Hello again, yes yes yes I know I’ve been away. What with work and issues with plumbing and football (playing + following) I’ve been really curtailed as far as free time. It’s not acceptable and I will do better. The Clash Cup returns Friday – guaranteed (and thanks for your patience)

A few quick news bits from around the web and I’ll delve more into events at the weekend. Jambase.com put together a nice Clash tribute and you can tell by the author’s comments he is a dedicated fan.  He’s also added (via lala) thirteen different covers of Clash songs and there are a few gems so go and listen! No downloads are required it’s just click and listen, by the way I’m endorsing Safe European Home and The Call Up as the picks of that bunch – though The Afghan Whigs do a great Lost in The Supermarket. He does touch on something that those not very familiar with The Clash tend to overlook – the pure diversity of styles that The Clash committed to tape. Did anyone else come as close in such a short spell?

The Clash or The Sex Pistols? This was a debate that I participated in throughout my early teen years and I thought it was like comparing a one night stand with a long relationship (that’s my metaphor now – NOT when I was fourteen!!). While the Pistols were certainly at the very forefront of a critical sea change in English music they imploded so rapidly that it’s hard to make any serious comparison. If you mesh the work of P.I.L. with The Sex Pistols and stretch out the time period to include 1976-1983 then you have a worthy debate. I bring this up as ‘Yahoo Answers’ just posted the same question - to which The Clash strolled through!

What other news? I just got back in touch with a dear friend that I didn’t think I’d ever find again. Stuff like that makes it all worthwhile. She’s happy and healthy and now the mother of two! Where did our youth go?

I’ll wrap up this short post with a video clip I’d not seen before (if you have – just enjoy it ) although I’ve read all about it. 30 years ago back in December 1979 The Clash and a host of others performed in The Concert for the People of Kampuchea. It was a 4 night event at The Hammersmith Odeon and I believe you can still find the CD. The clip below is from Dec 27 and shows the late great Ian Dury playing with members of The Clash. Video quality is poor but still a real vintage find. Also, I think the Ian Dury film is still scheduled for a 2010 release so watch out for that.

Cheers for now – Tim