THE FIRST concert in the Rock Against the Rich tour organised by Class War, the yuppie-bashing anarchist party, and led by the father of punk rebellion, Joe Strummer, provided an evening that Walt Whitman ("Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself") would have savoured.

The concert at the Fridge in Brixton opened with polite young men selling T-shirts bearing a picture of a middle-class woman being hit on the head with a meat cleaver. We were then treated to a speech, or rather a string of obscenities from Class War's candidate in the Kensington by-election.

The candidate, a rotund market trader called John Duignan, ended by pleading with those eligible to do so to vote for him. The request seemed doomed since half the audience looked too young, too criminal or too insane to vote, and the other half, to judge by the range of languages, were foreign pilgrims to the shrine of Strummer.

But hope was at hand. The owner of a fine house in the constituency, and an obvious target for a spot of Class War direct action, was ambling on stage with his band. This was Strummer, a small, jerky figure now bearing a distinct resemblance to the young Humphrey Bogart.

The man has a certain spirit. He has kept faith with his fans, despite once contracting hepatitis from a shower of spit they aimed at him as a gesture of appreciation, and having since become an upwardly-mobile resident of Kensington. Judging by the ecstasy that greeted his new band Latino Rockabilly War, nostalgia remains for Strummer's alma mater The Clash, even among those too young to remember their heyday.

The greeting quickly proved justified. LRW played in a style as spare as The Clash with the same endearing habits of "one, two, three, four" countdown at the start of songs and abrupt fade-out at the end. Strummer stood at the front thumping away rhythmically at a battered Fender Telecaster and croaking tunefully into a microphone.

The set was enlivened by a catholic mix of material ranging from 'Living in the Land of the Common People' to the Pogues' 'If I Should Fall From Grace With God'. Strummer, a paternal grin on his face, wisely avoided referring to Class War on stage. One was nonetheless left wondering how a nice boy like him had got himself mixed up with such a dubious crowd.

ONE of the summer's biggest musical and media events will be taking place at the Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre on Saturday, July 9, with a huge concert.

It is aimed at focussing our attention on the launch of a new ecological campaign Green Wedge. Topping the bill will be former punk legend Joe Strummer, who made his name with the hugely-successful The Clash.

Given the concern for the well-being of the planet, I attended the opening night of the campaign in The Crucial Art Gallery, London, where a weird and wonderful mixture of people ranging from Green groups to musicians, artists and media people congregated to lend their ears, support and purse strings to the cause.

Basically, Green Wedge recognises the disastrous state of the planet, ranging from a fast-disappearing ozone layer to appalling level of pollution in every country.

Spokesperson Tim Williams made an impassioned speech for everybody to become aware of the situation, and felt the Green Wedge campaign could co-ordinate the different efforts of various Green groups as well as bring media attention to the campaign as a whole.

On the opening bash at the Fountain and the notable bill-topper Joe Strummer. For the uninitiated, he was the major force in The Clash, a band that took on the mantle of latter-day super-group.

Given the band emerged from the rebellious punk era, this was a contradiction, The Clash overcome by socially-conscious material including a triple album, Sandinista.

Strummer's involvement therefore is not a total surprise, and a recent spate of appearances on behalf of Amnesty International and even a mini-tour cheekily titled Bash The Rich, show Joe to be well in tune with the problems of the age.

Together with his new American band, The Latino Rockabilly War, Strummer will be rocking the night away at the Fountain along with an array of other bands, including The Wise Monkeys, and various comics, speakers and films. Topping the event will be one of the most dynamic light shows seen in these parts.

In the meantime if you are interested in helping the new fight to save our environment, come along to this huge bash and have tons of fun and help spread the word fast.

IT must be hard for an old punk to make a comeback. It must be even harder to be old. But Joe Strummer, in a musical wilderness since the end of The Clash, doesn't seem to worry.

In a quiff and bootlace tie, he still exudes timeless rocker style. More important, he still looks like a man who burns for music. It might not be the rapid fire of youth; this is slow burning that builds up to a final intensity.

One of the first songs was called Shout and Scream, but Joe's voice, appealingly, is more like a croak and whoop. That much is unchanged. So is the way he pounds his guitar, breaking several strings in true punk rock style.

There's still an edge to the music so that you're not sure what's coming next or whether it's going to work. There were a few songs that felt like fillers, and times when the voice almost failed. There were also moments of perfect, tense artistry.

And Joe, despite some audience demand for nostalgia, doesn't even pretend to be a punk.

Of The Clash numbers, most were cover versions; Police and Thieves, I Fought the Law, Brand New Cadillac. Others came from the later years of multi-cultural experimentation.

Guitars, drums and percussion give a Latin American flavour to songs like Trash City, the single from the latest soundtrack LP, Permanent Record. Whatever they play, the spirit is still there. Age, and history, don't matter, just an urgent embrace of musics.

SINCE last year, the two ex-Clash mainstays have been closer than they've been for a long time.

And, this year, the closest they'll come for Liverpool is playing the Royal Court three days apart.

On Friday it was Joe Strummer, last night Mick Jones with Big Audio Dynamite. Both men have talked recently of a back to basics approach to music, but the way they do it is rather different.

BAD, already established and successful, began life as cross-cultural innovation, with the meeting point between punk and hip hop. These days it's commonplace to hear rock and rap on the same stage, but BAD have always had more invention and more fluid than most of the groups now following that course.

And, with their new album Tighten Up Vol 88, they're moving from experimenting with sounds to experimenting with songs.

The new material has melodic and rhythmic simplicity, while never too straightforward. Though less reliant on it than before, they still use electronic technology for effects.

And, in the case of Battle of All Saints Road, they mix in new - or old - styles like Country and Western with reggae.

The overall sound was slick, noisy, and lively though on this occasion sometimes slightly blurred. But the exuberant mix of ideas is still strong, and it still creates a sound that's distinctively their own.

Class War, the militant anarchist group which organised Joe Strummer's Rock Against the Rich tour, must have made so much money from this gig they are in grave danger of rocking against themselves.

Devotees of Strummer and his former band, The Clash, flocked to the Bierkeller to see one of the great names of rock in action.

There's no point telling the sweating masses that Strummer was a pale shadow of himself in his days with The Clash. Though he certainly was just that, Strummer is far from a spent force and the crowd loved him.

