Good morning once more and I trust your Monday was consigned to the place all Mondays really belong, over your shoulder. Mine ended up being quite good as logic and a bit of good old fashioned justice meant the day in court was time well spent. I don’t understand why people lie about everything, but I do understand you have to be very good at that trade to actually prosper from it and even then what sort of prosperity would that possibly bring? Weighty topics from someone who has yet to have his first cup of coffee for the day so let me move right along.

Just a note about the sad passing of Norman Wisdom, although relatively unknown this side of the pond I suppose he was to some degree England’s Jerry Lewis (in terms of film appeal) but his career predated that even, as he was a celebrity of the long gone music hall era and of the very highest level. One of my earliest memories is my mum laughing madly at his films and myself following suit, an outstanding man and a perfect blueprint for the history of British comedy. He was 95. Easy trivia question – what connection does Norman Wisdom have to The Ramones?

With Mick Jones and Paul Simonon now on tour with Gorillaz (as current members of Gorillaz I should more correctly say) it is safe to assume we are going to have a lot of coverage relating to that in the weeks ahead and now that the tour has kicked off the flow of news will accelerate along with it. I’ll probably check every few days and share it with you but I’m hoping we’ll see some interviews in the mix. This week for starters as the band hit New York they will also be appearing on the David Letterman show on Thursday October 7th and I believe that against normal protocol for the show two songs will be performed. What is confirmed is that a special Letterman ‘full concert’ performance will be taking place at the famed Ed Sullivan theatre that afternoon and will be broadcast online. If you happen to be near New York City you might feel inclined to enter this competition to win free tickets for the event. It gets better though, in one of those strange coincidences that ties everything back to The Clash – CBS (which is a terrestrial television network in the US) hosts The Letterman shows and will be offering a free online webcast of the entire concert the same day simultaneously. I know…kinda cool and you get to save $75+ and watch/drink from the comfort of your own living room.

The broadcast will go out live this Thursday at 8 PM EST (5PM PST) which equates to 1am London time (Friday). Here is the link for you!!

I’ll have much more shortly about Gorillaz and everything else, just wanted to get a quick update out. Its shaping up to be one of those weeks, but stay tuned. If you happen to see Gorillaz during any of the earlier tour dates and want to submit a short summary ( or longer if you like) please get in touch as I’d be happy to share it with everyone.

Reminder – tomorrow, Oct 6th, is the Don Letts film at the ICA in London! Don’t forget if you’re back in the smoke!!

Cheers – Tim – *(Still free – not a criminal)

Welcome back to the Clash Blog, or indeed thanks for your first visit. I trust your weekend was good and that you didn’t end up injured, in jail or locked out of your house at any point? Apart from Arsenal throwing away three points with the last kick of the game yesterday morning, that was the low point of the weekend around here and improved since then apart from ridiculously hot weather that lingers like a dirty drunk long after the pub has closed, which reminds me of someone….

I have a series of weaknesses when it comes to music, pop culture, football and even history – one of which is lists. If I’m on the BBC website and there’s a link to the 25 best places for a iced bun in South Wales I’d still click on it just in case I ever popped into some baker in  Merthyr Tydfil that got referenced on that list. I realise it’s a complete waste of my time but list makers count on you being tempted to review their list and compare with your own. If you’re afflicted with the same weakness you understand otherwise you probably think I’m mad. Anyway, I noticed The Clash appearing on a new list today and in a different position than I might have expected which is not to say where I would have them placed. The list is for the 100 greatest artists of all time, I do believe we are looking exclusively at musicians as neither Michelangelo nor Van Gogh pop up on the list. The list is compiled by VH1 and while I know it’s hardly the most important list of all-time they claim the poll was taken from the opinions of over 200 ‘music experts’. What the hell is a music expert and how do I become one? I’m tempted to start a tirade about the VH1 and MTV, primarily how and why did two networks that were supposed to be all about music and for people who love music become channels that hardly even cover music anymore? That might quickly become a post on its own so I’ll save that for another time instead let’s have a look at the list.

