Alright then, it’s blog time once more fresh from laughing so hard that my sides ache at the Iowa caucus. If you don’t live in the US (or pay attention to it) the election season here is the most protracted and tedious process on earth – the campaigns seemingly begin two years before the election and the media and many members of joe public just can’t get enough. It’s so much work to determine which fawning right wing fundamentalist (this time being the turn of the Republicans to find a new main man) will eventually lose the election in November. I’d really like to see people become more politically active but the popularity contest for President is so long and bizarre I can see why people often vote once and then give up. Perhaps this year will see something really change seeing as the world is an unqualified disaster here in the West….but then again. It’s a circus and if you don’t or never have lived in the States it’s hard to imagine something quite as odd/loud and tiring.

There’s been quite a bit of early season Clash news going on which I need to catch up on so to hasten that day let me continue my review of the most popular posts on the blog last year. So far we’ve covered January through to June so let’s get on with the next three months of the best of 2011.

July 2011 -

‘Covers and Anniversaries’ (July 4th)

For Americans July 4 seems to be a day to celebrate independence (from the UK who were taxing at a far lower rate than today incidentally…) but as you can see from this post last summer there is a more important anniversary to be celebrated than some old war. July 4th also mark the first official live appearance by The Clash which happened to have been 35 years to the day from the post above since that first gig up in Sheffield. A good post overall and worth a read as Billy Bragg defended his roots with The Clash and Joe Strummer whilst Vicky sent in some nice photos of B.A.D. who had just appeared at Glastonbury. Suddenly last summer seems ages ago.

August 2011 -

‘London’s Burning but this doesn’t deserve a Clash soundtrack’ (Aug 8th)

From time to time on the blog I can’t help but write about current events especially if I see it as impacting or somehow related to me or The Clash, either will do for the most part. I know the blog is ‘about the music’ by taking politics out of the equation for The Clash is a bit like playing football without goalkeepers. Naturally not everyone will agree with my politics either which is fine, you can comment and debate to your hearts content but for the most part you can blame The Clash or especially the lyrics of Joe Strummer for much of my interest in the subject in the first place.

Last August was bit different and will long be remembered for the week when the UK lost control as inner London, Manchester and other towns saw a mass outbreak of looting and arson. Rioting was loosely and inaccurately applied to the action in England but it all seemed a bit too opportunistic to me, which isn’t to say the youth should feel bloody helpless at the moment. They are at the bottom of the pile with a huge change taking place in the UK and elsewhere and subsidies that once looked set to last forever are being pulled away in the name of budgets. I expect we’ll see much more of the same this summer to come but my post was about how I didn’t see The Clash as being the most appropriate soundtrack to the events, the most obvious choice of course but typically taken by people who never took the time to study the lyrics of London’s Burning or White Riot. Anyway, I was very happy to see this was one of the most read posts of the summer.

August 2011 -

‘Orlando Bloom seeks to play Joe Strummer, world groans’ (September 7th)

Now there’s a headline worth rioting about. See….the blog isn’t just about politics, sometime we get offended by Hollywood gossip just as quickly and as offensive as this rumour was at least the post contains something enjoyable to read about Joe Strummer’s daughter Jazz. Like it or not 2012 might end up being the year of two Clash films, certainly one and perhaps both might see the cinema later this year and I’ve no doubt that speculation will mount as the projects near completion. I know the films have mixed opinions with many fearing the worst with both the London Calling film and the Joe Strummer biopic. I think the London Calling film has more potential and isn’t as ambitious but for now I’m hoping both films will be decent. Just remember, they aren’t being made for us but for very casual fans instead who won’t complain about Mick’s hair or the way Paul holds the bass in the movie versions.

Right then, I believe that is Friday night taken care of and I have a glass of white wine screaming my name so I better answer. Tim

Good evening from a soggy and pleasantly cold Arizona. Almost makes me think of winter today and definitely has me reflecting on the fact that 31 years ago today (or more likely tomorrow by the time I get this written and posted) I acquired my copy of the only triple album I’ve ever owned - Sandinista! Last year we were all drawn in to the rumour and then soft confirmation that a 30th anniversary special Legacy edition of the 4th Clash album was going to surface with added ‘rare’ material. Speculation was rife that we’d get unreleased tracks or better still an excellent live document of the band circa 1980/1.  However more than a year later that ship has obviously now sailed with Sony confirming it wasn’t to be. Perhaps the 35th anniversary will see the vaults finally opened up.

