Hello again, it’s already Christmas Day in most of the world as I write this which leaves me with time to really just send a quick message out about the season. I remember music and Christmas going hand in hand as a kid/teen and young adult. November and December always seemed to be the very best months for tours as bands tended to get a last tour in to fill their coffers/promote their albums but that’s a hindsight view. I just recall there always being a good full schedule of gig going once the autumn came to an end. New Years eve too has some great memories – Madness, Billy Bragg, Big Audio Dynamite, Ride being amongst the bands who I saw on New Years Eve in London over the years.

Christmas 1979 sticks in the memory as I was thrilled that my brother guided the gift giving that year and I was the happy recipient of the recently released London Calling, The Specials first album and I do believe a calculator watch. I know that sentence tails off as it ends but I was just twelve years old. What I remember then from that point onward getting some new albums or blank tapes was the highlight of Christmas — creative gift giving may have climaxed with a band shirt or tickets for a gig as I got a bit older. I still have much of the earliest vinyl I was ever given which takes me back to long ago.  My brother (in those days a bigger music collector than myself…he worked..that helped) was the master of the mix tape in the 80′s and would spend a lot of time making a personal 90 minute tape for friends, girlfriend and I knew I’d arrived when I started getting one made for me too. I wish I still had those. But yeah weird memories, television specials, advent calendars, those Cadbury stockings with different chocolate bars, top of the pops specials, John Peel’s festive 50, waiting to see what would be Christmas number one, special editions of the NME and MM and later on family drama, escaping down the pub and counting the hours until boxing day football matches.

I see that a lot about ‘these days’ that is easier, more convenient, more options…but if you’re anywhere near my age I think you’ll agree that Christmas was much better in the 70′s and 80′s. As for The Clash…they never made a Christmas single, and I don’t even think the word even pops up as a lyric does it? Their most famous yuletide event being the warm up gig for the Concert for the People of Kampuchea that they did on Christmas Day 1979 for 50p – which we talked about last year on the blog. ***correction – Christmastime in Ho Chi Minh City – Straight To Hell ***

I’ve no great knowledge about the holidays or 2011…I do know it’s been a difficult year for many I know and I really hope something will give next year. However I do think we’ve (as a society) maybe lost the plot in the last decade plus — or maybe that’s bitterness when you hit my age? I’m not sure? I do think that we need to make some big changes though and I can’t pinpoint what that means for any of you of course. I just think its time for me to rattle a few more cages in 2011 and get out to see more bands, read more and make sure I don’t avoid difficult decisions. I know those are the ones that matter. Wherever you are have a peaceful and happy holiday – enjoy your friends and family – think of those who are alone or without – and toast those you’ve lost or are far away from. Sadly my family are all over the planet and not near me but that’s alright I’m a big boy now. Cheers though to my Mum who never stopped believing in me and has tolerated me landing so far from home and to my brother for filling my head with brilliant music in the first place. Thank you all for following the blog all year (or longer) and for the friendships we’ve formed – you make the whole process worthwhile.

Cheers -Tim

If you watch this below you’ll probably understand why The Clash never did ToTP – although it negatively impacted their chart success in the UK. The weekly BBC program was designed to (and did) help singles move up the charts for over 40 years – I think that The Clash were fairly unique in their refusal to appear on the show – particularly amongst ‘major’ acts. Trivia experts let me know!

The Beat – appearing on Top of The Pops, Christmas 1981

So that will be the late afternoon sunshine closing down another weekend then Clash fans? Another weekend consigned to the rubbish bin of history and a surprisingly early awareness of the holiday season rushing in. Late December used to mean time off work and John Peel’s festive countdown, now its straddled by the anniversary of the the loss of Joe Strummer and a reminder that we lost John Peel almost exactly two years later in 2004, both events slapped me in the face and said ‘you’re not getting

On stage in Glasgow during the recent Strummerville roadshow

any younger either’.  You may remember about a month ago I wrote this piece wondering where have all the protest singers gone – and while I didn’t suggest that none existed I just wondered why there wasn’t a loud voice or band making a full blown campaign against the overt rubbish that passes for governments and the collective indifference of youth who want more pop and less angst. I was happy to get a very reasonable reply from an artist who says not only are his band writing real protest songs in 2010 but to find them you’d need look no further than the Strummerville roster! I’ve been meaning to write more about other bands in general on the blog which has consistently been one of the best laid plans, but I also think listening to other stuff and better still introducing people to something new is fully in keeping with the legacy of The Clash not to mention interesting to listen to. So I’ll do more in that direction if you’re on board? Chances are if you’re in the UK you’ve seen them on the recent 3 part Strummerville documentary that’s been airing.