VH1 originally made the list in 1998 and this apparently was the first revision for those of you who have spent 12 years anxiously waiting. In all seriousness where would you expect to see The Clash in such a list when it essentially covers the history of rock music with allowances for soul, R&B etc. Before you read ahead ask yourself that question though? I daresay many of the music experts (do I need that in italics, or bold, or a silly font) were in the US which I only point out because let’s face it The Clash aren’t held in the same regard in the States as in the UK for example, in general. When I first saw the list I initially just hoped that they would be on it and expected them to be on the lower rungs if at all maybe 70 if they were lucky. Assuming you haven’t seen the list (which is probably a good assumption) have that number in your head and follow along with me through the top 20.

1. The Beatles
2. Michael Jackson
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Rolling Stones
5. Bob Dylan
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. Prince
8. Elvis Presley
9. James Brown
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Bob Marley
12. David Bowie
13. The Who
14. Nirvana
15. The Beach Boys
16. Madonna
17. Queen
18. Pink Floyd
19. U2
20. Marvin Gaye

I suppose there aren’t that many surprises in that top 20 and of course it’s a highly subjective list, but bear in mind each are considered more influential or important than The Clash. It would also be easier if it was just bands versus artists. I’m not trying to convince anyone that The Clash were the most influential or important band ever, I don’t think they were – they just happen to be the most important/influential to me in my life. I do however feel they were more critical than a number of the artists in the last half of that list. If you want me to name names I would say The Who, Nirvana, The Beach Boys, Madonna, Queen and U2. Thus I don’t think they should make the top 10 maybe number 14 of 15.

Here however is the good news – The Clash are listed at number 22 on the list which very significantly makes them the first act on the list to have emerged between 1975 and 1980 with the possible exception of Bob Marley whose work predated 75 but he definitely came to international attention in 1975. The list is very heavily leaning towards the 60′s I would suggest ridiculously so but it is encouraging that The Clash would get a nod as the most influential of their generation. Only 4 in the top 20 arrived after The Clash, of which only two were bands U2 and Nirvana (Prince and Madonna being the others). My biggest complaint about that top 20 would be the absence of The Kinks and Roxy Music, although I’m sure you can spot bigger omissions. Even as I write I realise you may be reading this thinking how can you objectively create such a list which is a valid concern I think the the only real way you can do it is either by category or by decade/half decade or similar. That said I’m happy with The Clash at 22, below are some other artists you might be interested in that ranked in the top hundred.

24 The Velvet Underground, 26 Neil Young, 29 Radiohead, 39 The Kinks(?), 40 The Police, 64 Talking Heads, 90 Elvis Costello, 91 Green Day

The complete lack of The Jam, The Sex Pistols, Madness, Oasis or Blur, New Order and the rest reinforces the US bias of the poll especially when Aerosmith for example makes number 30. No mention of  The Stranglers incidentally. All of which perhaps further illustrates how surprising The Clash ranking is overall. Naturally enough it’s but one survey from a less than perfect source but the fact they claim they polled 200 experts speaks loudly to how The Clash resonated although conversely you could argue they pulled the token single vote for a ‘punk/new wave’ band. Strangely and stupidly neither Blondie nor The Ramones make the cut either so the more I look the more holes I find. Let me know what you think and if you think 22 for The Clash is a good result or a travesty….bearing in mind its just a list. Before I forget here is the link to the entire list, one last thought I don’t think any member of The Clash would have seen themselves in that top 25 ever which says all you need to know in a funny sort of way. I’m going to wrap it up for the weekend, I’ve been writing all evening and working on a concept for some new blogs – personal and for a client but will be back tomorrow. Be Good ~ Tim.

I am back and hopefully you are too…or if this is your first visit to the blog welcome aboard, take a look around there are (remarkably) 444 other posts on the blog if you feel like getting stuck into the all of the news since June of last year. Some of the posts are good fun and hopefully pretty informative, others might be me rambling on about this and that but I try and tie it back in to The Clash. There’s not a lot of hot off the presses news tonight so I thought I’d tie up some loose ends and make sure some things that have been sitting in the inbox a while get a mention. Joe’s Birthday is just 9 days away now and I’ll get a summary of the events published this weekend. I’ll also be thrilled if you can participate with the facebook ‘Strummer Status Day‘ if facebook is your thing (details here) but the premise is simple; take any Clash or post Clash Joe Strummer quote or lyric and change it to be your facebook status for the day this August 21st.

