Recount a favorite anecdote about Joe Strummer:
"I love about Joe about saving a guy drowning. Around the time we started hanging out together. That's just how he was." (Mick Jones)
"We used to write, after the Clash, he used to come up to London and my place. Get a couple bottles of wine and we would lie on either side and spin music through the night. One of us one would fall asleep and the record was still spinning and the empty bottles of wine. Nice shared moments of shared music and just listening to music. We were listening to Lee Hazelwood, Reggae stuff, latin stuff... all sorts of stuff" (Paul Simonon)
Most influential punk band besides the Clash:
"The Slits, The Sex Pistols"
On how Simonon hooked up with Damon Albarn for the side project the Good, the Bad and the Queen:
"I got a phone call, Damon was in the studio working on some ideas. He felt there was something missing. Somehow he came up with with my name. We arranged to meet. Maybe doing some music, let's see how this goes. Then we are on tour, to doing more stuff. Mick came in for the Gorillaz and doing the tour."
On whether there will be any other unreleased Clash material:
"The answer is no."
Most memorable show/performance:
"Hamburg. The 2nd time we played, the audience were frozen the entire show. THe reason was because surrounding them was police with sub machine guns around the audience. Suddenly a human pyramid was created, guys that had come off a British Navy ship. To come see us. Cheering sailors and then the frozen crowd.
"The Beatles played there too, John Lennon used to wear a toilet seat around him in performances."
On the song "Radio Clash"
"Maybe the idea was like going radio to the world at the time. It might be connected partly to London, where we had pirate broadcasts, about communication. The tradition of pirate radio with ships before. Regulations. So many radio stations, the ideal of being a pirate and being connected to the community."
If it was harder to write/sing about poverty & working class after the Clash found fame:
"When you get like money and a big house, it does seem difficult. So don't get any of those things and you should be alright. It depends on your viewpoint and what you have to say about your environment. After a while we can sing about being on support, but something that we had shared.
It was only a certain amount of stories you can sing about. It's the way you tell them. The stories the remain the same, it's the human experience."
Sound System from the Clash is available to purchase on iTunes and Amazon.
Published on September 22nd, 2013 @ 4:43 PM