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

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

A very good evening to you wherever you may be reading the blog from ClashBlog Towers. An unseasonably warm (almost hot) day today had me looking for my shorts much to the excitement of the girls on the street I’m sure. I don’t want to miss new Clash happenings so I thought I’d boldly proceed with the review of 2011 started yesterday and looking at the most read posts each month from the year just concluded. Before that though two quick thoughts and one of which is also a thank you. Thanks are owed to a good friend in Toronto who was kind enough to send me a 2012 Joe Strummer calendar from Strummerville. I don’t know how many of you already have one or have perhaps been on the fence about acquiring one but now that I’ve seen it in person I can’t encourage you in strong enough terms to rush and get one before January winds down. Not that I intend to use it as a calendar though and write birthdays and Arsenal fixtures on it (is there anything else?) – it’s far too beautiful for that. The photography is remarkable but it’s the overall quality and presentation of the whole package that makes the calendar such a collector’s piece. Others have said they’re going to be framing some of the best shots although it would be hard to limit yourself to just two or three of the images on offer. It’s that good. Again my deep thanks to the sender -I really appreciate it. If you’re not convinced yet you really should be but here’s a reminder and a link to purchase one.

Also worth noting is that Strummerville are organising a music festival this summer to coincide with Joe’s 60th birthday, more on that later in the week. Needless to say it has the potential to be something very special indeed and might be taking place in Somerset. Right then, back to the 2011 ‘best of’ with April, May & June.

April 2011 -

‘Joe Strummer mural damaged‘ (April 7)

I’ve written a lot on the blog about how I feel that The Clash deserve more official recognition, it might sound trite to some but such recognition creates a symbolic place for fans to gather or simply reflect. In Joe’s case that’s even more specific since his passing but in general I think England really needs to get more done to pay tribute to the band and/or Joe. Glastonbury has the Strummer stone but that’s only key during the festival, you might be aware that Soho Square in London has a bench for the greatly missed (here at CB Towers) Kirsty MacColl. London needs to be doing more. I’ve got some hair brained scheme that we could start a campaign of signatures to present to the Mayor of London to get such a tribute taken care of – perhaps that idea will brew more completely this year. Anyway, back to the post in question – New York’s Joe Strummer mural has become such a gathering point for so many since it was created and when it was vandalised in April it caused a lot of anger. Happily the guilty party was caught which I wrote about later and the mural was repaired although maintenance of the piece of art remains an ongoinf challenge.

May 2011 -

‘Ebay listing for early Clash/Mickey Foote sessions tapes’ (May 8th)

I must confess I’m not sure what the final outcome of this one was. I think the person selling these had no right to do so and common sentiment was that he’d have been better off contacting Mick Jones as such an artifact should really have been in the hands of one of the band. There was some intrigue as to how he acquired these but the exact details now escape me. Nevertheless the photos are rather brilliant. If you remember more than me (not hard to do) please add it to the comments.

June 2011 -

‘Joe Strummer mural vandal caught and served jail time’ (June 4)

Ah, there it is – part 2 of the April story. I told you we care about that mural. It was a strange tale though, so if you missed it please go back and have a look.

Right then, that’s all I’ve time for at the moment but I do find it enjoyable looking back at last year and I hope you feel the same. I’ll have part three very soon and after we wrap up the year normal service will be resumed. Thanks as always for dropping in and don’t forget you can keep up to date by  Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed which will see the blog sent to you directly. Keep on kicking – Tim.

A very warm hello to you and thanks for checking in with your Clash Blogger. I’m writing this (local time) on the eve of the anniversary that always shapes this time of year and detracts from the holidays, perhaps we need to work on that. I’ve had a very busy few days and lack time to do more than function so I’ve done an appalling job of prepping for tomorrow. Some days I find it hard to fathom that it’s been nine years since we lost Joe Strummer, on the more difficult days it can seem even longer. I’m not too impressed with how the world has changed over these last years and if you think Joe Strummer would be content with our current malaise then you hardly knew the man. There’s some sliver linings though I hope and it’s that global view that Joe was becoming ever better at expressing that I perhaps miss the most. We all love The Clash of course and the music Joe made after that too but I think many of you share how much we simply loved to hear what Joe had to say about the world at large and his place in it. I don’t think he ever tired of meeting people and trying (like we all do) to figure out his place in this soup we call our society.

