Joe and William Burroughs

Good Morning wherever you may be reading and cheers for visiting the blog. A different sort of day here as its not hot, it rained all night long, I heard a woman screaming outside her boyfriend/husband/lovers house until the police came at 4am and now I’m watching Arsenal. Its like being back in London minus the new bicycle hire program. I think the bike idea is great though the sponsorship is hideous. As for The Clash, the last time we did this it seemed to get a favourable response so we’ll do it again as I scour vimeo, youtube, google video and other shared services for the best and worst new video uploads that hopefully most of you have yet to see before. If you stumble on something especially brilliant that might be good for the blog please contact me via the usual channels. Let’s get cracking then.

Billy Bragg performing Redemption Song on the Jail Guitar Doors road trip: As the Strummerville linked tour continued recently into Scotland and points North Bragg spoke and performed songs in addition to the film screening. The video is from some distance from the stage (no zoom on the camera?) but the audio is good, moreover the cause is tinged with Joe.

Big Audio Dynamite MTV concert from 1992: I’m sure this has been seen by some of you but it’s a new upload and I’ve seen it before it was probably not enjoyed as much as this in the days of dial-up! Mick sports one his nicest hats  as the band perform ‘Can’t Wait’ and ‘Contact’. Crowd sound seems a bit odd but good fun to watch, was Mick’s hair ever really that long? I think we previously determined that the pony tail was fake. The shirt…yes I made the same fashion mistake right around the same era. Clips remind me just how much of a party BAD were as a live proposition, I think I saw them four times in total and they were on form each time.

A cover of London Calling by…two people: Bloody hell…I had to watch this so you should too. I don’t quite know what to say. Is it the semi-operatic vocals she offers, the fact that her mouth doesn’t seem to sing or his ever so laid back delivery? Then just when you think you know what to expect at the very end she turns into Debbie Harry for a few lines. I am trying not to laugh and it’s nice that they covered the song and put it on youtube. If your response is good I may see what other work they’ve done. All I can tell you is she is called Claire….

Police on My Back bass / surgical mask: Do you remember Clinic? You should it was very recent, they used to appear on stage in full surgical gear and perform. I saw them live round about 2004 and I liked the band but the overriding memory was the oddness of not being able to see their faces in full, a bit like seeing the Wombles I would assume? This chap has the surgical mask on (indoors?) but don’t let that be a detriment, his bass work is flowing and competent as he plays Paul’s notes really well on one of my favourite Clash tracks for the bass.

To finish a few honourable mentions. Casey Neill & The Norway Roots perform a decent cover version of ‘Coma Girl’.  Audio only on this one sadly as Joe Strummer and the Latino Rockabilly War perform ‘Love Kills’ in Manchester ‘85. This is good and you’ve probably heard it – Camper Van Beethoven doing ‘Kingston Advice’. Doesn’t top the original but it does bring its own flavour to the track.

Must be a Clash ~ there’s no alternative. Thanks for dropping by, please share on facebook below if you can…I’ll be back soonish. Arsenal drew 1-1; shadows of last season already….

Monday indeed…and yes it seemed like one all over the place today. Testy people in the petrol station, dogs barking at the wind and even the usually mild mannered cat of the house was in a bit of a strop. Get over it – its nothing more than a day of the week. I wasn’t subscribing to it until the postman came, while he did have his usual assortment of bills and pizza coupons he also had to his credit a kind gift from a Clash blog reader (Thanks again Michael!), what he didn’t have was my Clash themed license plate for the car! Again! Perhaps (and knowing Arizona it might be) prison inmates still do bash out car plates on rocks in the hot sun here? In either case the state needs to have my plate here by Friday or I’ll just add a Rancid sticker to the back of the car. When the cop pulls me over and I explain its in lieu of The Clash I’m sure he’ll understand. Can I blog from jail?

