Good day Clash people. The days after that tour….have me thinking rather a lot. What a tour it was, for all the right reasons. Often when I’m far afield it’s been hard to imagine the events from the wrong end of a telescope but somehow Justice Tonight was easy to picture, easy to relate to and so bloody hard to be missing out on. Someone wrote somewhere over the course of these gigs that it was ‘all a bit rough and ready at times, exactly in keeping with the origins of the music’ and I couldn’t agree more. This wasn’t sponsored by Carlsberg or simulcast on MTV. This was a series of benefit gigs like no other in recent years in the midst of a tour that kept raising the bar for a cause that truly does matter. Could anything be more in keeping with The Clash and their fans?

“The way you get a better world is, you don’t put up with substandard anything”       Joe Strummer – 1999

This might be one of those posts I tend to write that will ramble a bit, in fact I’m fairly certain it will be. I’ll get there in the end I hope so I’ll beg your patience. I doubt I’ll manage it all in one sitting. I want to write about the story of The Clash, I want to write about The Clash and their audience, I want to write about making a difference and caring and I want to write about the cause that led to this tour in the first place. I also want to try and write about the Hillsborough disaster. I’m not an expert but I know how I felt about it then and still feel today.

Pete Wylie (image kind courtesy of Pete Stevens)

You don’t need to be English to understand the impact of Hillsborough to any greater degree, no more than being English will help you understand the importance of punk rock. If you feel and care, if you’re awake and alert, it transcends the fact it might not be local to you. What helps is a belief that wrongs should be righted, that change is the responsibility of us and not ‘them’ and that music isn’t the solution on it’s own although it can bring together passionate people who want to affect change. That’s what punk rock was really about, empowering the kid with no money and no contacts and get out there and do it for himself. It is often applied to music but can apply to anything, just allow it and it can be so.

“The most important thing for anyone, I think, is to be engaged, whether you’re an artist or a journalist is to be engaged in the process at some level”    Billy Bragg

When I first saw Billy Bragg it was during the coal miners strike in the UK. They were dark, tense and really militant times. At the same time activism wasn’t seen as pointless pursuit. The 1980′s are portrayed by the media as a time for silly haircuts and synth-pop but they were also the last time (until recently) that I saw activism being seen as worthy and full of potential to bring about change. We had the East/West divide, the cold war, a wall in Berlin and Apartheid to combat. In tandem with some right wing governments and fascist seeds being spread around they were good times to kick against the system. I know I did, it came naturally. As for Billy Bragg, for me he embodied the spirit of The Clash and I thought we can change the path of the country, people will listen, the wrongs will be righted. A few years later Bragg and Paul Weller toured as ‘Red Wedge’ which essentially was to get young kids involved in politics and vote labour. Was it a success? Yes, if like me, you became more engaged. No, if you judge it on the fact that Thatcher was again the winner in the following general election. At least people were paying attention.

Joe Strummer became the de facto mouthpiece of The Clash and with that the voice of that generation, a tough mantle to take on and one that I think caused him untold pressure and strain during the years the band were active. ‘Spokesman’ is not a role that anyone other than a dictator would comfortably adjust to, Joe was never a dictator. Joe often said things like we know the world has a lot of problems and four punks from London don’t have all the answers but essentially we’re here to encourage you to ask questions and get involved. Years later when I saw Billy Bragg again for the eleventh or twelfth time his message had moderated a bit but in actuality it was more valid than ever before, he didn’t ask you to wait for him to take the lead position. He said ‘I’m not able to change the world, music can’t change the world, but you can. The community we can build around music can take an idea such as not letting apathy win and bring it to work tomorrow and to the polls when we vote. I can’t change things but you surely can”.

To my ears he was channeling Joe Strummer – the same message really and the right message certainly. Not coincidentally Billy Bragg played with Mick Jones, Pete Wylie and The Farm in Liverpool on the Justice Tonight tour. The message remains, a good cause is one you will fight for and a good cause can result in justice if you push it. Part 2 of this will follow soon, sorry for the gap.

Ninety-six people died in a football ground that afternoon, the only thing they were guilty of was going to see a game. Here are the first thirty-two names that we should never forget and their age that spring afternoon in 1989. These were my peers and were for many of you as well. You can learn much more and help the Hillsborough Justice Campaign by visiting this link.

