Posts Tagged ‘The Clash’

The CLASH – ” Bonds International Casino Times Square NYC ” May-June 1981

Posted: June 19, 2016 in MUSIC
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In May/June of 1981, The Clash were booked to play at the curiously named “Bond International Casino”—a discotheque that was previously a swanky supper club in the 1940s, and then a low-rent clothing store called Bonds until 1977 and they just kept the sign—in New York City in support of the sprawling three record set “Sandinista!” album. They were meant to play just eight gigs in the smallish Times Square space—capacity 1800 people—but the performances were dangerously oversold by the greedy promoters. Fire marshals and the NYC Building Department closed down both of the May 30th concerts, but the band vowed to honor each and every last ticket and so the number of shows was extended to seventeen, with matinee and evening performances added.

The Clash’s Bond Casino shows became an integral part of the rebel band’s legend and featured hand-picked opening acts like The Fall, Dead Kennedys, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Treacherous Three, KRAUT, Funkapolitan , The Slits, ESG, Bad Brains, The Bloods, The Sugarhill Gang, their pal from Texas Joe Ely and others. Many of the groups were openly booed by the rowdy crowds.

One of the shows, on June 9th, was professionally recorded for an FM radio broadcast and widely bootlegged. You can easily find it and every other of the Clash’s Bond shows—all of them were bootlegged—on audio blogs. But not a lot of footage has been seen from the Clash’s Bond residency. There were some tantalizing clips that were seen in Don Letts’ excellent Grammy-winning Westway To The World rock doc (released in 2000), as well as in the abandoned short “The Clash on Broadway” , but sadly the docs didn’t give you an entire song. However, Letts’ Bond footage was apparently shot on the same day as the FM recording was made and an enterprising Clash fan has restriped the stereo audio from that source and synced up some other angles found in various other places (mostly Letts’ docs). The results are probably the best glimpse we have at what went on at these shows.

Dozens of personal accounts of the shows can be found in several places, just Google it. One of the things that comes up is from a camera operator who claims that most, if not all of the Bonds shows were documented.

Don Letts and The Clash were to produce and shoot a documentary of Bonds and beyond that is the Clash on Broadway film featured at the end of Westway to the World. What started out as a one week shoot to get six songs live in the can became a year of our lives. The video for “This Is Radio Clash” was a lift from the 10 minute trailer for the unfinished film that we shot on 16mm and went all the way to a 35mm blowup to show potential distributors. Needless to say – the project was never completed as the band disassembled after Combat Rock. Clash on Broadway is the rough cut we had finished by the time to project was wrapped and went back to the UK.”

“We shot one complete show with multiple cameras and a 24 track mobile recorder. We also shot most of every show with one camera and in house 8 track recording. The band wore the same gear every night and Topper was such a consistent drummer – and the band well rehearsed – that we were able to build edits from different nights with no trouble at all.”

“Sadly – we never shot the opening acts. We started the gig with the intention of doing a six song DVD EP – not a full scale documentary. Shooting expanded as the story expanded and the shows stretched on.”

Additionally, over 50 reels of Letts’ NYC Clash footage, including their day as extras on the set of Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy and a shitton of live Bond Casino footage was found in a South London basement in 2007 when Julien Temple was making his Joe Strummer doc and nearly ALL of it was in good shape. Hopefully we’ll see more from these shows in the future. Based on what you can see here, it must have been a blistering show !

First up, “Safe European Home.” I love how “the only band that matters” walk onstage like a street gang to the spaghetti-western sounds of Ennio Morricone’s “6 Seconds To Watch” (from the soundtrack to For A Few Dollars More). What band today could pull off swagger like that.

The CLASH – ” The Clash ” Released 8th April 1977 39 years ago

Posted: April 9, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Clash’s first album came out in 1977, the same year the Sex Pistols historic album “Never Mind The Bollocks”  debuted — though the Clash self-titled LP was delayed two years in the U.S., where it was given a revised track listing and a release after their second album came out in the States.

It was an exciting time for rock ‘n’ roll. The politically potent and emotionally charged songs on The Clash represented a new era. “No Elvis Beatles or the Rolling Stones” as one of their songs memorably declared.