I was going to launch into a filthy tirade about the extended and annoying delay to the notice of Gorillaz tour dates for the US (you grow up and you calm down), to me it seems that they’ve already annoyed people in mainland Europe by canceling shows (you start wearing the blue and brown) and frustrated those in the UK by rescheduling dates and now are taking the Mick pun intended by stalling on the US dates and/or somewhat confirming some. Its creating a buzz I suppose but I don’t really think its necessary nor overall a positive thing. I wonder if Damon is calling the shots or they simply are trying to coordinate some venues that work best with the calendar? So I’ll relent from a tirade I suppose but I’m not impressed really. On the other hand there is also some good/cool news from .5C/G

In keeping with the tradition of all that can be genre defining and global about the best artists they played a unique show in Damascus Syria this week. Of course Damascus isn’t on the tour schedule for most touring hip bands, in fact according to the report on the BBC today it was the first time a major British act has played in Damascus. The concert itself carried some political overtones  which might be best left to the expert analysts – but in a sense playing in a country that’s being squeezed out by Western culture reminds me of Billy Bragg going play concerts in what was then East Germany and the USSR in the 1980’s to try and bring the two cultures a little closer together and raise awareness. Here’s a link to the BBC feature and a few snippets from Damon Albarn are below, visit for the photo of an pretty unhappy looking Simonon if nothing else. I wonder that was said right before that photo was taken?

“By virtue of being the first big western act to arrive in Damascus I think hopefully that’s the beginning of a dialogue, and that in itself is meaningful for Syria as a whole.” and explaining the album title: “I think the world is becoming like a plastic beach. It’s not a prediction, it’s something that exists now. We’ve got to accept that it’s got to be cool to recycle.”

OK back tomorrow with more Clash centric pondering and hopefully some tour dates. I also have to write up my thoughts on the special anniversary This is Big Audio Dynamite legacy edition in the days ahead. It’s such a great record. Thanks for dropping in as ever, if you learn more about this and that share it with us all. Cheers – Tim

Another quick update for you, you’ll have to bear with me as I am finding the energy to type with the brief return to cooler weather. Just ate the nearest thing I’ve had in years to a North London kebab from this new Greek place that has opened nearby. If it were raining and 35 degrees colder I could have squinted and pretended I was walking down to Turnpike Lane tube. His menu I must mention, he was Greek but decided anywhere that bordered the Mediterranean was fair game, Greek food rubbed shoulders with Italian, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Moroccan.  Couldn’t help but think of Joe singing Bhindhi Bhagee as I scanned the menu, welcome stranger to the humble neighbourhood indeed.

Regular readers will remember a lot of the work last year and this Spring that centred around the Jail Guitar Doors project. One of the many special moments was the rare reunion of Mick with Topper Headon as they partnered with Billy Bragg to record a new version of the song that christened the project, the original post was nearly a year ago which is hard to believe.  Since that time the Alan Miles film that chronicled the project has helped raise awareness along with the continued efforts of Bragg plus Wayne Kramer who launched JGD USA.  Following a year spent touring and being an activist for electoral reform in the UK plus his protests against RBS bonuses Billy Bragg is back to help Alan Miles with a Scottish leg of the project. To date only one prison in Scotland has allowed Jail Guitar Doors to donate guitars to inmates but the hope is that may well change soon. Bragg and Miles were in Edinburgh for the Scottish launch of the film Breaking Rocks this week at the Cameo Cinema in the city. After the film Bragg plus two former inmates performed tracks from the cinema stage. I’d like to link you to Reel Scotland.com who have a nice feature on the event in addition to exclusive audio interviews with both Billy Bragg and Alan Miles. Nice work by all!

Meanwhile in the USA you really should follow Wayne Kramer on facebook, lots of information always added plus photographs etc and former MC5 star is a really humble bloke too. Speaking of prison I watched Shawshank Redemption again recently for I don’t know the 30th time, I keep waiting for that film to seem anything less than brilliant and I don’t think it ever will. Just a brilliant film. Lastly….Gorillaz….(sorry) but it seems .5C/G are taking the piss a bit announcing just one date of the US tour in New York’s Madison Square Garden on October 8th. Are they going to announce one venue per day for the next two weeks? Feed Good (inc) not really just a bit of an needless extended wait to find out how far we’re all going to need to drive/fly.

OK I think I’ll wrap it up there and go back to thinking of Greek food and North London.