Sunday Sunday here again in tidy attire. It’s as usual a warm and uncompromising day in the desert, predictable yes, pleasant not especially. Fortunately this time next week I’ll be out of town enjoying a slight break from the day to day blast of 105-115 degree weather. Enough of that, I noticed there’s been a lot of blogging elsewhere in the last week or two about The Clash and/or Joe Strummer, a sure sign that we’re getting nearer to his birthday as it’s the same every summer. I’m also finding myself on a mission to revisit a lot of early era British punk from 76-78 including albums that I always relegated to the ‘get to later’ pile because I was so busy waving the flag of The Clash, The Damned, The Jam and Buzzcocks. I’m curious on a personal level about investing more time on some albums from that era so see if they will leave a different impact all these years later. I’m expecting yes. The Adverts, Anti Pasti, Angelic Upstarts and the Anti-Nowhere League are all on my list this week. As you can see I’m taking an alphabetical approach.

What lesser known first generation punk band did you feel perhaps deserved a second (or first) listen. Of course there were dozens of bands who only release a single or two and as many again who made just one album and then splintered. I seem to have some good memories of Chelsea (the band, not the soul destroying football club) though I can’t quite recall why, another one to revisit. I’ll be doing so mostly because my prime record buying years didn’t really begin until about 1983 when I started working and had some cash to spend. As a result the vast majority of my collection misses out on the first generation of punk with the exception of the more likely names from the UK and of course The Ramones and some of the more seminal US bands. From elsewhere I’d always insist that everyone owns a Saints album, the Brisbane band made punk records that we associate with the sound of ’77 before essentially anyone else and arguably created a sound that few improved upon. A strange organic thing then as there is little likelihood that most bands in the English punk scene were hearing Australian bands. We should do a punk cup on the blog, pairing off bands until we find a definitive list of twenty. I know, that takes time but it would still be fun. I’m on this path because they’ve finally released spotify in the US so I can listen to entire albums once more for $10/month before deciding where the gaps in my collection really do exist.

The Saints – Stranded – 1976

I’ve got to get some lunch as it’s already 130pm, but I’ll be back tonight with some of those blogs I mentioned. Cheers – Tim

Hello there, thanks for visiting the blog again or indeed for finding it for the first time. I’m glad you found it if that’s the case. A story from Clash Blog towers this morning with a direct connection back to 1980/81. Those of you of similar vintage will remember and perhaps agree that 80/81 was nearly the bookend (at the end of) one of the best five year spells for music we’ve ever seen either before or since. Whilst punk seemed to fold in on itself almost as quickly as it began the resulting rise of independent labels and post punk artists created a vast assortment of great music. The more versatile punk bands including The Clash, XTC or John Lydon via Public Image reinvented their sounds almost completely to move with the times. At the same time as The Clash changed direction to the dismay of some they also seemed to find their most prolific groove releasing the 19 tracks of London Calling at the end of 1979 only to confound everyone by then releasing a triple album just a year later.

Sandinista! is many things to many people but above all else its the sound of a band finding out what they were capable of. That path that was begun with London Calling splintered even more ambitiously with Sandinista! though many were heard to say it was over ambitious. Whether the ultimate reason for the band’s 1980 release becoming festooned with 36 songs over six sides of vinyl was a hopeful move to exit the contract from CBS Records has long been suggested, but we were left with the most diverse, experimental and at times brilliant Clash album to date. Guest musicians, guest vocalists and dub versions all featured for the first time as did a chance for Topper and small children to take lead vocals. Songs like Magnificent Seven remain amongst my favourites ever while shards of jazz, gospel, reggae and calypso are shattered across the terrain. The album was called too long and overblown by many and even when reissued on CD required 2 discs to take on it’s full roster. I also had the cassette, which was two tapes in a cardboard sleeve which I still possess.

Overall, though it was often suggested Sandinista! would have made an excellent double album and a stunning single one (in my opinion if you took the 11 best tracks on it you’d have the best Clash album by a nose) we were given and learned to cherish the polar ice station/oil rig version as Mick Jones one put it. At the time I was too young to appreciate Sandinista! in full, as the sounds were too expansive, the changes in direction too confusing to my then 13 year old tastes. All these years later it has become the album I perhaps play the most frequently and certainly the one that I think is the most rewarding and resistant to time.

