Cheers for coming back to the blog / finding it for the first time. What is it about lists and when did that trainspotting tendency become something for public consumption? Growing up there were two lists I always looked out for – my older brother would always put together a mix tape – yes we used to have to put on a record, hit play+ record+pause on our cassette deck cue up the song and hope your index finger jabbed that pause button at the optimum moment. Too long and the extra second of silence (with a bit of hiss) would ruin the flow of the tape, too late and introduction of the song might be cut off for half a beat. If you were my brother neither happened, he had it down to a science plus the dual sound meters so he could get the recording level just right thus eliminating those annoying highs and lows. Anyway each year he’d tot up his best singles from the year, note the time on each and convert his knowledge into the best 90 minutes of music you could ask for. On a more professional level by the time as about 12-13 I became aware of John Peel’s festive 50. The NME would always publish the final version and you’d measure your own credibility against his 50 tracks. I think I peaked round about 1985 when I probably had 34 or 35 of Peel’s 50 for the year, probably not coincidentally I worked in a record shop at the time so our discount would take about a quid off of the price of a 12″ single.

I’ve continued/bastardised my brother’s habit and managed to list my own top 10 albums just about every year since about 1981 and it makes me laugh when I look back now at those lists. I’d meant to write this evening about a few lists The Clash have just appeared on but I’ll save that for the weekend – the results aren’t satisfying to me so I’m likely to vent and today seems such a nice day otherwise. What has also made me defer is those John Peel lists, I had it in my head that although he introduced me to much that I like I don’t seem to recall him having much time for The Clash. Unlike so many bands they never recorded a session for him – but nor were The Clash mad about radio’s treatment of them from the very beginning. I do wonder whether the band were ever invited to record a peel session? If you know for certain please write in. My memory though isn’t correct which probably means I started be more aware of John Peel round about 1980.

In 1977 The Clash were number 9 on his top 50 with Complete Control – worth noting is the Sex Pistols highest song was number 11. Considering it was the year when punk really broke commercially its interesting to note Peels Top 10 consisted of two tracks by The Motors and some Neil Young. The Clash also made number 27 with White Riot that same year.

In 1978 Peel really did endorse The Clash with Complete Control (again!?) in the top 10 but much higher as the number 2 song of the year in addition White Man in Hammersmith Palais was 7th for the year. At 15 White Riot and at 23 Police and Thieves. Its interesting to note Peel had songs that were by then over 18 months old making his end of year list – I’m fairly certain that wasn’t typical.

In ‘79 the four tracks I’ve already mentioned appeared on the festive 50 occupying slots 3,5,26 and 49. Interestingly nothing from Give ‘em Enough Rope made it and of course London Calling was released at the time he’d have been making the list. Also 1979 saw more first generation punk records than the prior two years – is it possible that John Peel was a bit behind the times (unlikely) or did the list answer more to the wants of the audience?

1980 saw The Clash appear four more times – adding Bankrobber to the chosen tracks, 1981 saw two nods and Combat Rock brought 3 tracks to his list in 1982. My understanding was voting for tracks began further into the 1980’s but based on these lists I’m now not so sure. The same website gives an overall weighted ranking score for Peel’s favourite bands and while its no shock to see The Fall, The Wedding Present and The Smiths take the top 3 slots I was pleased to see The Clash in at number 17. Much as I love and miss John Peel I always thought there was some bias against bands from London and The Southeast – that might be valid as The Clash are the highest band on that weighted list from my part of England, while fully half of the 16 bands above are from Manchester, Sheffield or Leeds (and surrounds). Either way thank you John Peel and my brother David for making me as prone to make lists as the next person.

More over the weekend including some lists I hope, come on Holland!

*** additional insight below from a visitor Steve N *** (really useful)

Good post and I know exactly what you mean about lists.

