Good evening, hope your day was a good one. I just ate far too much Thai food and feel like sleeping so let’s see if I can finish what I started as soon as I opened this post. You join me on a fairly special night as this marks the 800th post on The Clash Blog since I started writing it in late June of 2009. In fact it’s now 876 days since we began this daft idea so 800 posts in 876 days isn’t too shabby. That means something like 700,000 words have been written so far and at the time of writing there have been 636,000 individual visits to the blog. Thanks for your continued visits and support of the blog. All my worries about having enough to write about were completely unfounded as I usually feel a good few items behind. So I’ll bore you with one other number – on average I spend about 2-2.5 hours researching and writing each post so over the course of just under two and a half years that’s about 1,800 hours of time working on the blog or (sadly?) just over 10 weeks of my life during that time. Blimey. Here’s to the next 800! (apologies I like numbers) Thanks to everyone who takes time out to read and circulate this stuff and to the band of course without whom I’d just be chatting about any old nonsense. Or perhaps I do anyway.

image courtesty summerisoverblogspot.com

In the excitement of the Paul Simonon undercover with Greenpeace story some of actual details of The Good, The Bad and the Queen concert in London were somewhat overlooked. It would seem that the band plus string section clicked again as if they’d never been away and if you’re a fan of the album you’ll know that the music itself is so organic and haunting that I can see how it would be like slipping back into a comfortable pair of shoes. The good news as far as I’m concerned is that I have it on fairly good authority that there will be another album to come from the band and as far as I know from the original four members. It’s something I’d look forward to as I think it really does work, in reality it’s probably primarily Albarn’s numerous other ventures that have kept it from happening. Don’t forget it was Paul Simonon who said he wanted to stagger his schedule so that he had a music year, an art year and then a music year. 2010 was his lengthy commitment to Gorillaz, 2011 was his art year and of course his time in jail which may mean 2012 will see him back on the road. Whether it will be with TGTBaTQ remains to be seen, I’d say it’s a decent outside bet. Back to last week’s concert in London though, I wanted to share the video clips I found which are of various levels of quality. While the quality isn’t always stellar it is really great to see Paul back on stage with the guitar strap hanging around his waist, here’s some to get you going.

‘On Melancholy Hill’ (different angle)

‘Northern Whale’

Performing on the Greenpeace boat (from afar)

‘Herculean’

‘The Bunting Song / Nature Springs’ (features annoying bastards talking over the end of the first song)

Naturally all of these sound better on CD – so if you don’t own it jump over to Amazon over on the right —> (hint hint) and your Clash Blogger will get a few pence. I’ll be back very soon, have a brilliant Thursday. Tim

Good evening, a lack of planning means that tonight’s post is short in depth but full on in terms of the sentiment behind it. I would have had it written for this morning but felt the Paul Simonon story from yesterday deserved pride of place for a few more hours.  I’ve written numerous times of how(I’ve spent the last few years trying to change my sentiment when it comes to finding some good in Joe Strummer dying so young. Trying to move from the senses of mourning, sadness and frustration (which definitely dogged me the first five plus years) to making the loss of Joe something more akin to celebration or at the very least inspiration. When all is said and done he was just a solitary bloke, a special one at that, but one bloke who cared a massive amount about his community and the world at large and managed to find himself to be in a position where he could try and drive change. He ended up heading a band that changed hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, not the first person to manage that and not the last. However I think when it comes to Clash fans above all other fans of specific bands something deeper and longer lasting resonated due to their music, their lyrics, their stance and their passion. There have been dozens of bands who perhaps made music just as good as The Clash, there have certainly been many bands who held wider appeal around the world, but in terms of impact – genuine life changing impact I don’t know if a band from that generation or since who managed to change so many people’s futures or simply attitudes as The Clash. Getting involved and doing it for yourself was never a very Rock and Roll approach before punk and perhaps only with the advent of affordable recording over the last decade has it become so since. The reason The Clash made such a difference was due to all four members but central to that fire was Joe Strummer.

If you ever saw Joe on stage you’ll know that he was born to lead that band, if you had any doubt about his sincerity it was immediately vanquished when Strummer led the band charging through their set. There are days when it seems an awfully long time ago but as soon as I hear a live recording I realise how lucky I was to have been impacted by this band. I can’t be bitter at his loss when the great thing was feeling involved from the age of twelve onwards. Therefore it’s a sad day today only on paper – as I wrote last week November 15th 2002, was that very special night when Strummer and Jones shared a stage one last time. Completely unrehearsed and fully unplanned but as natural and in sync as the 100+ brilliant songs the two composed between 1976 and 1982. Strange events happen to us all, a final phone call to a relative who was soon to pass, a chance meeting with a old friend to bridge a gap of too many years. Strummer and Jones were more than our generations Lennon and McCartney and while everyone has rightly mourned Joe these nine years since I’m not sure how often we stop and think about how it must have impacted Mick, Paul, Topper and Terry. It’s a fair case to argue that these four working together brought out the very best in one another, despite the fighting and struggles. Each of them know that the chemistry they had with Joe and Mick writing was lightning in a bottle. In hindsight the band should never have split up, they would have beaten all-comers in the 1980′s,  but I don’t think you could even beg for five better or more unique and masterful albums released at breakneck pace. At the heart of that was Strummer/Jones and I will forever be thankful that they shared a stage that final time. I think they both had some unfinished business there and although that reunion lasted less than a quarter of an hour it must have been something they both reflected on long and hard after the fact.

