Out of Control Tour The Clash USA 1984 part 1 West Coast

Here is a list of known articles around the time of the tour. If you know of anything that is missing please do let us know.

Adverts - Snippets - Press Releases - UK Articles - US Articles - Fanzines - Mick sacked - Books, social media - Photos - Posters - Passes - Memorabilia

Adverts

The Los Angeles Times Sun Jan 8 1984 (tickets)

Snippets

Rust never sleeps award

The Clash

Clash got a Mikey on their back

Boston Rock
21 February 1984

Reports on the return of The Clash

Official Press releases

Press release: New tracks the band are playing at forthcoming dates

Clash communique with new tracks - Clash Communique

The crazy European Kasbah-Klub with Complete Control. A press release listing all the new tracks the band are playing ahead of their forthcoming European and UK dates.

February Press Release

RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT CLASH
Watch out, America, and all ships at sea. THE CLASH are back!

Lineup Makes Live Debut On West Coast
Additional U.S. Concerts Planned For Spring

Following a turbulent year characterised by internal upheaval and external silence, the Epic band that rocked the world with albums like Sandinista! and Combat Rock has returned to the front lines -- with new personnel, new material, and new power. Joining CLASH stalwarts Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals) and Paul Simonon (bass) are Nick Sheppard (guitar), Vince White (guitar) and Pete Howard (drums), all 23 years old.

The new CLASH made their American performing debut in January with, a nine-date California tour, playing venues including the Long Beach Arena, the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, and the Fox Theater in San Diego (where all seats sold out In box-office-record time). "Joe Strummer went overboard to entertain," wrote Larry Kelp In the Oakland Tribune. "He played guitar, shouted, preached, ran around the stage, encouraged the crowd, smashed against the stagefront barricades, leaped off the drum riser and sang while rolling around the floor!" Other critics Joined in with.praise for the several as-yet-unrecorded songs and the vigorous performances of the new CLASH recruits. Los AngeL Times critic Robert Hilburn flew to London for an advance interview
his Times Calender piece.

THE CLASH ARE BACK, WITH THE ROCK THAT JUST WON'T STOP.

April Press Release

Spring Tour Takes U.S By Storm - New Songs Previewed, Ready For Summer Recording

THE CLASH are alive and well -- and blazing a trail of incandescent live performances across North America.

The internationally renowned English rock band is presently on an extensive trans-continental tour, bringing their legend to life with an energy, excitement, and daring far beyond the boundaries of rock and roll convention.

The new CLASH lineup has undergone its trial by fire -- five, six, seven nights per week -- and come through with flying colors! Singer Joe Strummer, bassist Paul Simonon, and new members Nick Sheppard, Vince White (guitars) and Pete Howard (drums) have been warmly welcomed by CLASH converts everywhere.

A typical night's set includes such CLASH classics as "Rock The Casbah," "London Calling," "Safe European Home," and "Spanish Bombs". There are also a half-dozen new songs like "Sex Mad War," "This Is England," and "We Are The Clash".

"(Strummer's) new songs are among his most stirring anthems," wrote one reviewer, "and if the band keeps up this pace, its next album could be among its best'" Time will tell: This summer, THE CLASH will travel to Paris to beoln recording their first new album since 1982's million-selling Combat Rock.

Morale within the band's ranks is running at an all-time high. "The main reaction I've had is that it's much better this time 'round," Joe Strummier told one reporter. "We're all saying it's more exciting, It's more lively, it's more -all the things I like most about music!"

UK Articles

Record Mirror, Clash a Fiver

21 January 1984

or link here

Clash of interests

The Standard – Tue Feb 21 1984

Trading Places

Smash Hits
February 1984

Great collection of scanned fanzines from the 1970s and 1980s

MOJO FOUND The unheard Clash 1984 tracks

October 2018 / 2 pages

US Articles

Group gets back to its punk roots
A fired-up Joe Strummer brings his new Clash to America

Rolling Stone March 1, 1984 - Full article
Michael Goldberg, Santa Barbara, CA

LOS ANGELES--It was almost the punk summer of 1977 all over again. On Jan. 19, the latest version of the Clash--bolstered by two young, spiky-haired guitarists--made its world debut in front of 2,000 rabid fans at the Arlington Center for the Performing Arts in Santa Barbara. And it was clear from the opening notes of the first song, London Calling, that the new Clash is as angry and self-righteous a political beast as ever. ...more

A reformed Clash back on the attack

LA Times – 8 page PDF
Robert Hilburn
22 Jan 84
Calendar

The Clash is a rock band that lives up to its name.

