A very good evening to you and welcome back to the blog. It is shaping up to be a very busy week here so I’ll probably have slightly abbreviated posts this week but keep you current. Ideally I’d have a series of photos for you tonight to save me writing that much and lo and behold that’s exactly what I’ve got.

You’ll surely remember that one of the biggest stories from the early weeks of this year was the news that a square in Granada, Spain was to be renamed in tribute to Joe Strummer. I also learned that the campaign to convince the city council of the change took just over 3,000 signatures via a Facebook campaign. If only we could make such inroads as easily in London where I’m still scurrying about to see how we launch a petition which a London borough. More on that soon I hope.

I’m pleased to share the following series of photos from a good friend to the blog named Karl who made sure Granada was on the itinerary for his spring trip to Spain this year. We’re left to assume that the hand-written street (plaza) title written on stone is just a temporary measure with something hopefully far more official to follow, surely right? Perhaps someone local can clarify what the longer term plans for the square might be?

Renaming a square in Joe’s honour is a great gesture but I wouldn’t have recommended making such a production of the story back in January when three months later a proper sign hasn’t yet been added to the location. The city announced that the process for ‘honor and distinction’ was underway at the time, but for the moment it’s safe to say beyond the mural nothing has been done. I’m not trying to be negative but it would be nice to see the project further along.

Nevertheless, it is nice to see the first photos and I hope there will be more fanfare later in the summer. Please join me in thanking Karl for the snaps, please click on any image to enlarge and open gallery.

 The Clash Blog News | Twitter | Facebook | Google+| RSS feed 

The future is unwritten, so share it

• 
• 

Good morning and welcome back on this rather freaky Friday. I might need a media lockdown after this week as the news has been nothing short of strange/depressing all week long. Instead of diving into that I’m going to brew some coffee and share some good news with you.

I’m really excited to share a few images and news that long time friend and contributor to the blog Pete Stevens has launched a special photographic exhibition of his work which captured images of the Justice Tonight concert that took place at The Scala in London, some of which we originally feautured here as you may recall. The exhibition is to raise further awareness for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign – a cause near and dear to Pete’s heart and mine too.

As you’ll recall it was an out of the ordinary event in London which saw Mick Jones joined by The Farm, Pete Wylie, Richard Archer, Hollie Cook and members of Primal Scream performing Clash numbers and raising money for the campaign. The magic moment for us of course was Paul Simonon joining Mick on stage for a few Clash songs, something not seen since long before Hillsborough became synonymous with tragedy. Paul even had the first line of each verse of ‘Guns Of Brixton’ written in felt tip on the back of his hand

The exhibition is taking place at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire from now until April 26th. If you’re in Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Wigan, Blackburn etc. it’s definitely worth a visit.  The university have developed a page on their website for the event which takes place in the Arts Centre at the college. The page includes a map plus a profile of the exhibition and a bio of Pete, for those of you who think he just snaps concert photos  - I think some of the best I’ve seen – you can learn more about him. Admission is free so I hope you can attend or please share this post with friends you have in the northwest who might be able to make it along. If you can’t, then word has it that it may also be displayed in Liverpool city centre and possibly at other locations during the festival season in the UK.

The timing of the exhibition is extremely poignant for so many reasons. This week saw the 24th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield along with the burial of Margaret Thatcher, herself at least partially culpable for the coverup that followed the tragic events that had been suspected for decades, but only recently exposed with the full inquiry. In addition this week saw the sad loss of Anne Williams to cancer.  She was the mother of one of the victims at Hillsborough and spent nearly a quarter century campaigning with dignity and passion to bring the truth to the public in conjunction with the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. You really should read this article in The Daily Mirror about Anne Williams to learn of her struggle and dedication to setting the record straight to honour the memory of her son Kevin. I’d like to think all of us could summon up a small part of the energy and devotion that she showed to fight for justice in whatever form. She was a true inspiration.