On this day (April. 8th) in 1977: The Clash released their debut, self-titled LP on CBS Records in the UK (& a thousand new punk bands were born!); it reached number 12 on the UK albums chart, but would not be released in the US until 1979 (with a modified track listing); the album’s front cover photo, shot by Kate Simon, was taken in the alleyway directly opposite the front door of the band’s ‘Rehearsal Rehearsals’ building in Camden Market; drummer Terry Chimes did not appear in the picture as he had already decided to leave the group – he was credited as ‘Tory Crimes’ on the sleeve…Recorded between three weekend sessions 10th-27th February at the CBS studios 3 in London and the National Film School studios in Beaconsfield, By the third of these sessions the album was recorded and mixed to completion, with the tapes being delivered to CBS at the start of March. It cost £4000 to produce.

The subject of the opening track, “Janie Jones“, was a famous brothel owner in London during the 1970s. “Remote Control“ was written by Mick Jones  after the Anarchy Tour and contains pointed observations about the civic hall bureaucrats who had cancelled concerts, the police, big business and especially record companies. CBS decided to release the song as a single without consulting the band. “I’m So Bored with the USA“, developed from a Mick Jones song, entitled “I’m So Bored with You”, condemns the Americanization of the UK. “White Riot“ was The Clash debut single. The song is short and intense, punk style of two chords played very fast (5 chords in total song). Lyrically, it is about class economics and race. “Career Opportunities“, the opening track of the second side of the album, attacks the political and economic situation in England at the time, citing the lack of jobs available, and the dreariness and lack of appeal of those that were available.

“Protex Blue”, sung by Mick Jones, is about a 1970s brand of condom. It was inspired by the contraceptive vending machine found in Windsor Castle toilets. The song ends with the shouted phrase “Johnny Johnny!”, “johnny” being a British slang term for a condom.

 

The version of “White Riot” featured on here was not recorded for the album. Instead, they used the original demo version, recorded at Beaconsfield Studios before the band signed to CBS.

Junior Murvin’s “Police & Thieves“ was added to the album when the group realised that the track listing was too short. Another cover the band played at these sessions was Bob Marley’s “Dancing Shoes”. “Garageland“ was written in response to NME writer Charles Shaar Murray’s damning review of a Clash early appearance at the Sex Pistols Screen on the Green concert – “The Clash are the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately, preferably with the engine running”It was the final track recorded for the album.

Tracklist

Janie Jones
Remote Control
I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.
White Riot
Hate & War
What’s My Name
Deny
London’s Burning
Career Opportunities
Cheat
Protex Blue
Police & Thieves
48 hours
Garageland

The CLASH – ” BBC4 documentary 2014 “

Posted: August 4, 2015 in MUSIC
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The Clash Music/Documentary Yet another great BBC documentary about the best band ever its a toss up between them and the Ramones.

JOE STRUMMER – ” Joe Strummer – The Clash and Beyond “

Posted: August 2, 2015 in MUSIC
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Here is an amazing documentary, which tells the story of Joe Strummer, former Clash frontman and defining figure of British popular music.
As a Celebration of his life and his music, with exclusive interviews from band members, close friends, roadies and fans, this film gives an insight into the artist whose sudden death in 2002 came as a shock to the music world.
Interviewees include Mick Jones, Topper Headon, Jonny Green, Glen Matlock, Pennie Smith and more. Also featured is music from Joe Strummer,The Clash and The Mescaleros. You can see footage of performances of Tommy Gun, Graceland, London Calling, White Riot and many many more.

Narrated by Robert Elms

Documentary Chapters:
Chapter 1. First Impression
Chapter 2. Early Days
Chapter 3. Punk… So What Was That All About?
Chapter 4. Leader of the Pack
Chapter 5. The Fans
Chapter 6. We Gotta Move On
Chapter 7. Backlash
Chapter 8. Amerika
Chapter 9. The Man Behind the Mask
Chapter 10. Words and Music
Chapter 11. “I Am Not Che Guevara”
Chapter 12. That Split
Chapter 13. The Wilderness Years
Chapter 14. The Mescaleros
Chapter 15. Joe At 50
Chapter 16. Deja Vu
Chapter 17. Joe R.I.P
Chapter 18. Legacy
Chapter 19. Strummerville
Chapter 20. Memories

