Good evening from a soggy and pleasantly cold Arizona. Almost makes me think of winter today and definitely has me reflecting on the fact that 31 years ago today (or more likely tomorrow by the time I get this written and posted) I acquired my copy of the only triple album I’ve ever owned - Sandinista! Last year we were all drawn in to the rumour and then soft confirmation that a 30th anniversary special Legacy edition of the 4th Clash album was going to surface with added ‘rare’ material. Speculation was rife that we’d get unreleased tracks or better still an excellent live document of the band circa 1980/1.  However more than a year later that ship has obviously now sailed with Sony confirming it wasn’t to be. Perhaps the 35th anniversary will see the vaults finally opened up.

I mentioned it on Facebook today (the anniversary) and it led to some good discussion as to the merits of the album which are worth a look. As I wrote there I remember clearly buying it on release and being a bit confused, a bit shocked and rather annoyed that this wasn’t The Clash as I knew them or at least expected. I was only 13 at the time and if you asked me then or even a few years later I would have placed Sandinista! as my least favourite Clash album (excluding Cut The Crap – different parameters altogether). As the years rolled by and my maturity arrived the album was revisited time and time again, instead of my initial feeling of five or six good songs, there were suddenly a dozen. A few years later more than half the album was obviously brilliant and by the time the 90′s rolled around I realised that most of the album was excellent – one of the most ambitious, challenging and bold records ever made. You can argue that it’s not the best Clash album but it may well be the most interesting and certainly contains some of Joe’s best lyrics. Beyond all that remember how quickly it was made and so soon after the brilliance of London Calling, also think of how many new barriers were broken down in particular by Mick and Topper. The band released 55 songs plus Bankrobber within 12 months, unheard of output. Brilliant stuff indeed, at a later time we’ll try and determine the best Clash albums whilst remembering there are no wrong answers. Happy anniversary then to Sandinista! and its far reaching, sometimes ugly beauty – an album that will last a lifetime.

Image courtesy WrongEmBoyo

Sorry for the brief detour there, I owe it to myself and to you to share a few more guest contributions about the Justice Tonight tour, specifically the final night in Glasgow which ended everything on quite a high. Glasgow as you all know holds it place high in the list of cities with Clash lore and with that, great affection for the band. There are a number of rumours/quotes doing the rounds about whether this concept might be revisited in 2012 and whilst I naturally have no inside track on that knowledge I’ll say only that many rumours concerning Mick Jones in the last few years have come to fruition. We’ve just been through the most active 3 years Mick has seen since I don’t when, the early 90′s I’d guess. I hope that doesn’t signal the end of that spell but only Mick knows what he’s doing next – what is apparent is that he is thoroughly enjoying playing live. Glasgow then; please join me in thanking Geoff (via Martin who provided us with his summaries of London and Liverpool) for the overview beneath:

Based on the Liverpool start time we arrived at 8.20 only to find The Farm ending their set with All Together Now. Pete Wylie then launched straight away into his set of: Come Back, Better Scream, The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies, Story of the Blues (with a neat little segued start of Drift Away as a tribute to Dobie Gray who passed away this week) Heart as big as Liverpool and ended with Sinful. I Have to say I was really impressed with his set, fantastic sound and vocals (despite the ‘hometown hangover’ from the previous evening) ably backed up by Joe, Paul and co Mick then took centre stage sharing vocal duties with Pete and James Allan from Glasvegas.

As a side note James Allan was a footballer playing in the Scottish lower leagues including Queens Park (not QPR). (ClashBlog ed: that’s news to me, but then again so is the overall interest in Glasvegas, looking a bit like Joe doesn’t make you Joe).

Immediate set after Pete Wylie was: Train in Vain/Stand by me, Stay Free, Clampdown, White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) – which is James Allan’s favourite Clash track. Then we went into a short break forJustice Tonight speeches and a single Glasvegas song – Daddy’s Gone. This was followed by the return of Mick and Co for Bankrobber, Armagideon Time, Should I Stay or Should I Go and London Calling before launching into All Together Now, at the conclusion Mick shouts ‘see you next time’.

