Hello again and thanks once more for stopping in at The Clash Blog. Tuesday night here as I begin this one but I’m not certain I’ll finish it tonight as it’s already rather late, I could put some coffee on but that might result in me staying up until the stupid hours so I’m not completely sure what’s best to do. I’ve also made a fatal blogging mistake by starting this post without being entirely sure about what I plan to cover which may deter you from lurching on with me to the next paragraph but go on, if you take the chance I’ll keep writing.

Some semblance of focus might be best so that I don’t ramble on endlessly, so that will be my approach. I do have a quick question aimed at those who collect a lot of Clash books and there are more now than you can probably justify so I’m getting a little more picky about what I need to add to my collection. In late 2009 a book titled ‘The Clash : Essential Interviews’ was released I believe in paperback only. I sat on the fence at the time about grabbing a copy and now it seems it has gone out of print and with that reached insane prices. My understanding was that it compiles many of the major interviews that the band gave the major music press; NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Rolling Stone etc. and reproduced those exchanges in full. While that’s not a bad overall concept for a book many of those interviews have seemingly already been reproduced online or in magazine specials (much like the new Uncut one that just came out). If you happened to purchase the book let me know what you thought and whether it was worth the cost/time and such, incidentally here’s the link so we’re on the same page. It does run to over 300 pages so there’s some depth in there regardless.

Speaking of books, in 2012 I am going to add a section of permanent pages to the blog that review DVDs and books that are fully or partly devoted to The Clash/Clash members. If you might be interested in helping out with that please let me know as the help would be greatly appreciated. Ideally I’d like to add a three hundred word synopsis and review of each book and DVD that might be of interest to your average Clash fan. Ideally we’ll also be adding interviews with some of the authors of the better stuff, which is also on the cards for coming months should all go to plan.

At this point you’d wonder if more could be written about The Clash but the excellent work of authors such as Chris Salewicz, Kris Needs and Marcus Gray show that there’s layers to the story that merit more understanding and analysis. The very existence of The Clash was really quite brief but that doesn’t limit the interest shown in that era which says so much about the evolution of the band and it’s components that I’d place it in on level pegging with that famous four from Liverpool in terms of where the story takes you in such a short time. Perhaps the complexity of The Clash was the only thing that clarivaled their brilliance. Summer of 1976 to Summer of 1983 is all you really have to work with and yet I feel there’s still much more to understand even though I feel like an anorak just typing those words. The good news, we still haven’t seen a book with Mick’s, Paul’s, Topper’s or even Terry’s version of events which would certainly add even more colour. I’m sure we’ll see at least three and perhaps all four of those take shape in the near future with two already on the cards (more on that soon). As for Joe’s story of course we can’t get closer than we already have with the excellent “Redemption Song, The Ballad of Joe Strummer” by Chris Salewicz. In my opinion that is the definitive story of Joe Strummer and if for some reason you haven’t already read it then I suggest you address that immediately.

Right then, from a starting point of asking about a book I’ve prattled on for a while about ‘Clash books’ but please take the time to build that library if you haven’t. There’s a lot to be said and written about a band that were so busy making music that they were never properly chronicled when it was all taking place. The other funny impact of history is that Joe was barely given the time of day and The Clash were seen by so many critics as a sell out from 1983 through to the early-mid 90′s that the very thought of reviewing just what the band meant was considered fairly inane and with a limited audience. The reverence that is so often attached to the band today wasn’t the norm after they broke up. We knew best yes, but then again we were fans of the band at the time – not critics or assessors. On the positive side of that we’ve had that much longer to enjoy the band than the press who now venerate them. Odd that isn’t it? Goodnight for now. Tim

Good evening and welcome back to the blog. Hope all is well and if you’re in the UK that all is calm. Another day of tension in England it would seem and although London was seemingly quieter it seemed a lot of the troubles instead occurred in Manchester, the West Midlands and Nottingham. I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t been a major distraction this week and working from home on a computer having a newsfeed or radio stream in the background has been a constant. Interesting but distracting. I know I warbled on at length about this earlier so I will cut it short on this post but thanks for so many excellent opinions on the last blog post. I must say that now that England is four days into this chaos you really start wondering what the solution is. The UK has a long history of community policing with moderate use of force (debatable I realise) but it simply doesn’t seem to be working this week, nor can the service provide 16,000 men to London each night. However, if a radical change to that approach is decided upon it is really difficult perhaps impossible to ever return to the way things were. Thus now the blame game begins while the looting and burning continues. While none of this is overtly political there are of course underlying facts that the economics and the economy produce. Underneath all of that as Pete said earlier ‘rioting is fun’ and having been involved in a fair few myself it genuinely is, although I never saw it as a chance to steal. I remember all of this being predicted by so called radicals after the last election but in truth it wasn’t a radical prophecy nor an avoidable one sadly. Something’s got to give but I don’t see a solution on the tip of anyone’s tongue. One smart observer noted that a few rainy nights would slow things down to a great extent and as daft as that sounds it’s probably true. This won’t go on for months and the root issues won’t get addressed – but the UK may end up with a complete change to the approach of law and order.

Enough of that for now. I did want to link to the ridiculous story (fact) that much of the official advertising for the 2012 Olympics will feature the track London Calling. Can you think of a less appropriate use for the song? I think that it’s one of best songs ever written and will never tire of it but the lyrics do anything but invite you to London. It might contain some of Joe’s greatest lyrics of all but they speak of a city and a world shrouded in risk and doom. This was all in the shadow of the Cold War, Three Mile Island, inner city tensions and a society collapsing in on itself. Funnily enough it has more relevance to this week riots than the bloody Olympics but somehow it has become a theme song – just don’t examine the lyrics. The best piece I’ve seen or heard on this so far occurred on NPR (public radio in the US). Below I have the full four minute piece as broadcast, courtesy NPR. As it happens I’ve yet to hear or see the adverts. If you can and care to share with us please do so.

