Toppers last gig

updated 5 Jan 2010 - added promoters comments & poster
updated 12 April 2011 - added full review
updated June 2024 with ads and reviews

Audio 1 - Police and Thieves CD

Sound 5 - 57min - cd/m - Track 15
all other boot sources have the same sound, some only contain only a few songs. Lots of almost identical versions circulate so here is a summary of the best three.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Audio 5 - Radio Broadcast with annoucer

Sound 5 - 53min - cd/m - Track 15
Given it a 5 but it is not perfect.

Audio 6 - FM recording - no announcer

Sound 5 - 57mins - Tracks 15
Given it a 5 but it is not perfect.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Interview Video - Top quality - 3 mins approx

all 4 band members on a railway station -
braodcast in New Zealand which causes some confusion

Audience recording, I was the promoter

An audience recording of this show was seeded on Dime about six months ago. Judging from the samples of that torrent, it appeared to be a higher generation version of this recording. Way back then, I promised to transfer and seed this cleaner sounding version. Took a little longer than expected, sorry.

The taper, who I only knew vaguely, was a Deadhead who flew from LA over to England for the Dead's mini-tour of Europe in March of '81. He stayed on in Europe for a couple of months and recorded some other shows, including this one. I think he did a creditable job. (Footnote: this guy claimed to have made an audience recording of the big Who/Dead Rockpalast show in March, and he further claimed that it "blew away" the radio broadcast. He said Townshend's guitar was really loud in the hall when he sat in with the Dead, and that it was amazing. Unfortunately, I never got to hear it, and it appears to be lost in the mists of time).

Couple comments: There are volume fluctuations in the first 10 minutes or so. There's a tape flip/cut right in the middle of "Magnificent Seven," at about 02:37. Finally, it sounds like the taper stopped the tape after "Armagideon Time," and re-started after the beginning of "London's Burning," not sure how much is missing, but probably not much. However, the quality changes noticeably, and it also sounds like he's moved to the back of the hall.

Please check out the samples before downloading. And then turn it up!

I was the promoter of the Clash show at the Lochem Festival (quoted in Passion is a Fashion). I am looking for the best bootleg (cd) of this show. Can you recommend me a title and a place to buy? We are trying to retrieve the original recordings from the radio broadcaster that recorded it, but it seems to be lost.
 
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. 
Frank van Hoorn - < >
We have his Franks contact details

Broadcasting station called VARA recorded the Festival

A Dutch broadcasting station called VARA recorded The Clash performance live at the Lochem Festival and broadcast the main set only, in hifi stereo sound. Years later evidently it was rebroadcast late at night. VARA also broadcast the 1981 Clash Amsterdam gig.

It was released in 1992 as a commercial bootleg on the KTS label titled ‘Into the 80’s’ It has also been released, in partial or complete form in many forms, including Summer of '82 (LP),  Lochem Festival (LP), Garageland (LP), Live (LP), Che Guevara (CD), and Police and Thieves (CD). It was probably directly copied as  Live at the Lochem Festival, Holland (CD). 

FM sourced tape

An FM sourced tape possibly coming from the rebroadcast has a different sound and includes the Dutch radio announcer’s comments (these are edited out on the bootleg CD’s and the two parts of Career Opportunities are edited together.) It has improved sound quality and clarity over the bootleg CD’s with a more exciting, engaging sound. The bootleg CD was ‘remastered’ to boost the bass but in the process lost the top end “attack”. It’s mixed like commercial albums of the time, smoothing off the rough edges of The Clash live sound but as a result losing its cutting edge and impact. 

Significantly the bootleg CD runs slower than the FM tape and irrespective of which is the correct speed the bootleg CD does sound slow and un-engaging. The FM tape is more enjoyable.

Strangely as the sound quality is so good there are edits on the recording suggesting it could not have been recorded direct from the broadcast. A few seconds of Should I Stay are missing, a very short section of Complete Control is repeated and Clampdown fades out 105 seconds into the song.

