Hello again everyone and welcome back to the blog on this fine Thursday afternoon. All is well here in P-Town and as the recipient of your visit to the site I’m very grateful. I’m going to have to open up the garage and take a trip down the Westway this evening as I’ve got more odds and sods than I know what to do with and I doubt you want to read a new post every six hours over the next few days – unless of course you do. August has been a great month so far for the blog with some repainting and cleaning and we’ll be adding much more in September – and you keep coming back for more which is great. The month isn’t over yet but we look set to eclipse the total visits for June and July which will make this the busiest month of the year so please keep telling friends and coming back yourself when you have a few minutes to spend. Tomorrow I’ll be putting together a preview of events for Saturday which mark the birthday of Joe Strummer and I hope some small percentage of you will be able to attend one of the concerts and other events around the world. If you’re in Australia by the time you read that it might already be Saturday in which case you don’t need reminding that Sydney looks to be the place to be with the continued annual celebration of Joe.

Speaking of Joe – I wrote a few weeks ago about the Clash/Joe Strummer pop art that has been created by Simon Dixon back in the UK and this afternoon I received my truly awesome Strummer/RAF piece and its just beautiful. Thanks so much Simon I’ll be getting a frame at the weekend as this merits pride of place and I can have it in place in time for his Birthday – better still!! (gallery 4 on his website if you are looking) With that said let me pull of these side streets and see how much traffic is on the Westway tonight. If you are new to the site its our analogy for multiple Clash related stories all in one post, so get your seatbelt on. Links to article are the headlines.

If I were in London I’d be here: How often do you get to see one of the most important English bands of the entire punk/post punk scene in a venue that holds just 200 people? On November 8th and 9th if you act quickly you can do just that and see Wire at the Lexington. I rank Wire as one of the most important bands to evolve from the first wave of punk and they then did what so many failed to do and evolved into something that continued to be both fresh but resolutely unique to them. Record sales might say otherwise but Wire were one of the most influential bands from that era and beyond. Act fast as hopefully you can get tickets (via the link provided) – besides which its in the republic of Islington so you’ll enjoy the entire evening.

Join a Paul Simonon debate: The age old debate about the relative merits of Paul Simonon as a bass player are going on over at Amazon so free to join in. I fall under the raw musician at the beginning who worked hard to improve but huge amounts during his time with The Clash. Paul would be the first to admit that he wasn’t born with desire (or a habit) to play an instrument from his earliest years (that would be Mick) but the foolish jibes that suggest Simonon remained with The Clash because he looked good are complete nonsense. As far as I know Paul never plugged in a guitar until he was 20 years old and later that same year he was playing live on stage. Yes Mick had to teach him the basics of playing the bass but through years of application and effort he became a good musician and certainly a creative one who took pride in his contribution to the sound of the band. Joe Strummer was never a lead guitarist but that didn’t stop him working to become one of the best rhythm guitarists I’ve ever seen. You’re also a tit if you ignore his reggae influences on his playing and the overall direction of the band.

Still one of my favourite video clips: The Joe Strummer Mural in New York has been visited, photographed and been a site of pilgrimage for Clash fans now for a good number of years. Overall I love that its there but can’t deny it makes me sad, this video clip of two little lads aged around 8 or 9 I’d guess playing a guitar and snare in front of Joe’s image never fails to lift me up a bit. (you’ve not gone mad, I did mention this once before but its Joe’s week)

Links to the NME online Clash tribute(s): I’ll be writing about that special NME edition in the days ahead as it was really lovely to get a copy sent over from England (thanks again). In the meantime wanted to be sure you had a chance to see the the features the NME added to their website via the original link which has memories and some video and also this series of rather brilliant photos.

Attila The Stockbroker – too old to rap? Nah…: I need to write some tales about Attila one of these nights, he’s been playing live for decades now and a more genuine and committed man you would be hard pressed to meet. I first saw him in the mid 80′s with Billy Bragg and he never stops working – his rap (via the link) sums up his love for being an old punk and Brighton supporter and naturally name checks Joe Strummer. Great bloke – find out more via his site or facebook page. He’s a 21st century bard and comes highly endorsed.

Attila the Stockbroker’s tribute to Joe Strummer

That about me done for now but hopefully enough to keep you going, for no obvious reasons this took me ages to prepare and link etc this evening (age??). Probably need another Westway tomorrow or Sunday – and Saturday is reserved for Joe who should be turning 58 instead of leaving us to struggle along without him. Cheers ~ Tim

Good evening and welcome back to the blog. Shaping up to be one of those weeks ~ now the cat of the household is not well which I’ll confess usually has me at sixes and sevens more than if one of the kids isn’t well (harsh but true). Vet bills can rapidly become very difficult decisions and ones I usually side with via giving the cat every treatment possible, hopefully it will be nothing too serious. I’ve got a pretty nasty Clash Blog back log of information to get through and under this scenario I roll out Westway Traffic so we can get at least four of five things covered. So let’s jump into that, as ever for extra information click on the red text:

NME Celebrates The Clash in print and online: As discussed last week this week’s NME has a special pull out section exclusively dedicated to the Clash. Thanks to a kind reader of the blog one is on the way to me here in Phoenix. If you’re in the UK pop out and buy yourself a copy. Online the NME runs through a celebrity playlist of favourite Clash songs, so click the link to find out what Paul Weller, Thurston Moore and Steve Diggle amongst others consider their favourite Clash track. As part of the same feature the NME also interviews various bands about the impact of The Clash on their own music and careers. Worth a read!