Band leader Joe Strummer and manager Bernard Rhodes were irate a few nights ago about an item in the Sun newspaper.
text only or archived pdf

The Clash in the Combat Zone

Bam Magazine

10 February 1984
5 page Interview

"God, is it trendy or what?"
A wave of disgust crosses Joe Strummers face when he talks about the current British music scene...

BAM was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area from January 1976 until June 1999.

A fired-up Joe Strummer brings his new Clash to America

Rolling Stone Magazine

2 pages (no cover)

1 March 84 – Joe Interview

A fired up Joe Strummer brings his new Clash to America
It ws almost as if it were the punk summer of 1977 all over again

Joe Strummer, Chief conspirator of The Clash

The Quake magazine (San Francisco)
February 1984

Link or Link

3 pages

Joe Strummer Interview prior to Santa Barbara and the tour

The Mouth That Roared: The Return of The Clash

John Mendelssohn, The Record, June 1984 - Full article here

Joe Strummer announces the Clash’s comeback in no uncertain terms.
CONVERSATION WITH THE CLASH’S Joe Strummer elicits the simplest, most blindingly self-evident solutions to agonizingly difficult political problems since the non-release of Billy Jack Goes To Washington. ...more

I call on Joe Strummer and live to tell about it

Boston Rock 50
16 April 1984

3 pages

The Clash Divide and Conquer
Paul and Joe interview
What becomes a legend the most? In the case of The Clash overcoming obstacles and carrying on head held high.

Interview, The Clash, They Want To Spoil The Party So They'll Stay

Bill Holdship, Creem
October 1984 - Read full article

CREEM CONTRIBUTOR Mark Norton and I were talking several days before the Clash "invaded" Detroit, and we began discussing the concept of "armchair activism" and how the Clash probably fit into that category.

Struggle and Controversy - Just Par for the Course

Pulse Magazine - March 1984 – Full Article here
Written by Ethlie Ann Vare

The Clash has been called "the only band that matters" practically from its inception in 1976. It wasn't until 1979 that Columnia released The Clash in the U.S., but by then the band was already legendary in England and idolized by the cogniscent in America. ...more

British punk band keeps going

The News Tribune Wed Feb 29 1984

The Los Angeles Times Sun Jan 29 1984

Letters to the LA TImes

More letters

The Los Angeles Times Sun Feb 12 1984

British band battles youth apathy

Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter Fri Mar 30 1984

By YARDENA ARAR Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP)

The Clash, hardy survivors of the British punk revolution, are regrouping as they con-tinue their battle against complacency. "Punk is an attitude that kids need," said singer-song-*writer-guitarist Joe Strummer, still an angry young man at age 30, as he sipped a wine spritzer at a Hollywood hotel. The band was using the hotel as headquarters during a recent series of California performances. The shows were The Clash's first since the depar-ture last year of Mick Jones, who co-wrote many of the band's best-known songs with Strummer, and who shared lead vocals as well. "A friend is someone you ...