Information about a full audience recording has appeared on Dime in recent years but this is almost certainly the Amsterdam 1981 recording.

Appalling weather, fighting, fans on stage, band all out of their heads

60 second review! AWOL Joe returns in nick of time, appalling weather, fighting, fans on stage, band all out of their heads on Amsterdam’s finest, arrive late, play poorly, grab the $75k fee and go! 36 hours later Topper sacked but were it to be on the basis of this performance alone then all of them should have been sacked! 

Lochem was anything but The Clash’s finest hour but nevertheless the perfect hifi recording is well worth having (particularly the superior alternate FM radio source) documenting as it does a fascinating and significant point in the band’s history. Although Joe had a sore throat, Mick’s guitar was out of tune, and they were collectively out of there heads(!) there are some very decent performances to enjoy (Guns of Brixton in particular and the first and only Topper live Ghetto Defendant) along with some of the worst Clash performances too!    

Glyn Johns, Combat Rock producer 

After the band’s last gig in Bangkok in February, they took what they thought would be a break in Thailand, which turned out to be anything but with Paul becoming seriously ill and Topper going cold turkey. Back in London with no agreement on the mix for the new album and a UK tour in April, veteran producer Glyn Johns was brought in against Mick’s wishes. 

Joe wanted an unashamedly commercial album as a weapon in the war to win over the American masses. Glyn Johns would provide a single album; dry and punchy as opposed to Mick’s experimental and atmospheric double. The heavy strained atmosphere in the sessions in Glyn Johns’ Surrey garden studio being the finale to the album’s agonisingly extended birth; a major factor in the groups demise. Mick reluctantly conceded but no one was really talking to each other. At Glyn’s request Joe rewrote the lyrics to Know Your Rights and re-recorded the vocals as did Mick for Should I Stay Or Should I Go.

Ironically of course the album (preceded by Know Your Rights/First Night Back in London) would be the band’s most commercially successful album and was critically acclaimed by the UK press; coincidentally the Falklands conflict making the album’s content more relevant. Combat Rock released on May 14th went to No. 2 in the UK album charts much to the surprise of the band.

AWOL Strummer

Ticket sales however, for the 19 date UK tour planned to start on April 26th in Aberdeen were sluggish, so Bernie hatched his infamous plan for Joe to go AWOL to boost interest and thus ticket sales. Bernie had a point; for most nights on the planned and the eventual tour tickets had not sold out and could be bought at the venue on the night, as this writer discovered whilst following the band round a chunk of the tour. The Clash had retained their core following in the UK but although they were becoming huge in the US, there was not the buzz and excitement now when The Clash came to town. The average UK concert-goer perhaps believing the build ‘em up knock ‘em down methods of the UK music press were now into other bands and fads. 

Bernie’s plan though spectacularly back-fired and ran completely counter to the band’s commitment (up to that point) to their fans. Thousands of Clash fans were disappointed, inconvenienced and in many cases out of pocket when Joe disappeared and the whole UK tour was eventually postponed to July. That Strummer went along with Bernie’s suggestion says much for the mental state he was in at the time because little in his past actions would suggest he would otherwise be up for such a scam. Joe though was by all accounts thoroughly depressed after the Glyn Johns sessions, Topper’s addiction, and the belief that he and the band were slogging their guts out for nothing. Arguably it would take Joe another 15 years or more before he would recover from The Clash and his personal demons.

We know that Joe ignored Bernie’s suggestion of going to stay with Joe Ely in the US (and to not take Gaby) instead taking the boat train to Paris on April 21/22 with Gaby to stay at her friend’s flat near Montmartre. Bernie appealed in the music press for help in finding Joe but the rest of the group were kept in the dark. They knew he was OK as had phoned his mother but were not aware of the scam and when he would be back. As the days went by though, Bernie and Kosmo got more and more worried when Joe did not phone them as arranged and more and more dates were cancelled. The cost of cancelling the UK tour were growing fast but were dwarfed by the potential cost of cancelling the June US tour: the band would be bankrupt if Joe did not return. The by now bearded Joe and Gaby had a great time running the Paris marathon, visiting museums and locations made famous by artists and writers (he was a fan of the poet Rimbaud).   

