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'

Monday..that’s alright, midsummer’s day and all that. This was the longest day of the year it would appear, remember as a little kid staying out in June until 930-1000 at night when home time was limited to sunset? It felt like all the laws of conventional childhood freedom had been broken just due to the rotation of the planet, anarchy couldn’t be far off until we realised that the sunset would be back to 830pm in another month or so. But yeah it was all about the possibilities when you were seven…not that we did much…started fires, built rafts to float on ponds and found daring shortcuts on footpaths that weren’t public. Just what am I on about? Yes…midsummer – Glastonbury is nigh and I’m sure that will dominate proceedings the next week or so along with hopefully numerous reports from the field.

Speaking of big festivals The Clash *with Mick, essentially bowed out with their biggest ever concert at the US Festival in Southern California in 1983. Not the best event ever, the whole buildup was fraught with tension over appearance fees (and where to donate them) combined with inner friction which showed that the huge ascendancy of the band which had already seen Topper booted out was perched to cause more chaos. The US Festival didn’t cause The Clash to self destruct but it is certainly the symbolic moment when Mick and Joe weren’t on the same wavelength any more and this was to prove the case in more detail when they returned to London. So here’s what I want to know – how can a huge festival 27 years ago finally reveal a life performance that’s causing a buzz in Clash circles as the full version of London Calling is seen for the first time in its entirety? Funnily enough I hear from people all the time who’ve seen The Clash in small towns and famous gigs from the earliest days through to the The Clash Cut The Crap lineup but I never hear from people who were at the US Festival. Surely some of you are out there…if so what memories do you have of that night?

So back to the video (below) and what do we have? A UFO, but of course, opens up proceedings and then Joe making a nice little introduction about something for the centuries (to come). Mick Jones actually standing within 5 feet of him at the beginning and then off doing his own thing for the rest of the song. Paul another 40 feet to the right going through the song methodically, I hate big stages and then of course Joe. Lyrics in the wrong order, missed verses, missed lines but getting it back together for last third of the song. London Calling performed live seemed to have the lyrics routinely messed up by Joe, far more than any other song that springs to mind. I’ve no idea why. The audio is pretty good, and the camera angles suggest this was ‘officially’ recorded, the video quality is very good although it only heightens the appearance of a band that were by that time pretty fractured.

I just want to know just where these tapes sat for over a quarter of a century?

Have a lovely night ~ lots more tomorrow.

Tim

Hello again ~ hope your day was pleasant and the world is treating you in a decent fashion. Not much news from the desert, the inevitable heat and lack of clouds have arrived a bit like a boorish drunk coming late to a party and determined to make up for lost time. Its mildly odd returning to the blog after the extended break as I’m forced to look in the past to move forward so I’ll ask your patience as I’m sure to link to stories that are old hat to you in the days ahead or natter endlessly about topics that you are tired of already.

Quite a few significant things have passed in the world of The Clash during our ‘lockout’ from the blog. Rumours of scab action publishing a cut the crapesque version of the blog with Bernie Rhodes telling me what to write each day are unfounded. In fact Bernie Rhodes is all too often cited as the reason for all things negative with The Clash which is a telescopic view at best, many are too quick to overlook just how important he was in the creation of the band and the identity they adopted. One of those missed events was the release on DVD of the Don Letts film about Strummerville on May 31st – a landmark event for the foundation and further chronicling of The Clash. As of yet I’ve not seen the film but it gathered a really healthy swell of goodwill and good reviews during screenings and I’m sure all serious Clash fans will want a copy. How nice it was for me just getting the blog back into first gear to receive a ‘welcome back’ message from Strummerville and a reminder that the timing was good…hence the DVD…hence me writing about it tonight!

The link to preview the film at Strummerville is here - and you can purchase it here. The DVD is just £10.00 and as far as I can tell this would not be an ‘all regions’ DVD. Can anyone confirm that for me? I don’t want you having it shipped to Detroit or Damascus only to find it won’t play on your DVD player. Also note – this is the exclusive venue to purchase the DVD so if you see it down at Camden Market this weekend its not legitimate and funds don’t go to Strummerville!

As I said I’ve got to catch up with email along with Clash news so if I owe you a reply sorry, I will get caught up this weekend. We’ve got a lot to cover soon – especially that Gorillaz / Glastonbury event. An idea posted over on the facebook page has got me thinking about how things aligned to make that happen and I’ll write more about that this weekend. Speaking of Facebook – our Clashblog page now has in excess of 700 fans (!!) so thank you all, if you haven’t followed the page please do as I often link more Clash stuff there and we all chat a bit more. I decided this afternoon that we need to get to 1,000 fans before Joe Strummers Birthday. So invite your friends as we need to add 290 people before late August. It can be done! The link is over on the right hand side…that would be over there ——>

Two other quick things worthy of a quick read if you have time and then I’ll let you return to your dinner/breakfast/lager: Firstly I enjoyed this quick semi-sentimental look at Joe Strummer from the Grand Junction Free Press (of all places!). Then this is a great read – an interview with Mark E Smith of The Fall about his involvement with a World Cup 2010 song in The Independent. Since I was about 13 I’ve swung from devotion back to indifference when it comes to The Fall, though at times they’ve made some great music with more lineup changes than a crappy West Ham side fighting relegation worries. Oh and to our many good friends in Italy….you lost to Mexico today! I just thought you should know.

Right then, thanks for paying a visit, I’ll pop through your online letterbox again this weekend. I’ll leave you with the new BP logo.

Tim