Well…the Birthday lark is well and truly done with now and thus the task to be a more mature and responsible adult becomes more pressing, it struck me this morning that its 21 years plus since I was 21 – what a strange concept. It also struck me that you sometimes pass by historic events in life without knowing the ripples from them will last a lifetime. Bad things on a grand scale like Hillsborough and 9/11, wonderful moments like the Berlin Wall coming down and South Africa turning over apartheid. Then of course there are each of our private moments, falling in love, breaking up – losing relatives and friends or achieving something you’ve worked for years at. In our world (The Clash) there were a number of pivotal moments not least of all the sequence of events that led to Joe Strummer being part of the band in the first place, the perfect foil for the songwriting skills and arrangements of Mick Jones. If the stars weren’t lined up properly in 1976 who knows what might have been. Then there was the opposite end of the lens, when the band let first Topper and then Mick fall from the lineup.

I thought today of that preposterous TV series from the early 90′s “Quantum Leap”, if you don’t remember it bear with me as this won’t take long. (I know I saw it a few times, which worries me that I spent some of my 20′s watching television when now its little more than a big thing to dust now and then in my office). Anyway in the show the main character (Biff, Steve?) was shot back into the far or recent past to an event of historical importance, his task seemed to be to change history for the good as a time traveler with a purpose. He was aided by some other chap who used to send him messages via (phone? fax? I don’t know…it was a long time ago) as to just what he should or shouldn’t do to best allow the world at large to be a better place. I only remember two episodes; one involved Lee Harvey Oswald though I can’t remember the outcome – and another bumping into the young Buddy Holly and convincing him he should write about ‘Peggy Sue’. Just think, people were paid money to write this stuff up. Why did they never send Steve/Biff back to 1983 to be a fly on the wall in The Clash camp?

Only Mick looks pleased with this interview....

If he did imagine what he would have seen. A band whose hard work and brilliant music was bringing recognition they had always dreamed of. At the dawn of MTV the best British band were poised to do whatever they wanted after Combat Rock and a global audience had found out about The Clash and were taking them very seriously indeed. Biff/Steve would have seen the hardest working front man imaginable insisting that the band work, record, tour at all costs and a songwriter who not only embraced diverse influences but wanted to mold them into The Clash being the hardest band to tag imaginable. He’d also have seen a drummer who was lost to serious drug addiction and a growing lack of stability amongst the remaining members. More than I wonder what Biff/Steve would have done I wonder what I myself would have done?

Would I have taken the band and Bernard Rhodes to one side and said you really need and deserve a long break to recharge the batteries and decide what to do next. Would I have insisted Joe keep his faith with Mick because Mick had never failed the band before and surely never would. Would I have asked that they insist Topper gets the help he needs and when he is well The Clash will be all set to finish what they started. When the band kicked Mick Jones out in 1983 I thought my world had fallen apart, I thought in a few weeks or months the rift would heal and The Clash would get back to business. As the months rolled on and it looked like a lost cause and there was no sign whatsoever of progress I felt lost for a while. My band were done…I was supposed to have them to get me through the rest of my teens and beyond.

What would you do if you went back to 1983? Is the legend just as it should have been? Would another 5 years of The Clash resulted in more amazing output or perhaps a tattered dream where the inner turmoil of the band just transferred itself to the records they made? I know you can’t change history but isn’t it tempting to wonder about it – to see what you’d do if you could do it all over again . I don’t know what I’d have told the 1983 version of The Clash to do, probably take 18 months off, let Culture Club have their moment in the sun and come back and be the main act at an alternative Live Aid at Loftus Road. Instead….we got U2 and Queen (no disrespect) and a music industry that was right back to feeling very pleased with itself. What would you have done? I know we’ve talked about this before but I’m sure to do it again…….

I wrote this tonight as I’m feeling sad at the loss of a friend at a dreadfully young age which I just learned of today and hoping I said the right things to him the last time I spoke to him. I think I did, he was worried about me at the time and I said don’t worry I’ll be fine but thanks for caring. It also brought into sharp relief just what I do with all relationships on a daily basis, not to live a life full of regrets and do or not do things you then need a time machine to fix.

John – you’ll be missed, we needed more gentle and joyful people on this planet.

Back soon – Tim