The circumstances around Joe’s return are well covered by accounts in Joe’s and The Clash’s biographies. When Joe did eventually return with Rambo Vinyl on May 18th Mick and Paul must have been incensed to learn of Bernie’s scam. Topper would soon learn that Joe had now decided to act and unknown to him persuaded Paul and Mick to give him a final test at Lochem. 

The Festival

Joe returned from Paris on the 18th May and according to Topper’s account  the band flew out of Heathrow (he was he said nodding out in his breakfast at the airport) to Amsterdam on the 19th. There was no time for rehearsals, a factor surely in the poor performance. But not the only one, Joe had a sore throat and when they arrived by bus late at the Festival in Lochem, with assorted hitch hikers and hangers on they were according to promoter Frank Zanhorn all out of their heads having sampled the finest hash and weed on the way from Amsterdam!

Although the biggest Festival in Holland few tickets had been sold because of Joe’s disappearance. Half of the 16,000 audience had left after the last confirmed act heavy metal band Saxon! Festivals were hardly ideal venues for The Clash to play anyway and this was made worse by having to play in the day light at a very un-Clash friendly 4.30pm, only a few hours after Mick normally got up!

To add to that the weather was abysmal, with thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Fighting broke out between fans and security, Joe complained the security was attacking the Clash fans but the promoter said a number of fans were armed with knives etc and were dangerous. 

A fan René from Holland, provided a personal account.

It was a sunny and rainy day. Between the sun the rain felt down. After Saxon (with a lot of hardrockers) had played (in my memory) it was time for the last show that day. The day I had been waiting for :) Yes, it was a great show/gig. A huge crowd, standing in the rain to listen and watch The Clash.

I still know what you're talking about at your website what happened after the song Train in Vain. In front of the stage they had built an enormous wooden fence. Very high. If you stood in front of that you couldn't see anything at the stage. Very disappointing. So the distance between the stage and the public was very big. So many people climbed up on that fence, sit on watched the show. Some 'bodyguards' tried to get them of the wooden fence. So a lot of people get in between the stage and the wooden fence. Then other people climbed upon the wooden fence too (also me). I think Joe tried to calm down the 'bodyguards' and the public. After sometime the concert had gone further. I can remember that at sometime during the show more and more people climbed upon that wooden fence. Joe asked for ladders so people could climb upon the stage. At the end of the show the whole stage was full of fans. And they stayed very calm. Didn't ruin anything and let The Clash play on.

I downloaded some of the mp3 but i couldn't hear anything about that at the last songs. And in my memory I think they played one or two songs in advanced. One number I remember in particular because it was one of my favourites at that time. It was the song Straight to Hell. It's a pity that it's not on your live recording.Very wet but satisfied I returned home :-)

The promoter Frank Zanhorn wrote his account in an article in the 2007 Q Magazine Classic Clash edition (and included in Pat Gilbert’s book). He said Joe invited fans on stage, encouraging them to push and knock the fences down. He said there were 500 on stage and 500 below the stage, which started collapsing slowly. The Dutch Police wanted to invade, but he persuaded them otherwise and the band completed a full set (FM radio only broadcast the main set). 

Frank Zanhorn remembered Topper drumming well but looking pretty intoxicated before and after; dead silent and stoned. Mick he said was fine and reasonable but that Joe was stressed out and completely wired. There was no interaction between Topper and the rest of the band

Financially the Festival was a disaster for the promoter, having not sold enough tickets but the band insisted though on their full fee, needing it to pay the UK tour cancellation costs.

