Welcome back good people, it really felt like a Monday today didn’t it? Bad night of sleep, burned my finger, sore back from digging the pond (I think) and the strange sense that you left something behind on a shelf called ‘the weekend’. Ah well…too late to look back now let’s tackle the week head on. I know there’s an 80% chance you’ll not be reading this on a Monday but trust me that the sentiment was there as I write this.

Speaking of sentiment I saw some comments on our facebook page that made me wonder if I’ve been treating the recruitment of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon to Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz with the legislation of sentiment?? Was I simply happy that not only had these two pillars of The Clash played on a track on the new Plastic Beach album but then rumour was cemented into fact by the two Clash boys becoming part of Gorillaz at least in the live setting for the Spring and the Summer? Was I immersed in this unlikeliest of reunions to such an extent that I didn’t see it as opportunistic and even insulting to the legacy of The Clash? Did I let my judgment get clouded by events and ignore the facts? As you’ll see below I’ll reproduce some of the discussion we’ve been having on the FB page – and while not wanting to ratchet this up to a full on debate I do admire the conviction and reasoning of ‘Johnny Heartbreaker’. I did contact Johnny and he’s a good man and I asked if he’d object to his comments being part of this post and he was fine with that.

Now as to a lot of his thoughts, he’s probably trying to convince the wrong person. I’ve been a fan of Blur since first seeing them in 1993 and remained a great admirer of them throughout their time together, purchasing all their albums, meeting them a few times and feeling that along with Pulp and Supergrass they were amongst the best music England had to offer throughout the 1990’s. While I was raised on The Clash a few bands have held my interest long enough to watch their entire careers since and Blur would fall into that category. I’ve since enjoyed (most) of Graham Coxon’s solo work, adored The Good The Bad and The Queen (one of the best albums of the last decade for me) and watched Gorillaz evolve into a fascinating soup of musical influences wound around the songwriting and arrangement of Albarn. If you take the three Gorillaz albums as a composite work they are as fresh as anything else released in the last decade. Of course these are just my opinions after all, but yeah I was thrilled that Damon would work with Paul and Mick, and to me it’s rather brilliant to see them performing live together again with Damon. As I said I’m the wrong person to ask, Johnny sees the heart and soul of The Clash as Joe Strummer – end of story. His point of view is laid out beneath, although its fair to say he sees Mick’s work in the intervening decades as lackluster. He also feels that Strummer continued to maintain all of the integrity and quality post Clash – which I don’t agree with. While I fiercely enjoyed his later work nothing came close to the chemistry of The Clash (for me). Strummer was without a doubt one of a kind but did he ever burn as brightly as he did with The Clash?

The Clash were unlike any other band, it was specifically the balance between those four that led to a concentrated output of music, passion, ideas that can never be matched. I think Jones had to have Strummer to put the fabric on his song structure, I think Strummer needed the compositional skills of Jones to make songs that are as timeless as granite. I think both needed the personalities and vastly different skills of

Paul and Mick with Gorillaz, a joke or a joy to see?

Topper and Paul to put the roof on the building that the Clash created. I’ve never looked for any member of The Clash to match what they did with The Clash, nor do I think any of them have succeeded for more than a fleeting moment. I also think the combined output of Strummer and Jones (which strangely always seemed to ebb while the other flowed) since the split has brought us music that was vital to the last 30 years. While not matching the pinnacle of The Clash it was still pretty bloody good – and that includes contributions this decade with Carbon Silicon, The Good The Bad and The Queen and now Gorillaz. If the value of The Clash ended with a brick wall in 1983 they’d still have had a great impact but I do think it runs deeper than that and not just from Joe’s work.

There’s no right or wrong in this discussion – just thoughts and ideas, but I wondered if I was in the minority feeling very rewarded by the post Clash career of Jones and Simonon and not just Joe? As for Topper – his comments below are sound as a pound.

Below are the comments from the FB page, apologies if this is old to some of you – and yes I welcome your opinions, of all stripes.

Johnny Heartbreaker

(posted in response to old live footage of The Clash around 1980)

Sad to see Mick and Paul go from this – to prancing around a stage with the Gorillaz in ridiculous sailor outfits! Still, it was as equally sad to see them go from this to BAD and Havana 3am as well.

I think it’s not unfair then to say that they always needed Joe more than he ever needed them. Joe wasn’t just the main man in the Clash, but also in the 101′ers and the Mescaleros. And of course he set up Strummerville, keeping true to his life-long values of giving back to the people i.e. you and me, who gave him so much in return.

Joe truly was the beating heart of the (in it’s widest meaning) socialist claims of the Clash. He not only talked but also walked, lived and breathed his convictions …Whereas – and stepping back from rose tinted glasses – Mick, Paul and Topper haven’t quite lived up to their claims. Being rather self-centred and obsessed in their non-Clash interests and pursuits. Still trying to play rock stars. Still acting like rock stars.

But then – outside of Joe – I can’t think of any other member of the 1970s UK punk scene giving anything back either.  Lydonville? Purseyville? Cornwellville? TV Smithville? Idolville?

