Good morning I’ve only got a few minutes but don’t want you to think that your friendly neighbourhood clash blog has gone the way of TWA or Woolworths, no winding up orders just a weekend that took me away from the blog. It started with getting up early to watch Arsenal continue a script of play well, implode and not win the big one with Chelsea (that reminds me of The Clash) then followed by a double helping of too much to do and not enough energy to do it (that also reminds me of The Clash). I’ll be back tonight as today I have to go with the Bloggette to court as she continues to fight the forces of evil and stupidity (no, Manchester United and Stranglers fans have not formed a consortium) in a saga that is as protracted as something extremely protracted….like a Sandinista! reissue. Some good news, last week was the most visits ever in a single week to the blog…I thank you!

Wish us well and with court on the agenda I can’t enter such a room without lyrics from Clampdown “Judge says five to ten….” or Stupid Marriage by The Specials entering my head or worse still the thought of shooting racing pigeons on accident and it becoming worthy of the NME taking deep interest. As for the nemesis he’s got his very own song. Be back soon, thanks for your patience.

Who’s barmy now?

Its a big weekend around here, I might just finally see the back of summer and try and complete digging the fish pond that was started in May and then suspended due to our ridiculously hot weather. See…I knew you’d be excited, but imagine how the fish feel! They’ve made it through an Arizona summer via the efficient use of shade and occasional ice in their temporary pond so I can’t wait for them to have something deeper and by default cooler. You’ve not arrived by accident at the pondblog – but I read somewhere you can better engage your blog audience by sharing whats going on in your life (so proof positive that this advice might be entirely sound) …that and Arsenal vs Chelsea this weekend- tasty! Also later this month of course Gorillaz will be in town with Paul and Mick and I might be going to Los Angeles at the end of the month for some blog related research…more on that soon.

Ou est Monsieur Jazz?

So, The Clash…yes indeed we’ve got stuff to be getting to over this weekend so I’ll break it up into shorter than normal posts this weekend and try and cover as much as I can. First things first, it seems the Sandinista! 30th anniversary reissue has now unofficially been postponed until the New Year which sort of makes it the 31st anniversary doesn’t it? Needless to say I’ll forward any information as I get it and see how the 36 tracks will be expanded upon when the details get published, although a DVD seems to be a near certainty with some live footage.

Speaking of live footage I have to pass on this which was kindly posted to our facebook page overnight by Ina Visio. I think (not sure) that I’ve seen some of this live footage from The Clash playing live in Paris in  single song segments but never the extended clips with between song banter and such. What is sure though is that it provides almost as good a visual document as any of The Clash mid-period in early 1980. Its a crowded stage with the addition of a Blockhead on keyboards and at least three cameramen that I can detect scrambling all over and not a huge stage to work with in the first place. What is apparent though was a band at the peak of their confidence in the live arena visibly enjoying playing within the now broader confines of the more recent material from London Calling as well as breathing extra fire into some of the earlier tracks. Visually the quality is decent and benefits from the multiple cameras and the audio is of an above average standard as well. Seems that Mick’s microphone gets lost in the mix at times but you can’t have everything. Two things that really stand out to my casual observation compared with footage from 77-79 is that Topper is just amazing in setting the platform for all of the live tracks, he doesn’t miss a lick and the band feed off him at all times. The second thing is that Mick used to play a bit more rhythm and a bit less lead in earlier concerts but by this stage he completes entire songs (see Spanish Bombs) without playing a single barre chord but just entirely lead. It demonstrates a lot of how their songwriting had evolved and that Joe’s rhythm guitar would hold a song together live as needed. Anyway a good chance to hear some tracks you rarely find live footage for also. Two clips for you then and if you’ve seen ‘em before…well enjoy them again:

OK…we had a complete bugger of a time embedding those two videos so time I had earmarked for writing a bit more this evening has been eaten up by trying to get the videos on the blog. They might take a little time to load though you should be able to make them full screen. Here’s what’s above for your pleasure:

Video 1: Jimmy Jazz / London Calling  / Protex Blue / Train in Vain

Video 2: Koka Kola / I Fought the Law / Spanish Bombs / Wrong ’em Boyo / Stay Free / Janie Jones /  Complete Control /  Garageland / Tommy Gun

