled this article and it’s well worth a read as it reviews Fairey’s work on the mural along with earlier work, his influences and her opinion of the significance of his art. I can’t help but feel he might be the ideal candidate to create something ‘official’ (not that I like that word too much) in London to recognise Strummer. Anyway, please read the piece and leave a comment if you can.

Frank Turner interview explains the Strummerville connection: Remarkably this came from our local listings/music rag Phoenix New Times. I highly recommend Frank Turner’s new disc by the way and read the link to find out about how he became involved with Strummerville. He’s a rare breed indeed, an English solo artist who is achieving a little bit of a following on this side of the pond with music that actually has something to say.

Just like that we’ve buzzed through five new pieces, I’ve got another large pile of tales and links waiting so I’ll be sure to bring you some more Westway traffic in the next few days. If you see, read or hear of something that you think might be of interest to the blog please get in touch. I’ve also revised the recommended signage to sit above the A40 (The Westway) as you head into London below, what do you think? I’m off then – but remember you can keep current via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed for the blog or email me and as ever thanks for sharing the blog wherever and whenever you see fit. Tim

Greetings once more from a very happy Clash Blog towers, the happiness is due to having all the windows open and temperature being below 80 for the first time since probably April. This calls for a a celebration of sorts so I am equipped with a cup of coffee and am also listening to XTC ‘Drums and Wires’ as I write. I’ve found myself listening to XTC rather a lot recently and I’ll go on record by saying they were one of the most influential bands of that era, in fact they’d sing on that rung just below The Clash with few other contenders. You can hear their impact on so many bands of the last twenty years, whether that influence was always intentional or not is open to debate but I hear them all over the place.

So, it’s Thursday already and I can finally start to cross a few more older stories off of my list. By now you’ve almost certainly heard that Mick Jones headed up to Merseyside last month to take part, a headlining part it turned out in Liverpool’s ‘Don’t Buy The Sun’ concert. I could (and perhaps might on my other blog) write an essay as to why you shouldn’t buy The Sun (english Murdoch operated gutter press newspaper) and I’m proud to say I never have. It’s a paper that looks to wave nationalistic, hateful, poorly researched, racist, divisive and frankly ridiculously sensationalistic views under the guise of a newspaper by appealing to the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately as poor taste would have it The Sun is also one of the best selling daily papers in England, except in Liverpool. If you’re of similar vintage to me you’ll forever remember the events that took place in Sheffield in  1989 when an FA Cup Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was so poorly policed that almost 100 football supporters were crushed to death. There were a number of mistakes that day but the fulcrum of the blame laid with some very poor decisions by the police. As someone who went to see my team home and away and had stood on that same section of terracing a number of times Hillsborough hit me and the people I knew very hard, we all realised it was could just have easily had happened to us. However I digress, the story and the facts behind that tragic event were slow to emerge but it didn’t stop The Sun from making up their own mind and wrongly blaming Liverpool supporters for not only causing the tragedy but also acting like animals during the rescue operation. It was hideous knee-jerk journalism and quite rightly resulted in the city turning on the paper and almost completely ceasing to purchase it. That was 22 years ago and the Sun and Murdoch haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory in the intervening years.

This summer of course saw the explosion of the phone tapping scandal with the sister paper The News of The World which comes out every Sunday. A paper that thrives on celebrity gossip and sensationalism was brought to it’s knees due to a scandal that simply wouldn’t go away and Murdoch reacted by closing it down to appease public pressure. Not that his News International empire has even caught a cold as a result but this closure was a sign that there was a limit to what is accepted by even a patient public. Anyway, enough of the history but if you want to you can read much more about Hillsborough and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign via this site and also the Don’t Buy The Sun campaign via this site.

Mick Jones has a longstanding and warm relationship with Liverpool which extends all the way back to the time of The Clash, so when friends Pete Wylie and Peter Hooton of The Farm invited Mick to the event it was something he was happy to get behind. It also helps that he’s been a dedicated football support since childhood, in his case Queens Park Rangers. I’ve read a lot about the concert plus there is some great video footage and I will get those links for you over the weekend, but many have said it was just an amazing evening with Jones receiving a hero’s welcome and performing some Clash songs which were completely unexpected by many I would think. For today though I wanted to link you to a few things that we didn’t  get enough of when Big Audio Dynamite were touring – in depth interviews with Mick Jones. I guess that’s fair enough as the range of questions were well thought out and varied ranging from Clash history to the recent riots in the UK and his feelings about Liverpool. These are some of the best I’ve seen this year.

The Olympia, Liverpool

The first interview was in the live4ever ezine and the interview takes place around the Liverpool concert. Also interviewed is Mick’s cousin Martin Muscatt of the band Taurus Trakker, an excellent read and here’s the link. Also worth a visit is the Taurus Trakker website where you can learn and hear more and also purchase the new album ‘Building Ten’ which features (you guessed it) Mick Jones amongst some other special guests.