Nope, as I said. Great to see posts like this. But not so when it’s also a bitter reminder that, in Joe, the only true and genuine light of the 1970s UK punk scene went out, the day he died. But that’s just my opinion – and it may be said that I’m a little biased. Not least as I named my eldest son after Joe – and Joe is one of the only two genuine heroes I’ve ever had in my life …

And he’s a hero because (as stated above) he walked,talked, lived and breathed everything he ever believed in – and gave something back. So, shame on Mick, Paul and Topper. But then again you’ve still got time guys …!

Then a few replies -

Good Morning, I had intended to get this post written and out last night but a combination of factors (Arsenal, Haiti, Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes) stopped me from reaching my goal. Now I really like Gervais but could NBC have toned him down anymore than they did? Apart from early on I don’t think any of his links lasted longer than 30 seconds, why hire someone to host a major awards ceremony and then

Martin Scorcese

limit them? Obviously a sharp sarcastic wit like Gervais is going to offend some people but the broadcast became an exercise in damage control (dull). At least it was nice to see Martin Scorcese receive an award for his career contribution to film…what a great chap. If cinema had some equivalent to Punk or The Clash it would be the films of Scorcese; from Taxi Driver and Raging Bull through to Goodfellas and Gangs of New York. Just an amazing career, and yes there’s more than a touch of Clash activity/connections to be explored therein but I’ll save that for another post. Worth watching for is a project he’s working on this year which is a long awaited biopic about George Harrison.

I’ve written in the past that people today tend to focus on London and New York when looking back at ‘the punk scene’ and as a result the bands associated with those two cities. What is so often overlooked is that over a staggered period from 1977-1982 that punk (or 2nd generation variations) created scenes is major cities all over the world. I’ll never forget visiting Berlin in 1984 and being confronted with a scene that was reminiscent in sound and fashion from 5 years earlier in England. It had a real Berlin twist though as a taste for the avant garde in fashion was perhaps more important than the originality of the music. Much like Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco (and numerous other cities) Toronto developed its own punk scene and this article caught my eye. A local writer reared on The Clash and The Damned has put together a book to capture the scene in Canada’s largest city from 1977-1981 by way of an oral history. Though its taken over 20 years the desire to chronicle the local music scenes is growing as we realise that we had something very special of our own when it came to music and culture. Perhaps growing up and hearing adults tell us ‘there was nothing to match the sixties’ we underestimated the value of punk and post punk music. I still think the pinnacle of writing and film-making about 1976-1981 has yet to be written but the continued and growing awareness of it makes the likelihood all the better.

Someone needs to make sure that Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Rat Scabies, Debbie Harry, John Lydon, David Byrne and others (the list would be endless) are interviewed first hand and everything possible is compiled. I know its happened in pieces with The Clash, Ramones and Sex Pistols but I think it needs to be done by an author or director with a bigger vision. Perhaps I see the urgency as none of the key players are getting any younger and we lose more of the men and women along with their memories each year. Here’s hoping….

Finally a thank you to those of you who’ve emailed some ideas and links. I’ll cover all of those items get back to the Clash Cup and Part 3 of the feature on The Roxy are due up over the next few days.

Good Evening, just a quick post tonight. I hope you’ve had a chance to drop over and see what Carbon Silicon are up to lately? Check their official site for details as Tony James and Mick Jones have followed a very quiet first 10 months of the year with a buzz of activity. Spoiled as we were by the excellent Carbon Bubble album last month (download it for free) Tony has put together quite a few news updates about the direction of the band now and reaction to the album plus tour discussion. There’s a lot to digest there and I’ll be digging into it this weekend – though I’m keen to hear your interpretation also. It appears that something with record labels/management has triggered a brilliant back to basics approach and as TJ says he’s simply asks that you share the music. Email your friends, tweet about it, or add tracks to your favourites on Facebook. Considering the album has been released for free there’s no excuse for you not spending 10 minutes trying to help more people hear the music. More important than that it’s a great album.

Also with a lot to say about Punk Rock and the years since is former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock. Glen who performed this Summer with Mick Jones at the 100 Club is in the middle of playing some shows in snowy Canada at present. Matlock has given some really candid interviews about more recent events with the Chronicle Herald and also The Winnipeg Sun. Matlock is an interesting character who was key to the Sex Pistols (he was the chief songwriter) but left the band before events of the final 12 months and Sid Vicious stamped their place deeper in the memory of so many with a more pedestrian knowledge of the London scene. Downplaying the role of Matlock is failing to understand that it was really 1976 that created the scene and the development of the Pistols, especially in terms of the songs themselves. The doomed capacity of Sid was never really more than a tragically sad postscript which resulted in the self destruction of the band and ultimately the end of Vicious’ short life. It might look better on the T-Shirts but the Sex Pistols were far more tapered in the musical heritage of Matlock. Both interviews are worth your time and it’s interesting to learn of a Rich Kids reunion/fund raising show scheduled for London next month (apparently with Carbon Silicon) so more of that to come in the days ahead.

Clash Cup and Strummerville event previews coming up in the days ahead so I’ll talk with you soon.

Tim