Good evening everyone, hoping your Monday passed by with little consequence and you are fit and well wherever you may be reading this. Interesting follow up in the comments section on yesterday’s post about the ebay listing for what appear to be very old and rare Clash recordings from early 1977. I’d be keen to know if anyone can shed any more light on this as based on what’s been said it sounds like there isn’t even a guarantee these old 1/4″ tapes will even play. Speaking of rumours, I’ve yet to see any official word on Sandinista! 30th Anniversary and I’m wondering if that opportunity has now been missed? If you know differently let me know. Read on as I’ve news of a special price on a great Clash collectible and a chance to win your own copy too!

Here’s a question to ponder then. Do you think of The Clash as a singles band or an albums band? That question only probably holds much relevance if you’re of similar vintage to myself and grew up when the release of a single was often a bigger deal than an album’s release and perhaps as importantly singles wouldn’t automatically be included on albums. Indeed in the good old days of vinyl if you were a proper enthusiast you picked up each single as it came out by a band or at worst went back and gathered/sought out the ones you missed. Partly to have the artwork and the individual piece added to the collection but often because the song wasn’t available on another format. The Clash were despite a lack of major recurring chart success strong believers in the power of the single and released some of their finest work in just that format. What other band would put out a song as great as Bankrobber and not include it on any of their studio albums? I would say that The Clash were a singles band and latterly and album band, crossing that divide with ease as the industry started to change. It’s interesting to note that artists such as Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (Morrissey would be another great example) who grew up obsessed with the single culture of the 1960′s when the idea of marketing albums hadn’t even begun remained loyal to the format and put such stock in releasing great singles.

I envy those of you who were able to collect the 7″ and later in 12″ singles of each of The Clash releases. I managed to get my hands on about two thirds of them over the years but never had the cash at that time to collect them all. It was with excitement in 2006 that CBS/Sony decided to release a box set of all of The Clash singles on CD. Not just 2 CDs containing all of the singles and b-sides but each single and extra tracks were reproduced to match the original vinyl in (slightly) smaller version, complete with original sleeve artwork and special faux vinyl printing on the disc itself. A great friend of mine was a little late to find his obsession with The Clash (I hope I was partly responsible) and he’s certainly made up for lost time since, as a result it was the perfect Christmas gift for him the year it came out. If you’ve never seen the box set it is simply beautiful in its detail and makes a perfect addition to a complete collection of The Clash, particularly now that finding mint condition vinyl and artwork from those original records is harder than ever, it also comes with a rather brilliant 44 page booklet. When the box set originally came out it wasn’t inexpensive ($80 here in the States) but still a wonderful purchase. I’ve just learned that starting tomorrow there is a way to purchase the box set at half of original list price for a very limited time at just $39.98 via a division of Sony Music Entertainment. If you didn’t purchase it first time round I’d encourage you to check out PopMarket.com by Sony this week. They’ve provided full details below and also been kind enough to let me offer one copy of the boxset to a reader of the blog. The only condition is that you need to answer a question I’ll set and be able to furnish me with a US mailing address (sorry if that rules you out…)

Here’s the official word on: The Clash – The Singles Box Set

The Clash – The Singles Box Set
The ultimate gift for Clash fans – this deluxe box set features all 19 UK Clash singles packaged in replica picture sleeves.
• All 19 UK Singles in their original sleeves
• Bonus Tracks from 12” singles, non-UK b-sides and promo discs
• 6 tracks never-before available on CD
• 66 tracks in all
• 44 page booklet with rare photos and memorabilia
Original Price $79.98 / PopMarket.com Price $39.98

The Clash – The Singles is a deluxe lift off box in a slipcase that includes all 19 of the legendary bands UK singles packaged in replica picture sleeve artwork. The box includes the rare NME give-away “Capitol Radio” EP (never previously commercially released), and bonus tracks from 12” singles, non-UK b-sides and promo discs – and six tracks never-before available on CD. There are 66 tracks in all! The 44 page color booklet features all the various single artwork, rare (and many unseen) photos, extensive memorabilia and reflections written by some of today’s biggest artists who credit the Clash as major influences in their careers.

