Ramones-affiliated-and-inspired bands
emerging from New York clubs such as
CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City in the
early mid-seventies. Import copies of
albums by these bands were only just
filtering through to London, where the
charts were largely ruled by inane pop-
and-ballad bands or flares-wearing
progressive rockers; however, this
new sound would have a direct
effect on the culture-junkie future
members of The Clash.
Before that, though, it was in
the ethnically diverse and largely
working-class South London
areas of Streatham and Brixton,
respectively, that Mick Jones and
Paul Simonon (both born 1955)
found entry into music through the
emerging reggae and ska music that
their classmates turned them on to,
or that they heard booming from
sound systems. While Jones was
also into such glam-leaning bands
as the Dolls and Mott the Hoople,
Simonon’s love of ska and reggae
led him to the mod and skinhead scenes,
two defiantly working-class subcultures
united by a love of black music and sharp
clothes, two key factors that The Clash
would incorporate from day one.
Both came from working-class origins
and broken homes. Simonon’s father
was a member of the communist party,
while Jones spent a large part of his
teen years living with his grandmother,
Stella, in a West London tower block that
overlooked the Westway, that Ballardian
concrete flyover road that ran through
and over the heart of the city. Theinfluence of such places as the rough-
and-ready streets of Brixton, or the bird’s
eye view of the city from Mick’s tower
block, upon the music of The Clash is
almost immeasurable.
‘When I was pretty young my dad
decided we didn’t have to go to Catholicchurch any more, and went on to join
the Communist party,’ Simonon told me
in 2004. ‘But what I couldn’t get was
how come I was the one out delivering
the leaflets and he was the one at home
watching the telly! So I was aware of
the political system early on and also,
obviously, because I grew up
listening to a lot of reggae, music
that had more edge than a lot
of contemporary music insofar
of political content. It seemed
normal. For Joe [Strummer] it was
folk music – people like Woody
Guthrie or Bob Dylan. For all of
us there was the knowledge that
a song can be about things other
than love, kissing, and having a
nice dance.’
While the surly and smart
Simonon attended art school, the
more flamboyant and cocksure
Jones made his first forays into
music with his short-lived band
London SS, which featured future
Damned and Generation X
founder members Rat Scabies and Tony
James, and existed from 1975-1976.
Musicians who had auditioned included
Jones’ pal Simonon and drummer Terry
Chimes.
One day, while signing on, Jones and
Simonon famously spotted a face theyThe Clash in performance in 1979. (From left) Mick Jones, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon.''...For Joe it was folk
music - people like
Woody Guthrie or Bob
Dylan. For all of us
there was the knowledge
that a song can be
about things other
than love, kissing, and
having a nice dance.''Paul Simonon