Performance;

There are very varying opinions on the performance at Lochem amongst Clash fans; some consider it excellent aided by the hifi sound, some that is so woeful that it is not worth owning. The truth is surely in between, although there had been some limited pre-UK tour rehearsals in April before Joe disappeared (the mood at the rehearsals further depressing Joe) accounting for the variations to the arrangements and introduction of new live performances of Ghetto Defendant (and reportedly Straight To Hell), the band had no time to rehearse after Joe returned and it clearly shows. Unrehearsed, all of the band out of their heads (not just Topper from most accounts) and Joe unwell with a hoarse voice it is not surprising that the band’s near telepathic tightness deserted them and accounted for a number of embarrassing mess ups and general rustiness.

The widely bootlegged recording adds to the problem; it runs slow and has a flat remixed sound, which lost a lot of The Clash’s live energy. The alternate FM sourced tape is significantly better and more enjoyable. There are some decent performances; this was The Clash live after all! The problem being for fans is the knowledge that they could play so much better. 

Topper sacked

When Joe returned Paul and Mick agreed to give an unaware Topper one last chance at Lochem; an ultra tough test if you travel via Amsterdam! Topper has said “I was nodding out in my breakfast at Heathrow. Then at the gig I was scoring coke and everything else” The final straw came perhaps while Joe was checking his stage gear backstage before the gig in a full length mirror only for Topper to ask to lay it down flat so he could hoover up cocaine into his nose! 

Topper’s behaviour at Lochem convinced the band he was in no fit state for the US tour and the following morning after the band returned to London, the band held a meeting and Topper was sacked. Mick alone argued in Topper’s corner who blamed Bernie for his sacking but resented Paul for sitting on the fence. Topper has though always maintained that his band mates had really no choice and that in his own words by then “he had lost touch with the band, reality and the planet”

Poster

Adverts

Pass

Clash City Collectors | Facebook

Christoph Hobein - This pass was given to me by Mick Jones when they arrived at the festival. They took me backstage and later with them on stage. I was standing the whole Gig next to Paul’s amp ..

Lochem

Lochem is a city in eastern Netherlands, not that far from the German border. The music festival was an established annual event ; Slade headlining in 1981, and the Undertones appearing in 1983.  

don’t look to us..hey it’s a festival and you’re stuck in the mud!"

The FM tape has a slightly longer intro to London Calling than the boot CD’s which fades in. A decent performance Joe adlibs “don’t look to us..hey it’s a festival and you’re stuck in the mud!…coming on a boat, crossing the river..” Although both sources have excellent hifi sound the FM tape is sonically superior; Mick’s solo sounds more effective, more stereo separation, vocals clearer. 

Joe vocals are clearly affected by his sore throat on Safe European Home, Mick tries to help out but his vocals are very flat at times. Topper’s drum fills add the most interest to another decent if unexceptional performance with little inspiration from either the band or Joe ad-libing. Guns of Brixton though is very fine with inventive and effective guitar fills by Mick and the band sound tight and focussed here. Trouble in the audience prompting a “Hold on. Oi!” from Paul and the music breaks down except for drum then  bass which actually adds to the performance especially when Mick brings it all back up with a great blast of guitar. 

“This one is not to fight to, if you understand English, it’s one to dance to” says Mick introducing a fine if unexceptional Train In Vain; his vocals again flat in places. Joe concerned about the fighting and the large wooden fence separating the stage asks “Yeah by the way who’s the, where’s the Promoter? Why don’t you people leave this area?” Directed at the promoter/security he continues “You  should let them come there’s nothing to defend here” The FM radio announcer then comes in (cut on the boot CD’s) to explain what’s happening and to translate Joe’s words. Joe continues on both sources ”Come on long legs let us see you jump! Oi Oi!  They say its alright”  Further encouraging the fans to get over the fence he says “This is a song to kick a fence down to!” and the band blast into a fierce Clash City Rockers. Apart from a few flat vocals and a mix up between Mick and Joe coming in at different times the band pull it off. “Mick Jones” shouts Joe before Mick’s solo; again buried somewhat in the mix on the boot CD’s, much more effective on the FM tape.

The drum intro to Know Your Rights as on earlier performances is very similar to the Guns of Brixton drum intro but this is not evidence of a Topper error but further evidence that the band had yet to fully work up at rehearsals how to play this song live. Lyrics are now almost as per the reworked vocals for Glyn Johns but it’s an uninspired performance with Joe’s vocals strained and weak from his sore throat.

