Just a quick sandwich of a post but mainly because I think it’s really worthwhile. I wanted to point you in the direction of the Guardian today who despite suggesting that its readers vote for the Lib Dems in the last election (thanks so much for that suggestion) and an ongoing campaign for Manchester United to be handed the league title even before matches are played (an annual event for the paper) they offset some of their poorer decisions by remaining strong advocates of The Clash and generally good music on the whole. It’s only in the last decade or so where good music journalism is often likely be found in the pages of some of Britain’s newspapers (okay, the Guardian the Times and the Independent) which for us aging readers has perhaps replaced some of the music weeklies we used to read with such fervent consistency. Be that as it may, it’s good to see the Guardian remaining loyal to its roots namely good music which has something to say.

Today’s article is written by Helienne Lindvall and focuses upon her chance meeting with Joe Strummer on a transatlantic flight just a year before he died. The article then expands upon his legacy and the work that Strummerville began in 2003 and has continued ever since. If you are a regular visitor to the blog then hopefully you’re fully aware of the increasing profile and scope of the work carried out by Strummerville; 2010 has probably been the most active year to date for the charity and the continued commitment to fostering new bands and giving them an opportunity to record and play is surely a fine interpretation of what mattered to the man whose name adorns the organisation. I’m excited to see what they can manage in 2011, hopefully the continuation of raising their profile in North America where the impact of Strummer and The Clash remains strong and perhaps even growing.

I found him unassuming, gentle and passionate. He was incredibly generous with his time and resources – especially considering I was an unknown songwriter he’d just met.                     – Helienne Lindvall on Joe Strummer -

Anyway, as ever my rambling nature is keeping you from the article which is linked here so head on over and have a read. The holidays are coming so if you wanna shop at Strummerville once this year – now would work a treat. Tim

God it’s chilly today – and I’m not referring to the country or the food (just a note for those keyboard warriors who I see almost everyday who can’t spell). I love the cold weather though, it makes you think quicker, act quicker and move quicker especially when you’re used to summers here where shorts and short sleeves are the order of the day from April until now. I hope you managed to check out the Clash Cup on yesterday’s post, not only is a great pairing but the voting has been incredibly close over the first 24 hours – so do go and have a peek.

I know the recent weeks and months have been somewhat overshadowed on the blog by events concerning Mick and Paul touring with Gorillaz. Of course it’s not The Clash but I still think the significance cannot be ignored, especially when I see the reaction of so many who put to one side the fact that the music was very different and not connected to The Clash but wanted to enjoy it for what it was rather than what it wasn’t or perhaps simply because it appeared that those two men have been enjoying it so. I felt my convictions to cover the US/Canadian legs of the tour were appropriate and worthwhile but I realised it created a backlog of covering other things as fully as I’d like to. That’s one of the reasons I think firing out shorter posts when needed might be more commonplace on the blog now so that information isn’t misplaced or tardy – you in turn can filter out what you don’t find relevant or interesting so long as on balance I manage to cover more ground. So on the downside I never really found time to cover much from the European/UK legs of the tour. Tonight I wanted to link you towards some of the best things I have found about those dates though at the same time encourage you to please send in any comments or summaries of seeing the band over the last couple of weeks. Don’t worry about state-of-the-art journalism (I never do) but just send in 100 words, 200 words or whatever of how you feel and what you saw, plus how you felt the band and specifically Paul and Mick were received and performed. I’d love to hear any recollections you might have and I’m sure everyone else would enjoy that too. Let’s move on to the stories that I found which are pretty good, I’m going to stay loyal to my tried and tested ‘monkey rating system’ because I want to:

Damon and Paul in London (Getty Images)

On ABC news Damon Albarn gave a fairly lightweight interview with the Associated Press although I blame much of that on the interviewer who seems to have taken their questions from a preschool class in terms of the lack of examination. 1.5 monkeys

This article by The Independent is somewhat interesting as it states that in November Gorillaz was the most blogged about artist/band online. Initially I felt a bit guilty about that, have I unknowingly contributed to their top spot? Any guilt was quickly eroded however when I saw the other acts in the top 10, at least (with the exception of British Sea Power) there is one good act in the list. It does of course beg the question – Where are The Clash? 2.0 monkeys

ITN News provided this video clip which caught up with the band in Berlin at the weekend. A few tasty clips of Paul onstage plus an interview with Damon in which he seems more interested in the ceiling than the interviewer (maybe they got the same guy from the Associated Press) as Damon explains more about the concept of the band and the charisma brought to the group by members such as Paul Simonon. Worthy of a few minutes of your time which is all the video takes. 2.5 monkeys

You may well have caught this story about a week ago (here represented in Entertainment Weekly) and I had meant to write about it at the time but got waylaid. It seems that the next Gorillaz album might be much sooner than you think, perhaps in just a few months as Damon revealed he has been working throughout the tour on new material on his iPad. The main reason that interests me of course is that Paul and Mick have been part of the tour throughout and I’m guessing (but not knowing) that the friendship especially with Paul has furthered itself in that time. Keep an eye out for more news on this and whether future participation from the former Clash members is part of what’s being created. 3.0 monkeys

When I saw them live I thought one of the more intriguing guests was Bobby Womack and the Seattle Times is one of the few media outlets to taken the time to interview him during the tour that I’ve seen. The 66-year-old Womack gives a pretty funny interview where he reveals he hadn’t heard of Gorillaz but certainly knew of The Monkees. Worth a read. 3.0 monkeys

