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.

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

Morning…it’s an eggs and bacon/black coffee sort of morning I think. Then some more coffee, perhaps some extra bacon, a bit of toast and then a lot of water. Perhaps I’ll take a nap as well, just to be sure.

I’d love to give you a full report of the B.A.D. performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago yesterday but alas I was out kicking a football around in the heat instead so I can’t tell you much beyond what I’ve read this morning. Good reports again, a decent length set with the tracks we’d expect. I’ll seek out some video over the next day or two. What has surfaced online courtesy of WXRT in Chicago is a fairly extensive interview with Mick and Don that was filmed before the appearance yesterday evening. WXRT also published some cool photos linked here. It’s funny, interesting and I hope gives you a sense of how much they are enjoying the reunion. Especially Mick insisting it ‘wasn’t that long’ before he was once again friends with the other members of The Clash after he ‘was sacked’. That plus insisting on still calling Gorillaz – ‘The Gorillas’ Don Letts as ever exudes cool and I’m so glad to see them getting more exposure although XRT might want to send someone along next time who has done a tiny bit of homework.

If you saw the gig please by all means let us know what you thought and how the festival was – did B.A.D. pull a big crowd? In a Clash friendly city like Chicago I’m hoping so. I’ll have more later on if I get time by for now I hope you enjoy this.  Tim

It’s me again it seems. Posting like a squirrel or something similar that does a lot of posting. A post office perhaps? Bollocks, whatever.

I hope that you managed to see the clip of E=MC2 from the Jimmy Fallon show last night, I’m still blown away but just how strong B.A.D. sounded. In keeping with that the various reports and accounts I’ve been reading from both the Boston and the Brooklyn gigs have been overwhelmingly positive. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but there certainly appears to be a greater swagger about the band now than earlier in the year, I suppose a twenty year hiatus will do that to you. From Mick’s added guitar support (which grants him more space to be Mick) from Davo to Don Letts continuing to carry on like someone in his 20′s (why not) the whole thing looks tight and sounds even better than that. You’ve probably already seen the other video from Fallon last night (the one that went out on the broadcast) of the  new song Rob Peter pay Paul but if not it’s below for your viewing and listening pleasure. It’s great to hear a cleaner version that we’ve seen from various phones and recording devices at concerts in recent weeks and you can really measure the strength of the song. By all definitions I think it is a traditional B.A.D. tune but with a very 21st century hook which borrow a little from some of Mick’s more recent work. I hear a bit of Caesars Palace in there but that could be my imagination.

I’ve got to get back to work but wanted to also point you in the direction of a recently completed reader’s poll from Rolling Stone magazine that asks who the greatest punk band ever were. Although we know the answer I wondered what the readers would do. You start the list at number ten and most of the choices seem pretty valid if a little US centric as you might expect which is fair enough. When I didn’t see The Clash before the final three I assumed top spot was secured. However they managed to choose Green Day!

While I could have stomached The Ramones or even The Sex Pistols (horses for courses) being above The Clash I can’t fathom Green Day being top of that list. If there were no Clash there’d be no Green Day. I think that’s a reasonable statement so how can the latter surpass the former? I know it just reflects the (youngish) readership of the magazine but I still can’t see how a second (third?) generation punk band could possibly top a list for any sussed out reader. I do think Green Day should be in top ten, if only for bringing something back to an audience who never saw earlier punk artists, to say nothing of their own work. Perhaps the part I’m falling down with is expecting too much. Either way you can see the full list and share your thoughts here or preferably just do so here on this site. Incidentally where are Buzzcocks on that list?