Commanding and cool, Strummer is a rock and roll animal and always will be.

He still walks the wild side with his presentation and his new material and is still inspired by conflict — most noticably Nicaragua, and the Spanish Civil War.

A smattering of Clash songs kept the crowd leaping and chanting, and gave the band the platform to introduce new material styled on Latin and Spanish guitar influences, and reggae beats.

RICHARD Jones

By Greg Williams
Echophotos by Paul Collins

Fears that a concert to promote Class War and the destruction of the capitalist system would stress violence to the streets of Poole proved unfounded as the Rock Against the Rich event came and went without raising a single good burgher from his bed on Sunday night.

About 800 assorted youths took part in the evening at Poole Arts Centre which concluded with less than the average number of incidents for a rock concert.

The police, who are seen by organizers London Class War as legitimate victims of violence against the system, supervised the event with one "bobby," one small dog, each afterwards, one motorcycle policeman parked at a distance.

Very beefy door men from the regularly employed Righteous Security firm dealt with the one class dropping the most dangerous and much comfortable with the came and wanted to be in the dream of the future. "It's time to seize control for ourselves, get into the streets and come face to face with the authorities."

An untypical angry young man from Parkstone, Joe Tarrant (18), and unemployed, explained why he was there. "We are fed up with living in an area like this where we are surrounded by old people and rich people who are so." "We wanted to make ourselves heard and get a lot of people together," he even told us why the much vaunted confrontation with authority definitely looked like not happening. "An event like this is going to be watched by the police so there's no point in doing anything."

Seventeen-year-old Robbie Whitman of Dale Valley Road, Oakdale, said she was not political. Violence against the police was no less or more acceptable than the violence other groups had to put up with and they certainly did not get her respect as figures of law and order. But the sort had read the controversial Class War broadsheet and was mainly "just interested" in the group's aims.

Her friend Becky Lonergon (18), of The Bricklayers Arms in Park Street, said she came to see the name of the definition of the story. She did not agree with violence against the police as "they were only trying to do a job."

A former chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students, Nigel Adamson (28), was there to express solidarity for the event, accompanied by a self-proclaimed anarchist companion. They became victims of one of the major crimes of the evening when an unsatisfactory event T-shirt and a half used pieces of cigarette papers were taken — partial amends were made and solidarity was expressed.

University College London student Stuart Quirk (20), here to visit his parents in West Quay Road, said he attempted to absorb as much of the political scene as possible during his own month visit.

Four followers Alf Alfred (26), and Joe Swichard (27), said that one-third through the 24 nights of concerts "everything had been very quiet." "I don't think people come along for the Class War bit so much as to hear Strummer play," said Alf, adding that he, too, did not "approve of beating up coppers."

The quiet night expected by bars manager Keith Darker came and went.

Photo: Joe Strummer gets the message across
Photo: Police presence at the doors of Poole Arts Centre
Photo: Tim Palmer is one of the Journal T-shirts

ANYONE expecting the revolution to start at the Rock Against the Rich gig at the Mayfair Suite last Sunday would have been very disappointed.

The bouncers in their dicky-bow ties had been briefed to expect trouble and frisked everyone coming in.

They even tried to take beer away from Joe Strummer who had a hard time convincing edgy security men that he was in fact the main event.

Rocking against the rich is all very well but most of the punks past and present at the gig had come to worship at the altar of the former Clash-God Strummer.

This audience was none too worried about yuppie waterside residences being built in the city or the horrors of tower-block housing for young families.

They wanted to hear Police and Thieves and I Fought The Law. And they were not disappointed.

Joe Strummer and the Latino Rockabilly War are basically the Clash mark 3 at the moment and played enough golden oldies to satisfy the faithful.

Best tracks of the night proved to be a superb Straight To Hell and the great new single Trash City.

Strummer still has a real presence on stage and the voice was in fine fettle.

But now in 1988 it is time for him to break free from the diet of past glories and head towards the exciting and imaginative future his new material suggests he is capable of.

Last Sunday was a good show, a great night out. But gone is the danger from the days when The Clash were right out there at the cutting edge of the music business.

At least he had the good grace not to play White Riot.

Photo: TROUBLE FREE: Joe Strummer (top) needs to break away from his glory days with The Clash (above).

Joe Strummer, Hummingbird

Still angry after all these years:

"Joe Strummer, former frontman with The Clash, rocked the crowd with his old punk classics but bewildered the audience with the new songs.

"This old shrunken brain can only remember a few chords," he told them and Bank Robber was the one which suffered.

Attempting to promote his new album Earthquake Weather. Joe was strangled by his past musical and political stance.

Shouts for White Riot were ignored while Joe attempted to reach a higher conscious plane with a song poached from a Spanish civil war soldier.

But the standard Clash anthem London Calling enticed the masses back from the bar.

RAJ SANGHA

Joe Strummer — Hummingbird Club, Birmingham

Strummer was once quite good.

He co-wrote some good songs and developed a great sneer. But, bless him, he misses Mick Jones .

And, 12 years since The Clash started out, he hasn't really changed his act. He has changed his clothes, mind you.

For this solo show at Birmingham's Hummingbird he wore a tasteful scarlet shirt with a bootlace tie and a BAD quiff.

His backing band were tightness itself and the new songs Strummer delivered showed he hasn't entirely lost his marbles.

But the 500 or so ageing punks which made up his audience weren't happy with them. One plaintively called out: "Where's the old 'uns, Joe?"

Joe delivered with an acapella version of Bank Robber, a stirring rendition of City of the Dead, an average version of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves and London Calling.

Pressure Drop, Brand New Cadillac, Magnificent Seven, Straight To Hell and I Fought The Law cropped up as encores, but the whole show lacked originality.

Come back Mick, all is forgiven.

Dan Collins

Photo: Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer's last outing, on the Class War Rock Against the Rich tour, attracted a lot of attention. Mainly because it was on behalf of the anarchist group, but also, partly I hope, because it proved that the former Clash front-man can still cut it.

This time he is plugging his new album Earthquake Weather, with drummer Jack Loms being the only newcomer since last summer.

As expected, the set consisted of new songs, obscure covers and classic Clash numbers like I Fought The Law, What's My Name, London Calling, Police and Thieves and a blistering rendition of City of the Dead. (OK, two of those are also covers, but let's not nitpick).