Re Peel and The Clash, they were asked to record a session for Peel in 1978 I think, but Mick was going through one of his perfectionist stages and the session over ran and they ran out of time. Peel was always a bit pissed off about this and thereafter never had much time for The Clash. I think this is all documented in Johnny Green’s  book as he says that Joe always regretted not getting it together to do the session. I remember hearing him play ‘White Man’  in 1979 and then sardonically saying on the lead out ‘The Clash, turning rebellion into money there’, so he obviously didn’t have much time for them then. I remember him playing ‘Pressure Drop’ alot when ‘English Civil War’ single came out as well, saying he thought it was much better than the A side.

The Festive 50 tracks were never chosen by Peel, they were voted by the listeners firstly as their top 3 tracks of all time, then after he got bored of the same tracks reaching the top spots, he changed the criteria to the top 3 tracks of the year (in early 80’s I think). He used to get quite grumpy with the lack of some of his favourite tracks either not making it or being too far down the list as I remember, so he was always scrupously honest.

Hello again and welcome back to the blog, hope things are as you left them. I must confess that half the time I sit down and know exactly what I’m going to write about, another 45% of the time I’ve a rough idea and improvise accordingly and then about once a month I do this. Just sit and see what comes out and if it’s not awful leave it as a post. There are actually a number of topics I could and should be covering but didn’t feel like doing the research and getting my points in order so hopefully the resultant offering will keep you engaged until the bottom of the post.

What I do have however is a nice pot of fresh coffee…its Fresh and Easy’s organic Columbian blend if you are interested. If you are not in California/Nevada or Arizona (so chances are) you’ll not know Fresh and Easy yet. I was excited when they opened here…owned by (Nicky) Tescos they’ve opened up a line of mini supermarkets in these parts with the emphasis being on Fresh and Easy. Unlike most US supermarkets you don’t need a compass to find your way round nor lose an hour of your life to pick up a salad and some fresh fruit. Its really rather nice and no need for checkout staff either so one less inane conversation for me to face daily. It’s so small that there would be no chance of getting lost in the supermarket. Being English owned I hoped that they’d be full of Twiglets, Toffee Crisps and Tizer but to date all I’ve found is Bisto. Anyway…very nice coffee.

Billy Bragg, 1984

With that said I’ve got a topic too – actually the first part of a two part conversation. I’ve worked out from your comments and memories that perhaps 60% of the readers of the blog are my age (42) or older – so like me you were a teen or older when The Clash ended. When I say The Clash ended to me it was essentially Sep 1983 – at the time Mick Jones was removed from the band. I realise the band pushed on without Mick for another few years but lets use late 1983 as a benchmark. So speaking to the readers who were into music at that time, buying records and cassettes and seeing concerts – what did you do in 1984-1986? I’m assuming (hoping) that The Clash were amongst your favourite bands when they split up and that may be part of the reason you’re visiting the blog. I know some people almost disowned the band after London Calling or earlier but hopefully that would be the minority. What new or existing bands picked up the slack for you after the demise of The Clash? The mid 1980’s were all over the place musically as post punk was morphing into something altogether more accessible and successful.’College Rock’ as it became known in the States was there for the more seasoned listener when new wave became just too hip around 1984.

I ask the question as I was tidying my CD collection as usual the other day. In turn I was reflecting on what I listened to most immediately after the demise of The Clash. Funnily enough with the exception of Big Audio Dynamite none of what I was into was vaguely similar to The Clash – almost as if I accepted that the torch was out for the time being. Looking back at the more recognized artists I listened to makes for the reading of someone who would try anything out.

From the USA – R.E.M.  Talking Heads and The Violent Femmes would have been most prevalent things I listened to. In England it was a bit of everything and anything – older bands like XTC, Echo and The Bunnymen and The Cure (up to The Head on The Door) kept me interested and I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to leaping headlong into The Smiths. As a live band they were just what a 17 year old ordered and as a love-sick teenager the angst filled lyrics made you laugh or cry dependent on your mood. With that said I think the three bands/artists that I played most and saw most frequently from 84-87 were Billy Bragg, James and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Three very different acts but in each case I thought (on their earlier recordings) far more inspiring live than recorded.

