Passion is a Fashion (Pat Gilbert)

Pat Gilbert

Passion is a Fashion: The Real Story of the Clash

An insider story of The Clash which has lots of interviews with those in and close to the band carried out recently (i.e. this century) plus references to others' contemporary interviews and reports. Makes an excellent story and gives a deep insight in the workings of a punk band, their crew, management (under the extraordinary Bernie Rhodes, who apparently got John Rotten / Lydon to audition with the Sex Pistols whilst McLaren was in NYC, which is my only story spoiler) and the rest of the music industry. I say "the rest" as The Clash seem to have had a gang mentality of us against the rest. Gives a potted history of the band before they came together and references the rest of the punk scene. It's comprehensive going from when the catalyst of Rhodes formed the band through to the various fallings out and departures until the end after the, in my opinion, terrible Combat Rock. In many ways the story is inevitable but I along with many others do wonder what if...  Topper hadn't gotten into hard drugs and the foursome who were undoubtedly some of the best musicians around had continued as such. Maybe the outcome would have been the same. Not many groups churn out more than a few decent albums. Some notable exceptions of course including those The Clash had a stand off with in Camden Lock.

Having said it's a great story it does seem as if written by a real fan and although it's warts and all regarding the individuals The Clash as a band comes out as real trailblazers. In some ways they were but one thing missing is much context. From their beginnings, sure the music scene as we saw on TOTP (which The Clash refused to play) was crap except for a few disco tracks that slipped through, but the scene wasn't completely devoid of talent or energy. Throughout the story a bit of context would have been good whether the 70s underground psychedelia (Gong, Hawkwind), where punk went (it didn't end in 1977 - Crass, Exploited, and the diversions of Damned, Stranglers and the seemingly hated Jam / Weller), the 2-Tone Ska story or indeed who else jumped onto rap music (Blondie for one).

So not sure it gives the full picture of The Life and Times (particularty) of The Clash. I guess it isn't billed as that though. But nevertheless a Great Rock n Roll Story (to paraphrase Bernie's collaborator / rival McLaren). Probably entertaining enough as a story whether you like The Clash or not. A must read if you are a Clash fan and especially if you caught their extraordinary live performances it brings back a bit of excitement. I was lucky enough to see them at Bath Pavillion in December 78. Simon's diary confirms that is was on December "12, with the Innocents (?). We got wet waiting outside but it was worth it....  all mates who went to Clash concert knackered out."  Knackered out indeed. I'm damn sure we were after 90 minutes of pure punk power. I'm sure we leapt about like banshees. Now, that's another band bio I should track down. Birthday coming up....?

Decline of the English Murder (George Orwell)

George Orwell

Decline of the English Murder and other essays

Interesting collection of essays by Orwell where you get to know him and where he's coming from a little better. I never tend to intellectualise books, or music, or art, but I can see why people do and this is it. A range of subject matter from the newspaper's coverage of crime through to saucy picture postcards and on to various artists. There's long interludes critiquing Kipling and Dickens which are less interesting in their own right rather than Orwell's view of them and supposedly the view of the liberal educated classes (as Orwell would identify them) around the time of WWII. Reading this whilst reading Kate Tempest did make me analyse the latter a bit more (see review) but not whilst actually reading it. I'm not sure that overthinking the themes of a book is good for you if you then miss the feel of it for looking for deep meaning in every line. As Orwell identifies, Dickens can stray from the plot a great deal and delve into irrelevant detail at times. But if it's enjoyable to read so what as the Anti Nowhere League once said. And I doubt they spent a lot of time angsting about whether their lyrics were meaningful. Just listen to So What. They sounded bloody good though back in the day. Must update Kate T blog so you's know why it was such an intellectual write up.

The Bricks That Built the Houses (Kate Tempest)

Kate Tempest

The Bricks That Built the Houses

Hotly anticipated by myself having seen Kate at Glastonbury last year deliver a truly captivating set which at times quieted the thousands in the audience so you could hear a pin drop. On grass. Or mud. This is a gripping book which is written in a style that Kate uses for lyrics (and I assume her poems although that's another step for me) wherein the descriptions of people and places have a gritty realism viewed from the gutter rather than from lofty spires. I guess you could say viewed from the street rather than penthouses or City skyscrapers. Or perversely from tower blocks rather than bijou cocktail bars. Anyways I digress with facile similes. Although it seems that this is the world that Kate knows there are some bits that make you wonder if she's been right down there and through it all. Her descriptions are full and wide in that everyone involved, and a few that aren't really, have pages dedicated to them in detail which builds up the picture without progressing the plot a great deal. It's a bit like Dickens where he spends pages on people who then fade away. He also described the hectic life of those who struggle to get a footing in life without having lived it himself. At least not to the same extent as many of his characters. Kate also gives us the life history of everyone her hero(ines) pass in the street just about. The plot thickens until it's randomly engineered climax which is where the book starts. After that we don't really get an idea of what's happened to our various friends but I guess that leaves Kate open to a sequel. Definitely would read that. At times I laughed and at times had tears in my eyes. Then there are the passages which you really don't want to know what happens but you just gotta keep on reading. The acknowledgements I guess acknowledge that Kate reached out to many friends for authenticity and to get under the skin of her characters. Gripping. Awkward. Uneasy. Insightful. Read it.

As an aside my music blog aka my memory tells me that I saw her at Glastonbury in 14 (Crows Nest when I didn't know who she was) 16 (Shangri La, somewhere I happened upon) and 17 (deliberately went to see her).

P.S. I got thinking about Dickens because I've been reading George Orwell essays. See next book blog.

P.P.S. I must admit that Orwell's essay also make me think a lot about KT's use of language especially in relation to CD.