1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:15,319 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: the Clash are insane. They were arrested on suspicion of 3 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: terrorism after shooting guns off of a roof. They were 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: chased out of Jamaica by local drug lords armed to 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: the teeth. They caused a near riot in Times Square 6 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: when their week long takeover of a disco was shut 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: down by the city after one night. They were famously 8 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: described as the only band that matters, a description that 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: weighed so heavy it caused one of the members of 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: the band to disappear at their commercial peak. Long before 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: they reached that peak, the Clash were making great music, 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: unlike that clip I played for you at the top 13 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 14 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: preset loop from my mellotron called the Illustrious seven MK two. 15 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: rights to a clip from Betty Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes. 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: teazy just to please you cheese? Could I afford it? 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 20 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: May twenty eighth, nineteen eighty one, and that was the 21 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: day that The Clash in seven nights stand at Bond 22 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: International Casino came to a screeching halt when it was 23 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: discovered that the promoters had oversold every show by double 24 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: initiating a standoff between the band, the fire department, the police, 25 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: rival club owners and angry fans. On this episode, guns 26 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: on the roof Jamaican drug lords, a Times Square riot, 27 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: and the only band that matters The Clash. I'm Jake 28 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is Disgraceland. The Clash's manager, Bernie Rhodes, 29 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: once described the band as a news organization first, an 30 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: entertainer's second, or as the Clash's own Joe Strummer put it, 31 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: a public service announcement. With guitar Joe Mick Jones, Paul 32 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: Simonon and Topperheaton were on the front lines of a 33 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: world that was ripping apart at the seams, hate in war, racism, 34 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: and greed, corruption, inequality. But over forty years ago, when 35 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: The Clash were the only band that matters, to quote 36 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: their record company, they reported on that world with music 37 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: on the cutting edge. The Clash where a punk band 38 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: at a time, and the word punk actually meant something. 39 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: Key players at the dawn of a movement that didn't 40 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: want to top the charts. Note punk wanted the charts 41 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: torn down. Charts, just like every other pecking order in life, 42 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: were meaningless. Punk Rocks meaning was to gnaws everything up, 43 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: to use a Joe strummerism, that is, to fuck with 44 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: the order of things, to challenge the status quo. Punk 45 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: rock wanted no charts, which isn't the same as no future, 46 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: the buzz phrase of the clash as contemporary as the 47 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: sex pistols. I never mind those bollocks. Joe Strummer, for one, 48 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: could see the future. It was unwritten there for the taking. 49 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: Allow the wrong people to take it, and there will 50 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: be Trump to stand by and do nothing, and there 51 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: will be double And Joe Strummer wasn't about to stand 52 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: by while the world clashed the haves and the have nots, 53 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: police and thieves. High and low. Culture nineteen seventy seven 54 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: was quote unquote a Magideon time, and there was no 55 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: chaos on seven seven nineteen seventy seven, as prophesied by 56 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: Marcus Garvey and soundtracked by the Roots reggae group Culture 57 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: on their hit two seven's Clash, But one year prior, 58 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: war was declared and battle come down. Long simmering tensions 59 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: between the West London black community and the local police 60 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: boiled over. The cops at the annual carnival celebration in 61 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: notting Hill weren't there to celebrate, but to remind everyone 62 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 1: of their authority, to demonstrate complete control. Instead, the ruled 63 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: rose up against the rulers. It started small, an alleged 64 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: pickpocket being roughed up by a cop with the truncheon, 65 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: a coke can tossed at a phalanx of Bobby's out 66 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: of frustration, and then ma'am police charging through the streets 67 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: Black men and women attacked, arrested men and women with 68 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: nothing more than an axe to grind and the guts 69 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: to do something about it. That's according to Joe Strummer, 70 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: who should know because he was there on the front 71 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: lines fighting the fight, trying in vain to set a 72 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: car on fire while Paul Simmon and the Clash's bass 73 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: player tossed bricks at police in solidarity. Joe Strummer couldn't 74 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: set a car on fire, but he could write a song. 75 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: White Riot was the Clash's first single, released in March 76 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy seven, when the Nodding Hill Melee was 77 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: still fresh. White Riot was a call to action in 78 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: two snarling minutes. Joe Strummer intended for the song to 79 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: encourage white people like himself to get involved in the 80 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: fight against authority, to help grind that axe and fuck 81 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: those jack boot heels pressed tight against the necks of 82 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: the disenfranchised. But those heels were powerful. Authority was powerful. 