Hello once again and thanks for dropping in at the blog, suddenly we find ourselves right back in the middle of a weekend once more. I’m not quite sure where the last week went, I never felt especially well some Monday and Tuesday were a bit of a fog to be honest. If you previously checked out the CIA page (clash influenced award) you’ll see an admittedly incomplete list of people who are inspired by The Clash, I really must get in and update that at some point soon. I took it off from the top toolbar for the time being, but the information will return at some point in the future. I mention it because one of the more famed Clash aficionados is none other than John Cusack and to his immense credit he wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his love for the band.

I don’t follow that many peoples twitter accounts simply because I don’t have time to check what they have to say about this and that but I did add John Cusack some time ago and noticed he must’ve been missing Joe Strummer this week. He tweeted about six tracks from Streetcore earlier in the week which I thought was great but greater still were all the warm responses from others remarking upon the brilliance of Strummer. I either dreamt this or did in fact read it 10 or 15 years ago that John Cusack had a clause in his Hollywood contract that at least one of three things had to happen in any new film he agreed to do. The three items were 1-The Clash had to be in the film soundtrack, 2 -The Clash had to be mentioned in the film’s dialogue 3- Cusack would be able to wear ( in an obvious fashion) a Clash T-shirt at some point in the film. Did I imagine this or was it true? I am fairly sure it’s more than an urban myth and that there was some shred of truth in it. If you know for sure or if you are John Cusack please let us know. Also have a look at his twitter account although today he has moved on to Tom Waits and some others but nothing too dodgy.

In the interest of this being your reliable and well informed Clash Blog I also thought I’d do a bit of research concerning Cusack and The Clash. John Cusack was born in the summer of 1966 ( that makes me feel better and a tiny bit younger) in suburban Chicago. At that age he was primed to be greatly influenced in his adolescence and early teens by the band. As far as I can tell he spent his entire childhood in Evanston which also would have given him the chance to see the original lineup of The Clash and MKII just a few miles south from where he lived at the Aragon Ballroom on Chicago’s North Shore. What a great bloody venue that place is and definitely somewhere that will feature in Clash landmarks on the site in the future. So with that established I also thought I would see what quotes John Cusack has made about the band, his affection for them is no secret. One huge oddity about Cusack I did know before writing this is that he claims to be a fan of both baseball teams in Chicago namely the White Sox and the Cubs?? That is beyond the pale, I can only compare it with liking both Arsenal and Tottenham or Rangers and Celtic – as you know reading this that provides more than a little a cause for concern. What next? Will we find he just can’t pick between The Clash and The Stranglers, or claims equal affections for lager and bitter?

So I did my research and there are indeed numerous mentions of the band by the actor and rather than chop and change those around I preferred to furnish you with something quite lovely he wrote in November of 2005. It’s reproduced in full below:

I was asked to write a little something for a Joe Strummer tribute in Scotland… Doing so, I remembered just how grateful I was he showed up on earth while I was around…

There was no one like Joe Strummer. There is a lineage, of course. Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan…I was always staggered by his voice. It was like a shaman should sound. If Roy Orbision sang for the lonely, Joe sang for the hungry…. His voice was liquid desire and it ignited as it left his mouth, his body shaking to contain the heat, like a rocket in the first phase of lift-off…. He was a pioneer who demanded art and politics be fused in the interests of humanity and truth. Often the truth was painful, just as often it was liberating, transcendent, and just plain fun. He was an icon of unrivaled integrity… Billy Bragg said if it weren’t for The Clash, punk rock would be just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers… it sounds right to me… It’s been said Strummer reinvented rock. That sounds right too. I know for certain he challenged, inspired and demanded us to think and feel in ways we hadn’t before… demanded we use rebellion and anger as fuel for the journey to other, better worlds, never as an end in itself. Demanded we reach for the transcendent in everything and everyone, and to never suffer those fools who will not think and feel their way home. He was a guiding light and he got us out of many a tough jam. Knowing him, I was always humbled by his grace and intelligence, his passion, and the sheer ferocity of his will… and Jesus Christ that man could fucking rock.

I don’t know that I could put it better myself I also think my earlier speculation about the film contract becomes a bit of a moot point having read that. He is obviously and genuinely a huge fan beyond what I already knew earlier this week, we need more people like Cusack in positions like his to speak out about how important music has been and continues to be. I dare say I’ll now have to put aside some time this weekend to watch Grosse Pointe Blank, The Grifters and High Fidelity….bugger it I might just watch all three. I may even need to do a bit more research on the actor, one of those rare times a celebrity Clash fan isn’t such a bad thing. He even ( used to at least) write the occasional blog so some extra points for that as well…if you get a chance read his November 5, 2008 post about the election of Barack Obama. Where has all that pride and optimism gone in the intervening two years? I’m not suggesting Cusack has changed his tune but living in the states as a foreigner makes me wonder why people (some not all) cannot support anything through to completion, especially when you are elected on the basis of trying to create change. Unfortunately we may be half way through the office of a one term president, which surely would leave the machine that is the US not only slipping a gear but probably heading for permanent reverse. That’s another topic for probably another blog on probably another website but still it does leave you wondering just where we are collectively heading.

