Hello again welcome back to the blog for a quick update although quite an important one. I prefer when the blog brings good news but some things are far beyond my control of course. It also seems rather salient that just the other day I had been writing about landmarks – locations or concert venues that were a large part of the story of The Clash. One such place that we’ve talked about on the blog but not had a specific feature dedicated to it is sadly at risk of closing in the near future.

It’s happened to venues both large and small in cities as large as New York or towns as small as St. Albans, with each closure a piece of the history of music becomes shuttered up along with the stage and the memories. No matter where you live if you’ve been attending concerts for many years you surely also seen somewhere close down due to a change in the environment or a neighbourhood, new management, escalating costs or the eradication of a scene that was synonymous with the club or concert hall. Each and every time it happens we lose something almost as precious as the bands that stood on the stage and recorded the records that we bought.

Joe Strummer at The 100 Club

Any study of the London punk movement that gathered speed in 1976 and into the following year would surely focus upon the only venue prior to the opening of The Roxy that supported and welcomed the acts that were at the heart of the scene. One of the busiest shopping streets in central London is Oxford Street and just north of there down a flight of stairs resides The 100 Club. If punk had a headquarters in London during its first year the closest it came to an official residence was The 100 Club. It’s not just about the bands who played there during the early days of punk but often who was in the audience also, a virtual who’s who of first-generation English punk artists attended one another’s shows and supported a scene that by definition was initially very close knit. The punk festivals that took place at the club weren’t always attended by that many people, but it provided a platform that often represented some of the very first gigs in front of a live audience for so many bands that set up the scene which was to follow.

September 20, 1976 was the date that put the venue family on the map, for just £1.50 a bill headlined by the Sex Pistols but supported by The Clash, Subway Sect and Siouxsie and the Banshees was Malcolm McLaren’s proving ground that punk could fill decent sized halls on a regular basis. This was borne out by an attendance larger than probably expected which led to regular showcase evenings at the club. The venue went on to become almost almanac like for a few years in terms of the artists that it hosted. In the last decade or so The 100 Club has seemingly been privy to a renaissance of sorts as a series of artists looking to play warm-up gigs or special reunion events have chosen the venue at least partly due to its history. We even covered a memorable one last summer that featured Mick Jones, Glen Matlock and Steve Diggle.

Therefore the news that the venue faces potential closure in the coming months should bring alarm to all Londoners but more importantly people anywhere who love the history of music. The club owner has reported that the landlord has raised the rent by 45% which sets the current rate at £166,000 a year. You don’t have to be an accountant to realize that is nearly £500 per day every day of the year, completely ridiculous for a venue that only boasts an official capacity of 350. The owner explains that unless a new buyer or sponsor is found in the next few months the famous club is looking at being forced to close its doors in late December. Surely someone or a group in London will want to have a holding in an establishment nearly as famous as the bands that once played there but as just as importantly the many artists that still do.

There are many organizations that will own and maintain a house where an artist was perhaps born but no such support is evident for the buildings where some of these artists came of age. New Yorkers still complain about the loss of CBGB’s and The Mudd Club, I just hope London isn’t about to repeat such mistakes. While I of course mention punk the venue has a fantastic lineage of supporting jazz artists that goes back over 60 years.

You can read more about this over at the NME website and join a brand-new Facebook campaign to keep abreast of the news and help out.

Good Evening everyone hope things are sitting pretty wherever you might be. I’ve only got a few minutes for a brief post this evening so pardon me for my curtailed update. Not much to report here personally although two quick Clash related items are worth you knowing about. Did I mention we beat Spurs 4-1 yesterday?

Today marks the last day of summer and in fact it may well be autumn whereever you are reading this, so it seems a good time with the assistance of Trish over at Strummerville to look back at her video which captures a good deal of the flavour of the Strummerville campfire at Glastonbury this past summer. The video beneath is self-explanatory and chronicles the atmosphere of the campfire and the nearby stage, I for one hope this continues for many many decades to come.

Trish from Strummerville captures the sun and fun from Glastonbury

Tymon Dogg

Speaking of Joe Strummer a key individual in his life is playing a small gig in London tomorrow night that you might not be aware of (Sep 23). I’ve been doing a lot of reading about punk and The Clash recently and for whatever reason the combination of coincidences and ‘what ifs’ keep running through my head. The moving pieces and individuals, circumstances and chance meetings that allowed Mick Jones to meet Bernie Rhodes, Joe Strummer to have played on a bill supported by the Sex Pistols and even the unlikely circumstances that led to Topper Headon becoming the drummer for the band at the second time of asking. It might be a bit redundant of me to state that things only had to be marginally different for The Clash to have never existed in the first place although I guess the same logic applies to many things in life. It’s hard to know if Joe Strummer would have had the confidence to develop as the guitarist that eventually could bluff his way through the most rudimentary chords with the 101′ers if he had not befriended Tymon Dogg in their shared flat in North London in 1971. Dogg by that time was already an accomplished musician and he used to bring Joe along with him on his busking sessions in the pedestrian tunnels that led to station platforms at various central London tube stations. Joe apparently was there ostensibly to collect coins but also was armed with a ukulele and learned enough basic chords from Tymon to eventually busk on his own. Although many years passed before Joe became the front man for the 101′ers and eventually The Clash it may well have been the friendship with Tymon Dogg that began the journey itself. As you’re aware the old friendship was maintained over the years with Tymon recording with The Clash on Lose This Skin from Sandinista! Many years later the journey seemed to come full circle when Dogg became a full-time member of The Mescaleros with his old friend towards the very end of Joe’s life.