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NPR feature on London Calling as an Olympic invitation

I started writing this piece last night and it’s now the night after (Wednesday) and time escaped me not for the first time. We’ve got gig reviews and some inside scoop stuff to share in the next 48 hours as well as The Clash making the cover of the NME. The timing was of course intentional. More on that tomorrow, until then please enjoy this video of B.A.D. performing in Minneapolis earlier in the week. Until then go easy…..Tim

BAD – E=MC2 Minneapolis Aug 7, 2011

Cough and splutter. Yeah I started coughing on the drive back from playing football this evening and haven’t really stopped since, don’t worry I’ve got beverages and the ability to smack myself firmly in the back should I need it. I hope your day was good, I can’t complain except for as usual there’s never enough bloody time to do everything you want to do. I’m annoyed that we spend such a huge amount of our lives sleeping, it seems like that time could be better spent elsewhere eh? I did manage to get another new post out on my other blog that was sparked by last night’s discussion of The Libertines. Seems like their reunion plans have taken a step backwards as you might expect, here’s a link to the story if you’re interested. I don’t have this on any authority but I’ve thought for a long time now (dating back to summer 2002 I think) that a huge part of what I consider to be the renaissance of Mick Jones might have gathered momentum when he produced their debut album all those years ago. Since that time he’s been amazingly active, available and prolific which wasn’t always on the cards after a quieter spell during the late 90′s. His partnership and friendship with Tony James, his dedication to the Rock and Roll Public Library and his more recent touring with Gorillaz and getting B.A.D. back in the saddle have all been far more than flippant gestures. Mick’s obviously really enjoying life and it’s been great on the blog to follow just how involved and inspired he’s been. He hasn’t really stopped working since I began the blog back in June ’09 so his timing has been exquisite as far as I’m concerned. Before I continue I should be sure you understand ‘get on my wick‘ I don’t think it’s said outside the UK.

So tonight for the first time in a while I thought I’d see what’s been said and written in relation to The Clash lately. I usually compile such stories in bulk with an update of Westway Traffic but two things I read tonight left me perplexed on one hand and disgusted on the other. If they were written on a blog post with no readers that would be one thing but these were written in The Sun (not a site I normally visit without a healthy dose of detergent anyway) and Spinner. Spinner overall do a very good job with their online music journalism, this wasn’t one of those times. First The Sun I guess, David Hepworth (who has been writing about music for longer than I’ve needed to shave) took the sad passing of Poly Styrene to reflect on how so many of the established top rank of punk rock have died in the last decade. There’s nothing wrong with that at all and the article  is alright if a little too wikipedia reliant on it’s facts, there’s not a lot of depth or point to the story. He explains that most punk ‘stars’ who lasted beyond ’78 became professionals which was the opposite of what punk should have been. Where that loses me is that you’re suggesting Strummer, Jones, Lydon, Diggle and a host of other excellent songwriters and musicians should have just shut up shop after writing a brilliant debut album. I’ve heard that argument from others and while there’s a semblance of reason behind it, its simply not realistic. If the best year of your life has already happened do you then try and emulate it, improve on it or give up? Doesn’t matter if you’re a punk musician,  a painter or a train driver you surely try and establish new levels of best either in your career, your real life or both. I also think we’d have been cheated out of a lot of brilliant music if Strummer/Jones and so many others sold their guitars and moved on once the original punk fury died down. I’ve argued for ages that The Clash were a ‘punk band’ because they got started in 1976 – they became much more than a punk band and I’d like to think they’d have broken through 5 years earlier (that may have been tough) or 5 years later due to the talent that they had. The top half of the piece is alright but then the following made me lose my patience, I even read the whole article a second time to see if he was making sense. He wasn’t and he isn’t.

That’s because you’ll always be able to make more money for less effort playing your old songs for your old fans than you’ll be able to make doing anything else. This applies to everyone in punk rock with the exception of the Clash’s original drummer Tory Crimes who is now a chiropractor. The fans will pay your mortgage. In return they insist you continue to call yourself Sid Snot, cram yourself into bondage trousers and do the old hits. They don’t want you to grow up because that would mean they had to as well.           David Hepworth

I should have switched off when he dropped the ‘Strummer/public schoolboy line’ with the usual lack of foundation but I was hoping for a conclusion. The piece doesn’t become a tribute to Poly, Joe, punk or the fans of the scene but just a veiled swipe at the credibility of punk. He also says the truest fans of the scene don’t like the reunions and revivals and again that paints a broad swath across many of us. I think it all depends on the whys and wherefores. If Joe Strummer and Mick Jones had settled for obscurity beginning in 1979 and then called each other up in 2000 and said let’s play again to cash in, then his argument has more merit. Again they didn’t and he doesn’t. I know its just The Sun but I also know David Hepworth is a far better writer than this, his days with the NME and Sounds proved that. He mocks the fact that we remember Poly Styrene by her stage name, but don’t we do exactly the same with many of the arts? John Wayne and Cary Grant didn’t exist after all…nor does David Bowie, Bob Dylan or Woody Allen as each adopted new names. Why different sets of rules? Here’s the article.

I went on far too long, take away the keyboard please…..I’ll save the Spinner thing for next time. You don’t have to agree with the above…but wondered what you thought? See you in the comments. I’ll have a Stella please. Tim