A very good Saturday afternoon my very fine Clash people. A wet and windy overnight here blew away all the dust and last remnants of summer which leaves me with a clear head and a mission to accomplish (sort out the garage and work on selling a few thousand books and cds that are surplus to requirements). I wish I had a Mick Jones style lock up to keep all my old gear but years of hunting and gathering interspersed with a foray in selling online (which served me well for a few years) leaves me with more than I bargained for or have room for. If you’re looking for some obscure music let me know, I just might have it. I’m tasked with capping my collection at 2,000 titles which isn’t as easy as it sounds. I’ll let you know how that goes.

I mentioned yesterday that you can expect a flurry of new posts in the days ahead and I’m going to deliver on that. They might be a bit shorter than the usual variety but will at least leave me with a clear conscience and you being more current on all things Clash. My accompaniment to my work today will be the album by Yuck. If you’ve not heard them I recommend you check them out – it’s nice to hear so much guitar again. I’m a late convert to their debut album but check this out for starters – ‘Get Away’.

I’ve got the ins and outs of Strummerville getting ready to begin the 10 year recognition of Joe Strummer’s passing on the next post – something I think we’ll all have in the back of our minds throughout 2012 with December looming as that unhappy anniversary, with that said I think we should turn it into a positive celebration next year. Task yourself with trying something that only Joe Strummer might do. I’ve got something in mind already.

For today’s post I thought it was time to correct a flaw and encourage you to write a short letter of complaint to GQ for making such a glaring mistake. As you know the men’s magazine likes to consider itself the watchful eye of all that is stylish and cool for men. To that end they’ve compiled a list of the ‘Most stylish musicians of all time’. I don’t think The Clash should occupy the top four spots on such a list (maybe 4 of the top 12) but the highest ranking is quite rightly something you’d award to Paul Simonon right? What he lacked in musical expertise in the early days of the band he certainly made up for in image. Too many observers at the time the ‘look’ that The Clash were famous for and one which changed every few months was in large part down to Simonon. He knew what looked good and he always looked good even when the rest of the band went through some very dodgy phases, even The Clash were impacted by some style decisions that were unique to the 1980′s. When you think of people who tended to always look brilliant in the music industry even if we take off our Clash tinted spectacles Paul Simonon would have to be right near the top of that list right? Naturally you’d expect GQ to recognise that and have him resting comfortably in the top five. So we need to watch their interpretation of the top 20 as Simonon only came in at number 21. I’ll share some of those style gurus who rank higher as the names are revealed in the days ahead. In the meantime direct your complaints to Sean Hotchkiss at GQ here’s his twitter account.

Right, things to do so I’ll be back soon. Be good and please harass Sean above or comment on the page itself. – Tim

Tuesday afternoon – welcome back. I need a break from looking at numbers so I thought instead I’d write some words and see what came out, ideally a good ratio of them will be related to The Clash so you’ll want to read the whole thing. Apart from the heat it is a beautiful day here and one that makes me wish I owned an old TR4 and take a spin on west London’s most exciting road. Now I hope that you’ll know what a TR4 is and failing that realise which road I’m referring too. It is such a sunny day that I think we should take a run with the traffic on the Westway – our quick stop review of assorted good, bad and oddities in the world of all things Clash. So if we’ve got enough cash for petrol we’ll ease on and see what lays ahead.

 Do you miss your Big Audio Dynamite vinyl? You can follow that link to get a full mp3 download of The Globe 12″ from almost 20 years ago. I wish that wasn’t true but it is (early 1992) saw the arrival of this often overlooked single plus more remixes (4) than you can shake a stick at. The new version of B.A.D. were very different from Mick’s first line up and this track remains one of the very best in my humble opinion. For added MP3 goodness there is also the 8 minute mix of Rush. Thanks to the site Fun With Vinyl – always a great site and something I’d love to do if I had some spare time.

Some Joe Strummer art. Yes it’s pictured to the left but please visit the website of Amy Hood instead for three reasons. 1/ It’s a bigger image and therefore better quality 2/ You can learn about Amy and see more of her work 3/ It’s Joe Strummer. You don’t need more reasons, she’s also looking for feedback on her work. I can’t create art so I bow to everyone who can, especially when they realise a Clash member makes a good subject. Yes, Joe does have a hawk perched on his shoulder and Amy explains why on the site.

