Good evening to you and I do hope your week went well, all is shipshape here in the desert with the first signs of summer grinding to a halt which makes for a very happy blogger. I’ve got rather a lot of things to get through this weekend so you’ll probably see at least three and perhaps four new posts before the weekend is out so please stop back.

Apart from the music of The Clash and unique path that they carved from the earlier days of English punk through to what they ultimately became, I think one of the things I enjoy most when looking back at the band is some of the fantastic photography which captured them both on and off stage. Perhaps it’s the fact that not every Tom Dick and Harry was walking around with a mobile phone which doubled as their camera nor even a 35mm on a strap around their neck means that the images captured the band tend to be typically somewhat thoughtful and at many times brilliant. I’ve no idea how many published pictures of The Clash or individual members now appear online that were taken between 1976 and 1983, though it must number in excess of three thousand. I know I share with you an affection for so many of the great images that we are lucky enough to have our disposal with the advent of the internet, although it’s still hard to compare with a collection furnished in the pages of a bound book such as Pennie Smith’s or Bob Gruen’s highly regarded collections of work featuring The Clash.

As the entire punk/postpunk era is gradually taking on the mantle of highly regarded musical history so the same is happening to some of the best photography from the same era. The incredible image today below was captured by Ann Summa and features Joe Strummer at the Roxy in Los Angeles in April 1980.

Image Courtesy Ann Summa - Joe Strummer @ The Roxy, April 1980

Summa is widely regarded as one of the key chroniclers of L.A.’s punk and postpunk scene from 1978 until the mid-80s and her work is so intense. While Los Angeles does not stake a claim as being at the forefront of the movement such as London and New York the second wave of punk that came from Southern California was as diverse and vibrant as any of the competition. The US market was so huge that the scene was essentially self-sufficient where a band could establish a strong enough following within California to become a going concern which makes sense as the state has a population equal to half of the UK. Those dozens of bands coupled with touring acts acts from elsewhere in the US and British acts meant that essentially anybody you may have wished to see would have played in Los Angeles during that time.

With that revolving door of musical talent onstage Ann Summa was in a position to capture a fantastic cross section of punk, goth, postpunk and new wave artists within her remarkable portfolio. The Los Angeles Times features two stories about Summa in what looks to be a fantastic exhibition of her work at the Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles at the moment. Track 16 is located at 2525 Michigan Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90404 and can be contacted at 310-264-4678. Further details are available via their website http://www.track16.com

The exhibition titled ‘The Beautiful and the Damned‘ will feature more than 60 pieces of her best work which also appear in the book which holds the same name currently available on Foggy Notion Books. The book sounds just marvelous and there are fare more details for you here. Beyond Strummer the exhibition features a tremendous array of artists from the LA punk scene in addition to many national and international acts that played in the city. I hope some of you in Los Angeles are able to get to the exhibition and I surely wish I could. Find out much more via the Los Angeles Times with these two pieces by Jessica Gelt in addition to this one by Carolyn Kellogg . Significant thumbs up to LA Times as usual for never forgetting the roots of punk.

The exhibition begins from tomorrow September 11 where an opening reception takes place from 6 PM with a book signing by Ann Summa and Exene Cervenka (from X as you surely know) which will be followed by a live acoustic performance by Exene. The exhibition will run until October 9th. If you do get along please write in and tell us what you thought. I’ll be back soon with lots more over the weekend.

Clash Blog….handbrake off, checking mirrors, drop clutch and we’re pulling away from the kerb of American Idol and X Factor and back into the fast lane to celebrate the best band that ever existed. On our journey tonight we’ll see how Topper Headon is doing and preview the Ray Lowry auction. Trust your week is a good one, I’m pleased/shocked that 2010 is half way over – from Haiti to BP, the economy to Cameron ‘winning’ an election its hardly been a classic year so far. Highlights…..I like my job, can afford my bills and have wonderful friends and a woman who puts up with my twin obsessions with music and football.

I referenced again yesterday (see that post) that interview from last Summer with Topper Headon and the usual messages came in about how great it is to see him doing so well & looking so well – and it really is. Headon assumes a fairly low profile these days which I think even adds to the affection with which he has held. We all saw him looking simply awful a decade ago and I’ll never forget an interview after Joe died where he said something to the effect of  -Losing Joe was such a sad eye-opener and most people thought I’d be the first member of The Clash that something like that would happen to- and in saying that he seemed to almost read our thoughts. But really it is great seeing Topper looking well and happy and I’m sure many of us relate to seeing friends or loved ones go down a path that if not as devastating as Topper’s perhaps similar. Some people recover and some we just lose to drink, drugs or a combination of the two. If you read that interview you’ll see just how low things became for Topper which adds to our support from afar. Now if only he’d get behind the kit more often, after all we are talking about one of the greatest drummers ever. I understand an autobiography is in the works which I hope is more than rumour. As ever I’ve been long winded and wanted to share this picture from last weekend of Topper at the current Ray Lowry exhibition (shown on the right) and he looks really good, the picture is with the curator of the exhibition Julian (last name…pending..will advise).

I don’t usually clutter up the blog with too many photos for fear of becoming too much like facebook and it strangles my need for incessant chatter to you good people but I’m going to take the liberty just this once as I like so many images I’ve come across this week. So let the pictures speak for themselves and there will be a little bit more of me nearer the bottom of the post. All images are from the delightful people at the Idea Generation Gallery who have been really kind in keeping me abreast of these events. You’ll see a recent photos of Bernard Rhodes, comedian Phil Jupitus with Clash roadie Johnny Green and Pennie Smith. Click on any image to make larger. I’ll be back tomorrow with more on the auction plus all sorts of other news. Sorry for late post I got sidetracked by a long trip back to the 1970′s tonight with a friend.

Topper june 2010 Idea Gallery

Phil Jupitus and Johnny Green

Pennie Smith june 2010

Bernard Rhodes and Johnny Green

Yawn……….Good Morning….this World Cup thing is too early, what is South Africa thinking with these early kick offs? A very good morning to you – with my coffee today I came across a photo of the piece de resistantance from the Ray Lowry London Calling exhibition. If you’ve been following the blog you know that the a special focus of the exhibition was artists interpretations of the famed artwork to London Calling of whom Lowry was the creator / Pennie Smith the photographer.

Paul Simonon was asked to contribute to the exhibition and did he ever. Happy Father’s Day (if you are) and you know London Calling is the daddy of all rock photographs, the blurred image of Simonon taking out his frustration on his instrument that night in New York has become one of the best known album covers ever. What I never knew was that some of the shattered fragments were kept by Paul and he’s incorporated a piece into his contribution.

A strangely moving thing to see and I’m sure you’ll feel the same. Image courtesy Chance Collective. The auction price on this is sure to be stupid, why don’t we start a collective Clash Blog fund and make a bid – then we can have it tour our homes!

Simonon's contribution to the Ray Lowry London Calling exhibit - image courtesy chancecollective.wordpress.com

Have a smashing day!

Tim