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The Clash/Joe Strummer It was the summer of my 8th Grade when my friend Jon brought over a tape while I was painting my garage. He popped Van Halen out of the tape player and popped in a mix tape of some Clash songs that he had made for me. "...a Public Service Announcement...with Guitar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "My God! What is this?" "KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!! THESE ARE YOUR RIGHTS!!!" "It's fucking brilliant that's what it is!!" As a dabbler in new music in high school and a full-on music fan/freak in college, I have heard a fair amount of music in my relatively short lifetime. My thirst was somewhat quenched momentarily by the mind-boggling library of the college radio station that I DJ'd at for four years in college and two years after. It seems like every rock I overturn unearths another two bands that I want to hear. But I will likely never again in my life experience the thrill as a listener of hearing The Clash for the first time. I stood paralyzed on the ladder. I had never heard music so in-your-face, so vital. It seemed that every song from that I heard - from The Clash, from Give 'Em Enough Rope, from London Calling, and from Combat Rock - seemed to bristle with a sense of urgency, that the music NEEDED to be played in order for the message, the words to NEEDED to be heard.
They are the band that I constantly return to for that dose of energy and excitement. And the time certainly seems to be right for us music fans to revisit the music and the message of the Clash. As it was in the late 70's, when The Clash first formed, popular music continues to reach new low after new low. One-hit wonders are acceptable and being encouraged by multi-national corporations posing as promoters of art. A scary situation is developing, however, in which the creation of art is not the goal, nor even a concern. And what remains paramount to all my other thoughts about the Clash is the idea that they were creating works of art that were about change. One listen to "Career Opportunities" is all I need sometimes to remind me that the cubicle life is not for me. I hope it rings true for others. >; I found it somewhat unbelievable to have a new album by Clash frontman Joe Strummer lying on my desk this winter. Unbelievable isn't even the word. I'm dumbfounded. Can it really be true? New songs by one of my faves, one of rock's best lyricists??
When I heard that Strummer's album was coming out on Hellcat Records, I was thrilled. The support for Strummer's album was being provided this time out not by a bunch of suits, but by two of the guys from Rancid!!! Someone that actually loved and admired (and possibly even studied) the songs of The Clash were putting out the record in the States. How perfect was that? The album, Rock Art and the X-Ray Style , while not the ball of flames I was hoping for, is solid. While there is a little bit of fire on the album, but most of it maintains a luke-warm cool, pop songs with the added edge of Strummer's unique take on the world of music and of society. The lyrics make for a remarkable read. Strummer's mellowed out a bit...getting married and having children will do that to you. The songs are solid enough, pleasant even. And if this album gave Strummer an opportunity to tour the States, then so be it!!
Seeing Strummer this past fall was a real treat for this writer, someone who truly believed that he would never see Clash songs performed live. I nearly didn't make it in as the Roxy was sold out, but was saved by a scalper with a few tickets to unload. Seeing and hearing Strummer was unbelievable to me as it felt as if a circle (that began that summer of 8th Grade) was somehow being completed. Strummer was backed by a bunch of guys, including former Elastica and Pulp member Antony Genn who produced Rock Art, that just seemed to love playing his songs, the new ones and the Clash tunes. And who wouldn't? Who wouldn't give a limb to stand up on stage and play Clash songs with Strummer (or Mick Jones or Topper or Paul Simonen). Following his first US shows in a decade was the release and re-release of a bounty of Clash-related albums. I'm most impressed with the release of first sanctioned Clash live album, From Here to Eternity (designed to accompany a 90-minute Clash documentary currently showing God-knows-when on VH1 and excerpted at http://www. westwaytotheworld.com). Seventeen tracks that give a great sense of what it must have been like to see this band at their peak. Performances come from different shows from different years and include tracks from the Bonds Casino week. Clash bassist Paul Simonen handled the art direction on this release!!!!
The live album is far more interesting find than the re-released version of The Singles. While it's not a bad introduction to the band, I find The Story of the Clash Vol. 1 to be vastly superior in terms of selection and sequencing. I have mixed feelings about the re-issues. On the one hand, it's great to have the original packaging and sequencing in place. On the other hand, I found nothing truly wrong with the original recordings. For instance, The Clash is a brilliant album. Always has been, always will be. It still sounds as full of fire as the first day I heard it and it knocked me on my ass. Is there much that can be done with it? Not really. But the albums have all been digitally remastered, to give them the sound that the band had wanted them to have on CD. It is actually Give 'Em Enough Rope that sounds somewhat fresher to me upon re-examination. It is the Clash album that seems to become better upon repeating listening. Listening again today, I found parts I hadn't heard before and the album as a whole sounded remarkably cohesive. London Calling is still brilliant and Sandinista's still an overwhelming, if ultimately rewarding album. The verdict: I would recommend tracking down Strummer's new one, but do not expect a Clash record in the least. As for the reissues, it may be worth finding the remastered releases to plug the wholes in your collection (or to just get started!!!). And find the live album or perish in mediocrity.	*I would also recommend tracking down issues 45 and 46 of The Big Takeover as editor Jack Rabid engages in a truly informative and entertaining two-part interview with Strummer about both the early days and the current status of his work.
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