When the World Cup was held in South Africa I wondered how much Joe would have loved that, when Obama became the first black president I can’t help but think Joe would have raised a pint and when the seeds of change rolled around the arab states and we even are showing signs of anger at last in the west this year wouldn’t Strummer have been bashing the drum and telling people to take back what is already ours. For me and I’m sure many of you it was a bit too much like losing a relative, for me Joe Strummer had more influence on my life that many with whom I share blood. That might just be a sad indictment of my fragile family whilst growing up but it’s my story and as such it’s the truth. To be confronted (via my brother’s bedroom) by the sounds of ‘Give ‘em Enough Rope as a twelve year old was to be kicked up the arse and given a need to explore more. Guns on The Roof sang this rogue and I needed to know what the words were really saying. I remember recording that album to cassette and trying to work out every word with the old play/pause routine (I had more than a few completely wrong).

Happily the following year saw a rather remarkable double album come complete with lyrics and my relationship with Joe moved into overdrive. The brilliance of Mick Jones, the power of Topper Headon, the cool of Paul Simonon all woven like a perfect tapestry around the poems and protests of Joe Strummer – you couldn’t choose better parents. I had my family but I had Strummer/Jones for when things were tough, when things were exciting, when things were mundane. If I was angry Strummer could help, if I was confused or troubled he’d do the same. Those records, those lyrics, they burned through us like a branding iron changing the way we viewed our world and changing the way we viewed ourselves. Joe Strummer was the voice I’ll always hear and I confess it never sounded better than from the moment Topper joined The Clash and the band went on that journey of outrageous output from 1977 to 1980 that no band since had ever competed with. The audacity to release a triple album within 12 months of London Calling coming out and pack more ideas and thoughts from local to global made me love music ever since and believe it mattered, shit it made me feel more important too.

Tomorrow please join me on the blog and share your words about Joe. I’ll be back in the morning but just like last year the blog will be handed over to you. I look forward to your thoughts of Joe.

I miss Joe of course, I miss that there’s nothing new to look forward to and miss hearing him talk as much as play. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being grateful to have had him be a daily part of my thoughts the last 33 years and if I’m lucky enough to still be around in 33 more I don’t think I’ll feel any differently, and if another thirteen year old is hearing Safe European Home for the first time and feeling his blood pump that bit faster than we’ll realise Joe Strummer never died.

Last night I was driving from San Diego to Phoenix through the desert, it was the darkest of dark nights and all you could see were the stars and the rocky outcrops making shadows in the desert against a misty looking moon, I thought they’ll be there millions of years to come, Joe Strummer was only here for fifty but somehow cast a longer shadow.

Hello again and a very good Friday evening to you from the soon to be deserted ClashBlog towers. Haunted forever by memories of The Clash Cup, unfinished ideas and blogging logjams….blogjams? Where did this week go? I need some of it back, not that I want to work more but that I’m not even vaguely ready for the holidays and instead find myself with bloggette looking for a new home in another city. Quite frankly it’s the wrong time of year for that but when opportunity presents itself you have to seize it I read once. Anyway, enough of my bleating.

I’ve got a lot lined up in the days ahead and part 2 & 3 of the Hillsborough post should see the light of day over the next few days, if my appearances are a bit sporadic I’ll be over in California until Wednesday so my access to the blog and blogging might be less ideal than usual. I’ll count on all of you to keep things interesting. I also need to get prepared for all the Joe Strummer memorials/tributes and assorted events in the days ahead, this weekend sees them kicking off with the inconvenience of the anniversary not landing on a weekend we’ll probably see events almost every day starting today. If you want to help spread the word about a local event please do so on the comments section of this post or feel free to use the facebook page which usually has a fair few readers – anything to spread the word of a Strummer night is alright with me. One of the biggest Clash/Strummer events of all actually takes place tomorrow in Parma, Italy – this one has been going for years and gets bigger on an annual basis it seems. It has to be said that it is one of the largest and best organised tributes to Joe and I’m sure attendance this year will once again do the Italian Clash contingent proud. Full information is available via this link and you’ll see that no less than 14 (!) bands are performing with the action kicking off at 1pm local time. I wish I’d have covered this earlier but some tour in the UK dominated proceedings. It’s more than live music though with (if my poor italian translation serves me) artwork, vinyl collection, djs and an auction all being part of the festivities. If you happen to be attending and would like to send in any photos to the blog please feel free to do so.