83 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: A song was not enough, especially when a song could 84 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 1: easily be misconstrued. White Riot was when it was quickly 85 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: co opted by the National Front. Now a few years later, 86 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: Joe Stormer was back to the drawing board, back to 87 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: a corner of the recording studio, surrounded by road cases, 88 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: deep inside his self constructed Spliff Bunker, a makeshift hiding 89 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: place where one could smoke huge joints and plot the 90 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: next big thing while not disturbing the engineers and musicians 91 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: as they worked, because one must have order. Punk was 92 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: not chaos, and by nineteen eighty one, the Clash were 93 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: not Punk. Punk was dead, just like the fanzine said, 94 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: it died the day the Clash signed to CBS Records. 95 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: If punk was indeed Yesterday's papers, as Joe Starmer suspected 96 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: it was, when he once again looked to the future. 97 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: That meant the Clash had to adapt or die. First, 98 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: they traded punk for rockabilly, scot even pop London, calling 99 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: their DOLP Masterpiece, sold hundreds of thousands of copies and 100 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: found its way under those ridiculous charts, and their new 101 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: record was going to be even bigger, if not in 102 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: sales and at least in scope. Sandinista was a triple LP, 103 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: yet the band demanded it be priced at just a 104 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: little more than a single album. Much to their record 105 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: label CBS's chagrin, Sandinista got even further away from punk 106 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: into dub reggae, R and B and most importantly, a 107 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: new sound coming from the streets of New York City. 108 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: Hip hop had the new punk attitude. Hip hop was 109 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: the future. Joe Strummer planned his next move from the 110 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: sanctity of a spliff bunker. The Clash were once to 111 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: take a stand against apathy, clamp downs, Spanish bombs, tommy guns. 112 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: Sometimes the stand wasn't political, but rather about love, about 113 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: standing by your man, like in Mick Jones great pop 114 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: song Train in Vain. Right now, Joe wasn't thinking about 115 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: making the world a little less miserable with a song. 116 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: He was thinking about doing it by making a stand, 117 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: a seven nights stand in New York City to be 118 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: exact ground zero for hip hop, the nucleus of the future. 119 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: A massive undertaking, but not massive like Madison Square Garden, 120 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: as they were originally offered more money for less effort, 121 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: defeated the purpose. The grateful dead rush sticks, fucking rolling stones, 122 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: those bloated dinosaurs. They could have Madison Square Garden. The 123 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: Clash wanted to be at street level, with the graffiti 124 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: artists and the bee boys in the boomboxes banging out 125 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 1: that crooked beat. The plan was to play seven Nights 126 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: at Bond International Casino in Times Square aka Bonds, which 127 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,959 Speaker 1: wasn't an actual casino, but a one time restaurant turned 128 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: haberdasher he left vacant for years, like the building's gone 129 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: to rock back in Camden Town, the ones that Joe 130 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: squatted in before he joined the Clash and had the 131 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: opportunity to play music in as a far away place 132 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: as Times Square. Tickets here in Times Square at Bonds 133 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,719 Speaker 1: were ten dollars and the all ages mattinee shows were 134 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: only five That was eleven bucks less than the cost 135 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: to see Mick Jagger embarrass himself at Madison Square Garden. 136 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: But it wasn't just the price, it was the opportunity. 