“You do it because you know it’s what you enjoy the most, I was born for this to tell you the truth and it was all I ever wanted to do really. I remember going to the careers officer at school and being asked what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to be in a band and they said they couldn’t help me”  Mick Jones

Sabotage Times is the home of the other interview conducted with Mick when he was on Merseyside and it’s a brilliant one too. You’ll see some duplication with the other interview as he must have had a mini press conference of sorts but there is more than enough to make both worth reading. Stopping just short of being sunkissed I’ve got to say Mick continues to come across as the nicest bloke imaginable. Right then I hope you enjoy both of these and I’ll get those other loose ends pulled together this weekend. Huge thanks to Sabotage Times and live4ever for the Mick transcripts, bookmark those sites! Don’t forget you can keep current via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed for the blog or email me.

“I was brought up by my maternal grandmother, so I was a latch key kid with a key round a chain to get in and out of the council flat. But to come so far is an amazing thing, it’s a story for everybody and I love to use it to inspire other people. It doesn’t matter where you’re from – its what you are. For me to be here playing after all these years is such an incredible thing”    Mick Jones

Yes, yes, I’m here. What did you manage today? I hope something worthwhile? Thanks for dropping in to the blog, I’ve just got time for a quick update as I’m distracted by the wonderful noise of the the pouring rain outside, it doesn’t happen often round here so when it does you tend to open the doors and windows and simply listen to it. (written last night, normal solar service resumed)

In England we called them badges, in the States they seem to be called buttons (why?) or pins. I’d love to know what the correct term is in French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Italian and the myriad of other tongues you readers consider your first language. I’m also curious as to whether music badges or your favourite slogan (I wore ‘Fuck Art Let’s Dance’ quite proudly for ages) were quite such a big deal when you were growing up?

I wish someone had tapped me on the shoulder when I was about 14 or 15 and told me to hold onto every badge, concert ticket stub, magazine and t-shirt that I owned as a young music nut (as if I need more crap), but I’d love to still have all the ticket stubs and badges at the very least. I’ve got perhaps a third of my earliest concert tickets but for some reason I’ve not got one single badge to my name. I think I had about a dozen Clash badges plus The Jam, XTC, The Specials, Madness, UB40 (they were good at first), Buzzcocks, and so many more. What happened to them all? At what juncture in my life did I leave them all in a drawer with the promise I’d come and pick them up at a later date? I don’t need them now although I’d still wear one from time to time but I wish I had them to look at still. It seems that if you did hold on to your band badges from the 70′s and 80′s that you might want to ask yourself if selling them on ebay is worth your time? Not The Clash ones of course but as you can see from this link (Guns on The Roof – original $29) and this one too (a pretty naff London Calling one which I did own) you can make a fair amount of cash out of them. I even wished I kept my dodgier badges (Ultravox anyone?) as I’d surely sell them to someone who wanted them as badly as I’d like to have my original Clash ones. There’s also a fairly vibrant reissue market for some of these badges which makes them quite affordable, again just have a look on ebay as most of the sellers seem to be in the UK. Better still if you have your own 14 year old lazing around the house right now, go and order a few badges so that the next time they go off to see Arcade Fire or Bon Iver they can cause a distraction with a Clash badge or two.

Did you keep yours? Did you collect them too? Stories below I hope.

Hello again and thanks for dropping in to the Clash Blog. It’s been an annoyingly warm week here in the desert, to the point where you don’t feel like opening the front door. I realise it’s to be expected in the desert but we set record highs this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and again today with temperatures between 113-116f each afternoon. Too Hot as The Specials might say.

Cardiff, 1978 - image courtesy Dave Smitham http://www.flickr.com/photos/64993138@N08/

On the back of the two week tour of the US by Big Audio Dynamite (incidentally, Canada feels a bit cheated Mick so come back soon) I was surprised that there weren’t as many interviews with Mick Jones as I might have expected but my initial perceptions might have been inaccurate. It seems he did give a lengthy and interesting interview with the Los Angeles Times between the recent two gigs in Los Angeles/Orange County. As you’ll recall that was during the week that London and then other cities in England were seeing an outbreak of looting and arson or if you feel like some lazy journalism ‘rioting’ broke out. I think it was interesting that Mick like many others (more intelligent observers anyway) pointed out that there are a large and broad number of contributing factors to the current dissatisfaction in the UK which can’t be ignored, even though politicians seemed to decide within 48 hours that it was due to organized gangs and greed. Simple as that eh Mr Cameron? Jones wasn’t rising for the bait of being a spokesperson of course, which is wise.

Far beyond that the rest of the interview is really pretty fascinating as Mick talks about the current state of the economy and how similar things now are to when Big Audio Dynamite were writing that debut album so many years ago, here is the link to the full article on the LA Times site. The interview also opens up the topic of new material by Big Audio Dynamite and there is a fence sitting reply as you’d expect although I think it is the honest truth – more on that in the next month or so I would expect after the summer concerts are all completed. To me though the most intriguing quote was the one below (find it then Mick!)

