Demons of Fleet Street

Good Evening…the weekend went past like a taxi at 3am along Kentish Town Road not wanting to take your boozed up party home to your North London bedsit. Sadly I’ve not had a lot of time to write this weekend but still wanted to pass on a pair of articles that are worth the time it takes for you to click your mouse.

First, from Spiked-online.com an interesting piece by Patrick West about Punk, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. He looks at the environment which bred the scene as and puts it into perspective from the ivory towers of 2010. I disagree with the tone of much of what he says but that doesn’t mean I disrespect the viewpoint. The feeling that cynicism underscored everything about the bands of that era seems more than a bit jaded to me….cynical even? Unless you were there in the post-glam days of stadium rock dinosaurs being the only thing on the menu apart from pub rock it’s impossible to ascertain just how uplifting punk and post punk music was. From the political directness of the lyrics (remember this was when Elton John and Kiki Dee dominated the radio) to the DIY ideals that saw record labels appear overnight. It was something to embrace even though it was short lived. The Clash and The Pistols made mistakes quite clearly but the concept of self defeat wasn’t the reason they bothered in the first place. I also take a shop worn statement such as this to task:

“The Clash’s eponymous album of 1977, is, in essence, quite a sweet paean to an English urban adolescence”

Regardless have a read, it seeks to build as much as it destroys the legacy which is a stance I’m detached from. Cynicism wasn’t coursing through the veins of The Clash especially in terms of seeking movement in society.

Unrelated; Stu sent over a great link to another recap of The Rich Kids reunion/benefit by Phil Singleton courtesy of www.sex-pistols.net. A really well written piece that captures the general bonhomie of a joyous night in Islington. I’m feeling I missed something really special that night – the photos are tasty too.

Right then – get ready for the week ahead….I’ll be in touch.

If you’ve been following the blog lately you’ll know there was a remarkable benefit concert in London for Steve New (Rich Kids) on Thursday night as the band reformed for the first time in 30 years (see the post below). Also on the stage that night were Mick Jones, Tony James, Gary Kemp, Ian Broudie to name just a few. See prior posts for extra information. Thus it came as a lovely surprise to hear directly from one of the artists this afternoon who wanted to share her experiences of that evening.

Yes, Viv Albertine from The Slits who is now back recording and performing her own material wrote in to the Blog, it’s brilliant to see her up on stage again. Viv of course was closely associated with both The Clash and The Sex Pistols in the very earliest days of the London punk scene and then went on to join The Slits in 1977 as their new guitarist. I’d encourage you to visit Viv’s website to see what she’s been up to as 2009 slides into the new decade. So…enough from me I’m thrilled to let Viv explain her perspective of Thursday night:

“I was nervous because I was playing solo, not about the audience but because it would be the first time in 20 years that a lot of my peer group had seen and heard me play.  I didn’t want to be rubbish.

There was a sea of blokes stretching as far as I could see. The ones at the front were quite rowdy.  I like that. I like interacting with the audience.  Doesn’t faze me.

Did my songs, they went well.  Loads of reaction from the crowd and they listened to the words which was nice.  Talked to quite a few people afterwards and they really got what I was on about. I sang a song about not believing in love.  Back in the day it was very uncool to believe in love. The only two people who stood up for love were Mick Jones and Glen Matlock. The songwriters. Mick is a one-off.  He doesn’t dance to anyone else’s tune.

Then Carbon Silicon with Mick Jones and Tony James.  I see Mick occasionally, we still look out for each other.  He is always checking that I am ok.  That I’ve had a soundcheck, watches my show.  He is very supportive.  He has great stage presence, very ‘up’, lively, you can see he just loves playing.

Steve New was whizzing about backstage.  He said ‘this is the most exciting thing ever!’ he couldn’t wait to get on stage. The audience were very warm. Steve looked fragile but such spirit.  To be going through all that with humour, energy, adventurousness.  Something like this tests a person and Steve has shown himself to be strong and resilient, whole.

I felt like I was with a bunch of friends I had been to school with.  A closeness.  Old squabbles forgotten. Best night I’ve had for ages.”

Viv Albertine live on Jan 7 (image courtesy Pete Stevens)

Thank you so much Viv, what can I possibly add to that? I’ve heard from a number of people since the concert and it truly seems something special was in the air on that cold cold evening. Don’t be a stranger to the Clashblog, we’d love to have you back! (Pete – great photo thank you…)

Tim

Just in case you missed it, try and be near your radio or internet at Midnight Sunday evening in the UK (7pm USA EST / 5pm USA PST….other places/times try this link!)

BBC Six Music (which is generally rather brilliant) will be broadcasting a special show hosted by Don Letts for an hour on Sunday night. The show will feature the always enjoyable insight of Letts plus music revolving around The Clash and Joe Strummer. Its always great to see the BBC working with Letts above and beyond his regular broadcast to honour the memory of Joe, so I look forward to this broadcast a great deal. Don of course knew Joe from 1976/7 and was a long time fan/DJ/observer and visual chronicler of the band both during the days of The Clash but also his continued proximity to the members of the band. Expect great music and observations….can’t wait.

This link should work on the night – and typically these broadcasts get archived also. Just in case BBC Six Music link is here for you. While we’re talking about the BBC Six Music – check out this archived interview with Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious from 1977 – I’m just about to give it a listen, it should be available until Tuesday. Marc Riley is brilliant….

Off topic…can’t these wankers grow up? Republicans are sending this country back to the 1600′s.

Tim