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Forty years ago this winter, a strange new album arrived in U.S. record stores. It was a triple-vinyl set, by a London band still best known as punk rockers: the Clash’s Sandinista! It was barely a year after their global breakthrough, London Calling, which got them a U.S. Top 40 hit with “Train in Vain (Stand by Me).” Yet it sure didn’t sound like a band trying to ride the momentum of their first hit. Sandinista! was full of dub-reggae goofs and sound effects and proto-rap experiments.

The guy with mask and the cape runs onstage, to the screams of thousands of people standing in Victoria Park on a characteristically brisk April day in 1978. He calls himself “Mr. Oligarchy,” but folks backstage — and some of the savvier people attending this outdoor concert — know him as Red Saunders. “This ain’t no Woodstock,” the gent tells the assembled Britons before him. “This is the carnival against the fucking Nazis!”

As Saunders himself recounts, decades after the fact, the cheer from the crowd was massive. Back then, he was a curly-haired,...

The Clash and Sham 69 frontman Jimmy Pursey rip through “White Riot” in a clip from the upcoming documentary about the 1978 Rock Against Racism concert, also dubbed White Riot.

As noted in the clip, Pursey’s collaboration with the Clash was a savvy attempt to spread the movement’s anti-racism message to a broader audience. But it was also a potentially combustible one, as Sham 69 — despite not sharing these politics — had attracted some fans who were far-right skinheads or members of the fascist National Front party.

“We thought it would be...

The Museum of London has announced a new exhibition centered on The Clash. Titled “The Clash: London Calling,” the exhibit will feature more than 100 personal items from the band’s archive, including some that are previously unseen. These include bassist Paul Simonon’s Fender guitar, which he destroyed in 1979 for the photograph on the cover of London Calling, the band’s third album.

The exhibit will also display items like Joe Strummer’s notebook and typewriter, Mick Jones’ handwritten album sequencing note and drummer Topper Headon’s drumsticks. Draft lyrics,...

I am a huge fan of the iconic punk rock band The Clash, and I am excited to report that they are going have a biopic developed that will be based around the creation of their third and most popular album London Calling.

The film is being developed by writer Jez Butterworth who recently worked on the script for Fair Game. He will write London Calling and produce alongside Alison Owen and Paul Trijbits. The film will focus on music industry executive Guy Stevens, who led The Clash to making the London Calling album and helped them solidify their place in music history. They brought an uncommon level of musicianship, politics and style to punk, rock and ska. 

Fans will be happy to know that Simonon and Jones will be involved, and it's a safe guess that drummer Topper Headon will get a chance to offer his two cents, as well.

Clash rocker Mick Jones has revealed that he wants to open a museum displaying the music memorabilia that he has collected throughout his career. The 53-year-old, who recently reunited with fellow Clash member Topper Headon after a 25-year break, said that his archive offers an insight into punk rock history. The collection is currently on display at a London exhibition entitled The Rock And Roll Public Library, which comes to an end on April 18. Jones told the Daily Star that he would ideally like (more)...

Former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer died Sunday at the age of 50. Further details have yet to emerge. The punk legend was recently reported to have recorded a song with U2 frontman Bono for former South African president Nelson Mandela. Strummer, the son of a diplomat, formed The Clash with Mick Jones, Topper Headon and Paul Simonon, in late '70s London after witnessing an early performance by punk legends the Sex Pistols. Anti-racist and fiercely intelligent, they went on to record classics such as "London Calling," "White Riot" and "White Man In Hammersmith Palais." The band finally split in 1985, and never reformed despite attempts first by Strummer and later by Jones to get them back together. Joe, who was born in Turkey as plain John Graham Mellor, drifted into soundtrack work and recorded only occasionally until forming a new band Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros a few years ago. In a recent interview he said of the prospects of a Clash reformation: "I'd say, 'let it be', to quote the Beatles, What was, was. At least if you saw the Clash live at the Manchester Apollo in 77, that's something that's always yours. Because people live their lives for it, and with it, and to it, and by it, and it's a serious thing. I'm really conscious to keep that from being besmirched or cheapened." A posting on Strummer's website reads: "Joe Strummer died yesterday. Our condolences to Luce and the kids, family and friends."...