John Alfred Anderson (62)  Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)  James Gary Aspinall (18) 

Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16) Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)  Simon Bell (17) 

Barry Sidney Bennett (26)  David John Benson (22) David William Birtle (22)

  Tony Bland (22) Paul David Brady (21)  Andrew Mark Brookes (26)

Carl Brown (18)  David Steven Brown (25) Henry Thomas Burke (47) 

Peter Andrew Burkett (24)  Paul William Carlile (19)  Raymond Thomas Chapman (50) 

Gary Christopher Church (19) Joseph Clark (29) Paul Clark (18)

  Gary Collins (22)  Stephen Paul Copoc (20)  Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23) 

James Philip Delaney (19) Christopher Barry Devonside (18) Christopher Edwards (29) 

Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)  Thomas Steven Fox (21)  Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)

  Barry Glover (27) Ian Thomas Glover (20)

Well it’s been quite a day (Friday evening as I write this) and I’m sure those who saw the concert at The Scala in London last night are still pinching themselves over what they saw and heard. Indeed more than a dozen Clash songs were played and sung live by a variety of vocalists with Paul Simonon joining the Mick Jones/Pete Wylie led crew for the last few numbers. Unreal of course, overdue perhaps but momentous most certainly. I’ve started writing a bit more about the tour in general and Hillsborough specifically and found my thoughts running into overdrive so I’ll break that up over three posts most likely starting tomorrow. We’ve got hundreds of amazing photographs from Pete in London to work through in addition to a stack of videos to share but I’ll ask for your patience as we get those compiled because as they say the show must go on and tonight it made it’s way all the way up to Liverpool for another night that exceeded expectations. Martin, our intrepid reporter from last night in London managed to make the journey up to Liverpool today and see the gig. He’s also up there to see his beloved QPR take on Liverpool (come on you hoops) tomorrow afternoon. Like a dedicated war correspondent he managed to file a report from the front line in Liverpool which featured another round of guests including one of my favourite people ever Billy Bragg. Let’s hand it over to Martin then….but first a quick photo:

Like old times.... (image the kind courtesy of Peter Stevens)

Justice Tonight – Liverpool University – 9 Dec 2011

The home town Friday night gig for the bulk of the artistes on the Justice Tonight tour and the special guests were out in force again. This time it was Cast who opened the evening’s proceedings at 8.25 with a 4 song set that included ‘Timebomb’ and their new single ‘See that girl’.

At 9.10 Liverpool comedian John Bishop took the stage and he treated everyone to the first of two Monkees songs that we were to hear tonight – this time it was “Daydream Believer”. John would be the first to admit that he is no singer but he IS very funny and he then introduced the next group of hometown boys – The Farm. I thought they were stronger and more confident tonight with the same set as they performed in London – Groovy Train, Steppin’ Stone, Love See no Colour and All Together Now, for which they were joined onstage by Mick Jones and Pete Wylie. The band then went straight into the set of Wylie’s songs starting with Come Back, You better scream, The Day that Margaret Thatcher Dies (complete with a crowd chant at the end of ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Die! Die! Die!), The Story of the Blues, Heart as Big as Liverpool, Johnny Thunders’ You can’t put your arms around a memory and then closing with Sinful.

 And then at 10.20pm it was into the Clash songs, commencing again with Train in vain. The beam on Mick Jones’ face as he performs these songs is incredible – he’s clearly loving every single second! Stay Free was next, sung by Pete Wylie and then John Power joined for what was my highlight of the night – a tremendous version of Bankrobber.

 We were then treated to Clampdown with Wylie singing, White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) with Peter Hooton doing the honours on vocals.The band then took a short break to catch their breath with Mick saying “We’re 2 goals up at half time” as he left the stage.

Mick Jones and Billy Bragg, two of the most important people in my life. (image kind courtesy Martin P)

 The next special guest was the ‘One Man Clash’ himself – Hammers fan Billy Bragg to sing (very appropriately) Scousers never buy The Sun, dedicated to the late great John Peel. The band then returned to the stage with Pete Wylie grinning from ear to ear saying “I just met Jimmy Case!”. Billy Bragg sang Jail Guitar Doors and then we were treated to a great version of Armagideon Time. A young guy whose name I think was Jay from a new local band called the Ladykillers then came on stage to play guitar on Should I say or should I go. The set finished with London Calling and the evening closed out with a finale of All Together Now and thanks were made to the 3 backing singers, who included Pete Wylie’s daughter Mersey..

 All in all yet another tremendous night on what’s becoming the tour of the year, but it will be very tough to top the London gig!

Brilliant stuff Martin. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with us, can I talk you into flying up to Glasgow after the final whistle at Anfield? Please join me in thanking him for more great coverage of the tour. The first photo tonight I just had to borrow from Pete was of course from 24 hours prior but needs to be shown! The second was taken by Martin in Liverpool. Too much to cover, please be patient with me.

