It’s never the wrong time of year to mention a Strummerville event and I’ve just learned of a confirmed date for the Sydney Joe Strummer Tribute for the third consecutive year. My thanks to Paul Cashmere for getting in touch and I’ll furnish more details soon and well in advance of the Sep 19 event.  I need a Clash calendar…always hard to find any calendar in July. Speaking of Australia who has any information on The Saints? Where are they now and such, answers via the usual methods please.

I’ll mention the Pixies at the drop of a hat and therefore suggest you read what Black Francis had to say about Carbon Silicon. An interesting article overall but surely Francis has better images to accompany an interview? It’s a bit of a Jimmy Sommerville after too many battered sausages affair.

FADwebsite wrote a really strong piece about the Mick Jones Rock and Roll public library today. The more I read, see and hear about this the more I’d love to make a trip to London but it seems British Airways still expect money for this, even in these troubled times. Alternate plan would be for Mick Jones to take it on the road like the King Tut exhibit. On a more serious note this piece grabbed my attention:

To aid the Rock n Roll Library’s ambition for interactivity included in the artwork’s set design is the Book2net Kiosk, the latest advance shaping tomorrow’s digital library which will allow visitors to be able to scan certain objects or text, focus their chosen image and save to memory stick for any number of future digital uses

In short, visitors will be able to scan digital images for free and for future personal use. What a simply wonderful concept and 100% in line with what Mick Jones has in mind for the collection – full public access.

Jail, Doors, Mick and Billy

I’ve added some more Clash audio (see top tabs) – of 1982 Tokyo concert,  and am looking to add a tasty gallery to the site soon after I complete some more testing. I should have more details and images of the Jones/Bragg JGD event from Sunday night in the next day or two.

Finally thanks for all your visits today, it was (again) the busiest day yet for visits to the blog so for returning from previous visits and those finding the site initially – I appreciate it.

This site is just 3 weeks old today and already it’s so much fun, a lot of work and I’ve found many great people out there already.  I’ve got a lot planned in the weeks ahead so be patient with me – exclusive stuff for Clash fans everywhere. Thanks for your help thus far!

That’s me done for the night unless something very special happens in the next few hours – see you tomorrow.

Tim

The future is unwritten, so share it

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HUGE thanks to the gentleman that is Peter Stevens who sent me a wonderful photo of Mick Jones and Billy Bragg from the Jail Guitar Doors gig in London last night.

Billy Bragg and Mick Jones (and a beard) two legends last night

Pete had even recovered enough to write this:

“At the end of a fanastic day at The Flowerpot on London’s Kentish Town Road, Mick Jones joins a newly bearded Billy Bragg onstage for a chaotic encore of the old Clash city rocker ‘Jail Guitar Doors’, celebrating the culmination of many magnificent performances from those helped by his Jail Guitar Doors project. It was such a shame that some of the prison inmates were, by this time, back in their cells and unable to witness the finale to what was a wonderful day….”

This photo is literally less than 12 hours old, if emailed images could still be wet like an old school dark room this would be one. Pete, I can’t thank you enough for making the 5,500 miles I am from home seem like a short ride on the 207 bus. I know Clash/Mick/Billy Bragg fans will love this. I hope the turnout was great.

I’ll gather more info about the concert in the next 48 hours, and share as it comes in. Thanks – (oh and) Twitter is magic.

Cheers – Tim

The future is unwritten, so share it

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I’ve never really been one that would give much time and effort to bands who reform after an extended split. As the years pass it’s actually now hard to think of many bands who haven’t taken the chance to grab a final payout and pile into a tour bus one last time. From the 70′s and 80′s three of the bands who I was most attached to have never tried to emulate their halcyon days, The Clash, The Jam and The Smiths.

It’s a double edged sword, each of these bands have maintained a following that in many ways has grown if not in number then certainly in fervour. Another commonality is that each of these bands for different reasons didn’t seem to want to rewrite the history books. Sometimes the animosity when the band split was to bitter to bridge but more importantly it’s like a painter  saying ‘there you go, that’s my best work, you better know how good it was’. It’s no more likely that John McEnroe could win Wimbledon tomorrow than Paul Weller getting the Jam back together and capturing that same energy that was theirs in years gone by.

I know people that before Joe Strummer passed would have given their left arm to see the Clash tour one last time. I’m not one of those people. Look at the example of the Sex Pistols, have their (repeated) cash grabs enhanced the legacy of a band that stand like Everest over the formative year(s) of English Punk? You can argue that it gave thousands of people a chance to see an historic act on stage that age/location or any number of conditions had restricted them from. It’s a bit harsh of me but I say too bad. We all have our chances to see different bands at the peak of their careers, every generation has it’s special wave I sincerely believe that need never end.

Never mind the hypocrisy

I’ve been very lucky, I saw early performances by The Specials, Madness, New Order, The Bunnymen, The Smiths, James, Supergrass, Blur, Oasis, REM, Big Audio Dynamite, Happy Mondays, The Wedding Present, Ride, Stone Roses and more recently Arcade Fire, Gene, Keane, The Decemberists and so on. My point is nobody pulled out a stanley knife and forced me to see these bands. I made the effort and I was in the right place at the right time. But every year brings chances that are unique to you. Do I wish I’d seen T Rex, David Bowie and The Velvet Underground in their brief careers or early days? To a small degree yes, but fundamentally I understand it just wasn’t my time.

I still enjoy many of the bands who have gone down the path of reforming, but I confess it always made me take an intake of breath and mutter ‘sellout’.

Bringing this all back to The Clash. I celebrate all they achieved in a short spell, still question if they could have avoided the eventual disintegration and explain to those who never saw them that what they have is what they were meant to have. A superb band that still had flaws and never that lingering memory of a band who were just in it for the money, doing that is pretty vacant if you ask me.

Thinking post 1990 – Would you have wanted to see The Clash reform? Were you able to see them? I’d love to see your comments.

Tim

The future is unwritten, so share it

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