Here we are again, one of the few times where you can put complete faith in democracy. The only requirement is that you be a Clash fan and have an interest in helping the blog determine the best Clash songs of all time. If it’s your first visit – it couldn’t be easier – we started with over 160 Clash songs and at random they compete against each other. One vote per visitor per pairing and the winners continue til we reach the last 16. This is still round one (nearly complete) and you’ll see the round of 64 kick off next week. For now though some results must be reviewed with you:

Tommy Gun defeats Wrong ‘em Boyo 31  -   14

1977 defeats Dirty Punk 44  –   1

No shocks there really as Tommy Gun rolls on but by a narrower margin that I’d have guessed. Who voted for Dirty Punk? Was it intentional? Right then let’s see what the next four look like – as ever more info is below and I look forward to your very careful use of your mouse.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Three Card Trick – It is another moment of post Mick Clash we have to assess. In terms of ‘respect’ it’s one of the few from Cut The Crap that seems to have a few fans. I’m not one of them but to be fair it’s not a dreadful song. That said it won’t win.

48 Hours - One of those songs that takes me right back to my first hearing of the song as a 12 year old. After my first Clash exposure in late ’78 to GTER being able to get the debut album immediately thereafter was nirvana for me. Needless to say 12 months later London Calling was released – no wonder I was a Clash devotee. 48 hours – all the evidence needed that a song can clock in at under 1:50 and still be immaculate.

Lose This Skin - Guest vocals by old Strummer cohort Tymon Dogg make this track as atypical of a Clash song as it gets. As a kid I’d tell my non-clash friends that the vocals were by the geyser from Rush, it worked a treat. Musically it was a rollercoaster of styles and brilliant drumming. A song that will make a non-Clash fan guess for hours – still a great party trick I enjoy. It did get a revival with Joe and The Mescaleros also!

Time Is Tight - When it comes to cover versions were The Clash lucky or simply genius? Not sure but on recorded evidence a bit of both. Here’s a song that they couldn’t even imprint with the vocal styling of Mick and Joe and still it’s just magnificent. I think it’s one of my favourite Clash songs for the car. Original was of course by Booker T and the MG’s – if you saw the Clash perform the song live you might be lying or a statistical rarity as they apparently only ever played it once.

So there you have it – 4 songs that we must slice down to 2. You have until Sunday morning to make your decisions for which I thank you in advance.

Tim

Evening all, our determined march to find the best ever Clash song marches on. We’ve sent over 30 songs to the suburbs and are getting closer to our final 64. Voting daily you help me decide which Clash song proceeds onward to the next round – I’ve got a fresh 4 to share in a minute and will include extra information beneath but first some earlier results. If this is your first visit to the blog get involved – we need your votes too!

Living in Fame defeats The Harder They Come 19  -  18

Broadway defeats Do It Now 32  -  3

That first result was exciting to watch as Living in Fame was trailing by a vote or two almost right til the end. It’s the tightest match up we’ve seen so far and was that close to ending all square.  In the other contest, it really wasn’t one was it? Right four new ones – cast your eyes below (click on titles for audio):

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Cheat - Something from the early days to get your teeth into. A late addition to the debut album and a song that was recorded on the last weekend session. Fast frantic and full of the speed induced energy

Overpowered By Funk - Another Combat Rock song and so far I’ve seen mixed (mostly weak) results from CR tracks. This seems to be a Clash song that brings out love or hate from most fans. I’ve changed my mind a few times over the years but it was an innovative idea for 1982. I still enjoy Topper’s percussion on this an awful lot.

This Is England - I clearly remember this single coming out, and although the sleeve was a bit tacky and I’d decided this was blasphemy due to the lack of Mick Jones this was a decent song, better than decent really. The electronic drums were a detraction but Joe sounded good and I even raised my expectations for the forthcoming album. That was short lived as Cut the Crap was a travesty in Clash terms.

Version City - This song probably needed an easier draw than the one above to get through to the next round. That said my ‘prediction rate’ for this round has probably been about 80% so there are shocks to be seen. I actually have a hard time describing this song so just click and play.