Billy Bragg was seemingly channeling Strummer in those earliest shows and songs. Tagged immediately as a protest singer I could sense the

The Jesus and Mary Chain....amazing at first

audience was full of Clash fans wanting to share Billy’s fury with the state of England. James couldn’t have been further removed from The Clash, at times sounding inspired by old bands on the Scottish Postcard label such as The Fire Engines, at other times by medieval English folk; James were a frantic and simply odd proposition on stage – led by the mental dancing of Tim Booth. I was lucky enough to be at a number of the earliest London appearances of The Jesus and Mary Chain….a twenty five minute set of ear splitting noise captured the energy of the room and shunted it back into the dark streets. Great great times.

There’s so many other bands from that era who made an impact with me ~ The Redskins, The Fall, Felt, (early) Chumbawumba, Felt, The Housemartins, The Woodentops, New Order, The Pale Fountains, Aztec Camera, The Cult, New Model Army. The records I bought and gigs I attended dominated the years more poignantly than anything else going on in my life at the time (sad eh?). But I’m curious as to what you listened to post-Clash…what made you stand up and take notice? I also want to know more about how it is discovering The Clash ‘after the fact’ – but that’s another post for another day.

I know I missed The Clash terribly, I also know they helped shape me into giving almost anything a try – what more could you ask for? John Peel was a surrogate Dad too!  So did you move on to stuff like this or another vein entirely? Thanks for stopping by…we found a story and the coffee was lovely!

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James on the Whistle Test – 1985

Good Evening and thanks for stopping by the blog. Its just ticked on over to Saturday as I write this at the end of a quite brutal 48 hours ~ complete with 48 thrills. Our house is falling down, the clash blogettes ex is a pathetic lunatic and I broke an E string on my guitar. Tomorrow will be better I’m sure of it. So let me try again to share some news cos I owe you that.

Thanks to Prince Blanco who is the man behind the Shatter The Hotel project for sending me a great article I wanted to share. Mark dug out this piece from the SourceMag.net about the ‘West London Rock and Roll Tour’ which heavily features The Clash. London as you’d expect is literally full to the rafters with locations relevant to Clash fans or in truth music fans of all persuasions. When I was younger I used to frequently have to drive past the tree where Marc Bolan lost his life and sing (out of key of course) a bit of Telegram Sam, you just feel the history around you. The article is a good introduction to places connected with Clash folklore but the list is endless, I might need to expand on that as an idea within the blog. I’ve always loved to visit pubs, clubs and music venues armed with a bit of knowledge about the history of the place, it just adds to the enjoyment. West London naturally is crawling with Clash points of interest from the squats occupied by Joe right through to Acton Town Hall where he played one last time on stage with Mick Jones. It wasn’t coincidence that I lived in West London throughout my twenties, I’ve always preferred North London but felt a need to be in Clash territory.

South by Southwest has rolled out of Austin for another year and for Clash fans it was the most relevant event yet. Jail Guitar Doors USA got an introduction, Strummerville had music showcases to promote the mission (and the acts) associated with the charity, and the premiere of the Don Letts documentary about Strummerville was unveiled. On that topic don’t forget to send in any questions you have for me to ask Trish Whelan the charity director of Strummerville who I’ll be interviewing for the blog in the very near future, additional details are right here. I’ll put aside some time this weekend to tie up the loose ends of SXSW, for the time being can I recommend a fantastic article written by friend of the blog Cathey who made it to Austin and wrote her account of events from a very Clashcentric perspective. She’s a great writer and her piece made me kick myself in the arse once again for not being there to share a pint and enjoy the festivities. Best of all it served as a reminder that great music didn’t stop in 1978, 1982, 1996 (I’ve heard all the arguments) but that it continues every single day – we just have to perhaps look a bit harder than before to find it as we lose our John Peels and Joe Strummers who served as our guides.

A quick favour if you have five minutes and enjoy the blog? Seems we’re nominated for “best pop culture blog” and I’d love if you can cast a quick vote. Apparently its quite painless if you can visit this site and choose ‘pop culture blogs’ from the left hand margin you should fine me. Thanks ~

I’ll be back after what I hope is another Arsenal win in a few hours with more stuff ~ have a splendid weekend and cheers for stopping by. Emancipate yourselves!

Tim