Good Evening – hope you had a good day….where are we then? I’m cold…it’s just a damp chilly day here and my old bones are creaking a bit, plus when we were playing football tonight the floodlights crapped out before we were finished and we were left in the dark like rebels without a cause. Strikers without a light. Funny in hindsight I suppose. Speaking of hindsight, that takes me to my first story – Chrissie Hynde!

The other day I covered the news that Mick Jones, Chrissie Hynde and others were working on a charity song to benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Chrissie has given this interview to the Guelph Mercury where she discusses the song along with what she has been up to lately (Guelph, I wondered also, 60 miles from Toronto apparently!) . Its definitely worth a quick read if only for the quote beneath:

“Yeah, it was a regular beauty contest”  Chrissie Hynde describing the lineup for the Haiti benefit single

As you’re probably aware her relationship with The Clash and Mick in particular extends all the way back to 1976 as she spent years soaking up

That original Pretenders lineup

the scene in London, all of which surely helped her when recruiting that original (and brilliant) lineup for The Pretenders. I learn bits and pieces as I write and research the blog and one of those things I always assumed to be an urban myth about Chrissie is apparently true. When Mick Jones was recording the vocals for Train in Vain for what turned out to be a last minute addition to London Calling he was apparently looking up above into the booth where Chrissie stood and it helped him spit out the anguish (venom?) of that lyric. I’ve got no inside scoop on that relationship – has Chrissie written a book yet? I sense she’d keep it to herself anyway. Does anyone know if Mick ever played live with The Pretenders or Chrissie (post 1976-8)? I remember thinking that feather haircut thing she had circa the first album was as good as it gets, it was between her and Siouxsie Sioux for me for a very short while back then.

Thanks for your Paul Weller comments – consensus, good bloke, peaked with The Jam and don’t give up on his solo stuff. I still think The Style Council lyrically, musically and conceptually were the business if only you could strip away that archetypal 1980′s production sheen. Then there was D.C. Lee…she was nice also…and tonight’s blog is straying from the normal path of honour and chivalry you expect from me.

Months ago I mentioned ‘The Hours’ - a band that formed post Mescaleros and featuring Anthony Genn and Martin Slattery from the aforementioned band. Seems they’ve got a new EP out now and worth a quick listen. Read more about that and the new song ‘Ali in The Jungle’ at this link from MusicRemedy.com – I’ll close with the video beneath – nice to see some Mescaleros!! (A cracking song, reminds me of Geneva…if you remember them?). Clash Cup – first match is very close…did you vote?

Night!

He's not acting...Sean Penn

Good Evening…whats up then? Just time for a quick update tonight but thought it would be nice to say hello. Just watching Sean Penn on the news who is over in Haiti doing what he can – it’s become very easy to see ‘celebrities’ as shallow and selfish but you should tip your cap to someone who could just be sitting in his Beverly Hills mansion but instead is getting his hands dirty at the site of a genuine crisis. Raising awareness about important matters is (I think) a responsibility we all share and if you are ‘famous’ and connected you should shout it out as loud as you can that things need to be changed. I guess I like my actors like I like my musicians – to have a conscience and some ideas, nobody has all the answers but at least ask the bloody questions.

I wanted to touch quickly on the Strummerville event last Friday night for the Shatter The Hotel album launch. When you get time pop over to the Strummerville site to see some more great photos and find the link to hear a podcast of the whole event. Marvellous…almost as good as being there except lacking in Twiglets and a pint of Stella. I hope to get some more inside information from Mark Matthews (Prince Blanco) later this week but I am genuinely thrilled that the project was so warmly received in London. The podcast is a must listen, interviews are mixed alongside the music and you will want to buy the album when you finish listening. You can download it to your i-tunes thingy also if that’s your bag. (ask someone younger…sorry!!). The Trish Whelan interview is priceless as she discusses a lot about Strummerville and how its expanding.