The contact was made by Chomsky (of Chomsky All-Stars) who explained that not only do protest songs still exist but that they are at the heart of the music of Chomsky Allstars and after putting some time aside to have a listen he’s entirely right. Rather than try and rewrite history – here’s a reproduction of  the official blurb about the band:

Part financed by the Strummerville charity, Chomsky Allstars’ debut album is a truly eclectic melting pot, featuring vocal cameos from Christy Moore, Drunken Balordi’s Billy King, Bob Marley biographer Chris Salewicz, notorious Scots rapper Eastborn, Noam Chomsky and even Mahatma Gandhi. The Glasgow band’s high-octane constellation of punk, blues, dance and dub has so far seen them feature on the internationally-acclaimed ‘Shatter The Hotel’ CD, headline both the London launch of the album and the Glasgow leg of the ‘Westway Round The UK’ tour and feature in Don Letts‘ ‘Strummerville’ documentary. Guitarist and lead singer Chomsky even provides guest vocals on the opening track of breakbeat legend Cut La Roc’s current album ‘Larger Than Life’, alongside Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. That song, ‘What Love Is’, is also included here. All ten tracks on ‘Rhyme, Treason & Rhythm’ are infused with infectious melodies and inspiring lyrics, from the opening anti-consumerist rocker ‘Disease Of Desire’ and the Afrobeat-inflected World Cup anthem ‘The Beautiful Gain’ through to long-time live favourite ‘The Big I Am’. Acoustic tracks are mixed seamlessly with the gritty eco-blues of ‘Bad Mood Rising’ and the sensual funk of ‘Give Us Peace’ to create a concoction best described as Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros meets Rick Rubin.

But let’s get you current with the band – the new album “Rhyme, Treason and Rhythm” should be available for download on Nov 14th but for the most current information please bookmark the Chomsky Allstars Myspace page where you can hear more songs. Getting back to my original point though, of protest songs and singers. I would encourage you to check out the lyrics to each of the songs currently available online, very notably ‘So Long’ which offers a less than warm farewell to Margaret Thatcher. You can download and listen to the track via this link. The impact of the former prime minister remains a source of great division in the UK and although twenty years have passed since she relinquished power the scars have yet to heal for many of us of a certain vintage. ‘Bad Moon Rising‘ is linked here and is a acerbic look at the BP oil spill. My favourite track that I’ve heard thus far is The Beautiful Gain that is linked in the official blurb above.

I hope that you take some time to give Chomsky Allstars a listen and keep up to date or get in touch with Chomsky via their facebook page as I’m sure he’d love to hear from you. In the weeks and months ahead we’ll look at many artists associated with Strummerville and also profile more new bands that I stumble upon or that you tell me about, especially if they have something to say. Cheers – I’ll speak with you Monday. Tim

Hello again, I trust that your Saturday went reasonably well and you are about to ease into a Sunday that it was equally pleasant. I must confess that I’ve had more enjoyable 24-hour cycles than the one that is just coming to an end, we kicked off on Friday night with continued drama of the dishonest and self-loathing variety which in a perfect world you wouldn’t have to endure…. but the bloggette has a past (don’t we all) that includes people with the grace of Mussolini and the integrity of Jimmy Swaggart. It makes for a lovely cocktail of inconsistencies and the sort of drama that should really be limited to daytime television. Nevertheless the sun went down and I woke up full of joy at the prospect of watching Arsenal playing in London against a team you expect to beat handsomely, you can probably gather how that went as well (2-3 win by WBA who thoroughly deserved it), but that wasn’t the icing on the cake….that was to come after the match.