 

The CLASH – ” Live at the Capital Theatre Passiac N.J ” 8th March August 1980

Posted: March 29, 2015 in MUSIC
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The Clash – Full Concert
Recorded Live: 3/8/1980 – Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ) 

The low-fi black & white video quality of this 1980 Clash concert doesn’t detract from the enjoyment and in fact may even enhance it (the soundboard audio is top notch).  Complete Clash shows are rare enough, but this also happens to be an especially great (and super energetic) Clash gig with one of the best set lists of any of their tours. Plus Blockhead Mick Gallagher on keyboards. PLUS the dub legend Mikey Dread (how much footage exists of The Clash together with Michael Campbell?) and two encores. What more could you ask for? Listen LOUD. Shot (with at least three cameras) at the legendary Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ on March 8th, 1980.

Setlist

Clash City Rockers
Brand New Cadillac
Safe European Home
Jimmy Jazz
London Calling
Guns of Brixton
Train in Vain
White Man in Hammersmith Palais
Koka Kola
I Fought The Law
Spanish Bombs
Police and Thieves
Stay Free
Julie’s Been Working on the Drug Squad
Wrong’em Boyo
Clampdown
Janie Jones
Complete Control
————————————-
Armagideon Time (ft. Mikey Dread)
English Civil War
Garageland
————————————-
Bankrobber (ft. Mikey Dread)
Tommy Gun

 

 

 

 

The CLASH – ” New Years Day 77′ ” BBC Four Film

Posted: January 5, 2015 in MUSIC
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The-Clash

On New Year’s Day, the UK’s BBC Four aired a new 75-minute documentary called “The Clash: New Year’s Day ’77″ put together by filmmaker Julien Temple and built around his own, previously unseen footage of the of the band performing on Jan. 1, 1977, at the Roxy Club. It’s considered the earliest known live footage ofThe Clash. 

The film —  which includes interviews and other footage from 1977 interwoven with the live performances — has been streaming on the BBC’s site, but is now available to see outside the UK, Watch the full film below.

The BBC’s description of the program: Built around the earliest, until now unseen, footage of the Clash in concert, filmed by Julien Temple as they opened the infamous Roxy Club in a dilapidated Covent Garden on January 1st 1977, this show takes us on a time-travelling trip back to that strange planet that was Great Britain in the late 1970s and the moment when punk emerged into the mainstream consciousness.

Featuring the voices of Joe Strummer and the Clash from the time, and intercutting the raw and visceral footage of this iconic show, with telling moments from the BBC’s New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay and New Year’s Day schedules of nearly 40 years ago, it celebrates that great enduring British custom of getting together, en masse and often substantially the worse for wear, to usher in the New Year.

New Year’s Day is when we collectively take the time to reflect on the year that has just gone by and ponder what the new one might hold in store for us. Unknown to the unsuspecting British public, 1977 was of course the annus mirabilis of punk. The year in which the Clash themselves took off, catching the imagination of the nation’s youth. As their iconic song, 1977, counts us down to midnight, we’ll share with them and Joe Strummer, in previously unseen interviews from the time, their hopes and predictions for the 12 months ahead.

The CLASH – ” Combat Rock ” Released 14th May 1972 49 years ago

Posted: May 16, 2014 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Released in May 1982, “Combat Rock” is The Clash’s fifth studio album, their best selling album and the last to include guitarist/vocalist Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon. It was indeed their most polarizing work to date, within the band and among their fan base. I remember hearing hardcore Clash devotees refer to “Combat Rock” as their sell out album. They could not have been more wrong.

The album displayed The Clash as a band that made impassioned statements about the times we were living in and how we got there. With this album, they somehow managed to limit the amount of anarchy and chaos pouring out of your speakers without compromising their message. The Clash toned down the excesses of their previous release Sandinista (1980), a three album opus that vacillated between brilliance and a muddled mess. They hired veteran producer Glyn Johns to produce the album, his steady hand and experience leading them to cut “Combat Rock” down from a double album called Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg to a single album.