137 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 1: The show is at Bonds, where the Clash's only scheduled 138 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: performances in North America that year. New Yorkers flocked down 139 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: to forty fifth and Broadway. They slept on the sidewalk 140 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: overnight to be the first in line when the box 141 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: office opened. Outside the city, fans flooded the phone lines 142 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: at Ticketron aka Ticketmaster before Ticketmaster was Ticketmaster, and all 143 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 1: seven shows quickly sold out. New York City was all 144 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: of a sudden clash central on the street sayings Joe 145 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: Rap from the Magnificent Seven WBLS played the extended twelve 146 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: inch remix The Magnificent Dance on repeat. WNEW declared Clash 147 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: Week in New York City, and the hype was palpable, 148 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: as palpable as the heat over one hundred degrees on 149 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: night one, Thursday May twenty eighth. Inside Bonds, the Clash 150 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,719 Speaker 1: were equally hot. Joe Strummer attacking his telecaster with a 151 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: jackhammer arm and gritted teeth. Mick Jones moving NonStop, bouncing, 152 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: trading songs with Joe Paul Simon in his bass, a 153 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: low slung weapon of truth to Raheaton, overpowered by funk 154 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: images as arresting as the music projected on the wall 155 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: behind them, tanks, soldiers, handguns, gas masks, napalm babies. The Clash, 156 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: true to their manager's word, were a news organization first, 157 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: entertainer's second. But not everybody was entertained before the Clash. 158 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: He even took the stage. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 159 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: Five at the forefront of New York Hip Hop, hand 160 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: picked by the Clash that opened the show, were booed 161 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: and pelted with trash. And then when the show ended 162 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: and the front door opened up, a group of New 163 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: York firefighters rushed inside, and Joe Starmer felt a sudden panic. 164 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: Where's the fire? There was no fire, but there were 165 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: thirty six hundred people inside, nearly twice as much as 166 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: was legally allowed for the city's fire coding. The Clash 167 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: had created a death trap, or so said the person 168 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: who called the fire department to complain. A concerned citizen. 169 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: Think again, more likely a rival club or promoter, pissed 170 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: that the Clash were taking away business from every other 171 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: spot in Manhattan. Piss that the promoters of this unprecedented 172 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,839 Speaker 1: seven nights stand at Bonds had oversold the show by 173 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: double and not just the first night, every night. Now 174 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: there would be no more nights. The Clash were done. Meanwhile, 175 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: the greedy promoters were counting their thousands fans left holding 176 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: tickets were a shit out of luck, and the prevailing 177 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: authority that was the City of New York was in 178 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: complete control. When it came to complete control, everyone wanted it. 179 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 1: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, the Clash's manager, Bernie Rhodes, but 180 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: it was their label, CBS Records, who were the ones 181 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: really calling the shots. CBS could release music by the 182 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: Clash whether the band wanted them to or not, and 183 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: that pissed Joe oft enough that he wrote a song 184 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: about it. But Joe and the Boys should have known better. 185 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: CBS wasn't some charitable foundation for artists. It was a 186 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: business run by businessmen, men like Maurice Oberstein, CBS's chairman, 187 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: who thought the Clash's new song, Bank Robber, sounded like 188 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: David Bowie backwards. Whatever that meant. Maurice didn't get it. 189 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: It was nineteen eighty, just three years since the Clash's 190 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: debut already they were confusing the suit in the corner office, 191 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: the guy with complete control Bank Robber, was drenched in 192 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: echo and reverb, with a groove as knocked out loaded 193 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: as one of the splits Joe smoked in his bunker. 194 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: It was blessed with the fingerprints of Mikey Dredd, legendary 195 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: Jamaican DJ dub and reggae guru, who had become friendly 196 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: with the band and was fully on board with the 197 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: musical hybrid they were now eager to pursue. Maurice would 198 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: catch up soon enough, the Clash, Mikey dread they'd all 199 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: be waiting for him in the future, But until then, 200 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: the Clash weren't waiting around, not for Marie Oberstein's approval 201 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: or for his money. With the help of Paul Simonon's 202 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: girlfriend's AMEX card, the Clash flew to Jamaica to Studio 203 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: one in Kingston, where Mikey Dredd was waiting to work 204 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: with them again, this time for Sandinista, which was quickly 205 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: becoming a three LP indulgence in just about any and 206 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: every idea the band had, like Junker partner, an old 207 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: blues tune that Joe's former