The Clash

The Clash (Kill Your Idols Series)
by David Quantick, John Aizlewood
Book Description: For seven years The Clash conducted a barely contained experiment in popular music, dragging in styles as far-flung from their council flat beginnings as rap, reggae, drum and bass, rockabilly and their own concoction of amphetamine (and cocaine) fuelled rock and roll. The Clash made only five records and never had a number one hit but Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon represented one of the last, great, quixotic attempts to wrest transcendence from rock and roll. " The idea of the band was to play it maximum," said Joe Strummer, and that's exactly what they did. The entire Clash back catalog has been re-mastered and re-released to coincide with the October 1999 release of From Here to Eternity, the first ever live Clash album. A complete discography of Clash albums and singles, and band members' post-Clash careers are included.
 

The Complete Clash by Keith Topping Paperback from Reynolds & Hearn

A Riot of Our Own : Night and Day With the Clash
by Johnny Green, Garry Barker, Ray Lowry
Chronicles of the 1970s punk era aren't scarce by any means, but Johnny Green's narrative escapes the multiple traps of dried-out historical reportage, sociological analysis, and glory taking. Instead, he offers a certain worm's-eye vantage point on the advance of the Clash's career. A Belfast college grad when he met the band in 1977, Green accompanied them on endless tours, and he describes various episodes with a mix of detailed dialogue and picaresque humor. The Clash don't get the lavish hagiographic treatment one might expect from a fan. They come off, rather, as funny characters -- intensely charged and, of course, young, sometimes-stumbling artists with insurmountable energy for performances. Green describes clearing the spit off band members' instruments in the same way that he recalls losing the demo tapes of London Calling. And then it all winds to an uneventful close, as so many things do.Nonetheless, this is an essential document in the annals of punk.  --Andrew Bartlett - Amazon.com
Paperback: 248 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x 8.26 x 5.51
Publisher: Faber & Faber; 
ISBN: 0571199577

The Clash (Modern Icons)
by Paul Du Noyer
Hardcover: 96 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.51 x 7.50 x 5.14
Publisher: St. Martin's Press;
ISBN: 0312179391

Last Gang in Town; The Story and Myth of the Clash
by Marcus Gray
Twenty years after its loud birth even punk rock cannot avoid the grasp of nostalgia. The black leather, silver studs and pierced skin no longer shockingly new, the aging Sex Pistols are on tour again. The ultimate rejectionist philosophy is the subject of revivals, celebratory reissues, and analytical documentaries and books. Only one other band rivaled the Pistols as kings of punk: The Clash. Marcus Gray's account of the band that was led by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer offers "the story and myth." Gray details the early lives of the band, describing the genesis and then the decline of this most political of punk bands. Gray is highly critical of the band's later career, arguing that they sold out the punk philosophy by giving in to the lure of money. Amazon.com

The Clash: Before and After
by Pennie Smith (Photographer)
Book Description: The Clash's sound, forged by class oppression, social apathy, and inner-city stagnation, transformed the group from London punks to stadium stars in a mere five years. The Clash survived the stereotypes of punk to become one of the world's most successful acts of the 1980s. That heady period is captured in Pennie Smith's raw photographs and the witty accompanying captions by members of the band. Smith's moody monochrome images showcase dynamic stage performances and include many pictures from the 1979 breakthrough American tour. Smith's camera also recorded the Clash's downtime offstage -- their comic antics and reflective moments. This absorbing survey of a seminal group's heyday lets the reader revisit not only the Clash but one of modern music's golden eras in all its glory.
Paperback: 160 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.42 x 11.28 x 8.72
Publisher: Plexus Pub; (October 10, )
ISBN: 0859651673
Out of Print

The Clash
by Bob Gruen
Book Description: Through the 70s, working as chief photographer for Rock Scene magazine, Gruen had become designated lens to the decade's most celebrated acts including the Stones, Elton John, Led Zeppelin and Ike and Tina Turner. He was John and Yoko's personal photographer after they came to New York in 1972 and had toured with the Ramones, Blondie and Patti Smith. When he met the Clash, however, a unique synergy of mutual respect and musical passion was established, leading to six years of documenting the globally worshipped band's adventures. As a fan and friend, across multiple tours, Gruen took the stunning rock'n'roll shots compiled in this book. Whether Strummer, Jones, Simenon and Heddon were rocking out on stage, meeting Debbie Harry and Warhol, or posing at top of the World Trade Centre, Gruen was there, up close with his genius for iconic framing. The images born of this ideal marriage of classic band and definitive photographer will strike a major chord with all fans of rock'n'roll, from Elvis to Limp Bizkit.
Hardcover: 304 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x 13.00 x 10.00
Publisher: Vision on; Limited edition
ISBN: 1903399335
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Clash, The: Rude Boy (VHS) 1980
Director: Jack Hazan, David Mingay
 
 
 

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