Hello again and welcome back to the blog, hope things are as you left them. I must confess that half the time I sit down and know exactly what I’m going to write about, another 45% of the time I’ve a rough idea and improvise accordingly and then about once a month I do this. Just sit and see what comes out and if it’s not awful leave it as a post. There are actually a number of topics I could and should be covering but didn’t feel like doing the research and getting my points in order so hopefully the resultant offering will keep you engaged until the bottom of the post.

What I do have however is a nice pot of fresh coffee…its Fresh and Easy’s organic Columbian blend if you are interested. If you are not in California/Nevada or Arizona (so chances are) you’ll not know Fresh and Easy yet. I was excited when they opened here…owned by (Nicky) Tescos they’ve opened up a line of mini supermarkets in these parts with the emphasis being on Fresh and Easy. Unlike most US supermarkets you don’t need a compass to find your way round nor lose an hour of your life to pick up a salad and some fresh fruit. Its really rather nice and no need for checkout staff either so one less inane conversation for me to face daily. It’s so small that there would be no chance of getting lost in the supermarket. Being English owned I hoped that they’d be full of Twiglets, Toffee Crisps and Tizer but to date all I’ve found is Bisto. Anyway…very nice coffee.

Billy Bragg, 1984

With that said I’ve got a topic too – actually the first part of a two part conversation. I’ve worked out from your comments and memories that perhaps 60% of the readers of the blog are my age (42) or older – so like me you were a teen or older when The Clash ended. When I say The Clash ended to me it was essentially Sep 1983 – at the time Mick Jones was removed from the band. I realise the band pushed on without Mick for another few years but lets use late 1983 as a benchmark. So speaking to the readers who were into music at that time, buying records and cassettes and seeing concerts – what did you do in 1984-1986? I’m assuming (hoping) that The Clash were amongst your favourite bands when they split up and that may be part of the reason you’re visiting the blog. I know some people almost disowned the band after London Calling or earlier but hopefully that would be the minority. What new or existing bands picked up the slack for you after the demise of The Clash? The mid 1980′s were all over the place musically as post punk was morphing into something altogether more accessible and successful.’College Rock’ as it became known in the States was there for the more seasoned listener when new wave became just too hip around 1984.

I ask the question as I was tidying my CD collection as usual the other day. In turn I was reflecting on what I listened to most immediately after the demise of The Clash. Funnily enough with the exception of Big Audio Dynamite none of what I was into was vaguely similar to The Clash – almost as if I accepted that the torch was out for the time being. Looking back at the more recognized artists I listened to makes for the reading of someone who would try anything out.

From the USA – R.E.M.  Talking Heads and The Violent Femmes would have been most prevalent things I listened to. In England it was a bit of everything and anything – older bands like XTC, Echo and The Bunnymen and The Cure (up to The Head on The Door) kept me interested and I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to leaping headlong into The Smiths. As a live band they were just what a 17 year old ordered and as a love-sick teenager the angst filled lyrics made you laugh or cry dependent on your mood. With that said I think the three bands/artists that I played most and saw most frequently from 84-87 were Billy Bragg, James and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Three very different acts but in each case I thought (on their earlier recordings) far more inspiring live than recorded.

Billy Bragg was seemingly channeling Strummer in those earliest shows and songs. Tagged immediately as a protest singer I could sense the

The Jesus and Mary Chain....amazing at first

audience was full of Clash fans wanting to share Billy’s fury with the state of England. James couldn’t have been further removed from The Clash, at times sounding inspired by old bands on the Scottish Postcard label such as The Fire Engines, at other times by medieval English folk; James were a frantic and simply odd proposition on stage – led by the mental dancing of Tim Booth. I was lucky enough to be at a number of the earliest London appearances of The Jesus and Mary Chain….a twenty five minute set of ear splitting noise captured the energy of the room and shunted it back into the dark streets. Great great times.

There’s so many other bands from that era who made an impact with me ~ The Redskins, The Fall, Felt, (early) Chumbawumba, Felt, The Housemartins, The Woodentops, New Order, The Pale Fountains, Aztec Camera, The Cult, New Model Army. The records I bought and gigs I attended dominated the years more poignantly than anything else going on in my life at the time (sad eh?). But I’m curious as to what you listened to post-Clash…what made you stand up and take notice? I also want to know more about how it is discovering The Clash ‘after the fact’ – but that’s another post for another day.

I know I missed The Clash terribly, I also know they helped shape me into giving almost anything a try – what more could you ask for? John Peel was a surrogate Dad too!  So did you move on to stuff like this or another vein entirely? Thanks for stopping by…we found a story and the coffee was lovely!

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James on the Whistle Test – 1985