Good evening and thanks for landing on this site once again or perhaps welcome for the first time, bookmark me in that case as there is a lot to be said. I wanted to start with an invitation tonight – if you’ve ever wanted to write about The Clash whether it is the influence of the band on your life, a favourite concert or memory or simply your thoughts about a song or an album please submit it to the blog. Sometimes I  worry if my somewhat opinionated and Lond0n-centric view of the band gets a bit old and I do want the blog to be as inclusive as possible and share all sorts of viewpoints. Your submission doesn’t have to be solely about The Clash but should link to them in some way ideally. I don’t need you have the writing ability of a Thomas Hardy or the photographic skills of a Bob Gruen – just a love for your subject matter and the desire to be ‘published’. Ideally 350+ words will get things rolling. If you are interested please get in touch and we can talk.

For tonight I realised that it’s been ages since I had a scan around the internet to see what interesting/daft/unique or rare Clash items were on sale. It’s less than seven weeks until Christmas so I thought it a good time to note some ideas for Clash nuts in your life or gently infer to the people who love you that you’d love to see this or that in your stocking.

A few weeks ago I featured the piece of art on the left created by Amy Hood of Hoodzpah. I understand that you don’t expect to see Joe Strummer with such an avian amigo but what makes this such a nice piece of art is the fact that it’s been uniquely created by Amy and I think her interpretation of Joe is brilliant. Learn more about the piece via this link, what I didn’t know when I wrote about it previously was that a limited edition of 50 would be going on sale. The price is (I think) a reasonable $20 and here’s the link to Etsy if you want to grab one. You also will probably enjoy the development phases of drawing Joe’s face which is featured on the initial link above.

Clash drink coasters (drink mats!) – yes I want these. I like a good cup of tea, mug of coffee and the occasional pale ale and I take more pride than I should in having a good mug or glass to consume it from. I’ve also got a bad habit of leaving said vessel on top of a nearby CD case rather than mark the desk or coffee table. A solution at last! Here’s the specifications (yes it’s remarkable that Cut The Crap is one of the four, perhaps that’s for American beer?): “Drink coasters made from 4.25″ cream colored ceramic tiles. Classic rock or jazz or other album artwork is laminated on top. They come in sets of 4. They have protective felt on bottoms so they don’t scratch anything.” $29 and they can be yours, if you need my address to send me a set just ask.

Zombie Clash Skeleton destroying bass. Yes, more than a bit odd but if you like this sort of thing then perhaps it might go perfectly with the rest of your London Calling collection. I’m not made keen on it though it’s an improvement on Mickey Mouse taking a rodent turn on Paul Simonon’s famed angry moment with his instrument in New York back in 1979. I’m sure you’ve seen that if not go and look it up. Here are the details: “Each skeleton is made by hand from steel (1:9 scale), and stands approximately 8″ tall if welded upright. Depending on the pose the final sculpture may be taller or shorter than 8″. I cut the parts individually to allow for different posing options as I weld them together. The photograph is of the first one I made in that pose. If it has sold, I will make another in the same pose, but it may turn our slightly different. They are not finished with any paint or clear coat and if left outside, will eventually rust. ” Available via this link at a price of $59 if you fancy..

Lots more to come in the weeks ahead I’ll surely find something you can put under the tree. I’m going to have to go and create some dinner now as I’m starving. Until next time you can follow the blog  via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed  thanks for reading and circulating the blog all over the place. Tim

Good morning to you, just time for a very short post this morning then I must be cracking on with other things. Oh incidentally we had a good laugh doing some Clash trivia yesterday over on the facebook page for the blog, I’d like to do more with quizzes here but the lack of real time interaction makes that a bit tricky. Don’t worry you didn’t miss any prizes just the right to exhibit your superb knowledge about the band. Perhaps I’ll put together ten of the more difficult Clash questions I can come up with every few months and let everyone have 48 hours to send in the their answers. I need prizes as a result though so I need to work on that so that it’s worth your while, or would you do it for the plaudits? Might be something fun to end the year with…