I mentioned it on Facebook today (the anniversary) and it led to some good discussion as to the merits of the album which are worth a look. As I wrote there I remember clearly buying it on release and being a bit confused, a bit shocked and rather annoyed that this wasn’t The Clash as I knew them or at least expected. I was only 13 at the time and if you asked me then or even a few years later I would have placed Sandinista! as my least favourite Clash album (excluding Cut The Crap – different parameters altogether). As the years rolled by and my maturity arrived the album was revisited time and time again, instead of my initial feeling of five or six good songs, there were suddenly a dozen. A few years later more than half the album was obviously brilliant and by the time the 90′s rolled around I realised that most of the album was excellent – one of the most ambitious, challenging and bold records ever made. You can argue that it’s not the best Clash album but it may well be the most interesting and certainly contains some of Joe’s best lyrics. Beyond all that remember how quickly it was made and so soon after the brilliance of London Calling, also think of how many new barriers were broken down in particular by Mick and Topper. The band released 55 songs plus Bankrobber within 12 months, unheard of output. Brilliant stuff indeed, at a later time we’ll try and determine the best Clash albums whilst remembering there are no wrong answers. Happy anniversary then to Sandinista! and its far reaching, sometimes ugly beauty – an album that will last a lifetime.

Image courtesy WrongEmBoyo

Sorry for the brief detour there, I owe it to myself and to you to share a few more guest contributions about the Justice Tonight tour, specifically the final night in Glasgow which ended everything on quite a high. Glasgow as you all know holds it place high in the list of cities with Clash lore and with that, great affection for the band. There are a number of rumours/quotes doing the rounds about whether this concept might be revisited in 2012 and whilst I naturally have no inside track on that knowledge I’ll say only that many rumours concerning Mick Jones in the last few years have come to fruition. We’ve just been through the most active 3 years Mick has seen since I don’t when, the early 90′s I’d guess. I hope that doesn’t signal the end of that spell but only Mick knows what he’s doing next – what is apparent is that he is thoroughly enjoying playing live. Glasgow then; please join me in thanking Geoff (via Martin who provided us with his summaries of London and Liverpool) for the overview beneath:

Based on the Liverpool start time we arrived at 8.20 only to find The Farm ending their set with All Together Now. Pete Wylie then launched straight away into his set of: Come Back, Better Scream, The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies, Story of the Blues (with a neat little segued start of Drift Away as a tribute to Dobie Gray who passed away this week) Heart as big as Liverpool and ended with Sinful. I Have to say I was really impressed with his set, fantastic sound and vocals (despite the ‘hometown hangover’ from the previous evening) ably backed up by Joe, Paul and co Mick then took centre stage sharing vocal duties with Pete and James Allan from Glasvegas.

As a side note James Allan was a footballer playing in the Scottish lower leagues including Queens Park (not QPR). (ClashBlog ed: that’s news to me, but then again so is the overall interest in Glasvegas, looking a bit like Joe doesn’t make you Joe).

Immediate set after Pete Wylie was: Train in Vain/Stand by me, Stay Free, Clampdown, White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) – which is James Allan’s favourite Clash track. Then we went into a short break forJustice Tonight speeches and a single Glasvegas song – Daddy’s Gone. This was followed by the return of Mick and Co for Bankrobber, Armagideon Time, Should I Stay or Should I Go and London Calling before launching into All Together Now, at the conclusion Mick shouts ‘see you next time’.

Hmmmm wonder if he meant as B.A.D. who were brilliant earlier this year at the same venue or another cause that is deserving of the Clash set. Either and I’d be happy, just keep getting on stage, Mick. They left the stage to ‘make way for the disco’ only for them to return with Janie Jones. Disappointingly a fair number had left immediately after or during ATN. Another reason you should never leave before the final whistle. (Eds note: Anfield ’89) They’ll never be the same without Joe though I’m sure he’d have approved of the cause. Despite having mixed emotions as I did when the Skids reunited without Stuart Adamson I’d rather see Mick and Paul belting out Clash songs than some tribute band. More please……

Image courtesy mckingv on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/44867841@N02/

Thanks so much for that, a great review I thought cheers Geoff. I also have another short summary from Murray which I liked, he may be a bit more forthright than some but just remember opinions about music are simply that and everyone is entitled to one. After all you’ve been digesting mine for the better part of three years now. Does he like Glasvegas? Read along and find out:

The Farm – I never bought into that baggie nonsense the first time round and other than Altogether Now this just washed over me. Pete Wylie was brilliant, a greatest hits set worthy of the price of admission. The Clash set was great, better than I’d imagined. They took a break and the guitarist and singer from Glasvegas got on to do “Daddy’s Gone” – their one great song it seems ! He didnt get the best reception, while he was havin trouble plugging in the guy next to me was repeatedly yelling “you are a wank” at the top of his voice to much laughter around. He’d maybe win a Joe Strummer lookalike competition, but he was struggling with Bankrobber, fluffing the lines he had to read off the page, but then Strummer was always prone to fluffing lines so maybe it was some kind of homage ! or maybe the event was just too much for him. The night ended with John Robb taking a mic to the crowd for Janie Jones. Good fun and by what Mick was saying onstage I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again sometime ….

