If anyone perfects a really good dream recorder please contact me via the usual channels. I don’t dream very often and my dreams are almost always variations of things that have really happened to me. Today though I had a catnap (old man..I know) and within that nap I dreamed something surreal for once. I was sitting on a British Rail train in what felt like the 70’s/80’s – I could tell by the style carriage and those windows you used to have to slide down to open the compartment on the carriage and that really awful blue striped fabric that used to be  on the trains that ran up to Liverpool Street. As befits my often misfiling mind I remember more about the carriage than the only  occupant who was in there with me that was a circa 1979 Joe Strummer. We were both smoking and complaining about how stupid it was that we weren’t allowed to smoke (?? right??) and lamenting the fact that we didn’t have a clue what to do when we arrived  ‘up in London’. At no point did I address the fact that he was Joe Strummer of The Clash nor he the fact that I was  whoever I was, though I’m sure I was me. The moments fled by and he said he’d probably ‘head up to Camden and see what was going on’ and I mumbled something about that making good sense, we then entered a tunnel and the train shuddered and I woke up…here on my sofa. Bollocks….I wanted to know if was going to take me along for a night of excitement of getting stuck in a Wimpy wondering what to do next. Maybe I shouldn’t eat sugar so late at night.

Joe Strummer a few years after the train journey that wasn't

Glad that’s off of my chest I now feel much better and ready for an action packed edition of ‘Westway Traffic’ where I do my best to cover some of the various bits of Clash related news that is popping up on the internet. If you care to stay we’ll get started then.

Gorillaz Tickets for US Tour: My understanding is that most tickets go on sale a week from today on August 6th. I’ll confess right that I’ve never been a fan of sit down venues to see any act nor any venue that holds more than a 2,500 people where possible. That said I won’t get another chance in the near future to see these particular two chaps on stage any time soon so I’ll break both codes. Ticket prices…not cheap by any means but no more than I expected. Available via the two headed monster that is now Ticketmaster and Live Nation. They should become masternation with the recent purchase it sounds oh so inviting.

Syria concert sends people buzzing: This is (nearly) worth a read although the comments quickly spiral into a fuel of hatred. Seems that Gorillaz playing in Syria was not seen as a positive thing at all too many and that it’s part of a higher morality being enacted by Damon Albarn on behalf of all the ‘left-leading Guardian readers’ (not my words) who relish in the mundane sounds of Albarn and co. I took the concert at face value as being partly his way of thanking the Syrian National Orchestra for the contribution on the newest disc and also as a statement to warm relations between the West (or even simply the UK?) and Syria. Instead its viewed as an anti-Israeli statement by some which while I understand the perception I don’t think that was the statement being made. Can’t music be a unifying force these days? I still hope so.

Paul Simonon lookalike needed: I know lads, we all think if we suck in our cheeks and look menacing we can pull that off…or at least we did once. On the other hand I’ve noticed that Simonon pictures on the blog seem to have their very own fanclub developing a shrine somewhere in the wilds of central Texas. Actually the link is a indie film project that seeks a Simmo lookalike for a ‘non speaking role’. I think someone is looking for the most original dating idea of the year. We should email and see how good the response was in Fort Collins. Surely if you’re a ringer for Simonon you know who he is and yet the listing has 3 photos – just in case!

Nice Tribute to Joe: I really liked this chaps (Lobo Jones, New York) piece about his introduction to The Clash as a youngster and the slowly growing impact of the band and especially Joe on his life. I’ll never tire of hearing how The Clash made a difference to people in different ways which are all linked. I especially liked this words below which I must borrow:

Strummer had a way speaking that made you want to get up, get out and do something. The rhythm and the cadence of his speech held pure unfiltered passion.

Joe did have a great style of delivery, I’ve always thought so and it really did add more gravity to what he said, onstage or on camera. I always imagined him saying he was going down to get the paper and some milk would somehow seem to be the words of a revolutionary.

There’s so much more on the newsfeeds but it’s really humid here tonight and I don’t think I’ve got much left in the tank. I noticed that Westway needs to happen twice a week to keep current so I’ll move in that direction very soon. Talk to you at the weekend.

Monday indeed…and yes it seemed like one all over the place today. Testy people in the petrol station, dogs barking at the wind and even the usually mild mannered cat of the house was in a bit of a strop. Get over it – its nothing more than a day of the week. I wasn’t subscribing to it until the postman came, while he did have his usual assortment of bills and pizza coupons he also had to his credit a kind gift from a Clash blog reader (Thanks again Michael!), what he didn’t have was my Clash themed license plate for the car! Again! Perhaps (and knowing Arizona it might be) prison inmates still do bash out car plates on rocks in the hot sun here? In either case the state needs to have my plate here by Friday or I’ll just add a Rancid sticker to the back of the car. When the cop pulls me over and I explain its in lieu of The Clash I’m sure he’ll understand. Can I blog from jail?

