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

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

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