Hello once again, yes I know it has been a while. I’m sorry, best laid plans and all that and suddenly the week has passed me by. Not that such trivial excuses help as their is much Clash related stuff to be getting to so I’ll try like mad to make amends over the coming week. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict 9 or 10 new posts over the next 7 days – that’s the only way we’re going to get current so check back often. Where have I been? Well it goes like this, last weekend I sliced open the top of my index finger that made typing rather tricky for a few days, then I had some pressing work to get done on a new website with a rushed deadline, then I had stomach flu and my server was down for 24 hours – follow that up with email issues and it’s been the week that shouldn’t have been. On the positive side there is decent likelihood of a move back to the west coast in 2012 and work remains busy so these are good things.

I am really keen on seeing if funding can be stretched to take in a trip back to England and Ireland next year and mix that in with some Arsenal games and Clash based events. If I plan and save and of course save and plan it might just happen. My relatives aren’t getting any younger and I miss good sausage rolls and quavers. I’d also have to visit this village (pictured left) in Ireland near Waterford, what could be better than a town named after The Clash (it wasn’t) but a town called Clashmore. Sounds ideal if you ask me. For those of  you who learned Gaelic in school – does ‘Clais’ truly translate to ‘Clash’?

So for tonight and probably half of the next few posts I thought I’d take the quick path to a speedy redemption and link you to those shorter Clash stories that merit a quick review on your part. If you think any are especially meaty or deserve closer inspection please let me know in the comments. All of which means we’re going to jump on to the Westway for the latest installment of Westway traffic. So then….off we go:

 Dodgy analogy of the week: The more I learned about Steve Jobs the less I liked him and that wasn’t a sentiment that arose after he passed away. He just seemed to treat a lot of people in a less than decent manner in a self important manner and also skipped a lot of bad press that wasn’t misplaced in the name of profit. Thus this article that begins with Paul Simonon smashing his bass being one of the most iconic rock and roll images (it is) having a parallel with the path carved out by Steve Jobs (it doesn’t) left me scratching my chin. It’s well written and worth a look but says ‘like many musicians he believed he could change the world with his ideas’. Which, in short, isn’t why I love music. I think the best lyrics and musicians that inspire me have made me ask how can I change the world – not wait for them to do the task for me. Have a read and see what you think.

Mick Jones impersonating Alexander The Great: Just file this under funny/great 7 second videos. It’ll make sense after you click the link I imagine.

Settle this debate – The best punk band of all time: Yet another of those daft/intriguing polls that asks for a decision on a broad question such as the ‘best punk band of all time’. The venue looks strangely to be a UFC site or something of that nature but I didn’t stay long enough to find out more. The promising news is that The Clash are currently joint first with 22.1% of the vote which puts them level with ‘other’. Second is shared between Black Flag and The Sex Pistols. Looks like you need to register to vote but if you have a few moments and want to make sure the final results are accurare please do so at the sherdof.com site via the initial link.

Want to feel inspired? Look to the punks: Sometimes a writer manages to capture something really well in the space of just six or seven paragraphs and so it is with this great piece written by Tom Hodgkinson in the Independent. Highly recommended read as it looks at the impact of punk music on someone in a less obvious setting than London or New York; in this case an activist who grew up in the former communist Czechoslovakia and how the music punctuated much of his energy. I really like the fact that 7″ singles continue to inspire.

“Punk thrives around the world. And it has been kept alive by its very physicality: while there are plenty of downloads and blogs in the movement, much preferred are old-fashioned formats such as vinyl, books and real fanzines made of real paper, which can be passed around and last for years”

Right then that should be enough to get you through the night but the photo above reminds me that I need to write about how bloody cool Paul Simonon is over the weekend and then we have to write to an ‘esteemed’ magazine who don’t seem to quite understand that. I’ll explain more – remind me. OK – it’s pouring outside so I need to go and enjoy that rare event but you can keep current via Facebook, Twitter get the RSS feed for the blog or email me and as ever thanks for reading and circulating the blog wherever and whenever you see fit. Tim