I was going to launch into a filthy tirade about the extended and annoying delay to the notice of Gorillaz tour dates for the US (you grow up and you calm down), to me it seems that they’ve already annoyed people in mainland Europe by canceling shows (you start wearing the blue and brown) and frustrated those in the UK by rescheduling dates and now are taking the Mick pun intended by stalling on the US dates and/or somewhat confirming some. Its creating a buzz I suppose but I don’t really think its necessary nor overall a positive thing. I wonder if Damon is calling the shots or they simply are trying to coordinate some venues that work best with the calendar? So I’ll relent from a tirade I suppose but I’m not impressed really. On the other hand there is also some good/cool news from .5C/G

In keeping with the tradition of all that can be genre defining and global about the best artists they played a unique show in Damascus Syria this week. Of course Damascus isn’t on the tour schedule for most touring hip bands, in fact according to the report on the BBC today it was the first time a major British act has played in Damascus. The concert itself carried some political overtones  which might be best left to the expert analysts – but in a sense playing in a country that’s being squeezed out by Western culture reminds me of Billy Bragg going play concerts in what was then East Germany and the USSR in the 1980’s to try and bring the two cultures a little closer together and raise awareness. Here’s a link to the BBC feature and a few snippets from Damon Albarn are below, visit for the photo of an pretty unhappy looking Simonon if nothing else. I wonder that was said right before that photo was taken?

“By virtue of being the first big western act to arrive in Damascus I think hopefully that’s the beginning of a dialogue, and that in itself is meaningful for Syria as a whole.” and explaining the album title: “I think the world is becoming like a plastic beach. It’s not a prediction, it’s something that exists now. We’ve got to accept that it’s got to be cool to recycle.”

OK back tomorrow with more Clash centric pondering and hopefully some tour dates. I also have to write up my thoughts on the special anniversary This is Big Audio Dynamite legacy edition in the days ahead. It’s such a great record. Thanks for dropping in as ever, if you learn more about this and that share it with us all. Cheers – Tim

Hello my friends, sorry for the delay since the last post. It wasn’t because Holland lost the World Cup but more due to me feeling like a betrayed lib-dem voter with a stomach bug these last 48 hours. However huge congratulations to Spain who (just about) deserved to win the World Cup despite doing their best impression of Arsenal circa 1991-94 by winning each game by a dull scoreline of one-nil. I’m thrilled for Cesc Fabregas but also the many readers to the blog from Spain. What does it feel like?? I was born after England won their only World Cup in 1966 so I can’t relate to be honest. Spanish Bombs, ¡¡ rock the province !! and your upside down exclamation marks too ¡¡

Its going to be a very hectic week here at Clashblog HQ so you’ll be relieved to know I’ll be short and sweet with posts over the next few days until things get a bit nearer to normal round here. Until recently I never knew just how strong two sets of opinions were amongst you fine readers. The two topics for debate are as follows:

• Statements that five (5) bad photographs of Paul Simonon do not exist. I beg to differ and the blog will vindicate me
• Being a member of The Clash means having a great haircut is ‘understood’. The jury is out on that one but we can debate of course

Just the quickest link tonight and if you’re not a fan of Gorillaz and more specifically Paul and Mick’s participation with said band I suggest you check out one of the other 400 posts on the blog. But before you go I wanted to share the news of two sad losses over the last few days which won’t be covered in great depth which is a pity.

We say goodbye and thanks to Reggae great Sugar Minott who died unexpectedly at the weekend at the age of just 54. If you are not familiar set aside some time and just enjoy his voice ~ a link is here to his obituary in The Guardian.

My Achilles heel when it comes to music is the 1960’s – I’ve simply had too much to get through from the mid 1970’s onwards. With the possible exceptions of The Who, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, The Byrds and Love you’re going to beat me every time if we played 60’s music trivia. (I might sneak a few points if Motown was up for debate) With that said I’m told that The Fugs were very important in the underground scene of that era – founder member Tuli Kupferberg passed away this week at the age of 86, a touching story is here from the L.A. Times.

Now then…Gorillaz….I wanted to include the two clips below and links to others for two very good reasons. These are the best clips I’ve yet to see so where we can get a good up close look at our two Clash men. All prior footage has been either in concert of cut and edit TV appearances, this video really lets you watch their interaction with Damon but more enjoyably one another. Equally worthy is the fact that these are really really raw versions of tracks from Plastic Beach, versions that do let you hear Paul’s bass and Mick’s guitar work. Sounding much more spartan and demo than the album and live tracks these bring a whole new dimension (to my ears anyway). Hope to get back with you tomorrow or Thursday at the latest – thanks for dropping in. ¡¡¡¡ CLICK THE IMAGES BELOW TO PLAY !!

On Melancholy Hill / AOL Sessions (click image to play)

Glitter Freeze (click image to play)