Strummer looked fine and appeared to be having a great time, chatting amicably to the crowd and spitting fury into every song, old and new.

Unlike his pal Mick Jones , Joe has no time for the wonders of modern technology. So what you get is a straight two guitars, bass, drums and vocals set up — and the show was all the better for it.

For instance, to recreate the eerie intro to London Calling they could have used tapes, but Strummer just cranked up the echo and screeched down the mike.

No doubt about it, Joe Strummer is a very fine fellow indeed and I urge you to go and buy his album now.

Shane Baldwin

Photo: Joe Strummer: Mixing his music

SO FAR this autumn we have managed to see two groups of ex-Clash members. Tonight we can see the third when Joe Strummer plays at the Royal Court.

Havana 3am - Paul Simenon's new group who supported Big Audio Dynamic on their latest tour - is probably the closest thing you'll get these days to the early Clash sound.

But Mick Jones ' Big Audio Dynamic and Joe Strummer's work are probably closer, in different ways, to the spirit of the group, at least in its later days.

BAD approach the cross cultural mix using the new and current.

GOES BACK FURTHER

Joe Strummer goes back further to what's called these days "roots" music, mixing Latin, rockabilly, reggae and whatever else comes to hand.

They are all mixed up in his new LP Earthquake Weather - his first proper solo work (last year's Permanent Record, as a soundtrack album, doesn't really count).

On tracks like Gangsterville (the single), he shows the voice is still as intense and the guitar still as aggressive as ever. The album evokes images of America which match the styles of music.

And the American musicians on the album are also accompanying Joe on the current tour. But although there's a strong sense of America's musical traditions on album (Charlie Parker, Eddie Cochran and Martin Gaye all get a mention), Joe has not forgotten his own roots either.

On last year's tour he was still doing several Clash numbers. And according to reports, he is throwing in a few this time round as well.

Joe Strummer - The Hummingbird Birmingham.

Having not heard any of Strummer's stuff since The Clash's final album 'Cut The Crap', I didn't really know what to except from this solo show. Reggae? Funk? Or perhaps the tried and tested 'Maximum R'n B'? Well, as it was it turned out to be a bit of everything but mostly the latter - and THAT certainly pleased the crowd.

Warming up with a slow ballad he followed this with the powerful 'Passport To Detroit', then more of the same with 'Shouting Street'.

Next came 'Gangsterville' which got the previously motionless (apprehensive?) fans moving. Shouts of "where's the old 'uns Joe" were combatted with the excellently tight reggae influenced 'Armagideon Times', and then came more R'n B with 'Drag City'. The fans were really moving now, and the next track 'Nothing About Nothing' was musically superb but still the shouts for 'old ones' kept coming. They were rewarded with 'Bank Robber', well half of it anyway, Joe says he's forgot the words - (who's he kidding) but he was really just tempting the crowd nearer to hysteria. Back to the new stuff - 'Back In Time' - 'City Of The Dead', hero worship or what?

He then throws in an experimental Spanish Civil war song, which I think was in Spanish. Crowd motionless, bemused? Oh no they want the old stuff again. Well if it keeps 'em happy - 'Whats My Name?' is given a airing. As Joe says. 'Yeah that still sounds good today, and who else is gonna play it?' Nobody.

Back to R'n B, throw some blues in for good measure, a bit of thrash, damn strings bust - wondered when that was gonna happen? More requests : 'Ok, try 'Police and Thieves'', they love it!

He followed this with 'Walkin' Out On Street' and then with a cry of 'is everybody ready?' off he goes into the epic 'London Calling'. The fans want more - much more. 'Ok we got the message, so here's some old ones'. 'Pressure Drop', 'Brand New Cadillac', 'Magnificent Seven'. 'Straight to Hell', and his new EP title track, the accoustic 'Island Hopping'.

So a good time was had by all. Joe Strummer was completely professional, with an excellent backing band, but that no more than you'd expect after all these years.

Review - Tim Arnold (with help form Timbo and Delictable Del!)

Joe Strummer, Cardiff Union October 17

The Clash live on, as Joe Strummer did his best to show us on Tuesday night at the University Union in Cardiff.

For just as Mick Jones has produced some of his best work with Big Audio Dynamite since the band split, Strummer has barely merited a second hearing.

Just why was amply demonstrated in front of a faithful audience only roused when some classic Clash cuts cropped up to save the gig from oblivion.

Renditions of The Magnificent Seven and What's My Name were needed to spur a spate of pogoing halfway through, and from that moment Strummer was worth watching.

Brand New Cadillac, Police and Thieves and Straight to Hell sustained the momentum and made for an impressive finale.

But for the first half-hour or so, Strummer strutted some stodgy new stuff and it was not pleasant hearing.

Sub-heavy metal tracks floated below his characteristically forceful but limited vocals.

The bass was too high in the mix and individual notes were too difficult to distinguish.

And the songs. Well, clearly Mick Jones took them with him when he left The Clash.

Strummer was unable to introduce a hint of subtlety until a slice of slide guitar emerged during an encore.

Just as well for him that the old stand-bys still sound splendid.

Adrian Colley

Just what is the point? Not that many years ago Strummer was the lead member of one of the greatest rock 'n roll bands the UK has ever produced, as the decade draws to a close he is now putting on a punk/rebel pose cabaret act.

The sad thing is that Joe seems quite happy to trundle out chestnuts like Pressure Drop, London Calling and Straight To Hell.

I'm not saying it's all his fault, if this were The Clash then it would be quite justifiable, throwing in a few classics from the 70s. But the new gang of workmen who've been roped in to dig up these tunes really aren't suited to the gaffer's aspirations of building walls to come crashing down around the ears.

The new LP Earthquake Weather is pointing in the right direction, but it's really only the recent single Gangsterville that comes close to the Clash material.

with PAUL EDWARDS

My advice to Joe would be to get back to basics with Mick, Paul and Topper. Strangle a few guitars, smash up a few drum kits and then hit the road again.

WITH the retrospective double album of Clash favourites high in the charts just how is Joe Strummer celebrating?

When I met him for a pint the other night he invited me to witness his appearance in a talent contest!! Is he all in it? Was he ever all in it?

Before I knew it Joe was onstage leading a ramshackle outfit, which boasted a didgeridoo player, in a short set which included Obangi Stomp, Boppin' the Blues and Brand New Cadillac.

