Hello again and thanks for dropping back in to the blog. A thoroughly average weekend here but I’ll take calm over chaos for the time being at least – did I mention Arsenal are top of the league? Well yes…they are and thanks for noticing! I saw some more good news today about the reissue of a film on DVD but unfortunately it won’t be available for the holiday (if you celebrate that holiday) but it will be available for January 11 if you can wait that long….of course you can!!

Punk: Attitude is a documentary by Don Letts which was originally released in 2005 and I didn’t get to see it at the time. Like many music DVDs it only enjoyed a short time on the shelves and quickly became out of print. The film looked at the origins of punk and the attitude behind it – according to reviews at the time where the film really succeeds is not looking at the spiky hair and clothing that came later it really looks at the origins of the scene as a social/political statement. Tracing the rise of the scene on both sides of the Atlantic the film explores the recollections of literally dozens of key members of the bands and scene. Some complain that the film glosses over the 1980′s but there was more than enough ground to cover from 1975-1979 I would imagine. Even politics weren’t at the heart of what was originally punk but the artistic aspect coupled with a reaction to social constrictions was often the baseline for the music. In London as you probably know the scene was truly tiny in 1976, the fashion aspect was critical (DIY) and the scene was very overtly gay friendly (or indifferent…more of an asexual statement) in its earlier forms. The Letts film spends time looking at the origins from the 1960′s and doesn’t pretend punk just appeared overnight in CBGB’s or along the Kings Road. It also features a fair ratio of Clash/Sex Pistols but from what I can tell casts the net much wider than that acknowledging the wider contribution of so many other bands.

The film features archive footage and interviews spliced together with present day interviews (well 2005 anyway) and although a hugely ambitious undertaking almost every review I’ve found was uniformly positive. Of course you can’t please everyone and cover every artist but Letts had a good go – but for example those passionate about the Los Angeles scene felt it was overlooked. Those interviewed in quantity run into the many dozens but some key names include Jello Biafra, Chrissie Hynde, Jim Jarmusch, David Johansen, Mick Jones, Wayne Kramer, Glen Matlock, Legs McNeil, Thurston Moore, Tommy Ramone, Henry Rollins, Captain Sensible, Paul Simonon and Siouxsie Sioux.

The two-disc special reissue contains lots of (what I understand to be) new extras and is available to preorder for $16.98 in the States – Amazon.co.uk don’t show an advance order option yet but I assume it will be forthcoming. If you already own a copy and want to share your overall thoughts jump right in with your comments below. I’ll be back in the afternoon….

Good evening and welcome back to the Clash Blog. Tonight’s post has the potential to be either terribly good news or even disastrous depending on how well it’s administered but either way it’s probably as predictable a piece of news as any I’ve read recently (that would include the royal wedding).

I’m sure like many of you, I’ve spent a lot of time wondering when the next Clash or Joe Strummer film would be made. To date since Joe’s death we’ve had ‘The Future is Unwritten‘ and ‘Let’s Rock Again‘ which compiled actual footage and interviews both with Joe and those who knew him. The documentary style lends itself well to the story of the Clash and was probably most effective in Don Letts’ “Westway to the World” but I always expected that eventually a dramatised biopic would be in the works especially since that concept has become far more popular during the last decade. The most prominent examples in recent years may well be ‘Control’ about Ian Curtis and Joy Division. It now seems the wait is over as a full and frank biopic about the life of Joe Strummer is in the works. The producer was behind the recent Ian Dury film.

I’ll take the news as optimistically as possible, if it’s well written and balanced and casts the right balance in portraying the complexities of Joe’s character and achievements it could well be a fantastic film which emphasises the importance of The Clash and Joe beyond the music that was made. On the other hand if the screenplay leans towards the short sharp version and the depth of critical people in Joe’s life may become understated or unexplored a simplistic version of Strummer could appear on screen. I think it’s absolutely crucial that people who really knew Joe well such as other members of the band, Bernie Rhodes, Chris Salewicz, Tymon, Baker, Johnny Green, Lucinda and Gabby are each interviewed to lend more layers and depth to the person that Joe actually was. It’s also important (if possible to capture in a two-hour film) to explore the many and very different phases that Joe went through including some very difficult times. There’s already been so much written about his life and The Clash that a major risk for Paul Viragh as the screenwriter would be to simply lean on what already exists.

To some degree unless it’s completely perfect the film is sure to be found as having faults as many of us will know more about Joe than the film intends to reveal in the first place. Add to that the casting of the main characters and I’m sure we’ll all have a few moans and groans collectively. Before you even get beyond the members of The Clash who on earth could possibly play Joe Strummer? There is that chap from Glasvegas if he can just ditch his Glaswegian accent I suppose, but I think it will probably be better and far more likely that relative unknowns are cast to best play not just Joe but many of the other characters who are already larger than life due to the time they spent in The Clash.

As a project though I think it’s entirely overdue and I hope it can give measured and proper treatment to the subject at hand, let’s just say if 75% of you reading this end up very satisfied with the finished article then the film would have to be called a success. Speaking of what the film is going to be called the rumors are that the working title is “Joe Public” and while I understand the source I think it would be a crap choice. Just call the film ‘Strummer’ and be done with it – you know it makes sense.

There is no confirmed date for shooting or even casting at this time so the chances run that it could be quite a while before we see or learn more and also the inevitable chance that the project gets shelved. I’ll be sure to share more as and when I learn about it. I’d like to play a journalist in the film if possible, perhaps Nick Kent if I can grow my hair in time. Have a good one – Tim

Just the briefest of updates from me this afternoon and primarily because I haven’t yet had the opportunity to sit and watch just what I wanted to share with you. You may recall about 2 1/2 weeks ago I informed those of you in the UK or with Channel 4 via satellite that the three-part documentary made by Don Letts/Strummerville focusing on Strummerville eventsS so far this year be aired over the following three weeks. At that time like many of you outside of the broadcasting region lamented the fact that we were unable to see it, terrestrial television rights still sometimes apply on the Internet and almost all programs broadcast in the UK can’t be seen far afield unless somebody uploads them to Vimeo would Youtube. This would be a good time to thank whichever good people constantly upload episodes of Have I Got News For You / Never Mind the Buzzcocks / Mock The Week and many others, it’s a reminder that television can be entertaining which is something that’s easy to forget living in the states. Anyway, that’s off topic, my point is that Strummerville (wonderful people that they are) have solved our overseas viewing quandary for us.

If you jump on over to the Strummerville site today you can watch episode one in its entirety online, plus they also promised episode two and three will follow in the days ahead. Episode one features Rum Shebeen and The Riff Raff. I believe that episode three only aired in the UK this week so there may be some delay due broadcast rights or legalities for all that I know. I want to make sure you all get a chance to watch it, plus I think it’s wonderful that British television picked up on the series in the first place. I still remember being a little kid and having three channels to pick from, each of which typically went off the air before midnight and BBC2 had that test card (as pictured on the left) up for most of the afternoon anyway unless there were sheep dog trials or some such nonsense being broadcast. If you get to view it (Strummerville, not the test card) before I do please add your comments below for the benefit of one and all. Thanks for dropping in, I’ll be back soon. Tim (if you like the post please share via Facebook, twitter, wikio or bugging the people you sit next to at work…)