Simon Price from The Independent offers a fairly glowing report on the appearance on the south coast in Brighton. It seems that most of his research is in good order except for speculation that Damon might be running the entire tour at a loss due to the scale of the production. Obviously he didn’t pay for his own ticket with a comment like that and it rather detracts from the paragraphs that follow. All the same a good review and well-written. 3.0 monkeys

There’s so many more that I’ll catch up with them over the next few days and some more interviews are going to be in the mix as well. I’ll leave you with the video below which I thought was pretty creative using just the lights of New York (thankfully devoid of Times Square) in synchronicity with Melancholy Hill – view as full screen! I’ll be back soon – have a good one. Tim

Good evening how are things with you then? I trust well…I just got back from playing football and for once it was below 75f but was still like running around on concrete. The ‘grass’ in Arizona is typically about as lush as the rocks on the mountains around here and the bumps and grooves in the hard dry surface leave you yelling out ‘bad bounce’ every 5 or 10 minutes to deter any sentiments that you are completely hopeless at the beautiful game. I may have moaned about the weather in England but there was almost always a nice spot of grass for a kickabout. Anyway that’s not why you visited the blog is it? Let’s get to some Clash related stuff.

Topper at Wessex during the recording of London Calling

The Clash had a pretty unique career in that in just over 5 years (of recording) they managed a two single albums, then a double, then a triple and finished (essentially) with a another single – Combat Rock in 1982. If you’re younger than a certain age (30?) then the concept of double and triple albums is probably essentially lost on you. Since the advent of CDs most ‘double’ vinyl albums will happily fit on single CD, such is the case with London Calling where 19 tracks and over 60 minutes of music fit on just one disc. Even Sandinista! made it on to two cds. I still remember getting that on CD and finding it odd that disc one ended at the end of side three, which totally changed the impact of the disc oddly. In the digital age do we even notice when a double album comes out? I’m not sure of the last really notable release that was 20-24 tracks long? That of course was your golden (unwritten) rule 25 years ago – a single album better have at least 8 tracks and ideally 10 or more, when you got beyond 14 tracks you were heading into the realms of a double album unless it was early Ramones and everything clocked in at about 2:10. Thinking back I believe London Calling was the first double album I ever bought and there haven’t been that many others from the vinyl era. Two other extremely popular double albums were releaed near the time of London Calling – Pink Floyd’s The Wall (which interestingly came out just 2 weeks before The Clash released their double album) and Bruce Springsteen’s The River which arrived about 10 months later in the Autumn of 1980. Perhaps where was something in the water in 1979, but I doubt 3 double albums as historical as that trio were ever released in a 12 month spell. There is a lot of rumour and theory attached to why The Clash suddenly released 10 sides of music from late ’79 to late ’80 – much of it concerning the collective goal of hastening the end to their contract with CBS records. However forensic work from authors and analysts have shown that this simply was wishful thinking, the CBS contract tied the Clash down to optional additional albums so that wasn’t the main catalyst.

Original sketch ideas for London Calling sleeve by Ray Lowry

I think the reality is that by the Spring of 1979 the band were really gelling as a unit with a lot to prove (backs against the wall will do that to you), taking more collective influences from one another and writing/experimenting almost constantly. Don’t forget too that a number of tracks never made it onto London Calling and songs as good as Bankrobber and Armagideon Time were completed just after and whilst finishing London Calling respectively. While 1980 offered more of the same, the early goal of releasing a single each month never made it to fruition but the year still ended with a triple album spanning 36 tracks this time with Sandinista! I constantly hear those who complain that the triple album was too ambitious and there was too much noodling, dub, throwaway tracks and filler – but I can’t imagine the album any other way. I’ll even put my neck out and say that 30 years later its the album that I find most interesting and fresh (but only on some days I’ll quickly add to cover my arse). Critics and fans alike have debated for years that S! could have made a fantastic double album or an earth shattering single, but again how can you efficiently decide and edit what songs shouldn’t have made it. One More Time needs One More Dub to compliment it and you can battle long and hard for inclusion and exclusion based on personal preference. As I said I’ve heard this discussion many times – but on the Pop Matters site today I came across a debate I’ve never heard before – “Was London Calling too long as a double album?” Pop Matters regularly run the debate sessions and they are often good fun.

My answer is the same as for Sandinista! NO -  but even more so, how on earth can you elect to pull 3,4 or 5 songs from London Calling and have anything less than a culled version of a classic? To mean the excellence of London Calling is the 19 tracks that comprise it – take away any piece and it has lost far more than 5% of what makes it so special. The Pop Matters debate is linked here and while its somewhat tongue in cheek its worth a quick read. One suggests it would be like trimming an entire scene or two from The Godfather, you’d be left with a very different film. While I was much less satisfied about events when they were happening (1982 and 1983) time has taught me that almost everything that happened to The Clash happening for a reason. Three things I wish had not happened I reluctantly accept – Topper should have got the help he needed and the band took six-twelve months off and released a live album while Topper recovered – Combat Rock should have been the original mix and likely a double album – Mick Jones should not have been fired. Over simplification of course but nothing can be changed now and nor should the length of the albums that they did release.

I’ll be back soon…thanks as always for dropping in and supporting the blog. Tim