Bob Gruen interview and exhibition: Regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan of great Clash photography and Bob Gruen sits right up there with Penny Smith when it comes to The Clash. They should do a speaking tour together, can you imagine both of them discussing so many of the greatest photos ever taken of a band? Gruen’s track record is long and remarkable and his work alongside his deep friendship with Joe Strummer and the rest of the band can’t be undersold. This interview with Gruen in The National Post is short and sweet but it’s in conjunction with his ongoing exhibition at the Liss Gallery in Toronto which runs until Nov 3. Hope some of you can get along to that!

Shepard Fairey and Joe Strummer: The Vinyl District is an exceptionally enjoyable site and they’ve come up with a great piece about Fairey and Strummer in relation to the recent mural that I covered last week recently completed in Asbury, New Jersey. Angie compiled this article and it’s well worth a read as it reviews Fairey’s work on the mural along with earlier work, his influences and her opinion of the significance of his art. I can’t help but feel he might be the ideal candidate to create something ‘official’ (not that I like that word too much) in London to recognise Strummer. Anyway, please read the piece and leave a comment if you can.

Frank Turner interview explains the Strummerville connection: Remarkably this came from our local listings/music rag Phoenix New Times. I highly recommend Frank Turner’s new disc by the way and read the link to find out about how he became involved with Strummerville. He’s a rare breed indeed, an English solo artist who is achieving a little bit of a following on this side of the pond with music that actually has something to say.

Just like that we’ve buzzed through five new pieces, I’ve got another large pile of tales and links waiting so I’ll be sure to bring you some more Westway traffic in the next few days. If you see, read or hear of something that you think might be of interest to the blog please get in touch. I’ve also revised the recommended signage to sit above the A40 (The Westway) as you head into London below, what do you think? I’m off then – but remember you can keep current via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed for the blog or email me and as ever thanks for sharing the blog wherever and whenever you see fit. Tim

Hello again and thanks for dropping back in at the Clash Blog. I hope your weekend went well and that Monday wasn’t a disaster either. I can’t complain about the weekend although I would have liked to have managed more sleep but the time difference between here and the UK meant that I had to get up at some ungodly hours of the day.

Last night I was in the mood for some Joe Strummer, more so than usual and was listening to Streetcore and then decided to see what videos, if any, had been uploaded recently. I came up with the three below that all came from the same source and thought that they were outstanding. I have little doubt some or maybe all of them have been seen previously by some of you but I’m certain that all of you haven’t seen all of them. On that basis plus the fact that these are really excellent examples of just how great Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros were live then I thought this deserved a chance for a few of the videos to be in one easy location and viewable by as many people as possible. That’s how Joe stays with us and I hope you enjoy the 8 or 9 minutes it takes to watch these as much as I did last night. I need to do a much better job of checking uploaded videos and building some sort of archive but time always seems to be against that happening. Volunteers? (the only pay is knowing you’re doing something good)

Speaking of Joe, I also wanted to point everyone in the direction of Strummerville who are having a very special 20% off sale for some specific merchandise at the moment. It’s a great time to make some significant savings, take care of early holiday shopping and also contribute some greatly appreciated funds to the foundation. Here’s a link to the Strummerville sale and please let me know what you decided to purchase (don’t buy me the pink number, really).

On to the videos then and two thumbs up to driftbolt for uploading them in the first place. I’d never seen them before so they made me happy, but apparently they appeared on the HBO series ‘Reverb’ which aired between ’97 and ’01 with the Joe/Meskys episode airing in 2000 I believe although it was recorded the year before. The concert recording took place on Nov 23, 1999 at the Roseland Ballroom which you’ll recall also hosted B.A.D. earlier this year. It was Joe’s 2nd set of dates around the US that year as the band working their collective arse off promoting ‘Rock Art’ and also working some Clash songs into the set. Enough from me – just press play below a few times and enjoy the rest.

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros – London Calling – Nov 1999

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros – Tommy Gun – Nov 1999

Joe Strummer interview outtake Nov 1999

I believe that essentially most of the show was broadcast on HBO (can someone tell me for sure?) and you’ll find other songs on the ‘driftbolt’ YouTube link as posted above. See you later – Tim