Good morning to you, just time for a very short post this morning then I must be cracking on with other things. Oh incidentally we had a good laugh doing some Clash trivia yesterday over on the facebook page for the blog, I’d like to do more with quizzes here but the lack of real time interaction makes that a bit tricky. Don’t worry you didn’t miss any prizes just the right to exhibit your superb knowledge about the band. Perhaps I’ll put together ten of the more difficult Clash questions I can come up with every few months and let everyone have 48 hours to send in the their answers. I need prizes as a result though so I need to work on that so that it’s worth your while, or would you do it for the plaudits? Might be something fun to end the year with…

For today I’ve just got a video I needed to share that has been recently uploaded, it’s brilliance resides in the simplicity of it by combining brilliant photographs and music. Almost to this exact date (October 20th in fact) in 1977 The Clash had one of the many experiences that could seemingly only happen to them. It was on that date that the rather audaciously planned first concert outside the main British isle was planned with a gig at Belfast’s Ulster Hall. It went on to become one of the events that passed into Clash folklore for what did happen (remarkable photo opportunities in the city and a near riot) rather than what didn’t – the gig was cancelled. The last minute nature of the cancellation become one of those public relations knife edge situations that could go either way for the band and their reputation. A near riot ensued as disinformation about the concert filtered out but crucially it was no fault of The Clash. This was going to be the first concert of its kind in Northern Ireland, a leading English punk band braving a visit to Belfast and that really isn’t an overstatement. The Belfast of the 1970′s is a difficult place to describe in a very short blog post but it’s safe to say that division, violence, anger, fear, distrust and frustration all loomed large on a daily basis for the residents of the city, people who just wanted to have a normal life in an environment that wasn’t supporting that. Those were dark times that seem so long ago and yet so recent at the same time. For The Clash a bad situation turned into an event of their own making, not in the choreographed opportunistic way that a Coldplay or Radiohead might try in 2011 but in just wandering around town in their punk gear taking in something that don’t forget was as alien to them as it would be anyone else living in London at the time, this was supposed to be nation after all. Nothing else to do seeing as the band weren’t going to plug in a guitar on this particular trip I don’t usually like the word iconic but the photographs captured that day of the band, coupled with the background of Belfast on a damp day in black and white are some of my favourite Clash photographs I’ve ever seen. They may have been one of the earliest I’d seen also and assumed that they dressed just as fantastically even when they went out for a pint of milk. When you’re a kid you form your own perceptions much more rapidly and I thought that the look of the band was just as exciting as the music.

The photograph below is exclusively by courtesy of UrbanImage and you can find view a fantastic series of 16 images from that day by following this link.

Most of my family lived in and around Dublin when I was young (my Mum’s side) and I recall one family visit to Northern Ireland when I was about eleven so my memories are fuzzy but we went with an aunt and uncle as their car was safer to drive up than Dad’s english one that had come over on the ferry as usual for a family visit, I think it was the summer of ’78. When you crossed the border the countryside and the farms looked as green and lush as they did in the Republic of Ireland, the villages as pretty and quiet. I remember thinking it odd to see ‘English’ road signs. We spent only a few hours in Belfast and my biggest recollection was of so many murals and graffiti, fuzzier memories of strewn bricks and damaged buildings plus army vehicles and soldiers. All of that compiled to make it seem more like a film set rather than reality to me as a kid at that time. Otherwise it reminded me so much of Liverpool in so many ways….one regret is that as a ten year old I should have spent a bit less on records and perhaps bought a camera so I had this stuff documented forever. Anyway.

The Clash did make it back however just two months later in December when they played the city on December 20th. Perhaps symbolically it was their final live appearance of 1977 or year zero, a night that changed the landscape for hundreds of young punks in Northern Ireland and beyond. I hope you enjoy the video (uploaded by GlamPunkTV) below as it is cool to have these images in one place – watch in full screen. Tim

