Volume 6 already….if you are not familiar with this (roughly) weekly feature I use it to bring together the best and sometimes the worst of blogging about The Clash. Think of it as your internet fanzine, the more thoughts and opinions to be taken onboard about The Clash the better for me and ideally you. I started the blog recognising that there are a lot of people who remain very interested in the band and subsequent activities and saw for myself there wasn’t an easy single place to harvest information. Like you I’m also a fan and like you I don’t profess to know everything as the scope is just too vast. The continued support via comments, article contributions and contacts is the heartbeat of The Clash Blog and I appreciate you being a part of it. By the way, feel free to say hello or share a thought or a question via comments – it’s always nice to know you’re out there. Enough rambling to start a post, if you ever wonder what I do for my proper job it’s internet marketing and webdesign – so by way of example and a free plug please visit this great company and shop with them or spread the word. They would make Joe proud – genuine efforts to make the world a bit greener – Planet Forward offer a variety of eco-friendly products, sometimes you don’t need to open your own wind farm to make a difference. Tell them The Clash Blog sent you and they’ll be extra nice.

Kicking it off Walter Lure from The Heartbreakers is interviewed by the L.A. Record. This one is worth a visit as recounting the days of the New York Dolls, The Heartbreakers and Richard Hell are each delved into. Richard Hell was scene as a senior statesman by the nascent English punk scene in 1976 which led to the tour with The Pistols and The Clash. I say tour with a slight grin as so few of those gigs ever took place. Please do read this as his recollections are genuinely classic and he’s still very active with The Waldos.

Not sure if Spotify works where you are – it’s not yet legal in the US. Check it out, if it does work it’s a nice way to listen to but not take other people’s music. This particular link is very Clashcentric so a good place to start. Let me know if it works – curious to see what you think.

Funnycrave.com has a list that The Clash make it on but unfortunately it’s not a very enviable place to reside. “12 ungodly awful albums by otherwise awesome artists” so you can guess that I’m about to mention Cut The Crap, the good news being it wasn’t even in the top 3. Those honours falling to Metallica, Kiss and Neil Young. Nobody on the blog seems to mention the black sheep that was (sorta) the last Clash album, share your thoughts with me as I must confess even though I own it it’s never played.

Live4ever has built up a nice head of steam as a blog that’s now truly an online magazine. It’s a good source for news and interviews without the hipper than shit approach of pitchfork. Needless to say they ran a nice piece to commemorate Joe Strummer’s Birthday last week so take a minute and have a look. The same site has a funny interview with the maestro that is Liam Gallagher – latest buzz from the British press is that Oasis have split (again). Learn from The Clash lads, if you want your own legacy you can only split up once…oh yeah making more than two good albums helps also.

Babyshambles (curious to see if Mick Jones gets back in the drivers seat) are annoucing that they are delaying their next album until 2010 as the ‘public are tired of indie music’ at the moment. Interesting theory but it sounds more like ‘we don’t have a new album even near to ready and Pete won’t stay sober’. Either way, I bet it will be brilliant when it does surface. Despite the interruptions Pete causes his own career I still think he’s a genius.

Cheers to the Houston Press for pointing out the all too common misintepretation of Rock The Casbah. I f**ing despise when the following double transgression takes place. “Yeah I know The Clash, I like Rock The Casbah….it’s all about bombing those Aaa-rabs” I’ve heard that more than once and (sadly) there’s a lot of 37-47 year old non hipsters running around (okay driving SUVs around) the States who feel that’s a good Clash overview.

OK – I’ve noticed that I’ve still got a lot of stories to catch up on – hope you enjoyed those, and do you like the new format for the mini features (small icon/graphic then story?) for those who think about the aesthetic of blogs!

Cheers – Tim

Good Day ~ A few Clash updates as I’ve been spinning a little finding time to write. I know a lot of people like the Global A Go Go page – and I’ve just updated it. Lovely to see how much of the globe is covered and the UK/US total traffic is really close – a difference of less than 50 visits. So come on England or America..!!

Been thinking of adding a gallery page or audio (mp3) player to the site….not sure which has more value to you lot? I might even bore you with some of the other bands I’m keen on. Speaking of other songs, I wanted to hear this based on the title - ‘Joe Strummer’s House’ - by a chap called Rozinante. I’ll let you make your own mind up, a tribute, a warning sign, name dropping? You decide.

If I had some friends who had a baby in the house I’d now know what to buy them. Cut the crap comes to mind….but almost adorable.

Joe and the Mescaleros

Six years since the ties with the Mescaleros were effectively cut short  it’s great to see Martin Slattery and Antony Genn making music. The Hours new (2nd) album See The Light is getting great press and I like all I’ve heard. Please check out their page – and also the video interview therein where inevitably Joe Strummer is briefly discussed. I’ll hunt down the album and provide more info soon, in the meantime they are doing alright supporting u2 of all people. Unofficial rumour that a live Joe Strummer and Mescaleros album might be in the works, will keep you posted.

There’s been a lot of polls on the blog lately so with some interest I had a look at this one for ‘Best Clash Album’ and although the result doesn’t shock me the winning margin does. Wondering if our results here would be similar.

Right, bed time for me (3am…crap!) and more to follow.

Just found these!! How brilliant to have been there….great to see how exceedingly happy he looks. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him perform in ‘Billy Bragg’ mode? That was great to see!

Train in Vain

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

A quick tour of the library