Tymon remained actively involved in music and is playing tomorrow evening at the Slaughtered Lamb pub right in the City of London (EC1). He will be performing with Alex Walker and Alex Thomas what looks to be soundtrack material and there will also be a book and CD signing event in conjunction with the gig. Information is below: (and here’s a map)

34-35 Great Sutton Street
Clerkenwell, London EC1 london EC1V0DX
Read more: http://events.myspace.com/External/Twitter/Event/View/7564444#ixzz10JxxqWG8

A Wave of Dreams – performance by Tymon with Alex Walker and Alex Thomas of musical soundscapes created as a ‘soundtrack to the imaginary films Louis Aragon’s eponymous text evokes in your mind’ (TD). Book-CD for sale at the event and on Amazon or www.thinmanpress.com

You can find out more about Tymon’s most recent work via his myspace page. He has a brand new album out next week – official blurb below, please make sure you listed to the song “Appearances” on his myspace page to hear his distinctive voice.

‘The Irrepressibe Tymon Dogg’ is a retrospective featuring a wide range of tracks and demonstrating the development of this extraordinary singer-songwriter, from the psycho-pop tracks penned when he was 14 in the 60s to the deeply political anthems of more recent times. Three tracks from the album are now on the playlist.

The record is available from Cherry Red, Amazon and all good record stores from 27 September 2010.

Tymon is also featured on a new book-CD from Thin Man Press. He composed five of the eight tracks on the accompanying CD. Book-CD available from Amazon, book stores and www.thinmanpress.com.

Hello again and cheers for stopping in at the blog whether it is your first visit or perhaps visit number 101(er) it is nice to have you here. I’m in especially buoyant mood tonight due to two factors, George (the Clash Blog cat) seems to be back to fairly robust health after a few weeks of me medicating her like a recovering drug addict (the cat not me) and also my other passion (Arsenal FC) provided the sort of footballing display today that makes you wonder how much better eleven players can perform in unison, a 6-0 win which was a flattering result for the opposition. It was as if The Polyphonic Spree or Belle and Sebastian had donned red shirts for the night and turned their collective talents to the beautiful game. I’m struggling to come up with other band names that might have as many members as the two mentioned above but quickly found myself clutching at straws and didn’t take the easy path of googling substitute options.

few people make me as happy as this chap....

As you all probably know The Clash began (as a live act) as a five piece band when a third guitarist – Keith Levene augmented the original lineup in 1976. Word has it that Levene was actually the best guitarist of the three with Mick Jones playing more as a rhythm guitarist initially, in fact Jones apparently said words similar to “I better learn more, quickly” when The Clash the more recognised four piece lineup. Levene became an influential musician in the post punk scene in his own right when he joined Public Image Ltd in 1978 with John Lydon after the Sex Pistols had ground to a halt. Levene occupied that position in the band for five years so if by chance you don’t own any of the first four PiL albums it’s a good place to become accustomed with his style which was definitely something unique to him. If I were to recommend just one start with I would probably lean toward 1979′s ‘Metal Box’ although each had their merits. Note to self: yet another example of why 1979 was such a great year for music.

It’s very interesting to consider (if a bit redundant) how the sound of The Clash may have evolved if they had stayed a five piece for an extended period of time, logic suggests that the role of Mick Jones may have been downplayed/sidelined to an extent as a songwriter although that’s just supposition on my part; more importantly that may have been a disaster when such a strength of The Clash was the composition/collaboration ability of Strummer/Jones. It’s funny thinking back to when I was about 12 and first discovered The Clash due to my older brother, at that time the first awareness I had of the band visually were the first two album covers. Naturally enough ‘Give ‘em Enough Rope‘ provided no clues so I deferred to the first album and I’m fairly sure for a short while at least I thought the band were just a

except maybe this chap....

three-piece despite the evidence on the back of the sleeve a drummer did exist with the unlikely name of Tory Crimes. I’m sure I was corrected by my brother within a few weeks but that I wasn’t the only person who may have made that mistake at some point when discovering The clash for the first time. Another strange memory that sticks in my head was buying the first album by The Specials where the cover shot features the band on a white background staring up at the camera and thinking bloody hell there are a lot of people in that group!!

It made me think just how many bands that we follow are typically in that four piece or five piece configuration with the variable most often being whether the front man or woman/lead vocalist plays an instrument or not. It also got me thinking about what three-piece band have been my favourite over the last 30 years or so since I’ve been mad about music. Who would yours be? Two of the most famous from the era of The Clash would be The Jam and The Police, on quick reflection I am struggling to think of a three-piece band with significant impact over the last 20 years although I’m sure I’m overlooking someone. The Clash themselves performed as a five piece band for an extended period in 1979/80 with the addition of Micky Gallagher on keyboards which filled out the sound for so many songs that were recorded during that time spell. So who would your favorite three-piece band be from the last 30+ years and who have I overlooked? We’ve had a bit of fun on the Clashblog Facebook page the last few days where I just throw out the names of two bands to see who prefers whom, things quickly become quite heated but happy to say the pairings have been fairly well matched. Something we’ll have to bring to the blog in the near future just for fun, who will The Stranglers be up against? I’m thinking Ultravox.

As always thanks for your visit and let me know about that three-piece question, cheers-Tim. Leave a comment…it feels like I should hear an echo here some days…  Thanks!!