For today I’ve just got a video I needed to share that has been recently uploaded, it’s brilliance resides in the simplicity of it by combining brilliant photographs and music. Almost to this exact date (October 20th in fact) in 1977 The Clash had one of the many experiences that could seemingly only happen to them. It was on that date that the rather audaciously planned first concert outside the main British isle was planned with a gig at Belfast’s Ulster Hall. It went on to become one of the events that passed into Clash folklore for what did happen (remarkable photo opportunities in the city and a near riot) rather than what didn’t – the gig was cancelled. The last minute nature of the cancellation become one of those public relations knife edge situations that could go either way for the band and their reputation. A near riot ensued as disinformation about the concert filtered out but crucially it was no fault of The Clash. This was going to be the first concert of its kind in Northern Ireland, a leading English punk band braving a visit to Belfast and that really isn’t an overstatement. The Belfast of the 1970′s is a difficult place to describe in a very short blog post but it’s safe to say that division, violence, anger, fear, distrust and frustration all loomed large on a daily basis for the residents of the city, people who just wanted to have a normal life in an environment that wasn’t supporting that. Those were dark times that seem so long ago and yet so recent at the same time. For The Clash a bad situation turned into an event of their own making, not in the choreographed opportunistic way that a Coldplay or Radiohead might try in 2011 but in just wandering around town in their punk gear taking in something that don’t forget was as alien to them as it would be anyone else living in London at the time, this was supposed to be nation after all. Nothing else to do seeing as the band weren’t going to plug in a guitar on this particular trip I don’t usually like the word iconic but the photographs captured that day of the band, coupled with the background of Belfast on a damp day in black and white are some of my favourite Clash photographs I’ve ever seen. They may have been one of the earliest I’d seen also and assumed that they dressed just as fantastically even when they went out for a pint of milk. When you’re a kid you form your own perceptions much more rapidly and I thought that the look of the band was just as exciting as the music.

The photograph below is exclusively by courtesy of UrbanImage and you can find view a fantastic series of 16 images from that day by following this link.

Most of my family lived in and around Dublin when I was young (my Mum’s side) and I recall one family visit to Northern Ireland when I was about eleven so my memories are fuzzy but we went with an aunt and uncle as their car was safer to drive up than Dad’s english one that had come over on the ferry as usual for a family visit, I think it was the summer of ’78. When you crossed the border the countryside and the farms looked as green and lush as they did in the Republic of Ireland, the villages as pretty and quiet. I remember thinking it odd to see ‘English’ road signs. We spent only a few hours in Belfast and my biggest recollection was of so many murals and graffiti, fuzzier memories of strewn bricks and damaged buildings plus army vehicles and soldiers. All of that compiled to make it seem more like a film set rather than reality to me as a kid at that time. Otherwise it reminded me so much of Liverpool in so many ways….one regret is that as a ten year old I should have spent a bit less on records and perhaps bought a camera so I had this stuff documented forever. Anyway.

The Clash did make it back however just two months later in December when they played the city on December 20th. Perhaps symbolically it was their final live appearance of 1977 or year zero, a night that changed the landscape for hundreds of young punks in Northern Ireland and beyond. I hope you enjoy the video (uploaded by GlamPunkTV) below as it is cool to have these images in one place – watch in full screen. Tim