Despite his rousing performance and a standing ovation he suffered the ignominy of disqualification!

It seems the organisers had heard he was “in the business”! Perhaps they even had a copy of his highly-acclaimed soundtrack album for Walker.

Hey Joe, any chance of reforming the pre-Clash 101’ers?

Weekend Mail - Ace

Hull date for Strummer tour

★FORMER Clash frontman Joe Strummer will bring his Rock Against The Rich tour to Hull this summer.

Strummer himself will be backed by The Thunderhawks, a band that includes members of The Circle Jerks and The Untouchables, who featured on his soundtrack album from the movie Permanent Record.

Tour support is being provided by Hackney roots reggae band One Style and the Hull date will also feature at least one local group.

The tour will stop off at The Tower on August 9, tickets will be £4 and £2 for UB40 holders.

VOCALS
BY BILLY SLOAN

The big nights for Joe to rock the rich

YUPPIES look out . . . Joe Strummer, the ex-Clash singer, is coming to get you.

Joe has just confirmed a string of concert dates on his Rock Against The Rich tour, launched to help working class communities in Britain's inner-cities.
And his tour schedule includes two Scottish gigs – at Glasgow Barrowland on August 7 and Dundee Caird Hall on August 12.

LIMITS
Joe says: "I believe in rock 'n' roll because it speaks beyond commercial limits.

And I believe that something should be done about these property developers who are driving real people out of the city centre.

Somebody's got to protect the folk who can't afford to pay these ridiculous house prices. There's gotta be a stop to it."

On the tour, Joe will be joined by different bands and local acts at each venue.

Among the groups who have already pledged their support to the 'Rock Against The Rich' cause are World Domination Enterprises and Chelsea.

The tour climaxes with a London concert on September 10, which has been named 'Anti-Yuppie Day'.

It will be the first time Joe has performed live since he popped up playing guitar on The Pogues recent British tour.

He's also written the musical score for Alex Cox's new movie Walker, and is scheduled to pen the soundtrack for the American film Permanent Record.

SMASH

And with renewed interest in his career, thanks to the incredible success of the greatest hits compilation The Story Of The Clash Volume 1 – which spawned the Top 40 smash I Fought The Law – there's bound to be a rush for tickets for the gigs in Glasgow and Dundee.
See you there – and remember, leave your Filofax at home.

An extreme-left political group, aiming to force Yuppies out of prestige housing developments, is to bring a concert tour to Tyneside.

Class War, which wants to “eject the rich parasites from our cities and communities,” has organised the gig at Newcastle’s Mayfair on July 10.

And fronting the show will be ex-Clash singer, Joe Strummer, recently back in the charts with I Fought the Law.

The tour, called Rock Against the Rich, will send money raised to Doncaster sacked miners, P&O strikers, and the Association of Island Communities, who are fighting housing developments on London’s Isle of Dogs.

Strummer can hardly be the poorest of pop stars, having seen a Clash compilation album go top ten earlier this year.

Class War admitted he had money, but said reports of his own Yuppie lifestyle, including a nanny for his child, were “a fallacy.”

ONE of the summer’s biggest musical and media events will be taking place at the Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre on Saturday, July 9, with a huge concert.

It is aimed at focussing our attention on the launch of a new ecological campaign Green Wedge. Topping the bill will be former punk legend Joe Strummer, who made his name with the hugely-successful The Clash.

Disastrous

Given the common concert for the well-being of the planet, I attended the opening night of the campaign in The Crucial Art Gallery, London, where a weird and wonderful mixture of people ranging from Green groups to musicians, artists and media people congregated to lend their ears, support and purse strings to the cause.

Basically, Green Wedge recognises the disastrous state of the planet, ranging from a fast-disappearing ozone layer to appalling level of pollution in every country.

Spokesperson Tim Williams made an impassioned speech for everybody to become aware of the situation, and felt the Green Wedge campaign could co-ordinate the different efforts of various Green groups as well as bring media attention to the campaign as a whole.

On the opening bash at the Fountain and the notable bill-topper Joe Strummer. For the uninitiated, he was the major force in The Clash, a band that took on the mantle of latter-day super-group.

Given the band emerged from the rebellious punk era, this was a contradiction. The Clash overcame by socially-conscious material including a triple album, Sandinista!

Strummer’s involvement therefore is not a total surprise, and a recent spate of appearances on behalf of Amnesty International and even a mini-tour cheekily titled Bash The Rich, show Joe to be well in tune with the problems of the age.

Dynamic

Together with his new American band, The Latino Rockabilly War, Strummer will be rocking the night away at the Fountain along with an array of other bands, including The Wise Monkeys, and various comics, speakers and films. Topping the event will be one of the most dynamic light shows seen in these parts.

In the meantime if you are interested in helping the new fight to save our environment, come along to this huge bash and have tons of fun and help spread the word fast.

Pete Feenstra

AMNESTY International are trying to boost their profile. Last weekend’s Festival Of Youth was the first in what promises to be an annual event at Milton Keynes Bowl perpetrated to define the organisation’s aims more clearly.

Unfortunately equality for all and freedom for "prisoners of conscience" are aims not as easily definable as Ban The Bomb in a Western society which isn’t as blatantly uncompromising and vicious as many other states.

Hopefully though, the thousands of people who attended this two-day event not only enjoyed the variety of bands who appeared but left a little more aware of Amnesty’s worthy and just work.

Surprise of the weekend goes to Aswad who sure know how to get a crowd going. There’s more to this band than the bland pop/reggae that recent singles suggest.

Climbing all over the huge PA system while singing Jailhouse Rock was something I never expected from Aswad. Excellent. A great show.

The aging “Clash of 76” dished out a few surprises too. The Stranglers track record is spotless — but Saturday’s appearance was stagnant. They’re in danger of becoming everything punk condemned, as have The Damned who in true dinosaur rock band fashion managed to reassemble the original line-up (plus Joey Ramone) for Sunday.

Joe Strummer and fellow ex-Clash chap Mick Jones (now fronting BAD) on the other hand still produce good and innovative music. There was no hint of senility in Joe’s performances — he’s still a rock’n’roller.

Which is more than I can say of Howard Jones. Having failed to recapture the inspiration behind his early hits, Howard has now sunken to even lower depths of blandness.