Hmmmm wonder if he meant as B.A.D. who were brilliant earlier this year at the same venue or another cause that is deserving of the Clash set. Either and I’d be happy, just keep getting on stage, Mick. They left the stage to ‘make way for the disco’ only for them to return with Janie Jones. Disappointingly a fair number had left immediately after or during ATN. Another reason you should never leave before the final whistle. (Eds note: Anfield ’89) They’ll never be the same without Joe though I’m sure he’d have approved of the cause. Despite having mixed emotions as I did when the Skids reunited without Stuart Adamson I’d rather see Mick and Paul belting out Clash songs than some tribute band. More please……

Image courtesy mckingv on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/44867841@N02/

Thanks so much for that, a great review I thought cheers Geoff. I also have another short summary from Murray which I liked, he may be a bit more forthright than some but just remember opinions about music are simply that and everyone is entitled to one. After all you’ve been digesting mine for the better part of three years now. Does he like Glasvegas? Read along and find out:

The Farm – I never bought into that baggie nonsense the first time round and other than Altogether Now this just washed over me. Pete Wylie was brilliant, a greatest hits set worthy of the price of admission. The Clash set was great, better than I’d imagined. They took a break and the guitarist and singer from Glasvegas got on to do “Daddy’s Gone” – their one great song it seems ! He didnt get the best reception, while he was havin trouble plugging in the guy next to me was repeatedly yelling “you are a wank” at the top of his voice to much laughter around. He’d maybe win a Joe Strummer lookalike competition, but he was struggling with Bankrobber, fluffing the lines he had to read off the page, but then Strummer was always prone to fluffing lines so maybe it was some kind of homage ! or maybe the event was just too much for him. The night ended with John Robb taking a mic to the crowd for Janie Jones. Good fun and by what Mick was saying onstage I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again sometime ….

 Thanks for that Murray, I can just hear a Glaswegian punter shouting that at James Allan in my head. Made me laugh I’ll confess, but as a guest I think he merited more class or am I getting soft? Right then I’ve got to go and drive with the lunatics in the rain this morning but please join me in thanking our guest reviewers for taking the time to write. Speaking of John Robb – his tour blog on Louder than War has been exceptional from the first night in Cardiff and provides so much insight you’d be a fool to miss it so please check that out. I’ll be back during the week, things are going to be hectic around here for the next six weeks as it looks like ClashBlog towers will shortly be relocating to new accommodations in California (more on that soon) but I want to keep up the momentum on the blog – we’ve had an exceptional number of visits over the last month for which I thank you and if you ever want to help our your humble blogger there’s a small banner ad over on the right. Thanks so much to those who already have. Also remember you can keep up to date by  Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed which will see the blog sent to you directly. Cheers – Tim

Good evening and thanks for landing on this site once again or perhaps welcome for the first time, bookmark me in that case as there is a lot to be said. I wanted to start with an invitation tonight – if you’ve ever wanted to write about The Clash whether it is the influence of the band on your life, a favourite concert or memory or simply your thoughts about a song or an album please submit it to the blog. Sometimes I  worry if my somewhat opinionated and Lond0n-centric view of the band gets a bit old and I do want the blog to be as inclusive as possible and share all sorts of viewpoints. Your submission doesn’t have to be solely about The Clash but should link to them in some way ideally. I don’t need you have the writing ability of a Thomas Hardy or the photographic skills of a Bob Gruen – just a love for your subject matter and the desire to be ‘published’. Ideally 350+ words will get things rolling. If you are interested please get in touch and we can talk.

For tonight I realised that it’s been ages since I had a scan around the internet to see what interesting/daft/unique or rare Clash items were on sale. It’s less than seven weeks until Christmas so I thought it a good time to note some ideas for Clash nuts in your life or gently infer to the people who love you that you’d love to see this or that in your stocking.

A few weeks ago I featured the piece of art on the left created by Amy Hood of Hoodzpah. I understand that you don’t expect to see Joe Strummer with such an avian amigo but what makes this such a nice piece of art is the fact that it’s been uniquely created by Amy and I think her interpretation of Joe is brilliant. Learn more about the piece via this link, what I didn’t know when I wrote about it previously was that a limited edition of 50 would be going on sale. The price is (I think) a reasonable $20 and here’s the link to Etsy if you want to grab one. You also will probably enjoy the development phases of drawing Joe’s face which is featured on the initial link above.

Clash drink coasters (drink mats!) – yes I want these. I like a good cup of tea, mug of coffee and the occasional pale ale and I take more pride than I should in having a good mug or glass to consume it from. I’ve also got a bad habit of leaving said vessel on top of a nearby CD case rather than mark the desk or coffee table. A solution at last! Here’s the specifications (yes it’s remarkable that Cut The Crap is one of the four, perhaps that’s for American beer?): “Drink coasters made from 4.25″ cream colored ceramic tiles. Classic rock or jazz or other album artwork is laminated on top. They come in sets of 4. They have protective felt on bottoms so they don’t scratch anything.” $29 and they can be yours, if you need my address to send me a set just ask.