I’ve finally got a lot nearer to a method to be able to conduct and allow me to record interviews for the blog (good news) I’m also happy to say I have a list of people who have agreed to give interviews to the blog (better news) and if I can get my act together the first of these should be appearing on the blog next month. I’ve had the best intentions with interviews since starting the blog and not yet not set aside the requisite time or found the ideal way to capture good audio. I’ll conduct the interview however it works best for the guest so ideally they will be audio streams or something podcastesque or they may be written if needed – either way starting next month I’ll be aiming to get at least one new interview per month on the blog. We’ve got some great people lined up should of interest to many of you with a variety of Clash tales and related topics.

I need help with a project that I’d like to make a special feature on the site – A Clash fan’s guide to London – I can probably get the basis put together and find images online but I might need the help of some Londoners circa 2010, its been a while since I lived in London and I don’t wanna explain Ladbroke Grove 1996 style if there are changes I should be relaying. For example every pub I knew in Shepherd’s Bush 20 years ago have been replaced by theme pubs (!?!) I receive emails at least every couple of weeks saying “I’m going to London for the first time and I’m a Clash nut, what should I see?” – so I thought it would be great to have something permanently on the blog. I also want to expand the Clash landmarks series, so if you live in a city or town where The Clash once played and can speak with some authority about the venue they played I’d love to hear from you. It brings more of the first person recollection of the neighbourhood and the venue to readers of the blog which I think would have value.

Thanks to Charlie who wrote in to point out that Carbon Silicon are heading over to Dublin next month to play in a few events for the Guinness Arthur’s Day event. The main concert is at the Olympia (Sep 23rd) and tickets are still available here at the very reasonable price of €11.70. They will also be playing earlier in the day at a secret event in a pub, I’m sure the secret will be revealed so watch the blog. Sounds like a good week for me to go and visit my cousins in Dublin. I might be able to afford airfare if I hadn’t just bough a pile of tickets to see Gorillaz on October, I know…he doth protest too much.

Last link for now is a story of an apparent personal meeting with Joe Strummer on this blog. I’ll assume it’s a true story and go with it – if it is it’s worth a read though I wasn’t aware of official dislike between Strummer and Johnny Ramone (although I wonder if the author meant Joey?). Check it out and tell me what you think.

A few short hops – if you were a fan of Orange Juice (I was and am) you surely heard about the serious health scares that Edwyn Collins suffered back in 2005. At the time

Orange Juice (image courtesy the portastylistic)

there was doubt that Collins would make even a partial recovery so to know he is recording and playing live again is heartwarming. Check out the Quietus for a story about a recent appearance he made at the 100 Club in London along with some special guests. Wishing him continued good health.

From the same wonderful site that is The Quietus comes a great article about Louise Wener and her new book. Wener was the Ilford girl who fronted a band I adored for a short while in the mid 90′s – Sleeper – who along with Echobelly constituted the female led bands of the overtly laddish Britrock scene that seemed to sweep up the country for a summer or two. Writing this blog I’ve noticed more than a few readers who swoon on a daily basis over pictures I post of Simonon and sometimes Joe and once in a while even Mick. I’m fine with that as like most Clash fans I know the Clash were the coolest looking band ever and Paul had some decided appeal just by standing still and getting in the way of a camera. Anyway….Louise from Sleeper and Sonja from Echobelly are this lad’s equivalents. Both were really rather good bands and I think probably given short shift but a music press that didn’t want someone to out cool Oasis and Blur (yeah Damon is another one you adore…I get it) especially if fronted by a girl. It was like Blondie and the Pretenders had never happened. That said Britain had offered Siouxsie…and…that was about it unless the Primitives and The Flatmates stood out for you. (I’m not discounting Kate Bush and Sinead but focusing on bands fronted by a woman)….When Sleeper came to a fairly sputtering conclusion I know Wener started writing books – and although they’ve been childrens book up til now this one recounts the highs and lows of being in Sleeper and touches on the sexism and disposable trends that remained in the mid 90′s British music press. I’d like to get a copy – and while I’m not saying Sleeper were the best band of the 90′s they were streets ahead of some of the pretenders such as Menswear and Rialto who got more press and hype at the same time.

I’ve gone on for far too long yet again, hope you made it to the bottom….I’ll be back soon. If the timer on the blog works you should see this post late on Thursday (most of this was scribed in the wee hours last night). ’til next time then  – Tim

Sleeper – Inbetweener (1994)