Other highlights included compare Alexei Sayle; New Model Army (a band with bite); Michelle Shocked (too young to have been at Woodstock, but surely next in line to follow Tracy Chapman and Vega into the charts); Aztec Cameras’ Roddy Frame playing a few numbers minus his slick band; Sam Brown — daughter of Joe and a darn sight more talented than Marty Wilde’s daughter Kim; The Daintees and Men They Couldn't Hang.

All in all, a good event. Let’s hope it gains the status of the established festivals and becomes as popular as Reading, Donington and Glastonbury in the future.

POST-MEDIA glamour Mandela Day, and lacking any colour-supplement superstars, last weekend’s Amnesty International event at Milton Keynes was bound to be a Boxing Day of festivals.

The burning question as you scanned the programme’s fine words from Jim Kerr, Ben Elton, Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, was:
So where are you?

Maybe they’d asked: Where’s the TV coverage?

They probably had good reasons not to play, but a quick hello between bands, or a message read out from the stage, would have dispelled a lot of cynicism.

As a chilly wind blew the opening slog of limp bands off stage, and news of All About Eve’s pull-out spread gloomily, despondency set in and bottle fights broke out among the pitifully few crowd.

But a mighty change was on its way!

Billed as The Festival of Youth, the line-up was built around the receding hairlines of the class of ‘76. The Stranglers headlined Saturday and were dire, while The Damned headlined Sunday and were die-hard.

Sprinting were some punks die young. Some died a death but Joe Strummer with his hands on, an he’d saved the whole event now.

Fosaming at the mouth behind his M.O.T. failure Fender, he led a ropey but suss band, dared to reopen the file on The Clash, and got away with it. Police and Thieves, London Calling, I Fought the Law were all carried off with verve. People were sprinting down the hills to join in.

The day’s only other talking point was Aswad’s warming brew of warrior charges and playful pop. Only Aswad and Strummer communicated any such interest in Amnesty’s work.

Sunday was musically brighter. Sizzling heat, a big crowd and Strummer and Aswad returning among a better, busier bill.

The Men They Couldn’t Hang and The Bhundu Boys both capitalised on the ‘nice place to be’ feeling.

The Screaming Blue Messiahs and New Model Army have gloomy outlook on life. The Messiahs finish the nerve ends with a disintegrating signal of crumbing guitar (Alfred Hitchcock meets Howling Wolf!), but NMA were dull, dated and dour.

Youngest was Roddy Frame, the youngest man on the bill and closest to a real chart star, was taking things very seriously. Worried about his voice, he cancelled a gig to be fit.

Enhanced by its brevity, Aztec Camera was fast, friendly and fun. The Blow Monkeys-style Freedom is Number One as the next single and the reissue of Oblivious would secure Roddy as this summer’s sound and star.

I couldn’t object. Better a nice guy, demon guitarist and quietly political songwriting on the cover of Smash Hits than Sabrina or Bros.

Now on their third album, B.A.D. are still a potentially good idea — but time is running out. The Mick Jones-Joe Strummer reunion was one hoped for was sensibly avoided, and Jones announced a new number with “B.A.D. like to keep moving forward, not looking back.”

A good policy, but they could benefit from some of the energy and excitement that Strummer managed to pump into his Clash retrospective.

CLASS War, the militant anarchist group which organised Joe Strummer’s Rock Against The Rich tour, must have made so much money from this gig they are in grave danger of rocking against themselves.

Devotees of Strummer and his former band, The Clash, flocked to the Bierkeller to see one of the great names of rock in action.

There’s no point telling the sweating masses that Strummer was a pale shadow of himself in his days with The Clash.

Though he certainly was just that, Strummer is far from a spent force and the crowd loved him.

Commanding and cool, Strummer is a rock and roll animal and always will be.

He still walks the wild side with his presentation and his new material and is still inspired by conflict — most notably Nicaragua, and the Spanish Civil War.

A smattering of Clash songs kept the crowd leaping and chanting, and gave the band the platform to introduce new material styled on Latin and Spanish guitar influences, and reggae beats.

RICHARD JONES

By Graham Danter

LEICESTER band The Counting House are to join ageing punk Joe Strummer on his "yuppie-bashing" British tour.

The six-piece (pictured) have landed a guest spot supporting the ex-Clash singer's new band Latino Rockabilly War this Thursday at Nottingham Rock City.

The gig is part of the Rock Against The Rich tour organised by those charming young people who run the magazine Class War.

The self-styled anarchist rag has been banned by most reputable stores and achieved notoriety for its virulent anti-royalist edition for Andy and Fergie's wedding.

But The Counting House have no qualms about lending themselves to the Class War cause. Guitarist Rob Snape said: "We don't endorse their somewhat violent tactics, but we are concerned about the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth in this country."

This week they were able to announce a double celebration after landing a distribution deal with Liverpool-based Probe Plus Records.

The band have recorded a single on housewife Stephanie Easton's Clear Cut records label, but have been hampered by not being able to distribute it around the country.

Now their prayers have been answered by the Liverpool company after much wheeling and dealing. Rob said: "We are absolutely delighted"

ROYAL COURT / Penny Kiley

IT must be hard for an old punk to make a comeback. It must be even harder to be old. But Joe Strummer, in a musical wilderness since the end of the Clash, doesn’t seem to worry.

In a quiff and bootlace tie, he still exudes timeless rocker style. More important, he still looks like a man who burns for music. It might not be the rapid fire of youth; this is slow burning that builds up to a final intensity.

One of the first songs was called Shout and Scream, but Joe’s voice, appealingly, is more like a croak and whoop. That much is unchanged. So is the way he pounds his guitar, breaking several strings in true punk rock style.

There’s still an edge to the music so that you’re not sure what’s coming next or whether it’s going to work. There were a few songs that felt like fillers, and times when the voice almost failed. There were also moments of perfect, tense artistry.

And Joe, despite some audience demand for nostalgia, doesn’t even pretend to be a punk.

Of the Clash numbers, most were cover versions; Police and Thieves, I Fought the Law, Brand New Cadillac. Others came from the later years of multi-cultural experimentation.

Guitars, drums and percussion give a Latin American flavour to songs like Trash City, the single from the latest soundtrack LP, Permanent Record. Whatever they play, the spirit is still there.

Age, and history, don’t matter, just an urgent embrace of music.

