We Are The Clash. Mark Andersen
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Table of Contents
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Introduction: Drowned Out by the Sound
Chapter One: Rebellion into Money
Chapter Four: Turning the World
Chapter Six: Got to Get a Witness
Chapter Seven: Gonna Be a Killing
Chapter Eight: Movers and Shakers Come On
Chapter Nine: Knife of Sheffield Steel
Chapter Ten: Ain’t Diggin’ No Grave
To my father Merlin and grandfather Otto, who were farmers, ranchers,
and coal miners; and to my mother Anna Margaret Vik.
To my son Soren, my daughter Sevgi, and
my beloved Tulin.
To Jesús Arias and Martin Jenkinson, both gone too soon.
—M.A.
To “Budgie,” my dear wife, Lisa D. Quinlan Heibutzki:
your inspiration, love, and support mean everything.
To Anthony Salazar (1965–2005):
yeah, you were right, it worked out for the best . . .
To Don Hargraves, Tim Easterday, and John Hilla:
the mission continues. Kick down the doors!
—R.H.
So the forces gathered together
against the thorn a-piercing in their side
A brave new world is beckoning
so the olden world must die . . .
—Old English folk ballad, c. 1986
foreword
jewels from the wreckage
by barry “the baker” auguste, loyal clash foot soldier, 1976–1983
The Baker in action, handing a restrung guitar to Joe Strummer midsong. (Photographer unknown.)
At long last, The Clash’s final incarnation has been definitively chronicled. Mark Andersen and Ralph Heibutzki have brilliantly filled in the blanks of the “Clash Mark II” era, including its eventual implosion. And while set three decades ago, the political, social, and economic evils The Clash battled against then are just as relevant today, if not more so. Both Clash fans and general readers alike will be moved by this tale of onstage conquest and offstage turmoil, so deftly woven into the fabric of the charged politics of that time.
Although the seeds of discontent were sown long before, 1983 was The Clash’s time of bitter harvest. By one measure, the year held the band’s greatest triumph—headlining the first day of the US Festival, before 250,000 people—but also witnessed an astonishing act of self-immolation.
Joe Strummer’s DIY film noir Hell W10, shot in early 1983 when the band was on break, foreshadowed the tragedy. By the movie’s end, the villain, Mr. Socrates—enthusiastically played by Mick Jones—and his empire are wiped out. By September, that would be the case in real life.
The irony is inescapable: Mick freely accepted the villain’s role, and would be thus portrayed to the press after his purge. This suggests Mick was a voluntary scapegoat; his expulsion was the purifying remedy for The Clash’s maladies, just as that of Nick “Topper” Headon before him.
Mick was axed from the band in a scene plotted long in advance. Few knew it was going to happen. Although valid reasons for the dramatic act were apparent, it hit those close to the band like a death in the family; a killing, even, committed by brothers. There could be no neutral ground. Friends and acquaintances were forced to choose sides, and it would be years before many felt comfortable enough to associate socially or professionally again.
I know, because I lived it. I served alongside Joe, Mick, and Paul starting in the summer of 1976, hauling gear and doing whatever else needed to be done while still a teenager living at home. I signed on shortly after Bernie Rhodes assembled the band, was there when Topper joined in spring 1977, and witnessed Bernie’s dismissal in 1978 and his return in 1981, forming a fateful alliance with Kosmo Vinyl, who had become the band’s ad hoc mouthpiece in the interim. Aside from the first show at the Black Swan in Sheffield, I was at every show, rehearsal, and recording session.
No one knows what we went through during those years marching up the hill—only us! As Joe once said, “We went to hell and back!” Words are inadequate; it is impossible to convey the anguish of endless months of touring; nonstop revolving hotel rooms; a different town every day; the months of monotony in studios with endless retakes and overdubs; brain-numbing repetition done out