An advert break followed the end of the game and I wasn’t looking at the screen but I heard the familiar opening of a song by Los Campesinos. My initial reaction was ‘brilliant to hear them early in the morning after that bloody match’ and I thought it was probably a preview for another segment, then I looked at my monitor and I saw that the track was being used to promote beer. Again not ideal but manageable until I realised that the beer was Budweiser. Could the day get any worse? It didn’t, but at that moment anything seemed possible. Don’t take this personally if you like Budweiser, I know some people actually drink it by choice, I also know some people like McDonalds, these are things I know but don’t necessarily understand. If you are going to drink beer why would you possibly choose something that tastes nothing like beer? Then to team up the product with a band who are amongst my favourites to emerge from the UK in recent years seemed offensive in the extreme. It’s a pity as you you won’t hear them on the radio or see them in the charts though I’m sure they got an advance from Anheuser-Busch unlike anything that CD sales in the US have generated for them, so I can just about understand the decision to license the music for such a shitty product. We’ve been here before though haven’t we?

While The Clash released five albums and a good number of singles (probably 12 or 13 without checking) during their existence they never cracked the very peak of the UK charts. There were multiple reasons for that of course some of which I’m sure you’ll know well, for starters their refusal to appear on ‘Top of the Pops’ in the UK was a huge factor. The band in their quest for full artistic control felt that (I tend to agree) going onto a program and having to lip sync was totally against what the band were about. I believe the reason this happened on the BBC was due to musicians union rights which impacted the program from most of the years that it was on the air. The problem being 99% of the competition would go to the BBC studios and benefit from the audience that watched the program every week. When I was growing up Top of the Pops was one of the most ritualistic events in our household, my brother would schedule his life around it and when you watch that 52 times a year from the earliest age you can remember it tends to rub off. Of course he wasn’t alone, it was the most influential television program for pop music in the UK and held that position without competition for decades. Clash singles would typically enter the charts somewhere between number 20 and 40 and might move up a few places and then stall and drop out the charts. Combined with the politics behind not appearing on the key music program was the fact that the band received very little radio support outside of the evening broadcast of John Peel. The singles never gained the momentum to become big hits.

I’m not sure I care that The Clash didn’t have a series of top 10 singles in the UK, I do think they merited it and more importantly it would’ve driven album sales much higher and perhaps improved the always difficult relationship with CBS records. That would’ve been the biggest benefit as a fan, that the artistic control and reduced pressure to tour/record/tour/record may have somehow led to the band overcoming the difficulties that ultimately caused them to end. Of course in 1982 they did experience huge success in North America, propelling a single (Rock The Casbah) and the album from which it was taken to the very highest reaches of the charts. This in a market that was more than six times the size of the UK, bringing in resultant attention, pressures and of course cash the like of which they never had seen. Not coincidentally the greatest success was rapidly followed by the bands shattering to bits.

All it took to reach number one was this 1991 advert in the UK

Yes, I mention we been here before and I think why the Los Campesinos song being used for ‘Bud’ seemed especially wrong was that the band is just a few years old, and very much in the middle or the early part of their career. I know the market and the industry has changed so much in the intervening years, but surely there thousands of products you’d rather be associated with? That is of course assuming they dislike the lager as much as most sane people. The Clash as you probably know had their biggest ever hit in the UK about eight years after Mick Jones left the band. I specifically remember being annoyed at the use of a Clash song for advertising, the fact that the song used wasn’t one of the 20 best tracks they recorded and the fact that due to slick marketing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” rocketed up the British charts with abandon. 20 years later and I’m still not thrilled that it was Levi’s that helped the band have a huge hit. Though I’ve subsequently heard ‘London Calling’ being used by Jaguar, ‘Pressure Drop’ by Nissan and I’m sure you can fill me in with other examples wherever you may live. Conversely I realize that the success of the single in 1991 may have led to more people being exposed to the band for the first time and discovering and enjoying all of the music as a result. The reissue climbed all the way to number one in March of 2001 for two weeks, therefore becoming by far the best selling single they ever had in the UK. I hope that most of those royalties went directly to the band and not the huge debt that they had run up with CBS Records. A debt that was greatly due to keeping ticket prices low if you wanted to see The Clash and releasing double and triple albums for the price of a single so you didn’t have to spend a fortune to get the music. Of course the vagaries and complexities of the contract they originally signed in 1977 ran much deeper than that, but I hope that one big single at least put cash in the pockets of the authors, I believe it did.

I’d love to know if any of you first heard The Clash due to that Levi’s advert in 1991? Surely that might apply to some of you, don’t be shy. At least it wasn’t for Budweiser. The rest of the day was great, I managed to catch up with someone that makes me realise what’s most important, and then played football tonight without breaking or twisting anything. That’s me done for now, I’ll talk to you soon. — I’m a criminal everywhere don’t you know — (my new tagline apparently)