ROYAL COURT / Penny Kiley

SINCE last year, the two ex-Clash mainstays have been closer than they’ve been for a long time.

And, this year, the closest they’ll come for Liverpool is playing the Royal Court three days apart.

On Friday it was Joe Strummer, last night Mick Jones with Big Audio Dynamite. Both men have talked recently of a back to basics approach to music, but the way they do it is rather different.

BAD, already established and successful, began life as cross-cultural innovation, with the meeting point between punk and hip hop.

These days it’s commonplace to hear rock and rap on the same stage, but BAD have always had more invention and more fluid than most of the groups now following that course.

And, with their new album Tighten Up Vol 88, they’re moving from experimenting with sounds to experimenting with songs.

The new material has melodic and rhythmic simplicity, while never too straightforward. Though less reliant on it than before, they still use electronic technology for effects.

And, in the case of Battle of All Saints Road, they mix in new – or old – styles like Country and Western with reggae.

The overall sound was slick, noisy, and lively though on this occasion sometimes slightly blurred.

But the exuberant mix of ideas is still strong, and it still creates a sound that’s distinctively their own.

NEW local promoters The Audience commence tonight what promises to be a strong and varied season of bands at the Roadmender Centre.

First on the list (which includes ex-Clash man Joe Strummer and Loop) is Ghost Dance.

Making their third appearance in town, Ghost Dance (who feature Sisters Of Mercy founder member Gary Marx) will be supported by Angels Trumpets And Devil Trombones plus the increasingly popular Crowman.

Admission is a mere £3.50 with the co-operative promising to keep the price of future events down to a minimum.

A nominal subscription fee also entitles members to even lower prices at all Audience events.

The successful 'Solid Silver Sixties' tour ground to a halt at the Derngate Centre last week to rapturous applause from a packed house.

At first I was dubious whether these ageing performers could still ably recreate material originally committed to vinyl some 25 years ago, but these doubts were rapidly forgotten.

CAST your mind back to the heroes of ’76. Of those that survived, few have their principles intact let alone that spark of originality. Many disappeared, engulfed themselves in American gloss, or just ran out of steam.

Despite the long drawn out death of that era’s brightest hope, The Clash, Joe Strummer is one of the few who has any *guts* left!

The Clash were essentially a rock ’n roll band who mixed music with left wing politics. Living with the label *punk*, while others stagnated, they pushed forward the existing boundaries of the genre by bringing in reggae (Strummer still plays Police And Thieves) and producing double albums.

For those who missed out on this era, the recently released *Story Of The Clash* compilation album must be an essential purchase. With anthems like White Riot etc, you can understand why Strummer became the spokesman for a generation.

Since the Clash split, the area of cinema has taken up much of Strummer’s time. Working alongside Alex Cox for Sid And Nancy, the ill fated Straight To Hell and Walker, he has recently completed work on the soundtrack to a new Paramount picture, Permanent Record, to which he has contributed five tracks including the Trash City single.

Rejecting much of the synthetic sound that crept into Cut The Crap (the last Clash LP), he’s surrounded himself with musicians of jazz and Latin backgrounds to form the Latino Rockabilly War whose rhythmic and percussive drive offer a great backdrop for some strong Strummer songs.

Politics are still important to the 35 year old rock ’n roll *desperado*. He’s already played benefits for Amnesty International and the Greenwedge, and his present major UK tour is in aid of Class War—an anarchist group who promote direct action against the yuppie invasion, and are not keen on royalty.

The tour resides under the banner Rock Against The Rich, and stops off at the Roadmender Centre on Monday with One Style and Magnolia Siege acting as support.

But don’t expect to see Strummer the myth. Sure, he still plays London Calling and I Fought The Law with a real conviction – but he also plays (Paul Young fans please note) Love Of The Common People. Instead expect to see Strummer the man. He still knows how to rock ’n’ roll.

GORDON BANNERMAN

PERTH City Hall management are refuting claims that they have banned a “political” pop concert.

The controversial “Rock Against the Rich” nationwide tour, spearheaded by one-time punk rock rebel Joe Strummer, kicks off in mid-July and a Perth date was pencilled-in for August after booking problems in Dundee.

Yesterday, local organiser and tour publicist Richard Hind accused Perth and Kinross District Council of “blatant political double standards.”

The 26-year-old mechanic claimed the City Hall management initially accepted his telephone booking for the August 12 show — only to make an about-turn two days later.

The “Rock Against the Rich” tour — organised by London’s Rough Trade Records — is highly political. In Scotland the emphasis is on opposition to the poll tax,” said Mr Hind, 12 North Methven Street.

*“It’s clear to me that the City Hall pulled out because of politics.”*

Mr Hind said that the tour was fronted by former Clash punk rocker Joe Strummer — vocalist with the London band which stormed the charts in the wake of the Sex Pistols in the late seventies.

City Hall manager, Mr Bruce Mackay, said that it was an “unfortunate mistake” that led to the booking being pencilled-in in the first place.

*“One of our cleaners said that the date was free without realising that the National Youth Orchestra, who had a booking for the following date, would need in the night before to set up their equipment,”* said Mr Mackay.

*“I immediately contacted the London organisers and offered alternative dates. These were not suitable as it was a national tour and the venues had to be slotted in to suit travelling arrangements.”*

The Tayside date has now been accepted by Dundee University.

If ever a band were aptly named, Joe Strummer's Latino Rockabilly War are that group.

Plundering expertly from his own Clash back catalogue, Strummer somehow fused his current love affair with South American rhythms with recent musical collaborations.

Last night's packed and sweating crowd were therefore rewarded with slices of Santana, Big Audio Dynamic and The Pogues alongside the likes of "Police and Thieves," "Armagideen Time" and a raucous "London's Calling" in the encore.

Exciting

Highlight for me was a swirling "Straight To Hell" with percussionist Roberto Plawell to the fore.

Backed by some great-accomplished musicians, including guitarist Zander Schloss and thrusting bassist Jim Donica, Strummer retains the knack of being a rabble-rouser par excellence.

In what was one of the most exciting sets I've seen for a while, he largely avoided rhetoric and opted for what he does best.

An honestly down-to-earth production, Strummer remains Britain's largely un-sung answer to Springsteen.

The impressively large audience, proving decent bands can attract the crowds should the latter decide to turn out, only enhanced the atmosphere.