I’ve worked out my Achilles while working on the blog, I can’t write an album review that is succinct to save my life. I just ramble so much that I don’t think I help sell the record though I might convince you that I think the Miner’s Strike was the socio-economic event of the 1980′s – I get off track. However I can say this album review of the aforementioned Shatter The Hotel album from the Lucid Culture blog is well worth a read also.

In other news - Paul Weller will get the NME Godlike genius award this year – (after The Clash of course). While I just simply adored The Jam and The Style Council my continued efforts to enjoy his solo output has not been easy. I know it’s revered and critically loved but beyond Stanley Street (was that the title?) I’ve just not found that groove. Perhaps you did? Either way congratulations to Mr. Weller.

The always enjoyable Huffington Post has a brief story about The Specials today – with the band coming to the States in the Spring I am sure that the US music media (the fragments that remain) will be queuing up for days to speak to Terry Hall for a few minutes. Terry is a fascinating bloke and one of my favourite musicians ever but not easy to interview, he’s also sort of ‘forgot’ much of his time with The Specials – he was just a young man don’t forget.

Back soon ~ Tim

Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and Yours Truly

Evening all….so I had this great dream last night, I tend to dream a lot about things that have actually happened to me years ago but once in a while they are just weird collages of memories and sounds. The only constant is my dreams ALWAYS have a soundtrack, what is that all about? So anyway in my dream I was about fifteen and wandering around New York City – luckily in keeping with the theme it looked like 1982 also, the clothes were right as were the cars. I heard snippets of conversations, people were moaning about the economy and Ronald Reagan but it all had a good New York vibe. I went into a big record shop and there were rows and rows of vinyl, some tapes and that was it. I found myself looking for a Joe Strummer album (my chance to get Rock Art on vinyl…not realising this was just a dream) which was daft as The Clash still hadn’t split (it was 1982!!) and even asked the clerk at the shop, he was a hipster with big ‘Alarm’ hair and he looked at me like I was mad, he simply showed me where The Clash albums were. Thanks mate!  It was one of those dreams where everything is so real you can almost smell it and The Jam were playing (via the Speakers) it was The Gift album and I was thrilled to bits. Anyway I bought a copy of Melody Maker with Madness on the cover and an Aztec Camera badge and when I was fumbling through my pockets the alarm (not the band) went off and I woke up.

Not much of this makes sense, I was only in New York before at the age of nine and then again not til I turned 19 so it wasn’t a logical dream but it was good fun. I typed in New York 1982 and different combinations of music/video and found the Psychedelic Furs video below, I’ve never seen the video before though I always liked the Psychedelic Furs. In fact for a while after The Clash kicked out Mick Jones I would see The Furs as often as I could as they seemed truer to post punk than a lot of the new romantic nonsense that was going round at the time. I’ve got to say, if you were too young to remember what the scene and the kids looked like in the States (and London for that matter) around 1982-1983 this video captures it rather well.

http://www.dailymotion.com/videox92u9

From the hair having some height to the jackets with a military look we were all ex punks looking for a scene and a song. To think I used to reckon Adam and The Ants looked pretty brilliant for a short time. One of these days I’ll write about the most stylish bands I ever saw on stage, I’ve got to say the 80′s had some decided flair even in hindsight. From the Bunnymen to The Pale Fountains, The Smiths and The

The Pale Fountains (and a dog)

Housemartins, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Japan….we really knew how to dress! Now it’s Nike, Utility and (anything but) Independent, Diesel and Fubu. What happened to indie shops and indie shopping?

Doesn’t matter if its London, Los Angeles, Chicago or Dublin – it’s all change – we’ve moved into a world where The Gap and Barnes and Noble  have replaced any sense of identity. When did blandness suddenly become so hip – and why didn’t I take more notes in 1979-1989 when things were really up for grabs for a while? Ah well, hope my dreams takes me to Camden Town circa 1983 tonight…I can hope.