Part Two of an extended look at Combat Rock, the album that made International Rock Stars outta The Clash. But at what price? All in celebration of Joe Strummer’s 70th birthday on August 21st.
I grew up in a small town in North Texas and was an avid Clash fan, my friend Cathy being the only other. At a Joe Ely gig in a converted Shakey's Pizza the band took a break and Joe pointed at me and said "Come here, let me tell you about the Clash!". He proceeded to tell me how Strummer was missing and they were looking for him in Texas. I had tickets for the Combat Rock tour in Dallas in a few weeks and Ely just said "They ain't gonna be there".
Of course, Ely was the first person I'd ever talked to that was in a band, much less someone who had made a record. I was just some wide eyed small town kid.
I told the other three people I knew who had tickets to the show about the whole thing and no one believed me until it was in Rolling Stone the next week.
My first brush with the music business which has kept me employed for the last 40+ years.
Interesting stuff. I always felt a bit annoyed the Clash started to become popular in the US. I try to forget C101. OK, I don't listen to the radio much any more. (I don't even listen to stuff I write for a sports radio)
This was a great trip down memory lane. No wonder the estate asked you to draft the liner notes for Joe’s post-Clash collection. Saw the Clash in L.A. several times including the Hollywood Palladium. Saw the fight break out onstage at the US Festival in ‘Berdo between the Clash roadies and the heavy metal roadies. I had tickets to see Joe at the Fillmore in SF but he passed away just before the show was scheduled. Miss him greatly.
It is an enduring mystery to me what it was that made Bernie so important to them, inspiring nearly abject fealty that dwarfed anything any Pistol ever felt for McLaren. How many *good* ideas did Rhodes ever have? I haven’t read literally everything on The Clash but I’ve read a lot and I can’t think of a single thing he suggested that was a slam-dunk winner for the group (as opposed to a winner for his indefensible self-regard & amour-propre).
I grew up in a small town in North Texas and was an avid Clash fan, my friend Cathy being the only other. At a Joe Ely gig in a converted Shakey's Pizza the band took a break and Joe pointed at me and said "Come here, let me tell you about the Clash!". He proceeded to tell me how Strummer was missing and they were looking for him in Texas. I had tickets for the Combat Rock tour in Dallas in a few weeks and Ely just said "They ain't gonna be there".
Of course, Ely was the first person I'd ever talked to that was in a band, much less someone who had made a record. I was just some wide eyed small town kid.
I told the other three people I knew who had tickets to the show about the whole thing and no one believed me until it was in Rolling Stone the next week.
My first brush with the music business which has kept me employed for the last 40+ years.
Steve, what a great story! Thank you so much for sharing that with us! I love it!
Interesting stuff. I always felt a bit annoyed the Clash started to become popular in the US. I try to forget C101. OK, I don't listen to the radio much any more. (I don't even listen to stuff I write for a sports radio)
This was a great trip down memory lane. No wonder the estate asked you to draft the liner notes for Joe’s post-Clash collection. Saw the Clash in L.A. several times including the Hollywood Palladium. Saw the fight break out onstage at the US Festival in ‘Berdo between the Clash roadies and the heavy metal roadies. I had tickets to see Joe at the Fillmore in SF but he passed away just before the show was scheduled. Miss him greatly.
It is an enduring mystery to me what it was that made Bernie so important to them, inspiring nearly abject fealty that dwarfed anything any Pistol ever felt for McLaren. How many *good* ideas did Rhodes ever have? I haven’t read literally everything on The Clash but I’ve read a lot and I can’t think of a single thing he suggested that was a slam-dunk winner for the group (as opposed to a winner for his indefensible self-regard & amour-propre).
I can think of two good ideas he had: 1) Putting The Clash together with Mick Jones after London SS fell apart; and 2) giving them books on politics.