The Clash: Still angry young men

The Desert Sun Tue Feb 28 1984

The Clash: Still angry young men

Star Gazette Mon Feb 27 1984

The Clash is finally making money

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Mon Feb 27 1984

Singer says kids need the 'punk' rock attitude

The Oshkosh Northwestern Sun Feb 26 1984

The Clash: Political punk

The Newark Advocate Sun Feb 26 1984

The Clash Regroup

The Commercial Appeal Sun Feb 26 1984

The Clash: Back to Basics

Sunday Pennsylvanian Sun Feb 26 1984

The Clash regroups; fights against complacency

Longview News Journal Sun Feb 26 1984

The Clash still fights complacency

Wausau Daily Herald Sat Feb 25 1984

Clash survives punk revolution

The Daily Sentinel Sat Feb 25 1984

The Clash going back to basics

Messenger Inquirer Fri Feb 24 1984

The Clash regroups after internal strife

Standard Speaker Sat Feb 25 1984

The Clash regroups after internal strife

Standard Speaker Sat Feb 25 1984

The Clash still sounding the alarm

Red Deer Advocate Sat Feb 25 1984

The Clash are regrouping

The Winona Daily News Fri Feb 24 1984

Members added to The Clash

The Tribune Fri Feb 24 1984

The Clash is regrouping

The Sun Times Fri Feb 24 1984

Group clashes keeping The Clash cash in court

The Paducah Sun Fri Feb 24 1984

British Punk group The Clash decides to go back to basics

The Courier News Fri Feb 24 1984

Strummer wants The Clash to get back to its punk roots

The Advocate Messenger Fri Feb 24 1984

The Clash is going back to basics in battle against complacency

Rapid City Journal Fri Feb 24 1984

Chatterbox: The Clash Band's going back to basics

Press and Sun Bulletin Fri Feb 24 1984

The Clash going back to basics

Messenger Inquirer Fri Feb 24 1984

Clash returns to the basics

Abilene Reporter News – Fri Feb 24 1984

Clash regroups: Kids still need Punk, singer-guitarist declares

The Journal Times – Thu Feb 23 1984

Clash Keeps Punk Alive (quotes from Tour)

Anderson Independent Mail – Thu Feb 23 1984

Clash battle complacency

Star – Wed Feb 22 1984

The Clash No Longer Clashes Within

Honolulu Star Bulletin Fri Feb 17 1984

Clash rehashed -

Daily Hampshire Gazette Fri Feb 17 1984

The Arizona Republic Wed Feb 1 1984

Joe tells Lisa Robinson about the recent splits

A re-formed Clash is back on the attack

Fort Worth Star Telegram Sun Jan 29 1984

Clash Regroups

Fort Worth Star Telegram
Wed Jan 25 1984

A reformed Clash is back on the attack

Calendar Pop Music LA Times
The Los Angeles Times Sun Jan 22 1984 - 5 pages

Protest Songs

(Syndicated) The Greenville News Fri Jan 6 1984

Revised Clash Returns to the Music Front

Detroit Citizens Voice
Fri Mar 23 1984

The Clash has returned to the musical bat-tlefield after being missing in action for near-ly a year. Following a turbulent year characterized by internal upheaval and external silence, the Epic band that rocked the world with such socio-political LPs as Sandinista! and London Calling has returned to the front lines. This second coming of the Clash will feature new personnel, new material and new power.

A reformed Clash back on the attack

Fort Worth Star Telegram
Sun Jan 29 1984

By ROBERT HILBURN Los Angeles Times News Service LONDON

The Clash is a rock hand that lives up to its name. During 1983. the combat-ready rock group got into a slugging match onstage with members of the US Festival crew, went through more hassles with its record compa-ny and fired Mick Jones, one of its co-founders, after internal feuding kept the group from touring and recording. Still, the Clash isn't just another gang of rowdy rockers. Its been railed the most important group in the world by many critics, who see the outfit's strident sociopolitical anthems as an update of the '60s militancy of Bob Dylan et al ...

Fanzines

Fanzine - Beano San Francisco Fanzine

Feb 1984

Joe Interview Excellent -
6 pages

Mick Jones sacked

Classic Rock Magazine

Record Mirror, Clash Shortage, Mick to Rejoin?

83 12 31 Record Mirror Clash Shortage Mick to Rejoin

Mick Jones fired from the Clash

83 10 28 The Tacoma News Tribune Fri (Mick fired)
83 10 07 The Kansas City Star Fri (Mick fired)
83 10 09 The Dispatch Sun (Mick fired)

The Clash spike plans

84 00 00 Clash step in to stand up for sacked Rolls Royce worker

Five Alive

Mick gets the boot NME

83 09 10

or alternate link or alternate link

Melody Maker, Mick sacked from The Clash

83 09 10

Daily Mirror, Mick is fired by The Clash

83 09 02 Daily Mirror Friday (Mick fired)

The Sun, Mick cash Clash

83 09 00 Need original

NME Mick gets the Boot

NME 10 Sept 83 –
Mick Jones sacked from Clash

Should I Stay or Should I Go (Mick sacked)

unknown –
Mick Jones sacked from Clash

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Oct 1983?