I must confess I’ve been a bit obsessed the last week or two with London Calling since picking up that Marcus Gray book about the making of London Calling. More on that after completion I’m sure. As for the gig, it took place at Le Palace in Paris on Feb 27, 1980 and was filmed for television. You’ll notice constant chaos at the perimeter of the stage with equipment being moved around and the band looking indifferent, which would be another word to describe Joe’s command of French. 40 minutes of video and audio survive from the gig although I think releases have been limited to bootlegs and online. Yes, that was Antoine de Caunes at the beginning of the video. My sincere thanks to Ina.Fr for pointing me toward these full versions of the tv videos that are a bit hard to find. Please check the site they have a host of The Clash in France related videos. Right then bed for me and more tomorrow including a milestone I need to tell you about.  Cheers ~

Good Sunday evening (I know already eh?) and thanks for dropping in. All is quiet and still too hot here in the desert tonight but that won’t stop me from forwarding a few bits and pieces for your Monday morning accompaniment to a nice cup of tea or coffee. I finally picked up a copy of Uncut magazine this weekend and reviewed The Clash ‘Sandinista!’ anniversary feature. I will be back this week for a review of that before you spend your money (although many of you probably already have seeing as I had to wait three weeks for a copy to come over on a steamship and pony express it would seem). Initial thoughts; the article was a bit more ‘Ivan Meets GI Joe‘ than ‘Magnificent 7‘ but perhaps I’m a harsh critic, at least the content was essentially all new. We’ll run a magazine theme then this week with Part 3 of the NME in 2010 feature and the Uncut article to follow.

fresh lick of paint for Joe (image courtesy John Penley click image for more)

Whether it was the location and the amazing pedestrian traffic or being heavily featured in the posthumous Joe Strummer video for Redemption Song or a combination of both, the Joe Strummer mural in New York has become a staple of Clash lore. Sadly its also been at the expense of some other Clash graffiti that previously adorned Manhattan as I’ve written about in the past. We’ve previously compared the original mural with the new one which added the New York skyline and the consensus was for the original version. Such a bunch of traditionalists you lot (though I do agree). One concern was whether the mural would be maintained well because as you might expect the combination of other taggers and weather/wear lead to the wall sometimes looking a bit worse for wear. I can report from an uploaded photo taken this weekend that the mural has very recently had another repaint and touch up and the keen eyed amongst you will see more orange added to the lettering. Glad to see it is being looked after in the dirty city.

Terry Chimes pops up in the press again over the last few days on a list of most unlikely occupations for former musicians. In essence any occupation for someone who was previously in a well known band is a bit unlikely though isn’t it? Chimes to his immense credit not only became fully qualified as a chiropodist but has grown his successful practice consistently over the years and become a recognised authority on the subject. I encourage you to jump over to the full article in the Guardian as the entire list makes for interesting reading. It also includes one of my favourite ever Joe Strummer recollections (‘Its the singer’). I’m still astounded by the path taken by the drummer of Blur Dave Rowntree.

“I’d always known I wanted to heal people, so I enrolled on a chiropractic course in Bournemouth and didn’t tell anyone who I was. But shortly afterwards they rereleased Should I Stay Or Should I Go. It was No 1 for three weeks, and of course, I’m in the video, so the secret was out”          Terry Chimes (as referenced in yesterday’s post!)

Go left young man....Ed Miliband assumes huge task

Speaking of politics I’m glad to see Ed Miliband selected as the new leader of the Labour Party in the UK. He has an uphill task ahead of him repairing the relationship with the electorate that the party has frittered away in the last 15 years. I don’t think irony is the right word for the party essentially destroying the trust of its support on the strength of being in power for so long. Some analysts are saying it is a step backwards for Labour as the reliance for his support will be on Trade Unions….yes…the same Trade Unions that founded the party in the first place, so what on earth is wrong with that? At least its left of centre which is a good place to start. So we need Ed Miliband / Clash references to build upon, as currently the chief muppet Cameron claims The Jam and The Smiths to be his favourite bands….surely he hasn’t listened to the lyrics of either band. It seems arse about face to me, both bands would lend themselves more to Labour no? Are we going to find out Miliband has a collection of Level 42 albums and identifies with Gary Numan? I wish him luck and almost spat out my coffee when I learned he was 2 years my junior….what’s that all about? All I’ve got so far is he appeared on stage at the Isle of Wight festival to introduce The Pixies in 2009 and began life the same year as the 50p piece and Monty Python debuted on Television. He’s North London too so that’s a good thing…come on Ed !!

Right I need some food and to get some work done…have a good one.