Hello again….how are we? Also why do doctors refer to us as we? I’m well thanks now that you’re asking but I won’t be if it doesn’t eventually rain in this city. Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts I’ve just had one of those weeks at work where I’ve felt empty by the time the evenings roll round and writing is the last thing I can manage. I’ll make up for it over the next 72 hours and next weekend I’m taking a trip out of state so hopefully will gain some blogging momentum there.

Tonight’s post was inspired by this question that popped up on a forum ‘were The Clash the greatest punk band?‘ which of course is a subjective question. You’d need to define who the contenders are, in fact exactly what was punk? Couldn’t it be applied to The Stooges or The MC5 if we go back in time, or Green Day and The Strokes if you wanted? Are you a punk band if you begin as one but don’t especially remain one? Is punk more to do with a sound or an attitude? Does it have to be both? Was Woody Guthrie punk? I’m of the very entrenched opinion that thirtyish years after first identifying with punk music and happily being called a punk if someone chose to do so it has more to do with how you think than having The Exploited or The Misfits written across the back of your black leather jacket. I think if you’re still prepared to call out someone for being a poser or a parasite, a divider or a racist then you’re probably still a punk. If you think that people should do their own thing and not wait for the corporations to give us guidance you’re probably a punk. If you think that too much control is had by the people in power with the money you’re probably a punk. I’ve nothing to guarantee my theories except that it’s what I believe. So were The Clash the best punk band? For me they were, as I think their debut album is still the best collection of punk songs and even then they don’t follow form entirely by throwing in Police and Thieves as a cover version. Perhaps more excitingly less than two years after recording their debut they had evolved into essentially a different band. Funny though it is that ‘post-punk’ has come to embody most of the better bands that surfaced from late ’78 until ’82 you could argue that The Clash were the first post punk band. In a sense at least.

Anyway I chucked that survey question up on Facebook earlier this week as I was appalled to see that only 25% at that point felt The Clash were the best punk band ever. Best punk band? You can make a good case for them being the best band in general, and certainly of their era they were unsurpassed. By the gentle power of persuasion that same poll now shows 67% voted The Clash as the best punk band. Now I feel guilty as if I’ve performed some electioneering (which I have) to create a better result. More seriously what band from the 76/77 punk era were better? I’d say Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Damned and The Sex Pistols would constitute many people’s top five. I thought I’d look at a few random (magazine) polls to see where people rated The Clash as best band in other environments. So…Top 100 bands of all time:

Number 28 – Rolling Stone: The paper often cited for doing more to break the band in the US places The Clash in vaunted company at 28. The profile was written by The Edge who said “mplete throw-down to us. It was like: Why are you in music? What the hell is music all about, anyway? The members of the Clash were not world-class musicians by any means, but the racket they made was undeniable — the pure, visceral energy and the anger and the commitment. They were raw in every sense, and they were not ashamed that they were about much more than playing with precision and making sure the guitars were in tune. This wasn’t just entertainment. It was a life-and-death thing. They made it possible for us to take our band seriously” Here’s the link to the top 100, scroll through to 28 for The Clash profile.

Number 22 – VH1 : I know, who regards VH1 as a source of information these days…or ever? That doesn’t deny the fact that they ranked The Clash this high far ahead of The Kinks, Radiohead and The Velvet Underground to name just a few. Incidentally the highest ranked punk band. Here’s the full VH1 list.

Number 53 – AVRev: You’re probably wondering what sort of a source AVRev is (which stands for AudioVideo revolution) and the answer is I don’t really know. What I do like being a bit of a numbers person is that they used some formulas to generate their final list which gave scores out of 100 for US Sales, Innovation, Songs and Songwriting etc. Of course that remains a bit arbitrary but The Clash do score very well for ‘innovation’ (89) which places them in the top 10 all time, I’d argue that innovation is the most important attribute of a band. I’ve just lost respect for the poll however as I noticed they have The Police at number 11 (?)

Undetermined – Mojo: I couldn’t find a list from Mojo of top artists but they did do the top 100 albums of all time which saw London Calling in 22nd and the debut album at 49. On aggregate I’d say that earns them a place in the top 50.

Number 2 (best punk bands) – Rate Your Music: Rate your music is an odd site but still worth a visit if you’ve got time. They did create a best punk band list based on users votes for each album which you can visit here. The Clash came in at number 2 with the top spot being occupied by none of those suggested top 5 I mentioned earlier. Go and have a look.

We’ll look at more lists another time. I just read the sad/predictable news that Amy Winehouse has been found dead at the dreaded age 27. RIP. It’s been a bad two days with the tragic events in Norway and the news that a former work colleague younger than myself passed away at age 42 yesterday. I need some good news! Got any?

Talk to you soon, Tim

Good morning how goes it? All is well here, got coffee and and the right attitude for the time being. Let’s see how long that lasts. Don’t forget all images on the blog can now be enlarged by clicking on them and as a gallery when applicable. I’m also experimenting with some video walls which seem to be such a memory drain that I’m not sure the site can handle it without a dedicated server. I might go out with cap in hand to add more video. If everyone who visits the blog in a week donated a dollar I’d have enough for a server, hosting, new audio recording software and also a chance to send $2,500 to Strummerville. Hmmm, might set that up for Joe’s Birthday?