band the one oh one 208 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: Ers used to play, but they didn't play at one 209 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 1: oh onon ER's style. This wasn't pub rock. This was 210 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: radio Clash, Pirates, Satellite Kingston, dub punk, and spirit if 211 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: not in sound. Joe sat at the old piano inside 212 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: Studio one. It was out of tune, but in the 213 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: best way possible. He fumbled his fingers across the keys 214 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: and worked out the song's chor progression. A fiddler wandered 215 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: in from outside and began to play along the dreads 216 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: from roots radis Studio one session players who hung around 217 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: the march enchewed the scenery. The vibe inside the little 218 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: studio was as strong as the ganja that was currently 219 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: making the rounds. Joe felt a tapping at his shoulder. 220 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: He stopped playing and spun around. It was Mikey, Joe, 221 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: come on, man, quick, we must go what Joe was confused? 222 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: The hell was going on? What was Mikey even talking about? Now? 223 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: Mikey shouted, They're coming to kill us all by they 224 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: Mikey men, drug men, hustlers armed to the teeth, on 225 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: their way to the studio to collect payment protection money. 226 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: You're not from around here money. The kind that even 227 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: the Rolling Stones coughed up when they came to Kingston 228 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: to make goats head soup. But the Clash weren't the Stones. 229 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: They didn't have that kind of bread. Shit man. The 230 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: only reason they were in Kingston in the first place 231 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: was because Paul's girl had a room on her credit card. 232 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: And if the Clash came up empty, the drug men 233 00:15:58,240 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: were going to get what they thought was theirs and 234 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: other way with bloodshed. There was only one thing for 235 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: the Clash to do. Run. They left everything behind the 236 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: old piano at the Roots Erratics, the killer Ganja, that 237 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: fiddle player, and scurried outside in Kingston's dry season. Directly 238 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: across the street, local gangsters carrying automatic weapons and machetes 239 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: began to emerge from the shadows from anale The locals 240 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: called Idler's rest, but there was no resting on the 241 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: docket for the Clash. No Idly, not while the world 242 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: ripped apart, and it seems and not today. Within seconds, Joe, Mick, 243 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: Paul and Topper were inside the car that used to 244 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: get to the studio, retracing their tracks back down a 245 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: dirt road, kicking up dust, passed an intersection where just 246 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: hours earlier, unbeknownst to any of them, fourteen men had 247 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: been shot dead as part of an ongoing civil war that, 248 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: while not officially declared, was very real. And then the 249 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: car dissolved into the Jamaican sunset, the dust settled, the 250 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: Clash were gone. Kingston's drug men didn't get their money, 251 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: but they did send the Clash packing out of Jamaica 252 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: over to New York City, where they finished making Sandinista 253 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: at studios like Jimmy Hendrix's Electric Lady Land, where one 254 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: year later they once again found themselves at the mercy 255 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 1: of gangsters and hustlers looking to take complete control. This time, 256 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: the gangsters were greedy promoters who had oversold the band's 257 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: seven nights stand at Bonds in Times Square. The hustlers 258 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: were other vindictive club owners from around the way, eager 259 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: to punish the Clash for their hubris, and their own 260 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 1: contemporaries were using this moment to call the Clash out 261 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: for getting on the charts, for getting bloated, just like 262 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: the rock Dinosaurs playing Madison Square Garden. Look at them, 263 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: That Clash a bunch of corporate shills. The little guy 264 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: reporting from the front lines, horseshit. Try this on for 265 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: size instead, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, the whole lot. They 266 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 1: pretended to be enraged by the actions of a guy 267 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: like Maurice Oberstein at the multi conglomerate mass market clusterfuck 268 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: that was CBS Records, but in reality the four of 269 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: them were no different. At a press conference immediately before 270 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: night one, before the show that got them shut down, 271 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: the Clash were told that Paul Weller of The Jam 272 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: had just called them sellouts. What constitutes a sellout in 273 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: the eyes of the Clash, the reporter wondered. Mick Jones 274 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: couldn't resist. What happens is that all the tickets go 275 