Hello again, nice to get back in the rhythm of blogging once more, I actually missed it this weekend. I’ve got to put that CLASH77 license plate on the car soon…it’s sitting on my Clash shelf at present just apparently there to make me smile it would seem. I’ve a few headlines for you which I’ll get to but first I wanted to say thanks for all your growing support for the blog – August has been the busiest month of the year for the blog and its great to see so many return visits so I appreciate that. In the next week or so I’m excited to say we will be welcoming our 200,000th visitor ever to the blog and this week will see our 100,000th visit of the year – so cheers to you all on helping reach both landmarks! September will also see the introduction of our monthly interview series – so keep your eyes open on that.

So the last few days…..Don Letts usually manages to get flagged down around the time of the Notting Hill Carnival and this year was no exception. It was Letts of course who features on the striking cover of Black Market Clash as a then 20 year first generation proud young black man walking the tightrope of tension that was the riots of the summer of ‘76. I can’t say enough about Don Letts, he’s just such a likable character and always looks to be moving the tide forward and celebrating the unique period of time where he grew up and helped reggae and punk reach to cross sections within both camps. In addition he always shows pride and optimism which are so often lacking in some quarters. Anyway, getting back on track I’ll point you in the direction of both recent interviews with Letts as he sat down and spoke to the Telegraph and SKY TV in recent days.

Over at the Telegraph check out the feature on Don as he talks about his heritage, racial integration and his part in what was to be the forming of a soundtrack for mid/late 70’s Britain. Letts was always it seemed in the right place at the right time, or was that part of who he was? Hanging out with Malcolm McLaren and the various incarnations of his shop on the Kings Road, becoming the resident DJ at London’s first punk club The Roxy, befriending The Clash and later even Bob Marley. Then to follow that up as a member of Big Audio Dynamite and an accomplished filmmaker. As Letts himself explains he had an early taste for the counter culture from McLaren and it seems his thirst has never left him in the decades since. As for the music – he knows how vital it was to his peers:

As first generation British born blacks, we copped it the worst. But we came up with a good soundtrack. Tell you what!  They’d better come up with a good soundtrack, these eastern Europeans – that’ll help ‘em!”

Letts shares a sentiment that many of you reading this of a certain age probably reflect on all too frequently, with the current social upheaval globally and lack of equality its remarkable that music/culture seems so passive…so pedestrian when surely the need for a real change resonates as loudly as ever. Letts puts it in better terms than I can:

“Right now it feels like punk never happened. All the things that helped create punk rock, racism, recession, strikes – other than power cuts – all the things we had in the late seventies are happening again today. What’s happening about it? I don’t know. All I know is that all the interesting ideas are coming from the amateur and the naive, and it’s increasingly difficult to find anyone who meets those criteria in the west”

He’s right….and I don’t even know why apathy is suddenly the most popular flavour for much of the generation who should really be tearing down the walls instead of watching the bloody television and youtube. Don is doing the rounds partly because he certainly should but also because two of his more recent projects are getting released to UK cable television and a special film fest at the ICA respectively. More of that in a minute but  the Blighty channel  also premiered at the weekend the Don Letts film Carnival (Notting Hill Documentary from 2009) and interviewed him in conjuction with that event. Well worth a read and a good taster for the film also, full information via this link.

As a reminder – the Don Letts documentary about his life will be getting its UK premier at the ICA (talk about a historic venue!)  ‘Superstonic Sound, The Rebel Dread’, shows at the ICA on 6th, 9th and 10th October. Ticket information and to purchase via this link.

Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread plus Q&A (Don Letts will appear at the Oct 6 Screening)

Hello again and welcome once more to the blog. After a busy few days it will either come to you as a relief or a shock to find that this post isn’t exclusively about Joe Strummer. Indirectly a decision that Joe made in 1983 led to what I’m about to write about, but that would be splitting hairs. I finally got around to getting a copy of the Legacy edition of the Big Audio Dynamite debut “this is Big Audio Dynamite”. Few things scream louder about the passing of years than these special editions that are getting released to celebrate anniversaries of the initial release. I suppose that only cuts to the quick when you have a clear memory of purchasing the album (on vinyl) at the first time of asking. I don’t feel so bad about that knowing that so many of you are in the same boat.

