The Clash Concert 1980

Under rated easily .... being 12 years old to Rock The Casbah is like winning the lottery!  LINK .... Exclusive: Listen to a Clash Concert from 1980.

Intriguing idea, Cheers
And probably a good time to hear them from, before they really started to hit the skids

Rebel Truce: The History of The Clash
Engaging hourlong overview of the rise and fall of one of British punk's leading forces. The development through their albums really showed that Strummer & Jones deserve comparison with more obvious pairings like Jagger & Richards, or Morrissey & Marr. Indeed, Mick Jones is probably one of the more under-rated musicians there's been.

The Clash - Tory Crimes - The Punk Era
Many typical talking heads relating the story, at least from their first 2 albums. John Robb and Garry Mulholland were back for this one, not to mention the likes of Don Letts and Caroline Coon. They were true punks, who nevertheless adapted their sound. Hmm

The Clash - New Year's Day '77
The prolific Julien Temple produces another thoughtful work, knitting together footage of the Clash playing the opening night of the Roxy club, intercut with general footage of the times, social, political, and generally grim. Also with backstage footage of the band themselves, here in transition and trying to find the right drummer.

The Clash: Up Close & Personal - A Riot on the Road
Covering the first 3 albums, after which their scene changed, it seems their recording and their American touring were a healthy mix of hard work and fun. Without the key band names involved, it still thrived with road manager Johnny Green, artist Ray Lowry, journo Kris Needs, DJ Barry 'Scratchy' Myers and good friend Robin Banks.

Viva Joe Strummer
A fond reflection of the Clash frontman, mostly looking at the rise and revolution of that band, and how it came to a stop, and what he did afterwards. As with Johnny Cash, he had resurfaced from a long hiatus to much critical love & respect, when it was all over. Friends and fans famous and infamous were fulsome in praise and sorrow.

Rock Milestones: The Clash Years
An entertaining mixture, with a bit more emphasis on their earlier albums than their later ones. The ever enjoyable pair of John Robb and Gary Mulholland livened things up, whilst Don Letts was predictable, and Mick Gallagher defended his keyboard contributions.

Discovering: The Clash
Punk legends who knocked out 6 LPs illustrating the arc of their career, troubles with record companies, internal creative troubles, attempts to break America, line-up strife and their legacy. I think the hype doesn't quite match up to the works, though.

The Future Is Unwritten
Another Julien Temple epic, this time about the life and death of John Mellor, better known as Joe Strummer. From a conventional upbringing, he suffered when his younger brother died young, and he found his way to punk after forming the 101'ers from fellow squatters, and then being inspired by the Sex Pistols. Much of the narrative was related around camp-fires, that being a motif people felt associated with Joe as a way of getting together with people and sharing. The Clash blazed for a while before personnel problems brought it down. He tried other avenues, such as films, before finding himself again as a musician. He managed to reconcile with Mick Jones again before his untimely death. It was interesting to see some of the American folk singing his praises, whether Matt Dillon and Johnny Depp, or Tony & Flea of the RHCP, even Steve Buscemi and Martin Scorsese had kind words for him. Truly deserved to be called a tribute.

The Rise and Fall of the Clash
A lengthy yet ponderous effort from 2012, which didn't entirely stick to a rigid narrative and didn't benefit from it. Many familiar faces told their tales, and there was audio from Bernie Rhodes and Joe Strummer to give them some right of reply. But the basic gist was that Joe schemed to get shot of Mick, and proved finally why Mick and Keith (for example) have never thrived apart. By the time Joe realised the problem and tried to get Mick back, Mick had moved on with his life and Big Audio Dynamite. The poor guys who were brought in to replace first Topper and then Mick were fun to hear from, but the premise of trying to find a bold new direction by aiming for the same magic as almost a decade earlier was about as daft as if the Plastic Ono Band had come on in leather Hamburg jackets or smart Nehru suits. Mick Jones, rather like Steve Jones in the Sex Pistols, has had the last laugh.

Video Killed The Radio Star: When Joe Strummer Met The Pogues
Though there was Clash videos here in telling the first half of Joe's story, the main thrust was one of Joe's projects when the band fell apart - namely touring with the Pogues as a fill-in for Shane in one of the latter's absences, and making the Alex Cox film Straight to Hell, which Shane did figure in. Don Letts didn't feature in this prog, which says something, but Robert Elms did.