Viv in January 2011. Image courtesy MagicCube77 http://www.flickr.com/photos/25880052@N08/

Right then, straight into it. Some time ago we were lucky enough to be graced on the blog by a letter from Viv Albertine (formerly of The Slits) about her experience of getting back on stage with Carbon Silicon, hard to believe that was over eighteen months ago. Here’s the link to that post essentially written by Viv. Viv’s relationship and subsequent friendship with Mick Jones goes all the way back to art college where they met before The Clash came into existence. Then in turn the friendship and support given by each member of The Clash to the emerging Slits was well documented, itself a testament to the close-knit scene that early punk was in London. It’s been exciting to watch Viv reemerge as a solo artist in recent years, a nicer person is difficult to imagine. Here’s a link to Viv’s myspace where you listen to tracks and purchase her most recent album.

Return of the CIA (Clash Influenced Award) merits  an honourable mention in the direction of Boots Riley of The Coup. I like it when hip hop artists are tuned in enough to tip their cap in the direction of The Clash. It reminds me of the eclectic choices that The Clash made when choosing supports acts. This interview with Riley on punknews.org is a good read not least of all because of The Clash mention. Unfortunately as this video shows Bo Diddley wasn’t as enamoured with the chance to open for The Clash as they were with having him guest (and takes a good percentage of the takings by the way). Yes he’s talking more about the PA than the band but it’s a pretty funny interview.

Another CIA while we’re at it. A new book about ‘Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World’ takes the title ‘Rock the Casbah’. I do hope that Topper Headon gets at least a credit and ideally some royalties; here’s a review of the book in The L.A. Times book section by Wendy Smith. Sounds an interesting read, Rage and Rebellion would make a good album title.

Much more soon including a special event Clash infused event in Cleveland. Yes…Cleveland. Tim

Hello everyone and welcome to a weekend/murdoch free/no wiretapping edition of The Clash Blog. Not sure if readers outside the UK for the most part are following the immensity of what has been happening with the News of The World and their Murdoch empire’s assault on decency in the name of ‘freedom of the press’. Complete bollocks if you ask me, I wish Joe Strummer were here to sing about it. The best related elements I’ve seen thus far were Steve Coogan’s appearance on Newsnight and Billy Bragg’s new song about The Sun newspaper (which is likely to now include a Sunday format to pick up the former readers of the now defunct paper), additionally worth a watch as it features the Jail Guitar Doors acoustic. That sort of gutter journalism breeds nothing but hate and intolerance and the shit hitting the proverbial is long overdue. Anyway, enough of that, it’s sunny outside and there are better things to be doing.

As I mentioned previously there are going to be a fair number of events next month to celebrate what would have been Joe Strummer’s 59th birthday and I ask that anyone who knows of a local event to please contact me so I can share the details. By last count I’m aware of four different nights that have been planned but to this point only in the US and Australia so I’m hoping the UK and other countries have something in the works, by all means if you are in Rio, Mexico City or Moscow you can use this forum to try and get a few like minded Clash people together for a few pints in the name of Joe. I’ll post the updates as they come in and probably build out a temporary page on the blog so some of us can (hopefully) find an event nearby.

It’s funny how some companies will use the images of The Clash to raise their hip factor without acknowledging much awareness of the band or what they were about, on the one hand I think any opportunity to perhaps introduce new people who may have been too young to The Clash is a good thing, on the other hand perhaps do so and also provide a link to a place to purchase their music or send a few coins via the internet to Strummerville or something. Two kinds of companies do it, those with a genuine affection for the band and those who just think the numerous excellent photos that are available bring their own internal marketing to a new level of cool (which to an extent it does, but you should do so with some measure of creativity perhaps?). Two examples this week, one who is a genuine Clash fan and uses the company blog to say as much and why, the other just collected an assortment of photos of The Clash in leather jackets over the years, added some sarcastic comments and moved on, simply because they sell clothing. I’ll mention the first example…a Clash City Rocker and genuinely cool business Tellason.

Image courtesy Simon Goldey http://www.flickr.com/photos/billielolasorcha/

The other example doesn’t deserve so much as a little wrath. I’ve no bones at all with someone discovering The Clash last week, take your time with it, purchase the albums in order, read the lyrics and check out some old interviews. You don’t have to have seen the band in 1977 to be a fan, or even have been born then. Arriving a bit late isn’t a problem whatsoever and it keeps the deserved legacy of the band rolling right along as it should, christ knows we really need a band like The Clash today. I’m still looking for a contender, I’d welcome your suggestions. I just take issue with people who know one song, or post a photo of Joe on his knees and say ‘I’m a punk rocker’. It’s only natural that it happens but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. All these years later it’s remarkable how often you talk to someone and their knowledge of The Clash is limited to Rock The Casbah or feel it’s ‘AMAZING’ that Joe Strummer had that last name and turned out to be a guitarist. Then again the same thing was happening in 1983 so I’m not sure why I’m surprised, the point is when people do it that’s one thing but when a company does the same it’s really taking the piss.

I should wrap it up there, back with a far more positive approach later on! Cheers for dropping in, please tell me I’m not imagining this stuff? Tim

On a side note, has anyone seen/heard any Topper Headon news recently?