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: on sale for a concert, and all the people who 276 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: want to go go and buy them as there are tickets, 277 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:45,399 Speaker 1: That constitutes a sellout. Fuck all mod cons, Paul Weller 278 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: and The Jam were living in the past, bitter that 279 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: their music wasn't reaching the same number of people people 280 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: now flooding into Times Square because of one band and 281 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: one band only. The Clash outside Bonds it was chaos, 282 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: cops kicking gypsies on the pavement and all that. While 283 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: yellow calves raced down Broadway NYPD riding around on horsebacks, 284 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: swinging their billy clubs at the hordes of kids crowding 285 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: the street, kids who were infuriated that they'd stood in 286 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: line for hours, slept on the pavement overnight, and in 287 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: many cases spent a great deal of money and traveled 288 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: a great distance just to secure tickets to shows that 289 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: were now canceled. But Joe Strummer wasn't about to accept 290 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: that tens of thousands of fans were now getting turned away. 291 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: He also wasn't about to get chased out of New 292 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: York by club owners and firefighters, just like he'd been 293 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: chased out of Kingston by men who meant to do 294 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: him harm. There was a simple solution to this predicament. 295 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: Honor every ticket, even if that meant performing double the 296 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: amount of shows, which is exactly what the Clash did. 297 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: Seventeen shows squeezed into nearly half a month's time, Seventeen 298 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: shows when they were only slated to play seven each 299 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: show with a different opening act, punk, funk, hardcore, hip hop, 300 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: whatever was cool at the time. Bad Brains, The Sirens, 301 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: The Slits, Joe E. Lee, The Treacherous Three, The Bloods, Bush, Tetris, Funk, Apaulitan, 302 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: Least Scratch, Perry, The Fall, the Dead, Kennedy's Every night, 303 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: the same energy every night. A new crowd eager did 304 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: not miss out on music's hottest ticket. Say isn't that Hey, 305 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: that's Robert de Niro, Honey. He made his way inside 306 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: Bonds along with everyone else. Incognito. Martin Scorsese had a side. 307 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: After the show, they took Joe and the Guy's up 308 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: Broadway to a bar called Tin Pan Alley. Were some 309 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: arraging bulletpin shot. Just two years prior the clash, a 310 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: New York entourage grew Bobby Marty graffiti artists, future of 311 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: two thousand and five five Freddy like Min's reporting the 312 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: news on cinema screens and the sides of subway cars, 313 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: men on the street, men of the people. They didn't 314 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: have the answers to the world's problems, but they had 315 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: the questions. Questions they asked with spray paint on a wall, 316 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: with a flickering image, on a cinema screen, or in 317 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: a song played with utmost urgency, questions like where are 318 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: we going and what will happen when we get there? 319 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: What will you do if you rule the world? But 320 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: in less than a year's time, the Clash would be 321 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: asking a different sort of question, asking not of the 322 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: people on the street or the people in the audience, 323 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: but of themselves, and that question, should I stay or 324 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: should I go? We'll be right back after this. We're We're, 325 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: We're the West Way, London, nineteen seventy eight. Paul Simmon 326 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: and In Topper Heaton, the Clash's rhythm section, were up 327 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: on the roof. They traded a friend's air rifle back 328 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,199 Speaker 1: and forth. Didn't have much of a kick, but it 329 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: made a decent bang, and the aim was half decent, 330 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: too good enough to hit a few of the pigeons 331 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: cooing and shitting all over the place, also good enough 332 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: to pass the time. While Mick and Joe laid down 333 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: overdubs for the band's current studio effort give him enough rope. Topper, 334 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: like most drummers, found that recording an album was about 335 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: ten percent work in ninety percent downtime. Topper was now 336 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: spending that downtime looking through a rifle scope. He honed 337 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: in on the pack of flying rats, dirty fucking animals. 