I really need to say that without you – without Martin and Pete these last few nights and Charlotte in Cardiff, Barry in Manchester – the blog would just be my views from far across the ocean. It’s your efforts and participation that make us feel like we’re at the concerts and sharing in what’s been an amazing week. So please let me thank you again. It’s the best community around a band ever, I think we know that. Clash City Rockers keep on keeping on.

All the best, Tim.

Hello once again, nice to have you back. If it’s your first visit to the blog where have you been for the last 2 and a half years? Not a problem, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do over next few weeks. I must admit that I’ve got my blogging hat back on, I struggled to find time last month and got a little bit frustrated as I knew I was ‘falling behind’ with Clash news. I know it sounds a bit daft, we’re talking about keeping current on a band that essentially ceased to be more than 25 years ago but the reality is with the rise of blogging, social media and the simple fact that you can read articles from newspapers throughout the world online there is always something to write about. Thankfully and purely coincidentally it seems that the last two plus years have seen Mick Jones more consistently active with a huge array of commitments than at any time in many moons. In addition so many of you have furnished me with other stories or even first hand accounts, photos and experiences to keep things busy. If you ever feel like contributing to the blog and have something you think may appeal to readers please let me know as I always welcome guest posts. It can be a Clash related opinion, bit of research or simply a personal experience relating to the band. There’s no wrongs or rights, if you think Combat Rock was their best album you can explain why, if you wish Paul Simonon took on lead vocals more often just say so. I’ll never manage to cover everything and we won’t agree on all views (Charlie Don’t Surf is one of their five best songs, Mick Jones had the best hair circa 1980) which is fine. I’d love to host a guest post or seven, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Right then, a few things on tap today and then (finally) some more focused posts in the days ahead. I’ve found myself scurrying from one thing to the next this month and wonder about the important stuff I might be missing?

File this under early warning (very early) but I love the 2012 Strummercamp logo so much (featured left) that it merits coverage. The astute amongst you will have seen already that next year’s event is the 7th annual celebration of Joe up in Manchester. As ever you can expect an excellent lineup at the event which seems to grow in popularity with each passing year. Full details will be added to the official site in the months ahead in the meantime the facebook page for Strummercamp 2012 is a good place to keep in touch and contact the key people. We’ll look to have more comprehensive coverage here on the blog in 2012.

Few people namedrop The Clash more than me on this blog but I think Billy Bragg would run a close second which is fine with me. I’m a long standing fan of Barking’s finest and in my humble opinion the very fact that Bragg hit the scene right at the time when the original lineup of The Clash was splintering has always been symbolic to me. It’s meant that I’ve had a protest/political artist playing a huge part in my life for over 30 years and Bragg embodies many of the things that The Clash were trying to accomplish. Just like The Clash there have been some adventurous adaptations which don’t always work our according to some listeners but I’ll forever feel indebted that The Clash expanded beyond the sound they perfected on those first two records, so similarly did Bragg expand far beyond one man and his guitar to become a modern folk singer who was even tasked with adding music to the unfinished songs of Woody Guthrie. In interviews it has become clear that most well researched journalists really want to explore that connection between Bragg and The Clash so it’s not Bragg’s ‘fault’ really and such was the case in this great interview with Sabotage Times. Make sure you read all of it beyond the obvious question about The Clash as you’ll enjoy it I think plus The Clash get mentioned elsewhere.

Finally today can’t end for me without mentioning the anniversary of the death in 2004 who meant a great deal to me and to many of you too I’m sure. All of us who grew up being obsessed with music and certain bands can speak at length about how we feel concerning artists we have never had the chance to meet or get to know in many cases. I never met Joe Strummer or Topper Headon and until last October I hadn’t even experienced my 90 seconds or so chatting to Mick and Paul when they visited town (this time last year). We’ve all got a list of singers and guitarists who changed our lives for a summer or maybe forever.

However seven years ago today someone who was just as important to my youth and musical education passed away although he never played on my favourite records, although he did play so many of them on the BBC. John Peel was a marvel, everyone related to him and respected his (amazingly broad) taste. If you spent more than a handful of hours listening to Peel when you were younger and didn’t benefit then you can’t have been paying attention. The list of bands that he helped to break is as long as it is excellent, Billy Bragg for example got a demo tape played by dropping it with Peel at the BBC along with some Indian food after Peel had remarked on the air about his hunger for said grub. John Peel was the gatekeeper for so many great bands and his enthusiasm never waned right up until the end. Beyond The Clash one of my very favourite bands for over 25 years has been The Wedding Present and knowing that they remained one of John Peel’s top choices always made me feel that much more ‘in the know’. However that was the magic of John Peel, we all have such stories about him. I miss him still, I think he was one of the most important people I never knew, but then again I knew him so well. Every time I flick through my collection of records and CDs it’s obvious he will stay with me.