For tonight I wanted to leave the rest of the post in the excellent hand of Pete Stevens. Pete as you may know has been a giant friend of the blog since the very early days, his friendship and support has been immense as not only is he a brilliant photographer but he also will literally scale walls and scramble down gutters to get some of the concert and event photography I’ve been lucky enough to share on the blog. I’ve seen thousands of concert photographs over the years but I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that Pete is as near to a modern day Bob Gruen or Pennie Smith as you’re going to see. Live concert photography isn’t easy nor does everything go to plan but the composition and sheer brilliance in so many of Pete’s stills would make you think he had days to plan his photos rather than fractions of seconds.

Luckily for us Pete was able to get full access to the Justice tonight event at The Scala in London last week. By now you probably know what happened that night and who the key players were on stage. While it’s great to read the accounts and see the choppy live footage on youtube unless you were there nothing does an event justice (tonight) like great photography. With that said I picked some of my favourite photos that Pete took from that night and they feature in the gallery below. Just click on any photo and they will enlarge and you can scroll through them. If like me you have a bit of time to linger please study the photos, if you had any doubt how much Mick enjoyed this along with the others the photos will enlighten you. One of my favourites is the expression of Peter Hooton when hugging Mick, magic stuff.

Thanks as ever to Pete – you’re a great friend and it’s my pleasure to share your work with everyone.

All the best, I’ll be in touch from San Diego or somewhere out that way. Tim

Good evening, how was your weekend? Bloody hectic one here but that’s alright it’s going to happen from time to time. On the plus side it’s been really cold and rainy most of the weekend which sounds a bit glum but when you live in a desert it makes a lovely change. The clouds were so low that the mountains to the NE vanished for two days and finally left today to reveal snow, if I liked snow I’d be more encouraged. With that said the best laid plans of getting the blog updated a few extra times this weekend fell to the wayside but I’ll surely get back on track tomorrow. There’s a lot to cover from the Justice Tonight tour but that needs to wait as The Clash time machine has thrown up something really brilliant this weekend.

On Friday I was made aware by a few people of some live footage of The Clash that was filmed in high quality but as it was super 8/cine film there was no sound. A number of people around the net and on If Music Could Talk started trying to work out which concert film was from. Luckily the uploader on Vimeo also added another file called ‘Manhattan 1979′ (linked) which I watched with some faint hope it would lend some clues. Initially it showed the World Trade Centre and various street scenes around New York and then some bounty – an early evening shot of the marquee at the New York Palladium advertising The Clash, Sam & Dave and The Undertones – Sep 20 & 21 and towards the end of the footage live action of Sam and Dave. Clash historians will know the second of those dates led to the famous incident between Paul Simonon and his bass that was captured by Pennie Smith and became the cover of London Calling. What wasn’t certain was whether the film on the other upload featured live footage from September 20th or 21st.

It was at this point where the community that surrounds The Clash went into overdrive and also impresses the hell out of me. Everyone wanted to know which songs were being performed and match the audio to the performance. After going through existing recordings and matching up what was happening on stage in terms of lead vocals, backing vocals and other indicators there were enough clues to match it up perfectly. I’d like to thank Dom who I’ve been in contact with, for painstakingly adding the audio to the super 8 film with all the cuts and edits included – I thank you.