338 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: He pulled the trigger, the rifle snapped, and the palette 339 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: exploded into the bunch sending feathers flying. One pigeon toppled 340 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: over dead, while the others flapped their wings and flew 341 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: into the air. But they didn't go far, and they 342 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 1: came right back, dirty and stupid. What a combo. Topper 343 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: cocked the rifle again and again he fired. Soon all 344 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: those rifle shots drew attention, not just people down on 345 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: the streets, but cops. Cops who had last busted a 346 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: rock group up on a roof some nine years prior, 347 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: when the Beatles pulled that little stunt five miles due 348 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,640 Speaker 1: east from here atop Savile Row. But the Fabs were 349 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: just being loud. Topper and Paul were shooting a gun, 350 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: killing it turns out, not random dirty street pigeons, but 351 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: racing pigeons being raised by a local mechanic. Cops didn't 352 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: care about the birds. They took Topper and Paul for 353 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: terrorists and booked them as such. Now, four years later, 354 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,239 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two, he wouldn't mistake Topper Heaton as 355 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: a terrorist, even if the Clash were dressing in fatigues 356 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: and naming albums for Nicaraguan freedom fighters. Topper was a 357 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,439 Speaker 1: junkie addicted to heroin, a drug that may have suited 358 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: a horn player like Charlie Parker, but for a drummer, 359 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: a player who had to keep time presented a very 360 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: difficult set of challenges, And those challenges and Topper's unrelenting 361 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,360 Speaker 1: habit weighed heavy on Joe Strummer's mind. So it did 362 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: as well on Mick Jones's mind, Joe's longtime songwriting partner. 363 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,439 Speaker 1: And they weren't doing that anymore. Mick with the music 364 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: and Joe with the words. The two were barely speaking, 365 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: let alone writing. Mick just made Joe wait. He made 366 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: them all wait. He was Elizabeth Taylor in a foul mood, 367 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: and he was writing these big pop songs, songs that 368 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: weren't ripped from the headlines, but songs that aimed directly 369 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: for the charts, that meaningless pecking order that bands like 370 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: The Clash once revolted against. Take Should I Stay or 371 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: Should I Go? A song that wasn't about the things 372 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: Joe was writing, songs about colonialism and the hangover of 373 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: the Vietnam War and basic human rights. Should I Stay 374 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: or Should I Go? As a song about breaking up, 375 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: Joe didn't have to read between the lines. With Topper 376 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: nodding off and Mick buggering about. It was already obvious 377 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: that the Clash, once so tightly bound together, were like 378 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: the rest of the world coming apart. With the seams still, 379 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,880 Speaker 1: they needed each other in order to keep this thing going. Remember, 380 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: they had convinced CBS to let them sell Sandinista their 381 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: triple LP for the price of a single record. They 382 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: did this by foregoing their royalties, which would help the 383 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: label recoup the money they otherwise would have lost, Which 384 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: meant that the Clash had a tour non stop to 385 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: generate the revenue to maintain the lifestyles they'd gotten used 386 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: to a half decade into their careers. So the class 387 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: played shows constantly and risked burnout at Bonds seventeen nights 388 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 1: in a row in the same city, at the same venue, 389 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: on the same stage, they risked losing their minds. Before long, 390 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: it was time to record another album, to make more 391 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: money and to feed the machine. Call it a hamster wheel, 392 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: call it a grind. Whatever it was, it wasn't what 393 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,919 Speaker 1: Joe Strummer signed off for. What it was was a job, 394 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: and despite all of this, Joe and the Clash made 395 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: the job look easy. Record number five, Combat Rock became 396 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: their best selling album thanks to mixed breakup Song and 397 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: Topper's Rock the Kaspo, a song he recorded in a 398 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: rare state of sobriety. The drums, the bass, the keys, 399 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,879 Speaker 1: the whole damn thing save for mixed guitar and Joe's 400 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,919 Speaker 1: vocal knocked off in twenty minutes by Topper alone. But 401 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,439 Speaker 1: that kind of focus and discipline was rare for a 402 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: guy in the grip of a habit. Soon Topper was 403 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,679 Speaker 1: back to coppying a fix and Mick was back in 404 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: his foul mood, covering his face with a mosquito mast 405 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: during the Rock the Kasbo video shoot. Just because Bernie Rhoades, 406 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: the Clash's manager, was worried, maybe even more so than Joe, 407 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: not about the stability of the band, about the stability 408 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: of their finances. Bernie had put together an amazing US 409 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 1: tour for them in nineteen eighty three. This was the 410 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: tour that was going to make the band explode in 411 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: the United States, bigger than the Bonds run and bigger 412 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: than they could ever imagine, or so went Bernie's thinking. 