Good morning everyone thanks for exiting your web search at The Clash Blog…enjoy your stay. I hope your weekend is either enhanced or not impacted by football results this weekend as fully 80% of our readers reside in the 8 nations playing today and tomorrow. If South Korean you’ve already started the weekend on the wrong foot. In the midst of the (moderate) frenzy from Glastonbury yesterday I was worried about how to slip in some really notable news today – the fact that Mick Jones turned 55 while he was heading backstage after performing with Gorillaz last night.

I’ve been reading the reviews and for some people it was a waste of talent having Jones and Simonon in the lineup of Friday nights headliners but think for a minute how Mick might have felt. This is a man who has played all over the world with The Clash and BAD and experienced probably all of his dreams in doing so. Don’t forget either that long before The Clash made it Jones was a true fan, a passionate fan, first of football players and then as he got a little older of the musicians and bands. Of all the members of The Clash he was the one who really grew up thinking ‘maybe one day I can be in a band…nothing would suit me better’. In fact its safe to say as a adolescent and teen he was the only member of the band who thought that almost daily. Why I mention that is some ‘fans’ never really change and we remain enamoured with music and the musicians who create it, thus I think no matter what you think of Gorillaz I’m positive that Mick Jones had a wonderful time last night.

The Clash kicked him out of his band when he was just 28, the various incarnations of Big Audio Dynamite slipped into the abyss when he was still only 40. The last decade has seen Jones move into what he terms a back to basics approach with Tony James and Carbon Silicon. Equally notably he’s perhaps become aware (but only slightly) that he’s now an elder statesman in the industry. Lending his time and talent to other projects and events – many of them charitable. I don’t know Mick Jones but from what I read and those that do he is a genuinely nice man , someone who remains a fan and feels genuine bemusement at times from the adoration we offer him. That’s why I think he must have loved last night, he wasn’t forced to be in Gorillaz and in being so this Summer he shared the stage last night with Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, Snoop Dog, Damon Albarn and of course Paul. A stage that The Clash had never played on, a stage that is arguably the most famous outdoor festival stage on the planet. As someone who remains a fan I think Mick would have loved every minute of it…it looked like he did.

Jones was my very first musical hero, when I was first aware of The Clash I picked a favourite as I’m sure many of you did too. I loved the entire band of course but my then 11 year old brain fell for Jones, when I sang along to Janie Jones and Police and Thieves it was the backing vocals of Jones I tried to emulate. I’d play Hate and War and Stay Free repeatedly so I could shout along, Stay Free was one of the earliest songs where I’d find emotion to start crying. Lost in The Supermarket made this 13 year old relate to feeling a bit left out and lost, just like all teens do. When The Clash finally became huge it was a grin that left me championing the band’s lesser vocalist as it was him that belted out Train in Vain and Should I Stay….When the band kicked him out I felt the biggest act of treason ever had been committed. I was disgusted with Joe Strummer for some time afterward and as BAD broke down new avenues I almost felt smug to see CTC sitting unsold in the record shop that I then worked in. I’d play E=MC2 and The Bottom Line to anyone and everyone claiming ‘yeah the talent behind The Clash has moved on, this is the future of music….blah blah blah’ I was bitter and it showed.  Perhaps my favourite thing about Mick is that I don’t think he has made a calculated move in his life, at least when it comes to his career. How many people can that be true of?

As the Clash matured so did I to the point where no longer was it a single member I adored, Joe was so obviously one of a kind and the voice of the band, as I listened to more and more music I understood the amazing power and talent of Topper and Paul was the glue and one who made me consider wearing combat gear and really messing up my hair. What a band…but it all started with Mick for me. He’s been there for me now for 32 years since my brother sent me into this love affair with music, I’ve played his records ever since.

Happy Birthday Jonesy, I’ll be here til the end of time.