Clash, crash

Link

Clash sack Mick Jones

Clash Trouble, Mick teams up with Topper

The Courier News
Sat May 5 1984

Ex-Clash members may form new group TRAC

The Salina Journal,
Sun May 27 1984

Clash of interests

The Standard – Tue Feb 21 1984

Regrets over Clash

Clash clash over names

Punk Rock graveyard | Facebook

39 years ago The Clash fired Mick Jones on... -

Punk Rock Graveyard | Facebook

39 years ago The Clash fired Mick Jones on September 1, 1983.

"Jones and Strummer, the creative forces in the Clash, were heading in different directions. After six years or rampant touring and recording, Jones was ready for a break and desperately wanted an extended vacation. With the band’s commercial fortunes on the rise, Strummer wanted to capitalize on their fame with more touring (a move supported by Simonon).

“Mick was intolerable to work with by this time,” the late Strummer remembered in the Clash documentary, ‘Westway to the World.’ “He wouldn’t show up. When he did show up, it was like Elizabeth Taylor in a filthy mood.”

Jones later regretted his behavior. “I was just carried away really, I wish I had a bit more control,” Jones reflected. “You know, you wish you knew what you know now.”

Unable to plan a summer ’83 Clash tour because of Jones, and continually annoyed by his lack of care and punctuality, Strummer and Simonon weighed their options. They decided that the best move was to assume complete control and fire Mick from the band in September of 1983.

“We had to change the team because the atmosphere was too terrible,” Strummer said (as quoted in ‘The Rise and Fall of the Clash’). “We got so much work to do that we can’t waste time begging people to play the damn guitar!”

Simonon, who had altogether stopped talking to Jones, concurred: “We felt we’ve had enough, let’s kick him out and that’s what we decided on and to hell with the consequences.”

The consequences were that the Clash wouldn’t be able to survive the removal of a founding member (as well as the group’s prime melodic talent). Strummer and Simonon hired two guitarists to replace Jones and made 1985’s ‘Cut the Crap,’ an album Joe would pretty much disown. The Clash officially broke up the next year.

Meanwhile, Jones co-founded General Public (although he left before making much of a creative contribution) and then started Big Audio Dynamite, which took his music in a more urban/dance-oriented direction. When Strummer came calling, asking Jones to reform the Clash with him, Jones declined. Instead, the two collaborated on B.A.D.’s second album, ‘No. 10, Upping St.’ co-producing the record and co-writing half the songs.

Strummer and Jones remained friends and even played a few Clash songs together at a charity show. They also planned to play a full reunion gig as part of the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Sadly, Strummer died of a congenital heart defect in December 2002, making the reunion impossible.

“Whatever a group is, it is the chemical mixture of those four people that makes a group work,” Strummer said, a few years before his death. “That’s a lesson everyone should learn: you don’t mess with it. If it works, just let it… do whatever you have to do to bring it forward, but don’t mess with it. We learned that bitterly.”

Read the entire article here: 30 Years Ago: The Clash Fire Mick Jones | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/clash-fire-mick-jones/...

In 1983, “the only band that matters” was poised to become the biggest band in the world. Over the course of a few years, the Clash had gone from punk upstarts to a passionately eclectic band capable of rocking stadiums. The British quartet were riding high on ‘Combat Rock’ (their first top 10 album in the U.S.) along with a pair of hit singles, ‘Rock the Casbah’ and ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go.’ The Clash were booked to co-headline (with David Bowie and Van Halen) the US Festival and played to more than 140,000 people. And they were completely miserable.

Things had begun to disintegrate right before the release of ‘Combat Rock’ when drummer Topper Headon was fired because his heroin addiction was a drag on his precision. But the other three members (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon) soldiered on with drummer Terry Chimes, who had played on the band’s 1977 debut. The friction within the band only got worse and Chimes left the group at his first opportunity.

Ultimate Classic Rock, The Clash Fire Mick Jones

Link

Jones and Strummer, the creative forces in the Clash, were heading in different directions. After six years or rampant touring and recording, Jones was ready for a break and desperately wanted an extended vacation. With the band’s commercial fortunes on the rise, Strummer wanted to capitalize on their fame with more touring (a move supported by Simonon).

Jones later regretted his behavior. “I was just carried away really, I wish I had a bit more control,” Jones reflected. “You know, you wish you knew what you know now.”

Simonon, who had altogether stopped talking to Jones, concurred: “We felt we’ve had enough, let’s kick him out and that’s what we decided on and to hell with the consequences.”