413 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: The stakes the worst thing that could happen to the 414 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: band was to head out under the road and play 415 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: the half empty rooms. It would be a signal to 416 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: the rest of the record buying public that the Clash 417 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: was no longer in ascent, but was instead on a 418 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: downward spiral. And this could not happen. So the Clash's 419 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 1: conniving manager got an idea. What if the Clash had 420 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: to cancel their tour but for reasons that were beyond 421 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: their control. What if they couldn't find one of their 422 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: band members, and what if that band member was indispensable. 423 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: What if the class is Joe's strummer went missing. The 424 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: plan could have been hatched in a split bunker. It 425 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: was that simple and brilliant. It went like this, Joe 426 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,920 Speaker 1: disappears for three days. Management Meanwhile, Jin's up a bunch 427 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: of quick press. Joe's missing, Joe's dead. Sympathy pours in 428 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: from the fans. The band reaches a peak of popularity 429 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,400 Speaker 1: as those first few undersold shows are canceled, and then 430 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: Joe miraculously reappears, and that fever pitch of interest in 431 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,439 Speaker 1: his disappearance and sudden reappearance causes a huge spike in 432 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: ticket sales, bing Bang boom. But Joe couldn't hide out 433 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: in London. He was too well known there, so the 434 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: plan was to head to Texas, of all places, and 435 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: chill with Joe E, the hockey talk singer, who toured 436 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: with The Clash back in their early days and opened 437 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: one of their nights at Bonds. Bernie told Joe to 438 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 1: call when he got there, but the call never came 439 00:28:33,840 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: because Joe Strummer never went to Texas. Joe Strummer stood 440 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 1: in the middle of a cemetery outside Paris. At his 441 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: feet the final resting place of Arthur Rambeau. The poet 442 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: had been dead for nearly one hundred years, but his 443 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: spirit was very much still alive. It was there, in 444 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: the words of American beat poet Alan Ginsberg, who guested 445 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: on The Clash's song Ghetto Defendant, a deep cut on 446 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: the combat rock album. That album, which had just been 447 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: released at the very moment that Joe Strummer, the band's frontman, 448 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: went missing. Not missing like Bernie Rhodes had plotted. Joe 449 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 1: Strummer changed the plan and didn't tell a soul. Only 450 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: his girlfriend knew that he was here in France, wandering 451 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: around cemeteries, grabbing pints at the pub, and running anonymously 452 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 1: in the Paris Marathon. That's right, Joe Strummer, singer of 453 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: the Clash, running anonymously in the Paris Marathon, and somehow, 454 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: despite that, Joe Strummer's disappearance was no longer fake but 455 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: very real, just as real as the love that Combat 456 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: Rock was now receiving, especially in the United States, where 457 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: it cracked the top ten. But again, Joe didn't care 458 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: about the charts, never had and never would. He didn't 459 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: want to think about charts or about Combat Rock. He 460 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: was sick of the headache of leading the Clash into battle, 461 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: a battle that Mick didn't seem to want to fight anymore. 462 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: And he was sick of pissed off guitar players, junkie drummers, 463 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,960 Speaker 1: ticket sales, record sales, record prices. Here in Paris you 464 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: could forget about it all. But back in London, his 465 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: disappearance was all anyone could talk about. Bernie's plan had backfired. 466 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,959 Speaker 1: Ticket sales for the tour weren't increasing. In fact, there 467 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: were plummeting. Venues started canceling gigs. Bernie was pissed, The 468 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: Clash were pissed. Fans were confused. The New Music Express NME, 469 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: the biggest music paper in Britain, began a weekly Strummer 470 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: Watch column, anonymous tips poured in. Joe Stummer was on 471 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: safari in Southern Africa. Joe Strummer was fighting with the 472 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Joe Strummer was a joke, just like 473 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: this column, and the joke was getting old. In Paris, 474 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: Joe wasn't a joke. He was a treasure. The small 475 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: beard had groan couldn't hide his identity for long. Every 476 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: French punk had a Joe Strummer sighting, but the French 477 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: fans were willing to keep his secret. Joe thought he 478 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 1: could disappear forever and live off baguettes, pints and Serge 479 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: Gainsburg musk, but that wasn't a reality his management or 480 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 1: his band were going to accept. If Joe stayed in Paris, 481 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: if the Clash were forced to cancel the US tour, 482 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 1: there would be no money, and no cash to feed 483 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: the constantly starving beast of a rock and roll machine 484 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: that their business become, They'd go bankrupt, They'd be finished. 