Tear yourself away from all the skaters, skiers and skeletons (I assume that’s what you call someone who participates in the Skeleton event?) in Vancouver for a minute, pour yourself a hot chocolate and spend some time with The Clash Blog. I don’t really do Winter, or to be more explicit I don’t do Winter well. When you grow up in England, outdoor pursuits when the temperature occasionally drops below freezing involve running from the pub to the tube station to avoid the cold. When I moved to Chicago where they get a proper, lengthy winter I lasted two seasons and fled like a screaming child to Los Angeles at least partially to escape the Chicago weather. So the Olympic opening thing is on telly – all the flags remind me of a Clash stage backdrop. RIP to the Georgian luge athlete who died today on a training run – I read earlier that someone felt ‘at least he died doing what he loved’ ?? That’s absurd, its a sport – it shouldn’t be life and death. Doing what you love doesn’t involve shattering into a concrete pillar unless you are a jackhammer.

I’ll have the Clash Cup tomorrow and news of a few special interviews this weekend – just ironing out the details. I also want to introduce the idea of  ‘The Clash Library’ - mostly as a permanent resource within this website. I want to compile reviews (both yours and mine) of books either exclusively or primarily about The Clash. There are a good number in publication and they range from the excellent to the rather poor, I won’t name names yet but I see this as a chance to provide a ‘further reading’ section for the Blog. I know I really enjoy a good music biography or summary and hopefully we can uncover some different things and create a consensus. If anyone would like to scribe a 300-600 word review of any Clash book please contact me at the usual address. Perhaps I should print the full contents from year one of the blog and sell them for charity….perhaps that isn’t one of my best ideas.

I brought up books tonight for a reason as there is a new Clash book on the horizon, it is currently at the research stage and is looking for people who might be able to contribute. Here’s the official blurb – I’ll try and get more information as needed:

John Niven of ‘Kill your Friends’ fame is writing a new book …

‘A Good Place Under the Lighting: an Oral History of The Clash’

It’s a book of personal anecdotes of people who met The Clash. He wants to speak to people who saw and met the Clash at different stages of their career – from the pub dates of ’76 to the stadiums and arenas of ’82. He is especially interested in anyone who might have a photograph of themselves with the band. Do you have a Clash related story? Then have your say – contact Stewart on music@6sensemedia.com or alternatively via his MySpace profile

Here’s some extra links that might help – the Strummerville facebook page for the project and the myspace page for Stewart. For a band that was always so accommodating to the fans this should be a very weighty book indeed. Before I started the blog I’ve met a fair handful of people who had met either Mick, Joe, Paul or Topper and without exception everyone had a story to tell. In fact meeting a member of The Clash often translated to ‘I spent some time with Joe once and he…..’ rather than a simple I just met Joe. Loving music and growing up with a band is a strange thing at times, we’re considered fans as we save our money to buy their albums and pay to see them up on a stage under the lighting. All too often with music the gulf that grows between bands and fans kicks into place almost as soon as an artist reaches a certain level of success.

That’s one of the many areas where I know The Clash were different and it went full circle. The early stories of fans sleeping in the hotel rooms with the band or the band visiting local punk parties to connect have reached the level of folklore, and when I say it went full circle when The Clash were almost out of gas – Mark II – went busking around England and stayed on the sofa with fans. (See the video beneath!). To this day and throughout Joe’s life that desire to connect never left the band – connecting with your audience was always on the agenda. I’ve met a good number of musicians in my 30 years of going to concerts and hanging around before or after the event. You can always tell within a few seconds if you are meeting the artist  -  or really ‘spending some time’ – the difference is huge and as a fan getting to spend some time is one of the best things in the world. Please make sure and watch the video…

Tim