“Somewhere there’s a tape of the music of ‘The Bottom Line’ with the lyrics of Joe Strummer, but I have no idea where it is,” Jones said. “It would be quite interesting for me to hear it, though.”

Meanwhile The Guardian reported on a subject I often mention but can’t find a satisfactory conclusion to: with the world not exactly in the best shape at the moment where are today’s protest singers and punk artists? I know there are artists with plenty to say but surely there is some sort of disconnect between those who purchase music and the acts with something to say as they still exist. The article is worth a look and uses The Clash as the benchmark, read it here now.

That’s all for tonight from me I’m afraid, too warm to type let alone think and I’m still pouting over my bruised ribs. More tomorrow I’d expect and if you fancy submitting a guest post for the blog to help me through the dog days of summer please contact me. It can be anything you like so long as it’s related to The Clash! Cheers for now – Tim.

Hello again, it would seem that we’ve somehow landed again on a Tuesday evening so I hope your week is going rather well thus far. Let me do a quick checklist before I get started: sore ribs still annoying as hell – yes, 115f outside therefore almost to hot to think – yes, the situation in Libya presenting the perfect recipe for the media to go into hyperbolic overdrive – yes. With such a mixture I’m please that instead we can focus on a little more Joe Strummer, considerate it a late extension to our Strummer birthday celebration. Speaking of which I wanted to thank everyone who visited and in many cases contributed to the blog on Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. I can’t begin to explain how emotional I felt updating the blog as the day went on – but in a positive way. I’m simply thrilled that so many people care and apparently ‘get it’ when it comes to Joe, I was all smiles seeing the number of comments about Joe plus Facebook and Twitter were awash with Strummer sentiment. I wonder if Joe truly knew just how deeply he was appreciated, I hope so. Thank you so much for taking part at the weekend and making it a truly global (online) event. In a strange twist of coincidence we also passed two landmarks related to the blog on Joe’s birthday itself – as the Facebook group for the blog reached 3,000 strong whilst Twitter for the blog passed 700. Thanks!

I know it’s 48 hours after the fact but I wanted to share three more Joe Strummer related items before we let his birthday pass completely. I wanted to thank Joannie, Brian and myself(!) for three finds that I hope you haven’t seen before. You may have seen one of these, perhaps two but I almost guarantee you haven’t seen all three. Off topic for a second, I found myself listening to The Boomtown Rats – The Fine Art of Surfacing tonight, I don’t think I’ve heard the whole album in 25 years. Reminds me of a very specific time but I can’t say it’s aged well – what did you lot think of the Rats? Back to those links then:

First – I did include this video on the Strummer birthday post but after watching it a second and third time I realised just how excellent it was. These are extras/outtakes from “The Future is Unwritten” that weren’t included on the (US version at least) of the DVD. I think you should all pencil in five minutes for the video beneath if you didn’t click on the link on the prior post.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Behind the scenes – The Future is Unwritten

Second is another video that Brian had added to the Facebook page at the weekend. Just a very warm (somewhat odd) Joe Strummer interview as a linking bit with Dick Rude that I hadn’t seen in a few years. The interview took place on Oct 12, 2001. You have to love Joe’s feeling about his (then) new band, the components of said band and his feelings about touring and people coming along to see him play. I never sensed that (much like Mick) the idea of being a fan and understanding fans ever really left Joe. What a bloke….here’s the link to the video from WCCA TV – Channel 13 in Worcester Mass. I believe that should read New Worcester…..

Last but by no means least I wanted to thank Joannie (Clash-nut) for digging up this old interview with Joe that isn’t something I’d seen before in it’s entirety. It was published at PunkMagazine.com and took place with Judy McGuire. According to the article it hadn’t been published before although I’m not sure how long it has been on the site. What I am sure of is that it is a deep and detailed interview – highly recommended, after this weekend it was interesting to see what Joe had to say about being an influence on so many people – something he was more than acutely aware of naturally:

What is it like to have had such an influence on so many people – to have had such a huge influence in so many people’s lives. Do you feel responsibility? Pressure?
Yeah, all those things, responsibility, pressure. It’s a bit stressful. I try and come to terms with it by not thinking about it. It is dangerous not to know your position in the world; i.e., your position with respect to the relationship between your work and what you do and the real world. I like to keep my feet on the ground, so I denigrate it a bit so that I’m not floating off in a cloud of self-congratulation which is an alien thing to do if you’re trying to write or play music, although having self confidence is good. There’s got to be a limit to it. You cannot float away patting yourself on the back. Anyway, it’s a long time ago. It’s almost someone else’s history. (Joe Strummer)

Here is a link to the entire interview and well done Joannie on a great find.

I’ll be back after Arsenal bring me some smiles later on I hope – cheers. Tim