Thanks for your votes – you’ve got until Tuesday am to sort these four out.

Tim

Good Morning Clash Fans….glad it’s the weekend though no idea why I’m awake at this hour. I was looking at doing some lofty writing but it’ll have to wait. Though I do need to get the blog on track this week as there are a series of interviews to orchestrate and announce I’ve found myself a bit buried with other stuff so bear with me. I’ll get through a few batches of The Clash Cup this weekend, I’ve updated the Cut The Crap page and I need to update Global a Go Go as the US/UK battle remains tense! (see above links)

For now though I wanted to write a bit about Facebook and The Clash. Facebook as you surely know is the social media site that allows you to build a profile, add friends, vent about the weather or the government and essentially create an online micro world that for some people can replace their own lives. You have to limit your time on there as it can create a time vacuum that eats an entire evening. That said it’s a good place for music in general and to shout from the treetops that you love The Clash, or Goodfellas, or even Ribena. All options are covered. It’s (naturally) a really good source for current bands and issues etc and I have found it useful for networking for the Clash Blog. I also like it as a ‘free’ way to keep in contact with friends across the world without the formality of email.

I thought I’d quickly focus on some Clash related ‘pages’ and point you toward them if you are a facebooker.

1. TheClashBlog page - coming soon…I’ve delayed this and for the time being you can add me here (as some of you have) but I’ll have the FB profile for the blog up soon.

2. The Clash page – 316,026 Fans.

Overview: Very global is the best thing I can say about it. It’s obviously run by Sony as the profile image (from the thousands available) is the cover of “Live at Shea” - I mean come on, if you have to revert to an album cover at least make it a classic. The page is not well maintained and lacks much useful source information. For example it lists 5 albums, all released this decade so the aim is simply payola. The Clash lists its members as including Rob Harper, Pete Howard, Nick Sheppard, Vince White so while accurate it a bit of a stretch.

Video – nothing special, 5 tracks you’ve all seen before.

Audio - see video. no effort made.

Photos - (usually a strength on facebook) this page offers 4 (four!) photos of the band. I find that appalling

Activity - Naturally enough with 300k plus ‘fans’ the comments section is pretty active but not terribly so considering the population. A very weak FB page especially when you realise what it could/should be.

3. The Clash (unofficial) page – 6,371 fans

This is far more like it, a page that would actually make you think that Facebook has some merit. This is a page run by fans and with fans in mind, the complete opposite of the effort by Sony. Lots of time and effort has been made getting the page up and running and (unlike the former) it’s one I check every now and then. Topics, videos and ideas are all there to be explored; nice job.

Video – 4 videos, one of which is kind of cool a short audio snippet with Joe Strummer sounds like it was taken in a pub and Joe sounds like its getting near closing time.

Stuff - 17 discussion topics ranging from ‘best live show’ to ‘best bass lines’ – worth some time. Wall posts are fairly active – again shows the global appeal of the band.

Audio -nothing found

Photos - 160+ and a fair few worth looking at, some pretty decent stuff.

Activity - Not great but more interesting than the ‘official’ effort and some potential.

4. THE CLASH (French) – 400 fans

I see a good bit of traffic to the blog from France and The Clash enjoyed significant support from across the channel. The facebook page is nice to see and has a few videos and photos. Worth a trip I’d say, nes’t pas.

5. London Calling – 132 fans

This also appears to be French. Nothing more than a track listing, a few (8) videos from the album and not much more. Maybe it’s a new one?

6. Paul Simonon – 2,199 fans

Nice to see a Paul page, and not a bad one at that. A few good photos, a nice bio and an active wall makes it worth a visit.

7. What about Paul Simonon!? – 408 fans

For a small fan base this is a great page. Good bio info, even a bit of Havana 3am and TGTBaTQ for extra depth. Lots of recent activity, discussion topics and a general good level of interactivity. 125 photos including the well dodgy speedo image. (go and see)

Right…there lots more of this to come and needless to say not all of it good! Stay tuned.