What’s remarkable about Super 8 film is that although the technology is older than many of us, the quality of the film far surpasses much of what you see compiled these days via mobile phones or even the less expensive digital cameras with video capability. I’ve watched the tape below a number of times and although it’s often blurry and edited badly you certainly feel the energy of The Clash on stage and the chemistry of the band which was perhaps at it’s very peak in the late months of 1979. Thrilling to see and priceless in it’s rarity what we have is a new document that in addition to being 32 years old also captures the band on a night where Paul Simonon was going to create an unrehearsed image that has become as famous as the the album cover it graced, perhaps even more so. While there are no complete songs on the tape we have pieces of I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. Enjoy it – it’s brilliant. I’ll be back soon with lots more. Tim

(Full credit from the YouTube upload) – The Clash – 1979-09-21, at the New York City Palladium performing the songs I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. It is only short clips of the songs but great nonetheless. This concert was the same night Paul Simonon smashed his favorite bass guitar thus creating one of the greatest moments in rock and roll history ever captured, seen on the album cover of London Calling, and taken by photographer Pennie Smith. More info about this special gig, including the full setlist, can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/reco…
The original source of this video was a silent Super 8 film camera. I layered the audio over it and synced it together.

Hello again, I’m back again and so I hope, are you. It was a perfect day today, the sort where you feel like leaning against a tree with a good book and just letting the sun warm you and the wind create the only external sounds. Alas I had to work. Then again I’m glad to have work so one can’t complain.

I hate it when I’m unintentionally late with event news on The Clash Blog but I regret it’s happened. I recall asking months ago for a secretary to help keep the blog current, where is that mystery girl (or boy if need be)? This post won’t be very lengthy as I want to be sure that those readers in and around London are aware of a rather special night tonight (Thursday December 1st) that’s about to take place. It happily coincides with the first night of the Mick Jones review and I’ll have more on that later I’m sure, but for those in the capital that need a Clash fix before the Justice Tonight tour hits town you can get your dose a week early.

Here’s the short version – an action packed Clash themed evening down at the Earl of Chatham in Woolwich SE18. The night is designed to ‘remember Joe Strummer and celebrate The Clash’ and will be headlined by punk tribute band 48 Thrills with a raft of special guests. Here’s the official blurb:

Arms Aloft in Acton Town are pleased to support a Jail Guitar Doors benefit taking place on Thursday 1st December 2011 at The Earl of Chatham, close to Woolwich Arsenal station. Quality punk tribute band, 48 Thrills will play a Clash-heavy set to mark the 35th anniversary of the start of the Anarchy Tour (the first important Clash tour); to remember Joe Strummer (close to the 9th anniversary of his passing) and celebrate the 50th birthdy of 48 Thrills frontman, Joe Williams. ‘Rude Boy’, Ray Gange will play a DJ set and former Clash road manager, Johnny Green will sign books.

Tickets are £10 from which proceeds will go to Jail Guitar Doors and can be purchased via Pay Pal by clicking the button below. In the spirit of back-to-basics punk rock you have to buy each ticket individually – apologies for the inconvenience! Please bring your e-mail confirmation to the venue where it will be swapped for a souvenir ticket.

Tickets are available online via this link but are also available on the door. More excellent news is that proceeds will be going directly to helping the Jail Guitar Doors cause. There is also a facebook event page with more information and the site from 48 Thrills as linked above.  I so wish I could go…for the music, for Ray Gange and his DJ stint and in addition to Johnny Green author Pat Gilbert will be there. It should be a blinder of an evening. If you happen to be going please share with us how it goes. Please do all you can to share this event on Facebook and via Twitter even though it’s at very short notice hopefully more will make it down. Sorry about that (my tardiness) but please tell Ray, Johnny and Ray that the Clash Blog says hello! Here’s a timetable of events for the evening:

REMEMBERING JOE STRUMMER – CELEBRATING THE CLASH

Earl of Chatham, 15 Thomas Street, London SE18 6HU

7.30pm Doors open  
7.40pm Rube Boy screening
8.45pm Book signing
9.00pm 30 minute DJ set
9.30pm 48 Thrills live
10.15pm Clash Poster Auction
10.30pm Pat Gilbert Interviews ‘Live On Stage’
10.45pm 30 minute DJ set
11.15pm 48 Thrills live
11.45pm 60 minute DJ set
12.30am Last Orders
1.00am Finish

The Earl of Chatham is at 15 Thomas Street in Woolwich SE18, nearest rail station is Woolwich Arsenal. More details on the map above. Hope some of you can get along to this one. Cheers – Tim

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.