Well hello you good people, I’ve one eye on the forthcoming football from South Africa in about 10 hours and another on the best way to cover Glastonbury / Strummerville Campfire / The LeftField tent and whatever .5C/G decide to deliver from the main stage this weekend. However you slice it I’m expecting a busy week so I might be doing more posts that are perhaps shorter in content but more informational. Again if you are going to Glastonbury and want to write in with update or send your own photos please feel free – would be nice to get some first hand accounts. As for the football, expect the worst and see what happens eh?

Before that though I wanted to close the loop on some sales and auctions of Clash related items. I wrote a short while ago about the Bob Gruen ‘Teenage Bedroom’ exhibition at Subway Gallery in London. The collection was a wonderful reflection of Gruen’s diverse portfolio which captures everyone from Lennon and The New York Dolls to The Clash and Green Day. Happily a number of the prints are for sale, if you contact me I can put you in contact with the right source for a list of images. In addition to Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and Chrissie Hynde pieces there are two really special Clash items. I’m not sure of exact pricing or quantity at this time.

Clash, Live in Boston – 1979 (pictured right)

Clash in Boston, image courtesy Bob Gruen (www.bobgruen.com)

28 x 36 cm B&W Silver Gelatin Fiber Base photo print

Joe Strummer, Walking Away, NYC – 1978
28 x 36 cm B&W Silver Gelatin Fiber Base photo print

In addition we’ve been covering and enjoying the Ray Lowry exhibition the last few days (just check recent posts) which continues its run in London. Two extra things I wanted to add – a special poster for the exhibition is available at the gallery for just £5, I’m inquiring as to whether it can be shipped. In addition there will be a silent auction of the contributed pieces from the exhibit on July 1st – more details of that to follow.

As for non Clash news…the budget announced in the UK was in equal measure disheartening and exactly as expected. A spending plan based on corporations’ needs with the naive hope that somehow a sinking EU economy will by British exports. Meanwhile inflation is kicking in and the public sector are either looking at a pay freeze or other cutbacks. If ever a new Clash was needed in England…the poor get it in the teeth as usual.

On a final note…have you heard the track below? Mick with Ellen Foley. Should this have made it onto Sandinista! ??

More soon – Tim

Friday night then…well done the lot of you for making it through another week. I must say its nice to be back blogging again, I feel like I’ve had an off-season and ready to challenge for the league title again after we get through some pre-season friendlies. One of the best things about the Clash Blog is the assistance, ideas and comments from you who drop by and read the blog. While I welcome all readers I find it amusing to come back to find that something I wrote last August about The Stranglers still seems to be pissing people off (see comments at end of the post). Point being if JJ Burnell ceased claiming to have invented The Clash I’d have no provocation in the first place. It sounds a bit like a soon to be divorced former US Vice-President claiming to have invented the internet, further complicated by the apparent will of Stranglers fans to believe this nonsense. While not wishing to turn this into the anti-Stranglers blog I do find this old chestnut fun to revisit. Some people love The Stranglers, some people love The Clash and I’m sure many of you reading this like both bands to varying degrees. What I don’t buy into is that an old keyboard based pack of pub-rockers from the wilds of Surrey were Joe Strummer’s blueprint for what The Clash went on to accomplish. Though it makes for bloody funny reading all the same. Now while I always try and run an uncensored blog if you come in to the party like an uncivilized yob steamed on cheap lager and wanting to fight everyone (and I consider my readers my guests) it just reeks of arseholeness, at the end of the day its my blog and I’ll take my chances by saying you sound like a complete imbecile…I’m a huge fan of well-positioned arguments and persuasive debate (see some of the earlier comments on that same post) but “The Clash were utter piss” doesn’t really open the door to much dialogue does it?  Anyway enough of that.

I know for some of us the next 4 weeks might be dominated by the World Cup and while next weekend sees England play the USA, do you have plans for the following Friday night? If not and you happen to be in or near London this might be worth jumping on the tube for. The location is Westminster Reference Library (just off Leicester Square) and its a bookish sort of night, but don’t let that put you off. On Friday June 18th from 630pm-800pm former Clash roadie and author Johnny Green will be reading from his book ‘A Riot of Our Own’ and answering questions about his days with The Clash. The book is a great read – and is still in publication and available to the best of my knowledge. If you’re able to make it along I encourage it, it seems reservations are needed so:

To book a place, please telephone: 020 7641 5250 or email referencelibrarywc2@westminster.gov.uk

Link to the event is here (scroll down) and directions to the venue are here.

