If Music Could Talk

I've been scouring the web for photos of any of 1983 pre-US Fest shows, and this is all I could find. Taken from their Witchita Falls stop, you can see Pete Howard on the drums. Joe's playing his Esquire. Wish there were more photos of these Texas shows.

I can't find much info on why Kool Aid was reworked into The Globe for US release? Is this a Rat Patrol type thing where the label wanted changes? Or was Mick unhappy with the initial LP? Kool Aid, IMHO, is the better album. Love the murkier, more nocturnal mixes. In My Dreams and the title track so...

Probably not a tech question, but what makes the opening chord of The Bottom Line so distinctive? He hits it and everyone knows what the song is! He's also got a slight chorus effect on the guitar, with a little overdrive/amp break-up happening. Add in the delay and it's iconic. Two chords never so...

I was listening to This is Big Audio today and was gonna post here about the Bond guitar. Is Mick using that guitar pretty exclusively on that record? Love the chicken scratch rhythm sounds on medicine show and the big chorus-y sound on bottom line. I assume he also was using a Mesa boogie but it so...

For Combat Rock/Rat Patrol recording, and then live from the Far East tour on, Mick added a Roland SPV-355 which is a pretty early guitar synth. It's the drone you hear on Atom Tan, and it's featured all over the record. Ah yes! I spotted a rack unit on the video of US Festival, that's gotta be it....

As something of a guitar hobbyist in my free time I've been wondering what Mick's set up was during the Sandinista/CR years. I know he changed gear alot in the Clash era, but it seems like his standard set up in the later days was a Les Paul or Strat through a Mesa Boogie with a Roland Space Echo w/...

What's interesting to me reading these replies is, we all know RP is Mick's (in a general sense). But RP was also just as much Toppers (Fulham Connect is a Topper track full stop). Joe also contributed his normal input of vocals and lyrics, I imagine his estate can't feel that RP would be a giganti...

What's interesting to me reading these replies is, we all know RP is Mick's (in a general sense). But RP was also just as much Toppers (Fulham Connect is a Topper track full stop). Joe also contributed his normal input of vocals and lyrics, I imagine his estate can't feel that RP would be a gigantic...

Does anyone have a summary of what we have and what we need? I know we have some stuff in great quality, bad quality, and some stuff with private collectors that is not in general circulation, but I can't remember for the life of me what's what. For example: Great quality - Straight to Hell (extend...

Play to Win is sick. I'm a North and South hater though, so what do I know.

I do this every few years on this board hoping the powers that be will hear this, so here comes another edition of me begging for Mick and co to release the Rat Patrol mix! (with some, mostly, new observations) I've been hoping for that ever-elusive Mick mix of Rat Patrol to surface one of these day...

The choruses on Cool Under Heat sound exactly like something from the Rat Patrol sessions. In fact take out Dirty Punk and Movers and Shakers this album is precisely the same as Rat Patrol with Peter and the Test Tube Babies guitars and backing vocals. Bernie went so far as to have Nick imitate Mic...

Yeah this mix is really great Marky. That Overpowered by Funk take has so much more muscle compared to the John's version and you can hear Ellen Foley's vocal a bit more which I quite like actually, I'm surprised Mick wouldn't have included it on his master.

North and South is great I just noticed how Joe really lays into the "south is up" at around 3:05. He does that really impassioned thing with his voice where it is gritty and a little soulful while still being fairly in key. You gotta give it to Joe, his vocals are pretty awesome on this album. Rea...

"Finger-Pop"