Dancing

Earlier, that same crowd were in danger of creating a Hull first by actually dancing en masse to support group One Style.

They lived up to their name as well by offering reggae which, although polished, only moistened the appetite for what was to come.

I missed opening local support Death By Milkfloat who apparently soldiered on after guitarist Phil Dolby found his instrument minus a few vital strings half-way through a song.

Mr Strummer kindly loaned him his guitar, and so another legend is born.

AMNESTY '88: WHERE WERE YOU?

Word Count Before: 2,147 Word Count After: 2,147

amnesty international logo
PHOTO: Aswad: two charity gigs in one week
PHOTO: Joe Strummer: lot of bottle

There was some rousing music, notably from Joe Strummer (above) and Aswad (right) but the Amnesty Festival at Milton Keynes was notable chiefly for its lack of megastars and even more severe lack of punters. A case of 'compassion fatigue' after the Mandela gig? Whatever, our reporters Terry Staunton and Steve Lamacq managed to enjoy themselves, helped (to their feet) by lensman Steve Mitchell...

THE SUN is out, the sky is blue, but a giant shadow casts itself over Milton Keynes Bowl. Only seven days after the world watched the likes of Simple Minds and Dire Straits play a huge birthday party, we're still suffering from a hangover. Nelson Mandela is still very much in our minds.

His 70th birthday celebrations were rightly hailed as the music event of the year, so what chance did Amnesty International's humble Festival Of Youth have? Not much, it seemed.

At a push, the Bowl can accommodate 50,000 punters, but little more than 10,000 turned up on Saturday, and only half that figure managed to settle themselves down by the time Buddy Curtess & The Grasshoppers kicked off the proceedings.

The people drought could be put down to a weak bill. The official programme boasted supportive quotes from Peter Gabriel, Jim Kerr and Bryan Adams; the early Saturday soundtrack was provided by Furniture, Do Re Mi and Runrig.

The festival was just a couple of hours old when questions started to be asked. Where exactly were Annie Lennox, Gabriel, Sting, even Bob Geldof? Staunch Amnesty supporters all, you'd think at least one of them could have spared a second Saturday.

Amnesty forked out £300,000 to stage the two day festival, but early forecasts suggested they would recoup only half that figure at the end of the show. Yes, the telephone pledgeline and even T-shirt sales (90 per cent of which went straight back to Amnesty) will have helped boost funds, but organisers were resigned to the fact they'd made a loss.

Saturday could be totally dismissed were it not for the efforts of Aswad and Joe Strummer, the only acts to bring a unifying atmosphere to the proceedings, and they were around on Sunday too.

The Rhythm Sisters tried hard, but the assembled masses (?) were slightly confused by their dayglo Hilda Ogden get-up and their off-the-wall warblings. They may not have left much of a mark on the event as a whole, but they certainly smothered the microphones with lipstick, which in turn found its way onto the chins of the following group.

Furniture did their best to serenade the less than angst-ridden crowd, but their politely heartbroken set struggled to breach the gap between the stage and the loafers at the front. People stood up when they played 'Brilliant Mind', then sat down again when then did 'Make Believe I'm Him', despite the latter's strident backbeat.

Late additions Do Re Mi could not even be regarded as a disappointment. The Australian popsters came and went almost unnoticed, providing a melodic but fairly basic background to the weekend's growing craze of in-crowd bottle throwing skirmishes.

Runrig were the first to make anything approaching a political statement but all that seemed to consist of was a few choruses of celtic pride, the odd Big Country middle eight and a couple of anti-Apartheid T-shirts.

Sam Brown, Joe's fidgety daughter, has the voice-a soulfully husky vocal-but some histrionic guitaring from her backing band always threatened to demobilise her set and a wasteful cover of 'Jumping Jack Flash' didn't do anything to instill confidence in her career.

After that Joe Strummer couldn't fail to be convincing, the old rogue still shines on these occasions. Wandering and stomping around stage with his familiar punkish gait, Joe was the first with the natural zest that felt more like a genuine statement than a promotional gesture. The reason everyone loves old Joe is because he's still got his heart in the right place.

"I don't mind you throwing bottles, because at least you're here," the hoarse voice smirked. "And when you get home I want you to tell everyone who wasn't here that they're dirty fuckers."

His guitar wasn't loud enough, of course, but the set was tempered to meet demands of the Clash tee-shirted gathering around the stage-'Running Down The Railroad Track', 'Love Kills', 'Police And Thieves' and a finale of 'I Fought The Law'-nostalgia and forthrightness, neatly enthused and fused.

It's ironic though that this 'Festival of Youth' had to rely on the old guard for so many of its uplifting moments. Both day's bills were littered with old punks, entering their festival phase, but they were still streets ahead of many of the pop bands they appeared next to.

Strummer magnanimously said after his set "I don't care who's playing so long as it's for the right reasons, it could be The Three Herberts From Sheffield and I'd be a happy man," dismissing the lack of big names from the day. But as the hours ticked by and morale ebbed and flowed, it patently did matter to some people.

The Daintees were semi-acoustic, Martin Stephenson himself semi-detached. Opting for a set comprising almost nothing but ballads, they were surprisingly the first to be granted an encore, thanks to the die-hards down the front.

But other die-hards were disheartened, when it was announced that All About Eve were not appearing because Julianne had lost her voice. the people with flowers in their hair had pain in their hearts and Howard Jones provided little consolation. His last number summed up the proceedings perfectly-'Things Can Only Get Better'.

And indeed they did, with the emergence of the festival joke-What do you call a group of teddy boys who play reggae music? Aswaddywaddy!!!

"The reason we're here is for equality and justice for every single human being regardless of colour or creed," declared Aswad's Drummie Zeb as he posted a letter to a prisoner using the massive symbolic pillar box which seemed to appear on stage from nowhere.

Whether "equality and justice" means five grand up front for expenses is another matter. Rumours were rife that Aswad were ready to pull out if the dosh was not forthcoming, but reconsidered after striking a deal with Amnesty.

It's interesting to note that Aswad were the only act at Milton Keynes who also played Mandela's party the week before, and ironically found themselves to be the biggest name on the bill. Their subtle blend of roots reggae and Top 40 pop provided the second highlight of the day.

The Stranglers were the biggest of anti-climaxes. Cloaked in near darkness. The men in black placated loyal followers, but alienated everyone else. They're too sombre to be festival headliners. They played their live LP adequately with minimal rapport and then went to bed. There wasn't a single cigarette lighter in the sky.