So nine years on from the unofficial closing of the story of Mick and Joe I think it’s only right to celebrate it for what it was – it was magic, it was trans-formative and like all great art it can last forever. Moreover I can’t imagine the story of The Clash without that remarkable night at Acton Town Hall. If you were there I’m sure your memories of it would be hugely enjoyed by everyone who reads this blog – the ratio of people who were there that night (I don’t think that hall holds more than 500) compared with who would have liked to have been would be absurd. Anyway, I know I rambled and repeated some of last weeks thoughts but keep Novemeber 15th on your calendars for the years ahead. Two dear friends finally got together on this night again in 2002 at last,  they easily bypassed all the years that had gone and together did what they did best one last time. Definitely an anniversary to celebrate.

If you ever want to visit the scene of that special night – stay tuned, I’m going to be add Acton Town Hall to the Clash locations series soon. I know Pete (a major friend of the blog and myself) lives nearby to Acton High St – he might even recommend a decent pub or place to grab a curry.

For tonight – and with a huge tip of the cap to Alan Miles I suggest you watch the film below if you haven’t seen it before and purchase a copy if you don’t have one. Part 2 is here and part 3 here. Enjoy it but better still make sure that you also celebrate it. Also, tomorrow should mark the 800th post on The Clash blog so come and join me for an octopus or spider themed update.

The Last Night London Burned

Monday night it is then, I’m about ready to chuck on a CD and let sleep wash over me which is pretty pathetic seeing as it’s not even 8pm yet as I write this. In fairness last night was an up and down affair and I think I’ve got a cold of sorts. Actually change that, I think it’s just all the dust in the this dusty desert oasis known as the Sonoran desert. When I watched Lawrence of Arabia there was no mention of dust? I can’t recall the ancient Egyptians struggling to complete the pyramids due to dust. So why then does this particular desert have so much bloody dust then? Because they’ve built too much is why – and as soon as any winds comes along the air quality would put a Chinese metropolis to shame. Right then, enough complaining, in between my sneezing a short link to the big story of the day that I’m sure you’ve seen doing the rounds.

Not only did Paul Simonon spend some time on a Greenpeace ship earlier this year in the Arctic (cool enough) but he also managed to get himself arrested when he and the crew ventured onto a giant oil rig off of the coast of Greenland which resulted in him spending two weeks in jail (bloody cool), remarkably none of his colleagues realised the true identity of Simonon as he went undercover/incognito throughout the ordeal as he had posed as a cook on the boat (cool for Simonon, less cool for his Mumford and Sons loving shipmates not spotting him, nobody else sounds like Paul). I don’t know whether the Mumford & Sons analogy is correct but I’m just basing this on the video below released by Greenpeace. So it turns out that the association between Greenpeace and The Good, The Bad and The Queen concert last week ran a lot deeper than the 40th Anniversary and the London arrival of Rainbow Warrior III. Obviously Simonon’s association and convictions run so much deeper than a concert, but for him to take part in what looks like an undercover role of his own volition with Greenpeace earlier in 2011 is rather unique. It all sounds a little like espionage coupled with the arrests and jail time being very heavy consequences for the events based solely on the video comments. I remember a few people (you know who you are) blurting negative comments about Simonon’s involvement with Greenpeace saying the organisation was full of flaws when his association and the recent concert was announced a few months ago. At the time I felt that to be really harsh and the development of this story shows that Paul sees this a very much more than name dropping and a photo opportunity. As if the coolest bass player ever needed more ammunition to convince the doubters.

My sincere thanks to Robin at Greenpeace for the extra information and his insight beneath, you can read much more about the tale here on the Greenpeace Blog.

“We thought this is a story you guys might be interested in. Today Greenpeace revealed that Paul Simonon, former bassist for The Clash, went undercover on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza earlier this year during its campaign against Arctic oil drilling. During his time on the ship Simonon’s identity remained a mystery, known to his fellow crew members as simply ”Paul the assistant cook”. The current The Good, the Bad and The Queen member was amongst a team of 18 activists who scaled an oil rig in the Arctic demanding to see the Cairn Energy’s oil spill response plan.

Simonon and his fellow protesters were eventually arrested by Greenland police and thrown into jail for two weeks where Paul continued to cook for his fellow inmates!”

Ahoy mates, thanks for stopping in at the blog (Paul should’ve been wearing his Gorillaz gear). Also, consider this, if Bono or Chris Martin or any one of a number of ‘activist rock stars’ had a similar experience do you think for a split second that the story would have been kept under wraps until after the associated concert for Greenpeace? Of course not. That speaks volumes. Video to follow – have a good one. Tim

Stories from the Rainbow Warrior: Jailhouse Rockstar (That’s the Greenpeace headline, I’m innocent of such cold puns)

Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.

It comprises 28 independent national/regional offices in over 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as a co-ordinating body, Greenpeace International.