 Thanks for that Murray, I can just hear a Glaswegian punter shouting that at James Allan in my head. Made me laugh I’ll confess, but as a guest I think he merited more class or am I getting soft? Right then I’ve got to go and drive with the lunatics in the rain this morning but please join me in thanking our guest reviewers for taking the time to write. Speaking of John Robb – his tour blog on Louder than War has been exceptional from the first night in Cardiff and provides so much insight you’d be a fool to miss it so please check that out. I’ll be back during the week, things are going to be hectic around here for the next six weeks as it looks like ClashBlog towers will shortly be relocating to new accommodations in California (more on that soon) but I want to keep up the momentum on the blog – we’ve had an exceptional number of visits over the last month for which I thank you and if you ever want to help our your humble blogger there’s a small banner ad over on the right. Thanks so much to those who already have. Also remember you can keep up to date by  Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed which will see the blog sent to you directly. Cheers – Tim

Good evening, how was your weekend? Bloody hectic one here but that’s alright it’s going to happen from time to time. On the plus side it’s been really cold and rainy most of the weekend which sounds a bit glum but when you live in a desert it makes a lovely change. The clouds were so low that the mountains to the NE vanished for two days and finally left today to reveal snow, if I liked snow I’d be more encouraged. With that said the best laid plans of getting the blog updated a few extra times this weekend fell to the wayside but I’ll surely get back on track tomorrow. There’s a lot to cover from the Justice Tonight tour but that needs to wait as The Clash time machine has thrown up something really brilliant this weekend.

On Friday I was made aware by a few people of some live footage of The Clash that was filmed in high quality but as it was super 8/cine film there was no sound. A number of people around the net and on If Music Could Talk started trying to work out which concert film was from. Luckily the uploader on Vimeo also added another file called ‘Manhattan 1979′ (linked) which I watched with some faint hope it would lend some clues. Initially it showed the World Trade Centre and various street scenes around New York and then some bounty – an early evening shot of the marquee at the New York Palladium advertising The Clash, Sam & Dave and The Undertones – Sep 20 & 21 and towards the end of the footage live action of Sam and Dave. Clash historians will know the second of those dates led to the famous incident between Paul Simonon and his bass that was captured by Pennie Smith and became the cover of London Calling. What wasn’t certain was whether the film on the other upload featured live footage from September 20th or 21st.

It was at this point where the community that surrounds The Clash went into overdrive and also impresses the hell out of me. Everyone wanted to know which songs were being performed and match the audio to the performance. After going through existing recordings and matching up what was happening on stage in terms of lead vocals, backing vocals and other indicators there were enough clues to match it up perfectly. I’d like to thank Dom who I’ve been in contact with, for painstakingly adding the audio to the super 8 film with all the cuts and edits included – I thank you.

What’s remarkable about Super 8 film is that although the technology is older than many of us, the quality of the film far surpasses much of what you see compiled these days via mobile phones or even the less expensive digital cameras with video capability. I’ve watched the tape below a number of times and although it’s often blurry and edited badly you certainly feel the energy of The Clash on stage and the chemistry of the band which was perhaps at it’s very peak in the late months of 1979. Thrilling to see and priceless in it’s rarity what we have is a new document that in addition to being 32 years old also captures the band on a night where Paul Simonon was going to create an unrehearsed image that has become as famous as the the album cover it graced, perhaps even more so. While there are no complete songs on the tape we have pieces of I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. Enjoy it – it’s brilliant. I’ll be back soon with lots more. Tim

(Full credit from the YouTube upload) – The Clash – 1979-09-21, at the New York City Palladium performing the songs I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. It is only short clips of the songs but great nonetheless. This concert was the same night Paul Simonon smashed his favorite bass guitar thus creating one of the greatest moments in rock and roll history ever captured, seen on the album cover of London Calling, and taken by photographer Pennie Smith. More info about this special gig, including the full setlist, can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/reco…
The original source of this video was a silent Super 8 film camera. I layered the audio over it and synced it together.