‘Remembering The Clash in Belfast, October 1977′

Hello once again, nice to have you back. If it’s your first visit to the blog where have you been for the last 2 and a half years? Not a problem, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do over next few weeks. I must admit that I’ve got my blogging hat back on, I struggled to find time last month and got a little bit frustrated as I knew I was ‘falling behind’ with Clash news. I know it sounds a bit daft, we’re talking about keeping current on a band that essentially ceased to be more than 25 years ago but the reality is with the rise of blogging, social media and the simple fact that you can read articles from newspapers throughout the world online there is always something to write about. Thankfully and purely coincidentally it seems that the last two plus years have seen Mick Jones more consistently active with a huge array of commitments than at any time in many moons. In addition so many of you have furnished me with other stories or even first hand accounts, photos and experiences to keep things busy. If you ever feel like contributing to the blog and have something you think may appeal to readers please let me know as I always welcome guest posts. It can be a Clash related opinion, bit of research or simply a personal experience relating to the band. There’s no wrongs or rights, if you think Combat Rock was their best album you can explain why, if you wish Paul Simonon took on lead vocals more often just say so. I’ll never manage to cover everything and we won’t agree on all views (Charlie Don’t Surf is one of their five best songs, Mick Jones had the best hair circa 1980) which is fine. I’d love to host a guest post or seven, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Right then, a few things on tap today and then (finally) some more focused posts in the days ahead. I’ve found myself scurrying from one thing to the next this month and wonder about the important stuff I might be missing?

File this under early warning (very early) but I love the 2012 Strummercamp logo so much (featured left) that it merits coverage. The astute amongst you will have seen already that next year’s event is the 7th annual celebration of Joe up in Manchester. As ever you can expect an excellent lineup at the event which seems to grow in popularity with each passing year. Full details will be added to the official site in the months ahead in the meantime the facebook page for Strummercamp 2012 is a good place to keep in touch and contact the key people. We’ll look to have more comprehensive coverage here on the blog in 2012.

Few people namedrop The Clash more than me on this blog but I think Billy Bragg would run a close second which is fine with me. I’m a long standing fan of Barking’s finest and in my humble opinion the very fact that Bragg hit the scene right at the time when the original lineup of The Clash was splintering has always been symbolic to me. It’s meant that I’ve had a protest/political artist playing a huge part in my life for over 30 years and Bragg embodies many of the things that The Clash were trying to accomplish. Just like The Clash there have been some adventurous adaptations which don’t always work our according to some listeners but I’ll forever feel indebted that The Clash expanded beyond the sound they perfected on those first two records, so similarly did Bragg expand far beyond one man and his guitar to become a modern folk singer who was even tasked with adding music to the unfinished songs of Woody Guthrie. In interviews it has become clear that most well researched journalists really want to explore that connection between Bragg and The Clash so it’s not Bragg’s ‘fault’ really and such was the case in this great interview with Sabotage Times. Make sure you read all of it beyond the obvious question about The Clash as you’ll enjoy it I think plus The Clash get mentioned elsewhere.

Finally today can’t end for me without mentioning the anniversary of the death in 2004 who meant a great deal to me and to many of you too I’m sure. All of us who grew up being obsessed with music and certain bands can speak at length about how we feel concerning artists we have never had the chance to meet or get to know in many cases. I never met Joe Strummer or Topper Headon and until last October I hadn’t even experienced my 90 seconds or so chatting to Mick and Paul when they visited town (this time last year). We’ve all got a list of singers and guitarists who changed our lives for a summer or maybe forever.

However seven years ago today someone who was just as important to my youth and musical education passed away although he never played on my favourite records, although he did play so many of them on the BBC. John Peel was a marvel, everyone related to him and respected his (amazingly broad) taste. If you spent more than a handful of hours listening to Peel when you were younger and didn’t benefit then you can’t have been paying attention. The list of bands that he helped to break is as long as it is excellent, Billy Bragg for example got a demo tape played by dropping it with Peel at the BBC along with some Indian food after Peel had remarked on the air about his hunger for said grub. John Peel was the gatekeeper for so many great bands and his enthusiasm never waned right up until the end. Beyond The Clash one of my very favourite bands for over 25 years has been The Wedding Present and knowing that they remained one of John Peel’s top choices always made me feel that much more ‘in the know’. However that was the magic of John Peel, we all have such stories about him. I miss him still, I think he was one of the most important people I never knew, but then again I knew him so well. Every time I flick through my collection of records and CDs it’s obvious he will stay with me.