Hello again and thanks for visiting once more, it’s nice to see you, especially you in the back with the really good haircut. Nothing to report from Clash Blog Towers, the dog and cat are sunbathing and for the first time in a while the house is bereft of kids staying home sick from school. It’s all been a bit Florence Nightingale around here lately. Oh also, in case you missed it I’ve built a sister website called Clash Blog News…it’s still this site essentially but please visit if you haven’t.

In this Facebook era of ‘rent-a-quote’ (you know the kind I mean, people photoshop a picture of Nelson Mandela with some inspiring quote and share it to show they now somehow sit that bit nearer to the knowledge tree) one of the characters from the world of Punk Rock that I often see quoted is none other than Henry Rollins. Come to think of it I don’t know if all of the quotes attributed to Rollins are actually his own but for the most part there isn’t much to debate with even if it appears in Facebook terms that he spends as much time pontificating as making music these days, which isn’t the case.

Rollins is an unashamed fan of The Clash and even though its over 25 years since he fronted Black Flag (honestly, 27 years this year) he has had a long and varied career that is now well into its third decade. What I didn’t realise because I never make time to see that many films is that Henry has now appeared in over twenty movies since his acting debut in addition to his extensive television and radio work which I was aware of. What’s really interesting about him is he usually causes a reaction which is more than can be said for many and while he sometimes skates the perimeter of the bleeding obvious in my opinion he ruffles feather by not pulling punches when talking about music, society and the state of the nation. It’s probably only obvious to me because I don’t usually disagree with his perspective on most topics.

In this recent article written for LA Weekly, Henry talks about getting older (he’s still only 52) and staying angry at which point he speaks at length about The Clash. I’ve reproduced some of that below but I do recommend the whole article being worth a read. He writes about how the debut Clash album is something he’s listened to since he was kid and how it still never fails to impact him, a sentiment that I know many of you can relate to. Nice to know he still plays vinyl too. He blogs a few times a week on the LA Weekly site, it’s always worth a look so bookmark it after you read it.

“One of my true north, clear the air, reset favorites is the first Clash album, the UK version, which has different songs than its American cousin. I have been listening to this album since I was in high school and it still moves me.

So, I sat right in front of the speakers and took it in one more time. As I listened, I did a multi-level gut check. I do this kind of thing all the time: Before shows, auditions, anything where there is risk involved. I do the big ones in the early hours of the new year and on my birthday. I try to figure out where I’m at as far as motivation, intensity, etc.

When the album’s last song, “Garage Land,” (sic) finished. I found myself very happy. Ecstatic, actually. Because I realized how angry I was. I got up, flipped the record over, started it again and resumed my self-analysis. As the songs played, I concluded that I was more angry than I was a year ago. This to be an achievement, something I have somehow gotten it right.

My anger does not manifest itself in destruction of objects, swearing in traffic, or attempting to get beaten up by another male several years my junior ”                  Henry Rollins – LA Weekly

What’s your take on the always outspoken Rollins and indeed Black Flag? Did many of you see them live back in the 80′s, I remember they played The Marquee in London with Husker Du in about ’84 – quite a bill.

Henry Rollins LA Weekly Blog | Henry Rollins official site | The Clash Blog News

The future is unwritten, so share it

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Sorry I’ve been away, a bloody busy few days. Hope all is well at your end. This is a new idea, I hope it will work out well and actually result in me blogging more and sharing more stuff that you’d like to read. That’s the intention at least.

I’ve created a ‘sister website’ which is actually part of this site for shorter news stories. This blog will continue with the longer features and The Clash Blog – News will have shorter and more regular updates with associated stories and tales. You can link to it from the top menu (above) or the link I just gave and of course you can get back here from that site too. Slightly different sites but still all compiled by your Clash Blogger. I intend to continue with it if you like it and probably even if you don’t – but I hope that you will. Either way I’d really like your feedback because ultimately I write this for you to read. I’ll still be updating the blog 4-6 times per week with posts that are very much focused on The Clash but I wanted to also try and find a way to cover more peripheral stories that do relate to the band and I imagine also the music that many of us listen to and the culture around that.

The news stories will be more of the short rapid fire variety sometimes with a link nature as opposed to more of the commentary that I try and add to the blog. The news will focus on tours, live updates, record releases, newspaper stories, politics and other blogs. I’ll also be adding things that might typically have ended up on ‘Westway Traffic’ which are the stories that merit a few sentences rather than four paragraphs but I hope will still have interest. Rather than archive these posts on the blog home page they will be added to the ‘news site” – when I update the page I’ll add it to the Facebook page plus Twitter and other social media. Hope that all makes sense? Also, if you see stories that should or could be included please contact me  and let me know. I also welcome and encourage guest posts, so if you’ve ever wanted to write about The Clash this is your forum.

More to come here (and there) in the days ahead, so thanks for dropping in.

The future is unwritten, so share it

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Good morning sunshine and welcome back to the blog. I’ve got grass as long as wheat out in the garden to cut today so I better keep this to the point so I can do my manual labour. I hate manual labour.

First things first this morning and I think you’ll find this piece on the Daily Swarm well worth a read. I imagine you’re familiar with and have probably seen The Clash short film from 1983 ‘Hell W10′. It’s a curious piece that makes you wonder how much more the band might have experimented with other media forms (Radio Clash was another prime example) if they had both had a bit more time (it was always write, record, tour on an almost endless cycle) and of course stuck together in 1982/3. The article was composed by The Baker in conjunction with Derek Goddard and provides probably the best first-hand account of the making of the film I’ve yet to read. There’s more than that on offer though as they explore the meaning behind the film as it evolved. If you somehow haven’t seen it is online and in the article I’ve linked. The Baker and Derek would be happy to answer questions about the film or The Clash as reiterated by him below:

 ”If anyone has further questions about the filming of the movie ‘Hell W10′ or the hidden meanings behind the story, or any other Clash-related questions, please feel free to ask and Derek and I will do my best to answer in a timely fashion. There was a lot of tangential material that obviously couldn’t be included in the article which needs to be said.”     Thanks, The Baker

You can ask via the comments section below on this post and The Baker or Derek will reply here he assures me or via the piece on The Daily Swarm.

More this evening, most likely some Westway Traffic to help me catch up and then a special competition with a prize tomorrow. Stay tuned Clash people and thanks for reading as always.

The future is unwritten, so share it

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