Don’t you ever wish you were a bit older in 1975 (maybe not…I don’t know how old you are, although I’m sure The Stranglers never wish that). Well I sometimes do as my only major Clash related regret is not having been about 16 in 1976 and able to follow the band from the very beginning. Steve Levine was of age back then, though he might not be a name you know. He started working with CBS as a tape operator in 1975 and went on to work with The Jam, XTC and The Vibrators though most relevantly to us he was on hand during the making of the debut Clash album early in 1977. Thirty five years on he still is very involved in the industry and this article about him on CaliforniaChronicle.com is well worth a read.

Final thought — I’m beginning to feel very sad about being so far away from this years Glastonbury festival and unable to attend with the thought of missing Mick Jones and Paul Simonon on stage as part of Gorillaz. To rub salt in the wound I just saw the list of headliners at the rather brilliant left-field tent that same weekend at Glastonbury. The three nights are headed respectively by Carl Barat (Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things), Billy Bragg, and Paul Heaton (Housemartins, The Beautiful South). If you are in England and plan to go can we swap places that weekend?

I just finished reading Russell Brand’s ‘My Booky Wook’ – and yeah I find him bloody funny although the book shows what a selfish sod he was until he sobered up around 2002, not coincidentally his career took off very soon after. A good piece on him in today’s Guardian.

Cheers for dropping by – I’ll be back over the weekend.

Good Evening All, welcome to the weekend and The Clash Blog. I’ve just recovered from Arsenal drawing Barcelona in the European Cup (more 80′s lingo for you) and decided we have to beat them to win it, so it may as well be now.

Right, so hot on the heels of the brilliant Don Letts interview  (see previous post) I’ve cleaned out my inbox of Clash/Strummer/Strummerville related topics coming from the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and wanted to share the goodies with you. I’ll warn you now that this is a bit of a linkfest but I wanted to get you up to speed.

First up from the music blog ‘The Riverfront Times’ is a review of the first night of the festival in the rain which of course featured Strummerville’s first showcase or ‘The British Music Embassy’. A well written piece though you’ll need to jump through the first few pages to get to the meat of the feature. There was definitely some sad symbolism with Alex Chilton passing on the first night, especially as I didn’t learn until the next day that an appearance by Big Star was actually scheduled for the festival tomorrow. That’s really sad. On a brighter note, there are rumours that a festival of this scope (more than 1,500 bands this year – can you imagine??) is being looked at for the UK – although a location is undetermined. London and Manchester see too obvious, but something smaller such as Oxford or Brighton might be better ideas…or Sheffield? God know…but it would be great to have a UK equivalent. This just in, Big Star will still play in tribute at the festival without Alex Chilton.

Next I found an interview on Spinner with Nat Jenkins who is closely supported by Strummerville. His folk(ish) sound I’m pretty partial to and its interesting to hear his thoughts about The Clash. Check out ‘Spit’ via this link, you’d never guess he was from London. While on Spinner I also saw their video of Rogue Wave who are at the festival, a truly brilliant band that you should check out…I’ll have to remember to blog about them at a later date. Great band to see live, though that rhythm section need to see a barber post haste.

A good (if brief) article on the Wayne Kramer/Billy Bragg led trip to a local prison on Tuesday of this week on behalf of the Jail Guitar Doors initiative. Tonight in Austin is the official opening event for JGD USA – best of luck to them, I think the artwork (on the right) is rather brilliant.

Nice interview with Pablo Cook from Los Mondo Bongo in the Bournemouth paper about the band and of course Joe Strummer. Speaking of which they are playing London on Sunday night, that should be a good turn out. Bournemouth would be a nice town for SXSW*UK come to think of it, I had a few cider filled nights as a late teen on the beaches in Bournemouth I must confess. There’s nowhere else quite like it, its like the south of France without the French, or wine, or good food.

“He’d spend hours at the back of gigs talking to people after shows and he’d always make sure everyone had a chair and everyone had a drink. We’d book into fancy hotels and end up building campfires outside and sitting there talking it all out – that’s when the work took place, between the hours of 11 and five in the morning.”           Pablo Cook speaking about Joe Strummer

“Help Save The Youth of America” seems a good way to end tonight’s post – so with that said enjoy some Bragg on the Strummerville stage from the other night. I’ll be back soon, cheers for your visit.