The album was originally released with great anticipation in October of 1985, although you could argue the official 25th anniversary is not for a few months CBS/Sony/Legacy actually released the special edition in April of this year. I don’t quite know why I didn’t pick up it earlier but that’s neither here nor there. I would’ve been 18 when the album was released and that two year spell between what was essentially the dissolution of The Clash and the release of this album was a spell where I found myself listening to some great music but still lamenting the end of the band. After The Clash split you could rely upon the NME and Melody Maker to provide at least occasional gossip about the future of Mick Jones, what was clear from the very earliest days was that he wouldn’t be rejoining The Clash and that Joe and Paul with some new recruits would keep the band name if not the quality. Late in 1983 or early 84 it was reported that Mick was working with Topper and a new plan was being formed, when the rumour fell quiet the next thing I recall reading was that he would be working with Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger from The Beat as a member of the newly formed General Public. That turned out to be far more than a rumour and Mick did indeed work with them on their new material and featured on their debut album “All The Rage” which I believe was released in the summer of 1984.

I get the impression that Mick’s involvement with them may have been more a case of helping out than his next career move. By all accounts simultaneously in 1984 Mick had continued to sow the seeds which were to become Big Audio Dynamite. He had certainly approached Don Letts very early on and the remaining members of the band were in place that same summer. Leo Williams had been playing with Mick since very soon after he left The Clash whilst drummer Greg Roberts was added later during ‘84, plus Dan Donovan on keyboards in ‘85. Reading the music papers compulsively combined with the fact that I worked in a record shop at that age resulted in me frequently asking our CBS rep if he knew anything about Big Audio Dynamite and when something might be expected. In hindsight it seemed like an awful long time had passed between the rumors of the band working and recording and the actual release late in 1985. Strangely, during that same period of time the new version of The Clash had been equally quiet in terms of recording output but they had played live as a now five piece lineup extensively during 1984. That in itself kept The Clash under the spotlight and while the glare was not on Mick Jones it’s now very clear just who was producing the more worthwhile record.

It’s also interesting that while The Clash with a revamped lineup hit the road in earnest in 1984 some of the tracks that eventually made up the final Clash album were in existence very soon after Mick got the sack. I remember thinking that the delay between Combat Rock and that album seemed almost endless, especially for a band who had released so much material between 77 and 82. If anything the feeling was that the new Clash would get a head start on Mick by releasing some new material first but in a strange twist of fate it was actually Big Audio Dynamite that released their first album about three weeks prior to The Clash. Working in a record shop at the time and knowing a lot of Clash fans it is hard to believe that we used to debate whether the Big Audio Dynamite album could possibly be as good as whatever The Clash did next. I also recall still being pissed off about the way Mick was ousted and had a quiet suspicion that his project would actually turn out to be better. Probably the only time I was ever 100% correct when forecasting events connected to The Clash. It’s a bit hard to relate just how different things were in 1985 perhaps Mick Jones sums it up best in the sleeve notes for the newly released Legacy edition: “What do I remember?… Reagan was president, Thatcher was Prime Minister and we were Big Audio Dynamite”

I will scribble up my review of the Legacy edition later this week focusing on the bonus artwork, the special packaging, the fully remastered first album and the bonus disc which probably drew the most attention. That’s all for now-Tim.

July 20, 1984 story from the 'Ottawa Citizen'

Hello you lot ~ welcome back to the blog or cheers for dropping in for the first time. If you read often you will know that I’m nearly at my wits end with the desert summer heat at this point but I forgot to mention the added extra we also see in the summer months once in a while – the dust storms. Directly east of me is open desert and a few times each year hot desert winds kick up a big wall of brown dusty air that is sometimes a few thousand feet high and then relentless winds bring the wall of dust into the city. It gets everywhere and you feel like you brushed your teeth with grit if you happen to be out in it. On the positive side on nights like tonight its then followed by a hurricane-like storm where heavy rain comes in sideways and the palm trees out back look like they are about to snap from bending too far over. Its been raining like that for well over an hour now so as long as the storm doesn’t knock out the power I will get this written. Flooding and trees down all over town according to the news and lightning  just stuck (not twice but once) the home of someone nearby we know of.

