John Peel and his favourite record

Hello again, it’s lunchtime on the last day of the decade and I wasn’t sure what to write about today. This being a slow time of year for news so perhaps I should reflect a bit. I passed a mirror today and thought I’m looking old and then got nervy about ten years from now its hardly going to get better is it?

Not intentionally ending the decade on a sour note I thought it was a suitable time to reflect on some of the artists that we’ve lost this decade. I’m 42 now and most of the punk/post punk musicians I grew up listening to are somewhere in the 47-59 age group and based on that we shouldn’t have lost so many of these musicians so soon. Naturally this strikes a chord especially with fans of the Clash with Joe Strummer passing away at just 50 years of age but there are so many others. With that said – a chance to look backwards at those that influenced my youth. Obviously this list is by no means comprehensive….but was my list of influences. I’m sure I’ll add to this when I go through my record collection!

Hoping you have a safe and excellent New Years eve and a positive year in 2010.

2000

Kirsty MacColl – Still miss her voice

Ian Dury – …genius

2001

Joey Ramone – Aged just 49

Stuart Adamson – The Skids, Big Country

Bryan Gregory – The Cramps

David Rocastle – Not a musician but his passing at age 34 impacted me greatly, born 90 days before me.

2002

Joe Strummer – Strummerville keeps the man with us

Dee Dee Ramone – Overdosed in Los Angeles at 51

Mary Hansen – Stereolab, tragic accident riding her bike in London

2003

Elliott Smith – If you don’t own his records…you should

2004

John Peel – So influential and what a lovely bloke

Robert  Quine – Richard Hell and Voidods

Johnny Ramone – Couldn’t believe this one….sadly cancer

2005

Derrick Plourde – Drummer with Lagwagon and many other bands

Stevo – The Vandals

Paul Hester  -Split Enz and Crowded House

2006

Nikki Sudden – Swell Maps plus the Jacobites. A fascinating bloke

Arthur Lee – If you don’t like Love (60′s band) you don’t like music….

Desmond Dekker – No Desmond, No Ska?

G W McLennan – Devastating, I think the Go Betweens are one of the greatest bands ever

2007

Brent Lyles – Social Distortion and Agent Orange

Paul Fox – The Ruts

2008

Levi Stubbs – Four Tops (personal favourite)

Bo Diddley – In the beginning there was Bo

2009

Lux Interior – The Cramps

Les Paul – No explanation needed

Margaret Thatcher – wishful thinking…there’s still time….

Good Evening Clash people, can you believe you’ll be heading into a new decade in just a short while? Bloody madness if you ask me, I spoke to a friend about that yesterday and I said “Only a few more decades to go then” to which he replied “Hopefully” – optimism…what optimism? I was reflecting about where we were at 10 years ago and in many terms it seems it may have been better or perhaps that’s just a sign of me aging. So at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old sod I thought I’d pen my top ten list of why 1999 was better than 2009 according to this Clash fan. In order then:

TOP TEN REASONS NEW YEARS EVE WAS BETTER IN 1999 THAN 2009

10. Getting on a commercial airliner was easier and preferable to visiting the dentist

9. Reality TV was understood to be too shit to ever get any attention

8.  Subversive paranoia about other cultures, nations, religions and races was considered to be paranoia – not a mainstream view

7. Our biggest concern was what were our computers going to do at midnight, as opposed to a global recession and ongoing wars

6. Lower Manhattan still looked the way it always did

5. People actually went to record shops and purchased music

4. Pop Star / X Factor / American Idol and Simon Cowell were not phrases people discussed (nor on TV)

3. John Peel was still alive and bringing us brilliant new music on a regular basis

2. Mobile/Cell Phones were used to make and receive calls….exclusively……

1. Joe Strummer was alive and well, touring and recording

More news tomorrow….

Newspapers and Records...very 1900's

Best Clash song ever? Well we know 2 more that it won’t be as a result of these votes:

Match 3 – Lightning Strikes beat Crooked Beat 21-11

Match 4 – Cheapskates strolled past Idle in the Kangaroo Court 27-4

I can’t say the first result was a shock but I thought it would be closer. Cheapskates (a dark horse for the top 16) convincingly defeated a real long shot. Thanks for all of your votes. Now back to the random number machine, and if you’re new to the site and wonder what this is all about the background info is all here for you.

Now what’s next then? You’ll have until Saturday to choose two from these four.

Look Here vs    Kingston Advice

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Jimmy Jazz vs    If Music Could Talk

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What’s with all the Sandinista! songs? Naturally enough that will happen when you put out a triple album but it seems like we’re getting rather a lot. On a personal note the four above represent one of my favourite Clash songs and definitely one of my least preferred. Over the span of the first 5 Clash albums there is only one track I still routinely skip and it’s up above but I’ll keep quiet.

So, what we do got…

Look Here - A jazzy stroll by the band that somehow wasn’t out of place on Sandinista, nor on a Stan Kenton LP. Another cover version but few people would pull out the name of the writer under pressure for it was Mose Allison, most famous for penning a song by The Who …can you name it?

Kingston Advice - I bloody well love this song…from the vocal effects to the bass line and the first crash of guitar coming in along with Mick’s extra vocals. Plus they sing ‘must be a clash’ mid song. Even the middle break is inventive, I’d love to hear a demo or session version of this..is there one? What more do you want from a song buried on a triple album? Great lyrics, yep it has those also.

Jimmy Jazz – One of the first songs I had to teach myself on guitar. A great little riff and some of my favourite Joe lyrics and deliveries. I especially love the live version I’ve linked from Jersey in 79 (?). Joe - ‘who said no birds will sing’

If Music Could Talk – Let’s establish a few things. This is one of the greatest titles for a song ever….I’ve always thought so and always will. Also, when I first heard this I would have been trying to find the Clash I already knew (I would have been 13) and not finding it on much of Sandinista. As the years rolled by you learn more about music, and a song like this will infect you. Finally, people overlook so many Clash songs as their standards were so high but this song sounds fresh today and still worthwhile (to these ears).

Right then you’ve met the contenders, all you’ve got to do is click. Please write some words to me for Joe Strummer’s 57th birthday – it’s the least we should do. Speaking of…this man who put candles in all dark places would have been 70 next week. Thank you John Peel.