‘Remembering The Clash in Belfast, October 1977′

Hello once again, nice to have you back. If it’s your first visit to the blog where have you been for the last 2 and a half years? Not a problem, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do over next few weeks. I must admit that I’ve got my blogging hat back on, I struggled to find time last month and got a little bit frustrated as I knew I was ‘falling behind’ with Clash news. I know it sounds a bit daft, we’re talking about keeping current on a band that essentially ceased to be more than 25 years ago but the reality is with the rise of blogging, social media and the simple fact that you can read articles from newspapers throughout the world online there is always something to write about. Thankfully and purely coincidentally it seems that the last two plus years have seen Mick Jones more consistently active with a huge array of commitments than at any time in many moons. In addition so many of you have furnished me with other stories or even first hand accounts, photos and experiences to keep things busy. If you ever feel like contributing to the blog and have something you think may appeal to readers please let me know as I always welcome guest posts. It can be a Clash related opinion, bit of research or simply a personal experience relating to the band. There’s no wrongs or rights, if you think Combat Rock was their best album you can explain why, if you wish Paul Simonon took on lead vocals more often just say so. I’ll never manage to cover everything and we won’t agree on all views (Charlie Don’t Surf is one of their five best songs, Mick Jones had the best hair circa 1980) which is fine. I’d love to host a guest post or seven, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Right then, a few things on tap today and then (finally) some more focused posts in the days ahead. I’ve found myself scurrying from one thing to the next this month and wonder about the important stuff I might be missing?

File this under early warning (very early) but I love the 2012 Strummercamp logo so much (featured left) that it merits coverage. The astute amongst you will have seen already that next year’s event is the 7th annual celebration of Joe up in Manchester. As ever you can expect an excellent lineup at the event which seems to grow in popularity with each passing year. Full details will be added to the official site in the months ahead in the meantime the facebook page for Strummercamp 2012 is a good place to keep in touch and contact the key people. We’ll look to have more comprehensive coverage here on the blog in 2012.

Few people namedrop The Clash more than me on this blog but I think Billy Bragg would run a close second which is fine with me. I’m a long standing fan of Barking’s finest and in my humble opinion the very fact that Bragg hit the scene right at the time when the original lineup of The Clash was splintering has always been symbolic to me. It’s meant that I’ve had a protest/political artist playing a huge part in my life for over 30 years and Bragg embodies many of the things that The Clash were trying to accomplish. Just like The Clash there have been some adventurous adaptations which don’t always work our according to some listeners but I’ll forever feel indebted that The Clash expanded beyond the sound they perfected on those first two records, so similarly did Bragg expand far beyond one man and his guitar to become a modern folk singer who was even tasked with adding music to the unfinished songs of Woody Guthrie. In interviews it has become clear that most well researched journalists really want to explore that connection between Bragg and The Clash so it’s not Bragg’s ‘fault’ really and such was the case in this great interview with Sabotage Times. Make sure you read all of it beyond the obvious question about The Clash as you’ll enjoy it I think plus The Clash get mentioned elsewhere.

Finally today can’t end for me without mentioning the anniversary of the death in 2004 who meant a great deal to me and to many of you too I’m sure. All of us who grew up being obsessed with music and certain bands can speak at length about how we feel concerning artists we have never had the chance to meet or get to know in many cases. I never met Joe Strummer or Topper Headon and until last October I hadn’t even experienced my 90 seconds or so chatting to Mick and Paul when they visited town (this time last year). We’ve all got a list of singers and guitarists who changed our lives for a summer or maybe forever.

However seven years ago today someone who was just as important to my youth and musical education passed away although he never played on my favourite records, although he did play so many of them on the BBC. John Peel was a marvel, everyone related to him and respected his (amazingly broad) taste. If you spent more than a handful of hours listening to Peel when you were younger and didn’t benefit then you can’t have been paying attention. The list of bands that he helped to break is as long as it is excellent, Billy Bragg for example got a demo tape played by dropping it with Peel at the BBC along with some Indian food after Peel had remarked on the air about his hunger for said grub. John Peel was the gatekeeper for so many great bands and his enthusiasm never waned right up until the end. Beyond The Clash one of my very favourite bands for over 25 years has been The Wedding Present and knowing that they remained one of John Peel’s top choices always made me feel that much more ‘in the know’. However that was the magic of John Peel, we all have such stories about him. I miss him still, I think he was one of the most important people I never knew, but then again I knew him so well. Every time I flick through my collection of records and CDs it’s obvious he will stay with me.