Created by Sony Music Entertainment, POPMARKET is a free, members-only music club that caters to fans, bargain hunters and serious collectors alike. Introduced in late 2010, POPMARKET has quickly become a buzzed-about site for incredible deals that often sell out within hours, containing a mix of premium music and rare, collectible albums, boxed sets and memorabilia at deeply-discounted member’s-only prices available for a limited time.

The special pricing offer begins this Wednesday May 11th at noon EST and lasts for 24 hours only, so don’t miss the chance to nab a copy of this boxset. Being CBS they also have some nice/worthy other deals from Dylan, Iggy Pop and Springsteen if you fancy. Here’s the link once again.

Thanks to Sony I’ve also got one edition of  The Clash – The Singles box set to give away absolutely free to a reader of the blog, the only restriction is as it is an official sweepstakes I’ll need you to be in the US to win the competition, sorry. To enter the competition please answer the following easy question via the contact page and enter :CLASH BOX SET in the subject line. Please include the correct answer (assuming you want to win) and your name to be eligible, strictly one entry per person. I’ll follow up to confirm your contact details if you are the lucky winner. Competition is open until noon EST on Friday May 13th and I’ll pick a random winner and announce it that day/contact you that day.

The Clash – The Singles Box Set – POPMARKET Quiz question:

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais was released in June ’78 and is perhaps the greatest single of all time. As the epic (pun intended) song comes to a close, what does Joe Strummer insist he is only looking for?

Good luck and my most sincere thanks to Sony/POPMARKET for the prize. Please note in the unlikely event that you should happen to decide to purchase a copy of the box set this week via PopMarket AND win the prize drawing AND can’t find a suitable home for a second copy (if your friends don’t like The Clash…question that friendship) – I will (with proof of purchase) pay you for your copy and use the prize for a future blog post. Sound good? Alright…I’ll be back tomorrow. *any confusion about the contest please email me, complaints about eligibility please contact my secretary. Tim

Nice poster on ebay until tomorrow (May 3)

Hello again, it’s late, after 10pm and I’ve yet to research or compile thoughts for tonight’s post. That kind of day I think, some distractions and a simultaneous intense need to ignore the media today and just focus on website design and statistics….you might have had a similar day? When I start a post like this it sometimes rolls into something useful and other times not so much, I can’t promise which but let’s see where we go. I’m a bit buried, I thought the blog would have provided a very tasty assistant to help me by now but most days its just me with the cat and dog looking at me all day as I blog away both here and elsewhere. Maybe I ought to monetize this a bit by selling ClashBlog mugs and fridge magnets, to pay the salary of my imaginary personal assistant, hosting costs and a ticket to Lollapalooza….then again not the last bit.

There are many loose threads of news that you may have caught elsewhere in recent days and weeks but with the B.A.D. tour I put it all on the ‘to do’ pile. There are a number of interviews with Mick Jones that we need to get to, a number of other concerts that we’ve yet to preview for the aforementioned band, some official news on the next B.A.D. reissue of No. 10 Upping Street which I’ll talk up at length. If there is one era of the story of Mick and Joe that definitely has a little left to be explored it was that spell where Joe worked on the second album by the band. They struck up something approaching the best chemistry they’d experienced since the earliest writing sessions for Sandinista! and not everything made it onto the record that was released. Short of a better live testament of The Clash on stage and the oft-rumoured extras that exist from Joe’s time with the Mescaleros (not sure how credible that story is) no other previously unreleased work would interest me more. I don’t know if there are much more than demo versions of what was worked on during that time but even at that stage of completeness it will be fascinating to see just what is included in the forthcoming legacy edition. I’ve no official word on the timing yet and the sudden activity of Mick and Don Letts this year will surely have some bearing on the release date but it is something worth looking out for.

We’ve also got Strummercamp 2011 coming up at the end of the month, a chance to look back at some Clash relevant gigs over the last week and I’ve not had half a chance to work on the usual features such as The Clash Cup, Video Clash, Lost in The Supermarket or Clash Landmarks. As ever if you fancy knocking out a guest post let me know as that will help the blog to keep ticking along while I get my other ducks in a row. I’m also hoping to relaunch and maintain the podcast in the weeks ahead…the end of the football season will carve out more time for that to be honest as the weekends suddenly get notably less interesting around here as the the temperature soars above 100F over the next four weeks. Some other late news, if you’re trying to decide where to see B.A.D. over the summer, the V Festival Aug 20/21 is now sold out. That poster up on the left is on ebay right now, auction closes tomorrow. Yes please! They’ll have it again, don’t panic.

