Who's on first? (The Clash at Shea)

Here we are again – hope all is well wherever you may be. Just one quick item to follow up from yesterday’s post about Nouvelle Vague and their cover version of Guns of Brixton. Check out this piece from a Vancouver listings site where they reveal a bit about Mick Jones’ thoughts about the bands tribute (I guess we can call it that).

While I’m following up on things ~ I wanted to ask once again if anyone has any contacts in the world of art gallery space that may be interested in hosting a traveling exhibition of punk rock art later in 2010 (anywhere in the UK or Ireland I assume). I originally wrote about it in this piece so if you have any ideas please contact me or the curator! Thanks. While I’m on track to clear out things that have been pending please check out two blogs by some friends of mine that have been great supporters of the blog since we got started. Shannon has started her own art / music blog and it has a healthy dose of Clash related fixings but much more, also please take a look at miss C Franke’s blog (obsessed with The Clash!) – she is a great writer and observer of art, music, travel and living a life – take a look at both (and then come back to my scrappy journalism daily too!) Cheers! Blogs are filling some great gaps that are being left with the death of one music/art magazine after another…it really is the fanzine of the modern era. So spend some time checking out music blogs rather than dropping $9.50 on an import copy of Q Magazine. Incidentally what the hell has Q magazine become? I saw it on the newstand the other day and it was like a combination of Hello Magazine and an in-flight airline mag, simply banal. Album reviews of less than 150 words…what is the point? Hire a chimp…

Finally, I’ve a confession to make about The Clash. I should really be a completest (is that the word?) and own every album they’ve ever made right? Well to this point I’ve never purchased the ‘Shea Stadium’ album that was released in October of 2008. I had every intention of getting it and then read some reviews, heard a few tracks, went back to listen to some live tracks online and came to the conclusion that it was surplus to requirements. All the while I’ve secretly and perhaps stupidly be holding onto the hope that Sony would release one of the many rumoured earlier excellent live recordings. Did you purchase Shea and were you glad you did? I brought this up as I just read a good and balanced review f the disc on the rather groovy site The Agit Reader. Now I actually feel compelled to get it, I mean I should right. Curious to know if you think its a worthy Clash album?

I dare say many of you at some point between the ages of 10-15 you read ‘The Catcher in The Rye’ and it spoke to your inner angst (well it did for me). I’m almost ashamed to say I don’t think I’ve revisited the book in 20 years now but I still recall how it made me feel when I was about 13. Naturally I write as J.D . Salinger passed away today at the age of 91. I prefer to leave obituaries to the professionals so let me defer to The New York Times on this one. Mr. Salinger – thank you for creating Holden Caulfield, that character did more than speak to us…he was us.

G’night