A lukewarm Magnificent Seven  follows with further evidence of that loss of the telepathic tightness of the band’s best performances. Mick tries to get the depleted and soaked audience going, shouting “fuck the rain!” There’s a lack of inspiration though in his playing and after the bridge Mick & Joe mix up on the lyrics, Joe’s voice breaks up and Topper holds it just together. Not a bad performance but like most performances at Lochem they were usually much better.

Ghetto Defendant is the first circulating live performance of the song and the only live performance with Topper on drums. Joe’s lyrics on this song and others on Combat Rock demonstrate a progression in his lyric writing further into a Beat poetry influenced approach. His vocals on this slow song are less stretched by his sore throat and it’s a strong together performance. A highlight.

Mick’s guitar is by now going out of tune but Should I Stay or Should I Go? still sounds fresh and energetic; the twin guitar interplay swings on this hifi recording. Mick’s adds a new instrumental section and extends the ending but his vocals are out of tune at times. Joe does not add any Strummer Spanish vocals.

Topper then beats out the intro to Police and Thieves, which has an extended instrumental only start. Mick’s solo here is effective. There is some variation on earlier arrangements presumably from the April rehearsals, problems come though when they try to improvise! Mick’s guitar is again going out of tune but the break down to a drum and bass dub style section is again effective. But when Joe  shouts the last “coming in”  Mick and Joe are embarrassingly out of step. They recover quickly though with some Joe rhythm guitar improvisation before the band build it up again effectively. 

The Clash had always showed progression in their arrangements to songs; keeping them fresh and interesting even on the songs that had been constants in their sets for years. There’s more evidence of changes on Brand New Cadillac as well; the band were still pushing forward musically right up to Topper’s departure, it’s arguable though whether there was much progression after he left.

As Topper goes into Complete Control Joe orders “Oh No- I want to hear you sing” and the band go into Bankrobber with Joe attempting largely fruitlessly to get the audience to sing along. Not extended but enjoyable enough.

The drum sound on the intro to Complete Control sounds like Topper is hitting pots and pan lids! Mick’s out of tune guitar gives an atonal intro, the band try to whip it up but the timing is out. Mick’s guitar solo is out of tune; Joe’s “you’re my guitar hero” here is far from convincing!

The tin pot drum intro to Career Opportunities is uninspiring which is why maybe the FM radio announcer is faded in to give what sounds like some traffic information at Breda! Again not bad but they had been so much better.

Very unusually Clampdown fails here to excite; it would be a challenge to identify a poorer performance of this live. There’s no spoken intro as on the Australasian dates and the FM tape perhaps mercifully fades out 1min 30 in! Joe’s voice is strained, he adds a topical “working down in Malvinas” but his remaining adlibs are especially tired and ineffective ”and if birds can sing, one more hot dog, one more Heineken with the top off” and then fades out before the songs conclusion, and the encores which included a reported first live Straight To Hell.

Many including Strummer would say there were no good gigs after Topper was sacked (except one he said at Asbury Park). Thousands of Clash fans would argue otherwise of course and thanks to the tapes circulating we can decide for ourselves. The loss of Topper Headon to The Clash cannot be overestimated and his sacking would be bitterly regretted by Joe especially.

Chris Knowles - The Essential Clash Bootleg Bible includes this gig

The Clash back together again at Lochem

Did you go? Comments, info welcome...

Info, articles, reviews, comments or photos welcome.
Please email blackmarketclash

Photos

4x photos courtesy of Joerg Bruekner

The Clash live in at Lochem Festival
©1981 Laurens van Houten - http://www.starfileonline.com

Setlist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	London Calling Safe European Home The Guns of Brixton Train In Vain Clash City Rockers Know Your Rights The Magnificent Seven Ghetto Defendent Should I Stay or Should I Go? Police and Thieves Brand New Cadillac Bankrobber Complete Control Career Opportunities Clampdown