After two albums of increasing ambition (the two-LP ‘London Calling‘ was followed by the triple ‘Sandinista!’), and a two-year recording break, the Clash’s classic line-up returned with their final album, a lean, song-centered effort. ‘Combat Rock’ which made them MTV stars, thanks to the hit singles “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” But the album goes deeper than that, finding inspiration in some new corners, despite the increasing tensions among band members during recording. This was the last hurrah for guitarist Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon … and the Clash. 

It was the fifth studio album from the Clash and the penultimate album, Released on CBS records in May 1972 and spent 61 weeks in the charts, recorded at Ear Studios in London between September 1971 and january 1972 and Electric Lady studios in New York, originally planned as a double album with a working title of “Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg” with mixing done by Mick Jones the band were dissatisfied with the result and internal wrangling within the band bought in Glyn Johns and reduced the running order to a single album major tracks were Should I Stay , Should I Go, Straight To Hell and Rock the Casbah, during promotion for the album Joe Strummer sported a Travis Bickle Mohican haircut.

The Clash were never shy about making political statements and “Rock the Casbah” is no exception. It was intended to be a song about the banning of rock music by Muslim fundamentalists in Iran, but like all really cool things, it got co-opted by people who completely missed the message. “You know the U.S. military played this song in the first Gulf War to the troops and now are using it again as they prepare for war,” Strummer shared “this is just typical and despicable.” Also, in 2006, “Rock the Casbah” was named one of the 50 Greatest Conservative Rock Songs by the National Review.

The biggest triumph of Combat Rock was that The Clash were able to sell tons of records with an album that was complex and more different than anything else on the charts at the time.

Combat Rock is so much more than just “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah.” The band were big fans of the movie Apocalypse Now and they had a great fascination with the Vietnam War. As a result, several of the album’s songs are meditations on the war and its impact on society. “Straight to Hell” tells the story of Vietnamese women and their children whose fathers were American soldiers who eventually abandoned them. “Sean Flynn” is another Vietnam-themed tale about the son of actor Errol Flynn who was a photojournalist who disappeared in 1970 while in Vietnam.

The Clash spent much of 1981 and some of 1982 in New York and many of the songs on Combat Rock have a very distinct New York influence and feel to them. One of these songs is “Red Angel Dragnet,” a tune that was inspired by the shooting death of Frank Melvin, a member of the Guardian Angels. The song incorporates quotes from Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver with The Clash’s longtime associate and sometimes manager Kosmo Vinyl imitating the voice of the movie’s main character, Travis Bickle.

“Overpowered By Funk” is a song that illustrates the heavy influence that hip-hop (then referred to as rap) had on the band. Joe Strummer recalled in 2002, “When we came to the U.S., Mick stumbled upon a music shop in Brooklyn that carried the music of Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, the Sugar Hill Gang…these groups were radically changing music and they changed everything for us.” The song features a rap vocal by legendary graffiti artist Futura 2000. It captured the mood and feel of New York City in 1982 and it gave us a glimpse into Jones’ musical future with his band Big Audio Dynamite. The dark side of New York is on display in “Ghetto Defendant,” a reggae dub track featuring Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. It’s an ominous tale about heroin addiction and despair. Ironically, it was heroin addiction that forced the band to fire drummer Topper Headon after the album’s release.

The various styles of music on Combat Rock were emblematic of the drifting apart of Strummer and Jones. “Know Your Rights” is Joe Strummer personified and one hell of a way to kick off an album. The song exemplified the direction he wanted the band to go. Strummer thought they needed to get back closer to their punk roots. The stylistic tug of war on Combat Rock works with the heavy subject matter. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it was the last great statement from The Clash as we knew them. When the Combat Rock tour ended, Strummer and the band’s manager Bernie Rhodes forced Jones out of the band. Strummer confided in 2002, “I committed one of the greatest mistakes of my life with the sacking of Mick.”

Combat Rock’s legacy lives on years after its initial release, with the most notable example being “Straight to Hell”, which was sampled in M.I.A’s 2007 song “Paper Planes.” Combat Rock may be one of the most misunderstood albums of all time. The band’s hardcore fans wanted more of what “London Calling” was and The Clash wanted to grow and explore. In the long run, I think we were the better for it.

The Band were Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Topper Headon and Paul Simonon,

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – ” Clampdown ” Clash Cover

Posted: May 9, 2014 in MUSIC
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Bruce Springsteen and his version of the song “Clampdown”

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