485 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: The Clash tried to keep going without Joe. Ticket sales 486 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: for a warm up gig in the Netherlands were sparse. 487 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: Dutch punks wondered whether it was worth forking over their 488 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: hard earned cash to see only three of the only 489 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: band that mattered, and the promoter was on the verge 490 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: of canceling the concert. And then he got a call 491 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: from Paris. It was a Dutch journalist on assignment in France. 492 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: Joe Strummer is here, he told the promoter in Paris, 493 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: I just had a pint with him. The promoter hung 494 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: up the phone and called Bernie Rhodes, and Bernie sent 495 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,239 Speaker 1: a heavy to Paris to find Joe, grabbed Joe and 496 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: bring Joe back to the clash. The heavy was a 497 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 1: guy named Cosmo Vinyl, an old London punk rocker who 498 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: was friends with Joe and whose ex girlfriend Pearl Harbor 499 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: was now dating Joe's bassist Paul Simonon. But when Cosmo 500 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: arrived in Paris, the city clammed up. The people went 501 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: into protection mode. They didn't want their secret taken away 502 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: from them. They didn't want their new rock star exported 503 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: back onto the rock star hamster wheel. But Cosmo was persistent. 504 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: He found Joe drinking in a half empty Paris pub alone. 505 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: His gait was familiar, but his appearance was off. He 506 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: seemed skinnier than Joe Strummer, if that was even possible, 507 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: and he had a beard like a punk rock Fidel 508 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:13,240 Speaker 1: Castro Cosmo put his hand on the guy's shoulder and said, hey, Fidel. 509 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: Joe Strummer turned around and saw his old friend. He'd 510 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: been found getting care. Every gig has to end, even 511 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: the disappearing kind. Joe Strummer gave up his ghost, finished 512 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: his pipe, threw his arm over his friend's shoulder, and left. 513 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 1: The Clash were back together and back on the road. 514 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: In that fall, Joe stood in the wings at Buffalo's 515 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: Rich Stadium waiting to go on stage, his head shaved 516 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: into a mohawk, camouflage pants combat boots, ready for battle 517 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,040 Speaker 1: to come down. The Clash were opening for the who 518 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: one time Titans of the British rock scene. The first 519 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:01,160 Speaker 1: opener was David Johansson, former frontman of the New York Dolls. 520 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: The New York Dolls pre dated punk rock. They were weird, 521 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: fast and dangerous, and now David Johansson was crooning reach out, 522 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 1: I'll be there, and trudging through a medley of British 523 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: invasion classics. David Johansson used to be a punk legend, 524 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:24,320 Speaker 1: and now here in Buffalo in the Stadium, David Johansson 525 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: seemed more like a joke next to Joe Strummer on 526 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,280 Speaker 1: the side of the stage, the Who's Pete Townsend nodded 527 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 1: approvingly at David Johansson at his tight leather jacket a 528 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:39,319 Speaker 1: ridiculous headband. Pete Townsend looked like someone's dad dressed as 529 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,360 Speaker 1: a punk rocker for Halloween. At the time, Pete was 530 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: pushing forty ancient in rock ears. Between Pete Townsend and 531 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,240 Speaker 1: David Johansson on the bill that night was the only 532 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,399 Speaker 1: band that used to matter because Joe Strummer had made 533 00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: the decision the future was no longer written. The future 534 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: had written off the clash such disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan 535 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:26,280 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly 536 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,440 Speaker 1: and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for 537 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: this episode can be found on the show notes page 538 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,799 Speaker 1: at disgracelampod dot com. 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Visit disgraceslampod dot com slash membership 546 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:05,839 Speaker 1: for details, rate and review the show, and follow us 547 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:09,839 Speaker 1: on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgraceslampod and on 548 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 1: YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at Disgraceslampod Rock a Roller. 549 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: He's a bad don man.