Enough of that at least for the time being, I’ll wrap it up there and wish you farewell. Till next time – Tim.

Good morning happy Sunday and all that – thanks for popping back to the blog. Either later today or more likely early next week I’ll do my best to share some images and hopefully video too from some of the Strummer birthday events that took place yesterday so please stay tuned.

Strangely enough Joe’s birthday and the day after both seemed to hold some extra gravitas and I’m sure just by coincidence. Bear in mind I live somewhere where it might rain 20 or 25 times in the entire year, needless to say last night just an hour before I watched the clock flip over to Sunday and was reflecting on Strummer while watching ‘The Future is Unwritten’ the sky opened and we got a lovely hard rain coupled with loads of lightning which continued until the wee hours. Then when I awoke to watch a bit of football from West London, the cameras and audio feed returned to the ground (Craven Cottage – not far from Clash territory and right alongside the Thames) before the players were out for the second half. Playing quite loudly and drowning out the crowd chatter over the p.a. was ‘London Calling’ so even unintentionally the first song I heard today was of course The Clash.

Its been a busy and emotive couple of days on the blog so I thought I’d try something much lighter today, continuing the Joe Strummer theme but nothing to make you tear up or at least I hope not. I don’t have any tattoos but I think one of the only things I even half considered would have been something with a Clash logo – or perhaps Arsenal. Joe Strummer tattoos come in all shapes and sizes so I’ve selected six of the best for your perusal and for you to pick a favourite. Check out the ink below (click on each photo for a larger image):

	1- The Full Monty – cover your entire back in Joe
	2 – The classic Joe on Diving Board – Strummerville logo
	3- Jacket on, collar up – back of the leg
	4- Great likeness but perhaps shave your arm?
	5- I’m getting a Clint Eastwood feel here…do you feel lucky Punk (rocker)?
	6 – Great detail…but where on the body?

So those would be my top six, there were quite a few more but they range from average to pretty bloody horrible so now we need a favourite? Take part in the least pressure packed poll in Clash Blog history – which Joe tattoo do you like the most? You have time to think about this – results will be posted on Thursday Aug 26. I’ll then try and contact the owner of said branding and see if we can get a personal story about the body art. Also, accept my apologies for the poor aesthetic qualities of the tattoo alignment above…it drove me a bit html loopy if you catch my meaning.

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Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog, hoping your weekend allowed you to recharge for the week ahead. Not much to report from here, in truth a bit of a rut often snares my attitude in the late summer here (might be the closed windows and daily temperatures over 100f) but I recognise it and will be just fine I’m sure. That rather impressively thick Jon Savage book arrived in the post today so I think that will occupy quite a few hours of my time in the weeks ahead, I usually can’t delve into books over 700 pages unless they are historical but I think this qualifies. I also need to go and see some live music, I keep waiting for acts I really like to stop in Phoenix but it might be a fruitless wait on my part. Here’s a list of what is coming over the next few weeks to this dusty desert oasis – have a look and make a recommendation for me! Calexico are rather wonderful live so that looks good for the end of the month (and it’s free!) and also amazed to see The Legendary Pink Dots are coming here – it must be 25 years since I saw them last at I think Dingwalls in Camden. Good old Dingwalls!

The Highbury Garage, before it was so Relentless

I wish we had a local Joe Strummer event of some sort to head out to this Saturday (Aug 21) to celebrate his birthday, but wisely due to the heat our annual Joe Strummer tribute night in association with Strummerville takes place in December. I’d have to fly to San Francisco or drive to Austin Texas to be witness to a tribute but neither time nor currency will make that practical for this weekend coming. I’ll do a final reminder of all the events later this week but wanted to bring something to your attention in London – not an official Strummer night per se but a good place to be this Saturday if you are a Clash fan and want to be with like minded people.

Buddy Ascott of The Chords (played at 100 Club last year in July with Mick, Glen & Steve Diggle) emailed our key man Pete in London – and as part of a reunion tour they will be playing The Garage at Highbury Corner – now renamed the ‘Relentless Garage’ – on 21st August this month. Buddy inferred (don’t hold me to this) that the band will include a Clash song in their set. Above all else they are big fans of the band and definitely influenced by The Clash and this is as fitting a location as any that night. I’ve had many a good night at The Garage back in the 90′s and would very much like to be part of this so hopefully some of you reading will be able to make it along. Much more info about The Chords is available via their myspace page – Pete also suggested the track below as a reminder – I confess I’d forgotten how good this sounds! Yes it might remind you of The Jam but that’s no bad thing in my book – besides which the mod revival label doesn’t capture the whole range of the band. Incidentally last year’s album by Pope ‘Tall Tales and Cheap Thrills’ is definitely worth getting hold of.  More details about The Garage via this link – I don’t think I can add ‘relentless’ to the name. Why does a venue need to be ‘relentless’ or even ‘sporadic’ for that matter? Come to think of it Arsenal are at home earlier that afternoon so you could spend your entire Saturday in one very special corner of London!

The Chords ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ (1980)

Would chat more but something I ate earlier is not falling for my brain’s idea that extra spicy Thai food sits well with this Anglo/Celtic man’s stomach. Bah!