So it was an exciting day some two years ago that we learned the Sony Music would be reissuing a special 30th anniversary edition of Sandinista! as a Legacy edition. Initially it seemed far fetched, when a band throws three dozen songs on an album how much could be left in the vault. Demo versions and out takes of songs that at times felt gloriously unfinished anyway perhaps? Alternate versions and more covers to warm the band up? The rumours took off for over a year as the promise of live tracks being offered, perhaps an entire concert from that era. A DVD with extras, footage that hadn’t been seen before also made the gossip rounds. Amazon even loaded a listing for a Japanese version of the reissue for an outrageous price which seemed to be further proof. An interview or two alluded to the 30th anniversary edition and it was confirmed to be forthcoming. Then the autumn of 2010 turned to winter and no release date was offered, discussion began to dry up. As the calendar changed to a new year I had serious doubts about the reissue as I didn’t think it would be easy to market a 31st Anniversary edition of anything, unless you were a Tottenham fan looking to honour each passing year (40 n0w) since you last won the league.

This week I learned from a very reliable source at Sony Music that the Sandinista! Legacy edition plans have officially been scrapped, indeed it won’t be happening according to the label and that was a global decision. I suppose there is a chance we might see a reprise of the idea later but the speculation can at least now end. I’ll assume the contact I had was 100% correct, it does make sense as the window to get the release out as an anniversary has now closed.

I wonder if perhaps that is for the best. Sandinista! may be best left exactly as it is, full of brave lyrics and fantastic compositions it doesn’t quite achieve perfection but always is powerful and inspiring opening your minds and ears to sounds and concerns that may otherwise have passed you by. From the call to arms of the title itself to the brilliance of Charlie Don’t Surf and The Call Up asking why we keep fighting in the wrong places for the wrong things.

If the album was slightly flawed and too ambitious I don’t care, as it reflects exactly what The Clash were and hopefully what many of us still remain.

Perhaps leave it as it is. What do you think? Tim

Good afternoon and thanks for another visit to your Clash Blog. I just had a shower during which all that I could think about was the blog and trying to find a way to get more content posted more frequently. One of my biggest concerns when I started writing about The Clash was whether there would be enough content of interest to go around, talk about being worried about the wrong thing – as the last year, actually nearly year and a half have provided far more current Clash related stories than I ever expected in addition to how deeply we can look back at the past. That’s a good thing though, I don’t possess the contacts, the history nor the expertise to provide the sort of analysis already available in some great books and online publications but just like you it’s fun to interpret the history of the band and equally enjoyable to look at all that’s happening today.

As a mentioned last night I need to get up to speed on a few things and back in the rhythm of research and contacts to provide lots of new features, but in the days ahead will have a least one very special story about Mick and Paul from New York City earlier on the tour, a special feature about one of the artists on the Strummerville roster, and we’ll also leap back into The Clash Cup / lost in the supermarket / Video Clash / Clash Landmarks and more. The one major thing I really wanted to at least get off the ground on the blog in 2010 was interviews and want to announce that we’re finally just about ready providing the software and file structure of the blog passes the testing stage. I’ve been really lucky to get wonderful support from a number of people I know you’ll enjoy hearing from, hopefully I haven’t burned my bridges with everyone by having to delay far longer than I would’ve liked. But at last interviews will be coming soon and hopefully will develop into a regular feature on the blog, whether a podcast ever becomes a reality will be very much a matter of finding time rather than the right technology or having enough to talk about. I’ve become a remote friend with somebody who does one of the most successful weekly podcasts in the UK and although he loves it he warns me that it takes so much time in preparation if you want to put out something good (which he consistently does).

I’m also working out the potential for some special promotions or discounts in affiliation with The Clash Blog but due to lack of time that might not kick off until 2011. I would like to do something where something can go to Strummerville and another cause that Joe was passionate about (more on that later). The other thing I will add over the weekend is a look back at the month just passed and the most popular stories which a number of people have asked about.

Last but not least thank you so much for all of your support, comments, ideas and participation. Without you reading this,  the blog serves no purpose and without your participation it wouldn’t be half as much fun as it’s turned out to be. In the meantime off you go and kick over some statues, I hope to see you a bit later on.