As always thanks for supporting the blog, sharing ideas and posts and making sure the community stays active and grows. Last month was the busiest for total visits in the last three and I really do appreciate it. I’m going to cut it short for today and then bash through all of the other topics above as soon as I can. In the meantime some short but really enjoyable footage of Mick Jones with some fans outside the recent Los Angeles concert at the The Roxy. One last question, did anyone make it down to The Big Busk with Billy Bragg in London the other day? I must make it over for that soon, you bring your acoustic along and Bragg leads the assembled guitar slingers with the aid of signs with the correct chords on them so you can all busk along. It’s even more daft that it sounds…..have a look. Cheers, see you in the comments and let me know if I’ve missed other stories lately – Tim

Mick Jones meeting the people in Los Angeles April 14. 2011

BAD merchandise in the city of angels (image courtesy Gil Warguez)

Good evening everyone and according to my watch it’s Thursday here in Clash Blog Towers. Just looking at my pile of recent CDs that I need to dedicate some time to over the weekend which should fill the void that remains due to the nonexistent thirtieth anniversary release of Sandinista! Remember that rumour? Unless I’m mistaken it was also confirmed late last year during an interview with either Mick or Paul wasn’t it? In fact I know it was because… well because I wrote it at some point during my never-ending quest for accurate and reliable information to relay to you, this isn’t Fox news you know. I wanted to try and tie together all the loose ends from the B.A.D. dates in the States today and tomorrow if possible then we can hopefully return to a more normal variation of news on the blog until the summer festivals start rolling along. Not that the reunion tour hasn’t been loads of fun to cover but I feel that so many other things I’d like to write about are somewhat waylaid. With that said let’s try and present a nice user-friendly summary of some of the words and images that capture the last week. To those of you in the UK we get very excited when Mick leaves London, especially during the football season and particularly late in a season where it looks like Queens Park Rangers are about to get promoted to the Premier Division. If you think Mick Jones has been smiling a lot during this tour wait until that promotion is official (it’s very near the stage).

Mick signing outside the Roxy pre gig (image courtesy Gil Warguez)

Another good friend of the blog Gil in San Francisco jetted down to Los Angeles last week to make sure he was able to see the B.A.D. show at the Roxy and of course being the technical guru that he is photographs and videos were captured in earnest. I’ve previously linked you to Gil’s YouTube page but I’m going to do it again if you want another dose of the live buzz from that show.  He also captured some great photos pre and post gig which I’ve included tonight.

I was also really pleased to hear from LA Weekly (thanks Liz!!) who had a photographer down at The Roxy who captured a series of great shots the same night. I’ve featured a pair below but please visit the LA Weekly site to see all of the images captured by Timothy Norris on the night. Nice work indeed. The happy tour was gathering steam for sure… I’m still waiting for the official list of ‘spotted celebrities’ from Los Angeles gig, Billy Idol rumours abounded.  Here’s that link to LA Weekly. (I miss that paper)

m

Mick Jones at the Roxy (image credit Timothy Norris for LA Weekly)

Tomorrow I’ll be back with more of the written reviews from the concerts in all three locations after I’ve had a better chance to sort through them. It’s quite amazing how much was written / blogged about the three events. I think there’s enough of a buzz to get them back on a larger tour to be honest and hopefully even make a new record. Tighten Up vol 12.

Mick beating Leo's offside trap at The Roxy (image courtesy Timothy Norris LA Weekly)

Finally over on the right (at the top) I’ve added quick links to the Facebook page, Twitter and the RSS feed if you’d prefer the blog comes to you via email/feed. As the blog approaches its 2nd anniversary please do all you can to help it keep expanding by sharing via Facebook, Twitter and the rest with shares, likes and retweets. Lots of people still need to know about all the the excellent stuff you contribute beyond my daily mutterings! Thanks as always to the many of you who helped make the whole tour so much more real to those of us watching it from afar. Thay whole community around the music was always part of what this blog set out to help create – so please keep the ideas and contributions coming. Cheers – Tim