Zombie Clash Skeleton destroying bass. Yes, more than a bit odd but if you like this sort of thing then perhaps it might go perfectly with the rest of your London Calling collection. I’m not made keen on it though it’s an improvement on Mickey Mouse taking a rodent turn on Paul Simonon’s famed angry moment with his instrument in New York back in 1979. I’m sure you’ve seen that if not go and look it up. Here are the details: “Each skeleton is made by hand from steel (1:9 scale), and stands approximately 8″ tall if welded upright. Depending on the pose the final sculpture may be taller or shorter than 8″. I cut the parts individually to allow for different posing options as I weld them together. The photograph is of the first one I made in that pose. If it has sold, I will make another in the same pose, but it may turn our slightly different. They are not finished with any paint or clear coat and if left outside, will eventually rust. ” Available via this link at a price of $59 if you fancy..

Lots more to come in the weeks ahead I’ll surely find something you can put under the tree. I’m going to have to go and create some dinner now as I’m starving. Until next time you can follow the blog  via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed  thanks for reading and circulating the blog all over the place. Tim

The Clash Cup (noun) 1. An online vote by of some of the most knowledgeable fans of The Clash ever assembled in one place (that’s you) aimed ultimately to determine the best 32,16 and 8 Clash songs ever recorded.

The concept is as simple as the execution of course and may I remind you that all of the pairings that I need you to vote on are created entirely at random. The polls only have three rules, they are open for five days, every vote matters as the best runners up in terms of total percentage are eligible to remain the competition and you can only vote once so please make your decision carefully. We’ve been doing this for a long time and I know the intervals between voting have been too long, long enough to suggest I’d be better equipped to run the political system of a banana republic than any sort of online voting system but its been a year of resolutions for me and another is to get The Clash Cup back on track – starting tonight.

We’re currently in round two and before introducing the songs I’d appreciate you voting on it would be time to look back at the result of our last gathering which took place quite some time ago, it was a close vote and an all Sandinista! affair.

The Street Parade defeated Broadway 35-27

Two strong songs that both exhibited a style that The Clash had never really experimented with prior to the fourth album and both provide good evidence of the quality of songs ‘tucked away’ on that triple album. I’d suggest just with hindsight that if either song were on Combat Rock instead it would be considered amongst the best songs of the album. The setting of Sandinista! in it’s extravagant 36 song breadth sometimes makes you forget how many great Clash songs were on there. While it won’t quite (today, for me) make the category of ‘best Clash album’ I still think it has aged the best and holds excellent lasting appeal. The Street Parade winning shocked me a little as I thought Broadway would edge a very close vote. Tell me I’m wrong but I think Street Parade has taken on a more elegant or special place since the death of Joe Strummer. It has for me but there’s no reason to assume it did for you.

Let’s get straight down to business with the next pair and please forgive me for the shorter than usual pre-match festivities but I’m knackered tonight. The random number generator is buzzing away so let’s see what we have:

Clash Cup Round 2 Match 17

Living in Fame versus This is England

Quite an interesting pairing and if memory serves (or I could just double check) This is England is the only song from the last Clash album to make it into round two, which probably surprises only a small minority of you. I’ve a feeling that through the randomness of the draw that it will make it through to round three now as well. Both songs however will have their fans but there are many who say that famous line that ‘This is England” was the last great Clash song, whether enough people feel that way to see it make the final sixteen remains to be seen. I’m not one of them, in fact I think Living in Fame is a song I’ve returned to more frequently in the intervening years. I should profess though that I’m not in a position to be as objective as I should be about The Clash Mark II, without Mick Jones or Topper Headon I struggle still to hear them as the same band but I appreciate that’s only one opinion.

Form Book

Round 1 – Living in Fame squeaked past The Harder They Come with 51% of the vote

Round 1 – This is England beat Version City with 67% of the vote

So neither song had especially impressive wins in round one, particularly the former so it might be a vote of attrition. I’m never sure how these things turn out but the first round round results suggest Living in Fame may struggle to get 30% of the vote. I hope it is a lot closer than that.

Stuff

The cynic in me would probably include This is England in what I plan to do later – The (post) Clash Cup which would throw together B.A.D., Joe’s solo work, Carbon Silicon, Mescaleros and assorted bits although I’m not sure how confusing the prospect might be. Although it would be interesting I think. This is England to be fair does have some wonderful lyrics but I can’t get far beyond the production and drum machine. Living in Fame, what can I say? How many ‘rock’ bands have not just good but close to excellent dub versions of their songs appearing on albums? I actually like Living in Fame as much as If Music Could Talk and I hope it (along with other tracks) destroys any concept that The Clash just plugged into dub music and stole a few ideas. Clash sound sweeter. (RIP Mikey Dread)

Before you vote I usually link to a few versions to get you in the mood although I don’t think it’s needed with these two as much. Living in Fame with cool photos by Albert Watson then — here you go. This is England sounds better as a demo and without drums, here’s the proof. I do like that version. Thanks in advance for your voting and careful consideration, there will be no coalition governments on this blog.

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