Books, articles, social media

Mohawk Revenge: The Clash 1983-1985

Mohawk Revenge | Facebook

Documenting and discussing the ill-fated but endlessly fascinating second major lineup of The Clash, 1983-1985.

2005 interview with the great Nick Sheppard

Mohawk Revenge:
The Clash 1983-1985
Chris Knowles

Text version

Nick Sheppard Instagram posts - Gramtower

https://www.gramtower.com/hashtag/NickSheppard

We Are The Clash: The Last Stand of a Band That Mattered

(book) Link and Link

The Clash's bold, tragic last stand, rescued from history's dustbin: at war with Thatcher, Reagan, the Top Ten, & (sometimes) itself...

Mark Andersen & Ralph Heibutzki

The Last Days of the Clash

(book) Vince White describes this gig extensively in his Clash biog, The Last Days of the Clash.

Vince Whites view: additional internet comments from Vince to add to his book

On the Clash late 1984...

"By that point all the good melancholic songs had disappeared and this kind of 'positive thinking' music had appeared which was stuggling against the tide. I dunno though, some of those songs like 'Cool Under Heat','movers and shakers' felt good to play on the busking tour where they seemed to take on a life of their own out on the streets and 'North and South' too. I have mixed feelings because it's hard for me to separate that from what they eventually became in the studio.

But the busking tour had a really good effect on the band and looking at the Roskilde show I can see a kind of camaraderie had begun to develop between us from that."

Most exciting gig

Vince White (on Clash City) said that "Glasgow Barrowlands was the most exciting show I played and Athens ( the last) was the best show I played."

"I vividly remember the Athens show 'cause I walked out on my own and started it with the 'Complete Control' riff in the dark with all the lighted matches. It was an awesome moment I'll never forget. It built slowly from that and was a cool start from the usual 'London Calling' explosion. And a far cry from the mess of my first Clash gig in Santa Barbara. So if it turns up that would be the indicator of an original recording. Also it was the only show I played completely sober!!! I'd love to hear it. I really had my shit together on that one."

Straight To Hell - The Final Days Of The Clash

By Chris Knowles (Classic Rock) April 18, 2005

In 1983, The Clash sacked Mick Jones, hired three new members and tried to return to their punk rock roots. Cue two years of back-stabbing, bullying, busking and blistering rock n roll... PDF

THE CLASH'S FORGOTTEN YEARS, 1984-1986

Link

In its official version, the story of The Clash ends with the firing of lead guitarist Mick Jones in 1983.

Though founding members Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon subsequently led a five-piece version of the group until the first months of 1986, it is not a polite thing to mention at parties. The 384-page coffee-table book The Clash devotes less than a single page to the final two and a half years of the bandís career, and the 1985 album Cut The Crap has been left out of every Clash box set to date.

In the words of Rolling Stone, ìIt doesnít count, and the whole thing has basically been erased from history. The Clash as we know them ended at the 1983 US Festival.

The new Clash met the same fate as the new Coke. PDF

Book: The Last Crusade

This article is courtesy [and copyright] of Chris Knowles, Clash fan and author. Chris's Clash book Clash City Showdown is available from all online retailers.

Fanzines: Great Collection

Great collection of scanned fanzines from the 1970s and 1980s

Photos

Getty Images: taken in 'Los Angeles' January 1984? (Long Beach?)

Posters

This may only be from the April/May leg of the Out of Control Tour of the US?

This style of poster appeared in 1985. Not sure it was around at the start of 1984?

Passes

Out of Control Tour pass, January, California?

Memorabilia

T-shirts for sale, not cheap!

1984 the clash "out - Gem
The Clash 1984 - Etsy UK

]

Clash City Collectors

Sign from dressing room door

In its official version, the story of The Clash ends with the firing of lead guitarist Mick Jones in 1983. Though founding members Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon subsequently led a five-piece version of the group until the first months of 1986, it is not a polite thing to mention at parties. The 384-page coffee-table book The Clash devotes less than a single page to the final two and a half years of the bandís career, and the 1985 album Cut The Crap has been left out of every Clash box set to date. In the words of Rolling Stone, ìIt doesnít count, and the whole thing has basically been erased from history. The Clash as we know them ended at the 1983 US Festival.î The new Clash met the same fate as the new Coke. PDF