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

Please check the Carbon Silicon site tonight at 9pm GMT for a free preview of the new album the Carbon Bubble. Track by track review is being presented by Tony James. The actual album is released tomorrow (Nov 14th) for free via the official site.

I’m in a conference all day today so can’t listen live – if you are able to do so please send your impressions to me as I’d be happy to post them!

Cheers – Tim