Mick Jones on the BBC, Best Double Albums ever, and Clash fans in the desert
Good Morning, it actually dropped to 80 f overnight so all is well. Right then, I need to get caught up and if you’ve found these stories previously accept my apologies.
Mick Jones continues with his media rounds in support of the Rock and Roll Public Library here interviewing with BBC Radio 4. For non UK readers, the BBC now features 6+online stations and multiple regional and featured broadcasts has become simply a treasure trove for music and comedy features due to it’s numerous archives and live broadcasts. For football fans Radio 5 is nirvana, and although Steven Merchant and Russell Brand are no longer on the air Jonathan Ross (Radio 2) still has a 3 hour show every Saturday morning that is both good for a laugh but plays a (usually) excellent
array of songs both new and old. Long gone are the days of listening late at night to John Peel to hear a Cocteau Twins session as nobody else played them. Back to the Mick Jones feature, the short interview is also supported by both an inspired blog entry and a brilliant and huge selection of images. So much to look at there, a few things struck me – the collection of early fanzines looks impressive (I used fanzines as my inspiration for the Clash Blog). His repeated interest in American culture/history and immigration – a nod to his Mum most likely and his own immigrant lineage. Memorabilia as recent as an unused ticket stub from Carbon Silicon at the Troubador in Los Angeles.
Lists, we all like a list it seems and here’s another featuring the ‘best double albums ever’ as you might expect I wanted to see the placement of London Calling. The Clash record from 1979 is ranked 3rd and when you consider the top 2 are Bob Dylan and the Beatles it’s not a bad proposition. Point to ponder he refers to the ‘White Album‘ as ‘The Beatles’ which I guess is correct really…it’s not called the white album officially is it? Perhaps the debut by The Clash should no longer be called the green album….but then it never was.
Lastly for now I was thrilled thrice to read this great article about The Clash and missing Joe Strummer. On the first count because it’s a very well thought out piece that presents a great snapshot of being a Clash fan from the early days to the present. Secondly it’s local to me – Tucson being 110 miles through the desert from Phoenix, the Tucson Citizen is one of many print papers that sadly has seen these changing times curtail it’s very existence. In May of this year following a 139 year history (for Arizona that’s the bronze age) the Citizen became an internet only venture but still provides great journalism. Lastly (and unknown to me) he namechecks the blog which was very cool of him. Still finding out about Geoff but sounds to be a lifer as a Clash fan who was at the Rainbow during the early days – read more here.
That’s all for now – I need to unpack.

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