Good morning all wherever you may be. It’s getting close to the end of a decade and a lot of music publications both in print and online are putting together their best of the decade, events of the decade and such listmania hats on. It’s been a weird decade and no shock that it’s gone by too quickly. Do you share this feeling? It seems a few years ago we were being scared into submission that the world’s computers were about to crash on Dec 31, 1999. We were told our bank accounts would be erased, planes might fall from the sky and global communication would come to a halt. Naturally enough none of this ever happened. What it did spell out was a precursor to what the following decade would be based around, just four letters but they rang to loud. FEAR. Away from music when I reflect on the ten years we’re about to conclude I think fear became the best selling commodity the media have ever seen. I’m a fan of George Orwell but I never thought (unlike him) that much of what he wrote would become so similar to our daily events.

It’s been a decade of soul searching and paranoia about global security that then quickly transformed into one of personal, financial and job security. When I reflect on the decade in more depth 1999 does suddenly feel like an awfully long time ago. I can but hope that awareness of environmental issues,’free trade’, the pressures of a truly global economy, the gap between rich and poor at an 80 year high, the destruction of the manufacturing

Maggie and Ronnie....those were the days?

sector, an obsession with technology, an over reliance on credit, destructive trade practices, world policing, religious persecution/separation and other things to0 numerous to mention can be valuable markers for what we need to do in the next ten years. I hope so…I really do. What’s it like being 17 these days? What do you feel about the next ten years? I ofen wonder about those things and need to be asking those questions don’t I? When I was 17 the cold war was deep and threatening, Reagan and Thatcher did as they pleased, unions were becoming a dirty word, the IRA were blowing up London and the social sector was facing huge cutbacks. Things were not brilliant then either I confess, though it felt easier to know who you were fighting against. I often compare this decade in the USA with what Europe already faced in the 1980′s as there are so many parallels. When I was 17 The Clash had just ousted Mick Jones but the energy was still around. Today you have Green Day and Anti-Flag. Are you ready for the next ten years?

Anyway I wrote to introduce a series I’ll get completed in the weeks ahead – A Review of the Decade Clash style – It’s been an interesting and at times awful decade to be a Clash Fan. That said the resurgence of Paul, Mick and Topper has been welcomed in the seven years since we lost Joe. The Clash end the decade in higher regard than at any time since 1979 (in my opinion) and the internet and media have become united for the most part in celebrating how vital the band were and are. I’ll do my best to chronicle The Clash in 2000-2009 and look forward to your help with details I miss!

Sorry for the rant…it’s what Mondays are for.