The sun turned pale Goths into beetroot babes on Sunday afternoon as Michelle Shocked opened the proceedings on the second day, with her usual scene stealing set and attendance was a vast improvement from Saturday.

A good mix of politics and pure fun, she adopted by the New Model Army brigade as their mascot. One voice, one guitar must have echoed all over Buckinghamshire as '5am In Amsterdam' drew tears from anyone who had a heart.

Backstage, The Men They Couldn't Hang had bought an Amnesty frisbee (only 50p, folks) and removed their trousers to allow for a more athletic approach to the game. On seeing them stripped down to their bare essentials, one wag suggested a name change was in order-The Men Who Aren't Hung.

Back out front World Domination Enterprises weren't their ominous selves. They weren't frightening, or annoying. In a small club they castigate the ears, but set back several hundred yards they turned into a loudly cavorting rock band-wildly strapping their guitar bursts to a madcap bass.

After Ghost Dance's well-received rock/goth brew, the Screaming Blue Messiahs were pleasantly surprising, like a bluesy tank rumbling around with Bill Carter's sniping guitar fire on top. Bill had a bit of a grumble about the on-stage sound, but outfront it was invigorating enough.

Janice Long was an excellent compere throughout, the only person who actually sounds more charming after saying that naughty F-word.

She urged us all to write to governments and get involved, and introduced Sudanese prisoner Sidgi Kaballo-eight years in a cell without being charged during the 1970s-who spoke of the joy of receiving a letter in the clink.

"It's like a celebration when a letter gets through, it means so much for everyone in jail, not just one prisoner," he told us.

PHOTO: Above: Anne Marie of Ghost Dance belts it out. Top right: Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian of The Damned try to persuade Joey Ramone to give a sample. Right: the Rhythm Sisters toast hairstylist Hilda Ogden. Far right: Alexi Sayle as Postman Fatbastard Pat. Below right: a starstudded audience included Robert DeNiro, embracing Stuart Adamson. Below: Roddy Frame riffs in Raybans.

"If you send a letter to a prisoner you contribute to his freedom, his faith in democracy and his human rights."

Maria Staunton, British director of Amnesty, said she knew of one prisoner who received something in the region of 30,000 letters.

"Membership of Amnesty has doubled in the last four years and we now have 700,000 members worldwide. We're putting the pressure on all the time."

Marie was philosophical about suggestions that Mandela's bash overshadowed the proceedings, pointing out that the Festival Of Youth had been geared more toward publicising Amnesty's work rather than just plain fundraising.

"I don't think the Wembley concert really took the wind out of our sails, ours was a very different event, aimed at bringing the message of Amnesty to young people. For too long it's been stuck on the foreign pages of quality newspapers, our profile needs to be much higher. It goes beyond pop stars, we want politicians, teenagers, everyone to make an effort."

The Bhundu Boys' effort didn't go unnoticed, their lightweight dance rhythms reaching the feet of everyone, including the dour Damned revivalists.

Roddy Frame once suggested 'We Could Send Letters' and echoed the call of earlier artists for people to get involved. Aztec Camera's brisk well-paced set contained all the hits, a new acoustic ballad ("sort of about imprisonment in a very roundabout way") and Roddy won the fashion award for his stylish Raybans, low slung guitar and hip-hugging jeans. Girls swooned on cue.

Strummer did his bit again, the same set as the previous day, though this time a guitar amp blew up at the start. His impish grinning and grimacing was infectious-even the assembling New Model Army fans could see that.

NMA were blessed with a loyal mob of support. There were people giving piggybacks to people on piggyback, there were arms waving wildly in the air like crazed flags. The band's supporters are actually more interesting than the group themselves-like downmarket Goth equivalent to Wedding Present followers.

New Model Army were a good idea once, but they've a singular pigs in shit appeal now-a blustery, fraggle-rock which earned them an encore, following the crowd-pleaser 'White Coats'.

By the time BAD emerged there were a number of fires lit around the bowl, you could see silhouettes jigging round the banks, while the band swept into 'C'Mon Every Beatbox' and its classic, quietly apt "old ideas from the Woodstock generation" line.

The Strummer guest appearance which looked likely after his long conversations with Mick Jones throughout the afternoon, failed to materialise, but the coldly brutal beats carried the band through alone.

Mick Jones leaving the stage, mumbling "stick around for The Damned" brought home the old punks reunion angle again. And to confirm it all The Damned not only started the gig with their Brian James line-up but then brought on Joey Ramone as guest vocalist, for 'Blitzkreig Bop'.

"Hey this is fing exciting," blurted Joey, through his nose. "'ees a good bloke," retorted Captain Sensible. And everyone went back in time 10 years, as if carried away by a Tardis. Actually that's not quite true. Watching The Damned turn into dinosaurs however charismatically they did it, was more a testimony to how they've rapidly aged over the past two years.

It's more a cabaret show than a freak show, however well-meant or furiously played. They reached the end with a cover of the Rolling Stones 'This Could Be The Last Time'.

And their tongues went into their cheeks for (maybe) the very last time.

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PHOTO: New Model Army manoeuvre PHOTO: Michelle, ma belle PHOTO: BAD company PHOTO: Bhundu boyo

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All About Eve's late withdrawal from Saturday's line-up didn't hamper the sale of their merchandise. Though the band's guest-listed fans were turned away at the door, after the group's cancellation, other fans were still shelling out £8 a piece for T-shirts unknowing that their heroes wouldn't be appearing.

The Eves though, came way down the t-shirt chart. Old Clash cottons won hands down on Saturday, along with the official Amnesty shirts, while New Model Army's faithful all turned up sporting the band's logos on their chest on Sunday.

Best T-shirt of the weekend award was reserved through lack of imagination though it nearly went to 'Big Fat Kev' who wasn't particularly fat, but certainly looked like a Kevin.

The festival look was all important. By Sunday afternoon this meant calloused youths covered in calamine lotion, a bottle of cider in one hand and a shirt with buttons missing.

A Tina Turner 'look-a-like' took the stage in the World Music tent, but was appallingly too short to convince anyone.

And naturally there had to be a queue at the stall which proclaimed 'Ears Pierced for £1'. Real entrepreneurial skill that.