V.A. Saturday And Meeting Paul Simonon

Last Saturday Paul Simonon and Dan Donovan DJed at Then Golden Lion in Todmorden, a night billed as The Casbah Club. I had a ticket and a promise from the generous hosts that we could get a moment with Paul before he played. My love of The Clash (and related offshoots) goes back decades and the thought of a chat with Paul, a brief moment for a photo and a signature was a little mind boggling and I was a little concerned I'd be a babbling idiot- or that it wouldn't happen. As promised though, Gig got us a few moments with Paul and Dan after they'd had some tea upstairs in The Golden Lion. I don't think I was a complete bumbling idiot but I did tell him (succinctly I think) what his band meant to me and that he must hear that all the time. 'It changed my life too', he said. He was lovely, happy to have a chat and sign my copy of White Man (In Hammersmith Palais) and pose for a picture. It turns out, in real life he looks and sounds just like Paul Simonon. And in an instant you realise you're standing next to the man who is on the cover of London Calling smashing his bass, the man who wrote Guns of Brixton, the man who named the band and who is in all those photos. It was quite a moment. 

Not long after Paul and Dan appeared downstairs, playing all kinds of songs to a packed and enthusiastic audience of punks and rockers young and old, any of whom were amazed that an actual member of The Clash was DJing in a pub in Todmorden. The set was wide ranging, reggae and 60s pop, garage and blues and ended up quite thumpy, in some ways not what everyone expected. It was a very good night. 

In 2006 a various artists compilation called Revolution Rock: A Clash Jukebox came out on Trojan- twenty one songs that inspired The Clash, that were on the jukebox in Rehearsals Rehearsals and that led to some famous Clash cover versions. The Clash were a great gateway band, introducing scores of fans to the source material, the songs of Vince Taylor, Willie Williams, Junior Murvin, Bobby Fuller, Lloyd Price, Danny Ray, The Maytals, The Rulers, and James Booker. The album was compiled by Paul and he provides extensive sleeve notes about each song and who brought it to the table. It opens with Jonathan Rchman's Roadrunner and clatters through The Troggs, Desmond Dekker, Bo Diddley, The Kinks, Roger Miller, The Ramones and Booker T And The MGs, Clash inspirations and sources. These three were all covered by the band...

Brand New Cadillac

Vince Taylor and The Playboys released Brand New Cadillac as a B-side in 1959 Bowie said that Taylor was part of the inspiration for Ziggy Stardust. In the sleevenotes to Revolution Rock Paul says the song dates back to 'that period when Mick and me were living in this squat in Davis Road in Shepherds Bush... when Joe met us there we used to play it a lot'. The Clash covered it for London Calling, the second song after the opening title track.

Pressure Drop

Pressure Drop was a 1969 single by Toots And The Maytals and was on the 1972 soundtrack to The Harder They Come, a Clash favourite, as noted by Paul in the sleevenotes. The Clash covered it on the B-side of 1978 single English Civil War in fine Clash- reggae style. 

Armagideon Time

Armagideon Time was a 1979 single by Willie Williams, a song built on Coxsone Dodds' Real Rock riddim. The Cash covered it the same year, their long, heavier extended groove making it to the B-side of the London Calling single. 'A lot of people won't get no justice tonight'.