Finally, I wanted to point you over to the BBC who ran a series of images from Pete’s exhibition and also a link to the HJC Facebook page and official website f you wish to learn more about them.

Congratulations to Pete on the exhibition and I hope you can make it along. Like all Clash fans, the people who seek truth and justice will never walk alone. (click on either image below to enlarge & open gallery)

Images by kind courtesy of Peter Stevens, opening night of the Justice Tonight Photographs exhibition

 The Clash Blog News | Twitter | Facebook | Google+| RSS feed 

The future is unwritten, so share it

• 
• 

Good evening from the towers…how goes it then? I’m just working on some reports and thought I should say hello. Currently listening to British Sea Power and eagerly awaiting their new album. Have you ever seen them live? If not then do so on my recommendation and if you don’t enjoy it I’ll need to know why. They’re playing all over Europe in the coming months and kicking off at the Shepherds Bush Empire tomorrow (April 17) so check their website for details.

In a very strange way they remind me of The Clash for the simple reason that musically they do exactly what they want. Any semblance of a formulatic approach to their albums is happily not in existence. Their sound keeps changing in keeping with them maturing and yet they keep releasing brilliant records. Much like The Clash in that respect if not in others. If you don’t know them start with the debut and follow the career in order, you know, the proper way.

It’s hard to reflect back thirty odd years and I know I didn’t have the listening experience to make much sense of it all when I was 12 or 13 years of age but what The Clash did to us as listeners was remarkable. There were obvious sonic difference between the first two albums but much of that would be due to the production. What was it that Sandy Pearlman said about Give ‘Em Enough Rope -

‘this album will have more guitars per square inch than anything in history’

He wasn’t far wrong to be honest. When you listen to the second album in detail now it’s everything the first album isn’t in terms of layers, volume and overall amounts of ‘busy’. For the production alone some people drop it down a few pegs on there list of favourite Clash albums but at the same time a poll we ran before said it kicks off with the best opening to any Clash album. That’s with some bloody stiff competition too. Beyond all that G’EER is full of great songs.

image courtesy http://www.sowhatgallery.com/

London Calling remains my first still vivid memory of getting a Clash album right upon release and being amazed at how much music was there in terms of quantity (I believe it was my first ever double album) and variety too. I was far too young to say ‘oh look, The Clash are throwing all of their collective heritage into the cooker and seeing what they bake up’. I just knew I’d never heard anything like it and it was just as amazing as the debut record for totally different reasons. Even if you revisit it today you’d be hard pressed to group the nineteen tracks within less than six or seven styles, it really was that brave and ambitious. With hindsight and learning more over the years the attitude was more ‘backs against the wall, we’ve nothing to lose’. It was with that sentiment that saw The Clash become far more than just another punk band and also allowed them the license to take (most of) their listeners on a journey that saw the changes come even more bizarre and simultaneously fascinating.

Which brings me back to my opening point. Find a band that you’re committed to and follow that journey. There are few things as exciting as following a band who aren’t scared to taking chances and always surprising the listener. The truth is it fails more often than it succeeds, most bands I’ve loved seem to peak somwhere between their second and third release but when you find a band that keeps you hooked into their maturing phase it’s a brilliant journey.

Are you able to remember your feelings when you bought each album? I was dedicated to side 1 and 2 of London Calling for the better part of six months and with Sandinsta! it was sides 1 and 3. I was a bit overwhelmed with that one at the time but as I’ve written before it’s become the album I return to with ever increasing frequency as I’ve aged.  Combat Rock always seemed a bit of a letdown as a single album, my appetite was spoiled and it seemed somehow less ambitious, the first Clash record that sounded a bit like an obligation. I was also alarmed that everyone loved it…people who really didn’t ‘get’ The Clash were really into it. What a path we took and one that never gets old.

    The Clash Blog News | Twitter | Facebook | Google+| RSS feed 

The future is unwritten, so share it

• 
•