Hello….yes I know it’s been a while. I started the Clash Cup as a fun and interactive way for the visitors to The Clash Blog to ultimately select the best 32,16,8 and finally the top 4 Clash songs of all time. If you’re a newer visitor to the blog we basically ‘seeded’ a number of songs so that they’d protected until the later rounds. If you check back on the blog you can find that list (I’ll also get a page added for next week). Even though you’ve perhaps missed the earlier 51 match ups don’t worry as the important votes lay ahead.

Right then – to get it back on track – we’ve got a series of results to review – I’ll get back to the head-to-head match ups this weekend and guarantee a new Clash Cup entry every day or two. Round one is nearly complete and by next weekend we’ll be all set for round two. The system is simple – no registration is required and one vote per IP. I track all votes and leave polls open for about 72 hours. Thanks for being so patient with this, I fully realise it’s been on hold about six weeks (best laid plans and all that…).

Here are the results for the pending battles that we left pending!

Match 46 – The Equaliser tops      Ivan Meets G.I. Joe         32-11                                                              Not a big shock there in this ‘All Sandinista! battle’

Match 47 – City of The Dead smacks    Freedom Train            45-1                                                              The most one sided result so far in Round One

Match 48 - 48 Hours defeats         Three Card Trick             36-10                                                          Thank goodness for that (10 votes for Three Card Trick?)

Match 49 – Time is Tight edges         Lose This Skin                27-17                                                          Pretty close end result sees another cover version into round 2

Match 50 -  Groovy Times slips by          The Call Up                 31-28                                                      Bloody close and more than enough votes for The Call Up to get to the next round as high vote runner up

Match 51 – The Guns of Brixton sneaks past     Train in Vain           34-27                                             Another close one and both songs will make it to round 2

Right there you have it, we’ve got 4 pairing left in Round one to sort the last 8. Then by next Saturday we’ll launch into round 2. Sorry it took so long and I look forward to all of your voting in the days ahead.

Good morning, glad that you could join us. I feel like someone punched me in the ribs this morning, so unless a late night intruder was intent on bashing me rather than nicking all our stuff then I can’t account for it…weird. I also can’t account for how Spurs are winning the game I have on versus Sunderland, but at least Arsenal stuffed them three-nil last weekend. Right then a quick Clash story this morning and then the return of the Clash Cup. (Speaking of…we are 3-0 up at H/T today as I watch while I write)

1979 and more specifically September-December 1979 was responsible (in my opinion) for a release of a clutch of albums that is unrivaled in terms of brilliance. I mean to write more about this but I wonder what happened in the UK in the summer of ’79 to mark the release of these albums?

• The Clash – London Calling
• Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
• The Jam – Setting Sons
• Gang of Four – Entertainment
• The Specials – The Specials
• Madness – One Step Beyond
• Elvis Costello – Armed Forces

I’d put these 7 records up against any 7 over a six month spell, but what a magic year that was. Anyway I mention it as CBS/Sony/Legacy in their infinite greed wisdom are re-releasing London Calling as a special 30th Anniversary edition to commemorate the event this December. If, like me, you think didn’t we just do this – you would be right. The 25th Anniversary version with the ‘making of’ DVD and the ‘Vanilla Tapes’ was released back in 2004 (naturally) and contained just about enough to satisfy a Clash fan. The Vanilla tapes were the famed outtakes and demos from the LC sessions that had gone missing for so many years. If truth be told the bonus CD of these versions was interesting but not spectacular or entirely crucial. I’d term it ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘must have’ item for a Clash fan. The DVD was interesting but again I haven’t returned to it as often as I might have liked to. So what can we expect from Sony/Legacy on this anniversary?

I haven’t found the official record company blurb on this yet but rumours are that a live disc featuring many of the tracks from the album recorded in late 1979 are what’s on offer. Legacy who claim on their site “We love music as much as you do” should perhaps change their motto to “Blood from a stone”. In fairness to members of The Clash these decisions are out of their hands as the label seems intent on making more out of the artist at any cost. Will I purchase it? As a completist I probably will as I’m curious to hear more live material and the lack of ‘official’ live recordings is a tragedy. If like me, you were lucky enough to see The Clash live it was such a different proposition to the studio work. Not always guaranteed in terms of quality but from chaos oftentimes came something quite amazing. Let’s hope (if a live disc is what to expect) that the label release something from the archives that is worthy of inclusion. The ownership and intentions of The Clash/Big Audio

Dynamite/Joe Strummer archived material is the cause of many rumours and debate online. I’ll delve deeper into that in a future post, needless to say there is so much speculation that I’m never sure what to believe in terms of actual feasibility.

Here’s what I do know, in December 1979 The Clash released a 19 track double album that closed the doors on a punk heritage and opened the band and (most) of their fans up to something much broader. The variety of style and craft on the album has left a document that stands up to 30 years of scrutiny and it’s one of those rare moments where something seen as being at the apex at the time of release still maintains that excellence all these years later. More to come on this topic and I’d be fascinated to hear what you thought of the 25th anniversary edition and the forthcoming release. This here music cause a sensation !

Tim

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Hello again, yes yes yes I know I’ve been away. What with work and issues with plumbing and football (playing + following) I’ve been really curtailed as far as free time. It’s not acceptable and I will do better. The Clash Cup returns Friday – guaranteed (and thanks for your patience)

A few quick news bits from around the web and I’ll delve more into events at the weekend. Jambase.com put together a nice Clash tribute and you can tell by the author’s comments he is a dedicated fan.  He’s also added (via lala) thirteen different covers of Clash songs and there are a few gems so go and listen! No downloads are required it’s just click and listen, by the way I’m endorsing Safe European Home and The Call Up as the picks of that bunch – though The Afghan Whigs do a great Lost in The Supermarket. He does touch on something that those not very familiar with The Clash tend to overlook – the pure diversity of styles that The Clash committed to tape. Did anyone else come as close in such a short spell?

The Clash or The Sex Pistols? This was a debate that I participated in throughout my early teen years and I thought it was like comparing a one night stand with a long relationship (that’s my metaphor now – NOT when I was fourteen!!). While the Pistols were certainly at the very forefront of a critical sea change in English music they imploded so rapidly that it’s hard to make any serious comparison. If you mesh the work of P.I.L. with The Sex Pistols and stretch out the time period to include 1976-1983 then you have a worthy debate. I bring this up as ‘Yahoo Answers’ just posted the same question - to which The Clash strolled through!

What other news? I just got back in touch with a dear friend that I didn’t think I’d ever find again. Stuff like that makes it all worthwhile. She’s happy and healthy and now the mother of two! Where did our youth go?

I’ll wrap up this short post with a video clip I’d not seen before (if you have – just enjoy it ) although I’ve read all about it. 30 years ago back in December 1979 The Clash and a host of others performed in The Concert for the People of Kampuchea. It was a 4 night event at The Hammersmith Odeon and I believe you can still find the CD. The clip below is from Dec 27 and shows the late great Ian Dury playing with members of The Clash. Video quality is poor but still a real vintage find. Also, I think the Ian Dury film is still scheduled for a 2010 release so watch out for that.

Cheers for now – Tim