Our Price Records, 1980's - vinyl and more vinyl

I came to a realisation last night that keeping alive the importance of The Clash and their music – or indeed any music that you are really passionate about is partly and maybe mostly up to you as an individual to pass it on. For more than a few years now we’ve watched the decline of the record industry as huge chains of record shops and smaller neighbourhood versions both go to the wall due to the reduction in sales of CDs. Interestingly and encouragingly here its been the small independents that have weathered that storm better by connecting with their customers and creating a scene that people want to remain a part of. Meanwhile Tower Records and Virgin have both shuttered giant stores that used to be full of music and customers. I read that downloads now far exceed sales of singles versus a decade ago but therein lies the problem, people will purchase a song or two that they like but less and less often an entire album. Even the idea of bands releasing albums is considered closer and closer to being archaic. I’m probably at the end of a generation who collect music in a non digital format – my record and CD collection is both something I’m very proud of but also large, hard to move and not ideal for being mobile. One day I’ll have to decide who will want it when I’m done – once I thought it would be a kid to inherit it but now any younger person would look at me and say ‘just where do you expect me to put all that stuff?’ So now that people have digital music collections it doesn’t really lend itself to sharing in the same way as records or even CDs did. The thought of having someone bequeath a few I-pods full of tunes doesn’t have the same appeal as looking at album artwork and lyric sheets, yet even as I write this I know I’m sounding old and out of sync. Yet how do you keep the same passion for bands and artists when the connection is little more than a file on your hard drive?

Along with the slow death march of record shops is the current sad state of radio. It deserves a few articles on its own but for a city with over 2

When radio really mattered...

million people the radio in this town is little short of hideous. Its not just the lack of choice but the creative endeavour that dies with that lack of variety, a few giant companies own the bulk of American radio and its almost like they’ve now realised there is no reward in being truly independent as the internet covers all of those gaps so instead they’ll play nothing but established bankable artists round the clock. Even though there’s really no need for more Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith being channeled into cars driving round the suburbs, that really sums up the choice available outside of top 40 pop and rap in this city. Its not a good situation.

The optimistic side of me says that the internet counters a lot of the doom I’m reciting and to a certain extent that is true. Its easier and cheaper than ever before for a young band to not only get recorded but also to use myspace and any number of the dozens of online venues to get their music heard and ideally bought and downloaded. The glass is still just about half full when I remember the internet has not only led to the changes but also might be the only way forward in the not too distant future.

In spite of all this The Clash and many of their peers are riding a wave of respect unlike anything they experienced in the 80’s and 90’s. 15 years ago punk and post punk music hadn’t apparently matured to the point where anyone other than the original fans would be listening to it on a regular basis, never mind being motivated and inspired by it. At some point in the 90’s – I don’t recall the precise moment but I’m leaning towards 1997 something changed significantly. Maybe it was the 20th anniversary of when it all started? Suddenly saying out loud that a 5 year spell in music that brought about The Sex Pistols and The Clash, The Damned and The Jam, Talking Heads and X was possibly the most dynamic period of music we’ve ever seen. Perhaps the last truly genre altering period as the list of first generation bands and then the post punk apprentices created a musical legacy that was the definition of creative and inspired sounds. There have been brief spells since when it seemed something just as big was launching – Madchester in the late 80’s, Grunge in the early 90’s,  Britpop in the mid 90’s or the New York revival earlier this century. However each of those scenes seemed to end almost as quickly as they began partly because evolving was never on the agenda. Who picked up the pieces that the Stone Roses, Nirvana, Blur and The White Stripes left on the table anyway? That seems to be the stumbling block that punk and post punk never suffered from as it all changed so quickly and The Clash changed right along with it.

I guess I’m left thinking that word of mouth will need to do for the future – make sure people know that ska and rude boy sounds owe so much to The Clash and The Specials, that political rock of all shades was vein that passed from Dylan straight via Strummer and that Big Audio Dynamite were tying things together with rap and rock before the idea was even cemented. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully appreciate or have time to comprehend the overall brilliance of every great act in that spell between’77 and ‘82 but I’m convinced it was crucial. Funny….last night was the Clash Bloggette’s daughters 12th Birthday. The bloggette announced to her daughter that “Wow, you have the same Birthday as Madonna” to which the child replied “Who?” (and she meant it). Goes to show being the biggest selling act of the 80’s and high up in the 90’s counts for nothing without word of mouth. Meanwhile the aforementioned 12 year old knows exactly who The Clash are and can sing along with the best of us even if she makes up her own lyrics at times (I blame Joe).

Mission accomplished I think…..word of mouth….