“When I was 17, I saw [former Factory Records supremo] Tony Wilson doing this TV show full of footage from his So It Goes programme. It showed some footage of The Clash in Manchester doing ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Garageland’ and Joe Strummer looked absolutely fucking amazing” James Dean Bradfield – Manic Street Preachers

MP3 Links for Sandinista! era outtakes and demos: Handy to have these all in one place for some of you I’d hope. MP3 links for Midnight To Stevens, Every Little Bit Hurts, Louie Louie, King of The Road and Blonde Rock n Roll.

DVD Review(s) – Don Lett’s Strummerville film: Official review from the usually fair and reasonable people over at Uncut magazine in the UK. Don’t forget you can still purchase the DVD via the Strummerville site.

Joe Strummer Mural in Peru: Been a long time since I posted this so its back by popular demand if you’ve joined the blog in the last six months or so. This video clip shows the making of another Joe Strummer mural on the roof of a building in Peru. Buen trabajo!!

Another point for Texas! Strummer Birthday event in Austin: Brick by brick, ranch by ranch I’m beginning to see that Texas still has a good hardcore of people that appreciate The Clash and in turn good people of course. I love having my opinion changed so (10 gallon) hats off to the lonestar state for continuing to prove me wrong (and thanks for visiting the blog). The great city of Austin will celebrate the anniversary of Joe’s birth on Aug 21 at a club/bar called Red 7, entry just $5. If you happen to be local I hope you can attend, info via the link and image to the right.

Reminder – Early Joe Strummer Tribute night Aug 7th, Ann Arbor Michigan: A couple of weeks early but mentioned on a prior post somewhere. If you live in the Detroit area please try and make a trip out to The Blind Pig, 208 S First St. Ann Arbor, MI. If you go take some pictures and get in touch.

Right that should keep you busy, I’m tired tonight but will try and get another post in the morning compiled. Any questions or ideas or particular worries – Get in touch. Cheers for coming by.

Big news from Clashblog towers…..It’s raining !! Seriously…it’s raining…and at 6pm the temperature is just 82f. I forgot what it felt like to not be hot. It will be back over 100 degrees in 24 hours so allow me a little joy where I can find it. Oh and no my Clash license plate did not arrive if you’re taking notes.

I think this is a good time to tell you our main story later tonight (I plan at least) is long overdue as it features Terry Chimes. The fifth Clash member if you will as he was there at the beginning of The Clash story and again when they needed him most to fill in for Topper admirably and at very short notice. Terry rarely pops up in the press and it’s always nice when he does. His crucial work on the first album and then carrying the sticks for some of the biggest concerts the band ever played should not be overlooked, perhaps more importantly he’s a very nice chap. We’ve only really had 2 prior chances to shine the blog on Terry in our 13+ months so I’m glad to see something fresh. Before I get to that three short things I’d like to make sure you are aware of.

First up a good article following up on the now traveling (New York and Tokyo still to follow) Ray Lowry London Calling exhibition. Fresh from the stay in London that we covered (video on yesterday’s post) in depth it’s now residing in Ray’s part of the world in Lancashire. The requests for opening night tickets were hugely oversubscribed which speaks volumes to the continued interest to all things Clash related essentially everywhere. The exhibition runs until August 7th at the Sea Gallery in Crawshawbooth outside Manchester. Please follow this link to the Lancashire Telegraph’s feature for more inside information.

I’d like to give huge props to Shannon who has supported the blog since we were still wearing nappies, Shannon in addition to being another Clash nut has also began a one person crusade to see Mick Jones’ Rock and Roll Public Library leave the safety of London and hit other ports near and far. Our shared goal of seeing to leave the UK is still up in the air but I’m sure she’s excited to see Mick’s collection head out to Norwich a while back and now is set for Glasgow. Shannon started a facebook group that now numbers close to 400 members (go on..join to push her over the next summit) in her ‘unofficial campaign to see Mick Jones Rock and Roll Library go mobile’. Her continued commitment to this has enabled many more people to be aware of it and see many images from Mick’s stockpile. I won’t steal her thunder but rather share her happiness that Glasgow is next on the agenda, more details via this link - Aug 13,14,15 if you’re taking notes at home and more linked info here also. Speaking of facebook, our own little page has now edged past 900 Clash devotees – please jump on board if you like…people are rather chatty over there! Thanks for all your support.

One more thing if you’re in the UK or close, this weeks NME has a special pull out mini magazine dedicated to The Clash (nice one) which is free with the music weekly. It looks to be one of the shiny special things with a buyers guide, interviews and such. Might be worth your time. Also you can actually get the NME in a digital format now for just a pound a week….not sure that would include the NME Clash thing but still worth looking at – more details via their subscription page.

We’re doing some painting and decorating on the blog so you’ll be seeing a few changes – At the foot of the post if you like the article please consider the ‘like’ option for facebook, you’ll even get to see your name on there afterward. Also I wanted to make it easier for you to scan through older posts – so at the foot of the home page you’ll find a page counter to allow you to flick through up to 15 pages (30 posts) at a time. Currently it should show 213 pages, so if you’re new to the site get tucked in. Thanks for dropping in….Tim