Clash busking in Edinburgh

[matedog]

Never noticed this part:

Sounds like, "when you got nothing you got nothing to lose." In addition to the call and response vocals of the chorus, there's a lot on these CTC busking versions that are not on the final product. I'm curious if these were part of the original versions and deleted in the studio, or something they added while on tour.

[matedog]

Also, does anyone know where this was? The description says "Gateway Exchange", but I'm not sure what that means. Google turns up a Gateway railroad station outside of town, but this seems to be in the main part of the city.

[APACHES67]

The essence of r'n'r. Hopefully some obsessed believer of Jonesy Holy Church would finally understand what Clash2 were

Totally agree with you. The Clash II are too much underrated. The mistake is that they are always compared with the classic Clash. Obviously musically the Classic Clash are better, but i'm sure The Clash II were important too...philosophically and musically(live) they were more Close to the punk years and the busking tour it's just against stardom. So i never compare The Clash with The Clash II, it's wrong

[dave202]

New to me

I went through to Edinburgh for the gig at La Sorbonne and earlier in the day saw them busking outside the HMV store at the entrance to the (now demolished) St. James Centre. After a few songs, the band all chatted with a few of us. For years after, anytime I went into that shop it I could feel a chill in my bones.

[matedog]

New to me

I went through to Edinburgh for the gig at La Sorbonne and earlier in the day saw them busking outside the HMV store at the entrance to the (now demolished) St. James Centre. After a few songs, the band all chatted with a few of us. For years after, anytime I went into that shop it I could feel a chill in my bones.

Very cool. Any idea where the footage was from? The description says "Gateway Exchange", but Google search wasn't helpful.

[Heston]

Gateway Exchange sounds like it could be some sort of drug centre for heroin addicts. Those needle exchange places were rife where I live in the 80s. I could be totally wrong though.

[Low Down Low]

New to me

I went through to Edinburgh for the gig at La Sorbonne and earlier in the day saw them busking outside the HMV store at the entrance to the (now demolished) St. James Centre. After a few songs, the band all chatted with a few of us. For years after, anytime I went into that shop it I could feel a chill in my bones.

Very cool. Any idea where the footage was from? The description says "Gateway Exchange", but Google search wasn't helpful.

I think this helps explain what it was but not where. Apparently it was located in the Abbeyhill district of the city but unable to narrow it down further than that I'm afraid.

https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/T2369

[Marky Dread]

They seem to be having fun. Though Joe's dancing leaves a lot to be desired. As JohnS says definitely got the Vince Taylor and the Playboys feel.

[Chairman Ralph]

They seem to be having fun. Though Joe's dancing leaves a lot to be desired. As JohnS says definitely got the Vince Taylor and the Playboys feel.

Yeah, Joe would never leave James Brown worrying about his day job, in that department -- but it's wonderful to see him, so unselfconscious, just feeding off the connections he's making with people, and the exuberance he's feeling, just grooving in the moment. From this clip, you'd never guess that this was the same guy who was slogging through marathon studio misery in Munich, just a few months earlier.

Love it - classic comedy when Joe hangs upside down from the gate and then the two doors open!

Also, sounds great - somehow makes me hate Bernie/Cut the Crap even more.

Finally, shout out to Ralph - I finally read the final chapters of We Are The Clash this summer and I've got to say how much I loved the interviews with the band members and others, and the re-telling of the busking tour was so well done and quite touching actually.

Thanks! Well, I think the busking tour -- and the experiences that sprang up around it, as well -- are easily some of the most inspirational aspects of the Clash II experience (the royal we in We Are The Clash, if you will). I felt my share of it, as well -- as I ended up writing a song about it -- and reliving all the original emotions that I felt after hearing those bygone tapes once more, as Mark and I were working on the book.

I mean, it's interesting that no major band of that level has seen fit to revisit the central idea --- show up, and play for whoever wants to listen, for whatever they drop into the hat. And nobody is more important than anyone else, on or offstage. You can't get more DIY or punk than that! What a powerful idea that was, and still is, then, and now.

[motorsmell]

Incredible footage. Coming from York I've always been fascinated with the busking tour as it was the only time any lineup visited. I've tracked down the cd bootleg from York along with the interview Joe did on radio York, at the Sam Smith's boozer where we young Punks used to drink!

Never thought any footage would appear (from any of the dates) and this is not only fascinating, but it's pretty much the best possible quality you could expect from that time! I'm sure this footage could have been sold for use in the rise and fall of the Clash...perhaps it's only just been found? Maybe it's a test to get people interested before deciding what to do with the rest of the footage? Who knows but I suspect if someone was keen enough to take a massive video camera out for the gig they would have filmed until the tape ran out!? Wishful thinking perhaps...

Anyway excellent moves from Joe, that's how you sell a busking gig, get the attention! Shows he was a real leader to move like that on the streets of Edinburgh...good on him. There isn't many that would do a busking tour in his position in the first place never mind go all out gene Vincent!

Also "We are the clash" book sounds right up my street! Ta

[bazarboy75]

Cool footage. Definitly that busking tour was the best idea Joe had at the time

retrospectively this group should have been called differently and that would surely have played in its favor.
Personally I'm not attracted to this incarnation, but it's precisely because of that.
because with joe as a charismatic leader your group is likely to be good if you give it time.
It's like with the mescaleros. I saw them 3 times in concerts and it was getting better and better as they played less and less Clash songs.

On the other hand the look and the haircuts, I understand the idea "to return to pure rock n roll" it does not work at all, it looks more like caricatures

[Heston]

Cool footage. Definitly that busking tour was the best idea Joe had at the time

retrospectively this group should have been called differently and that would surely have played in its favor.
Personally I'm not attracted to this incarnation, but it's precisely because of that.
because with joe as a charismatic leader your group is likely to be good if you give it time.
It's like with the mescaleros. I saw them 3 times in concerts and it was getting better and better as they played less and less Clash songs.

On the other hand the look and the haircuts, I understand the idea "to return to pure rock n roll" it does not work at all, it looks more like caricatures

Good point. I've always had an aversion to leather trousers but the double leathers are even worse.

[Marky Dread]

Cool footage. Definitly that busking tour was the best idea Joe had at the time

retrospectively this group should have been called differently and that would surely have played in its favor.
Personally I'm not attracted to this incarnation, but it's precisely because of that.
because with joe as a charismatic leader your group is likely to be good if you give it time.
It's like with the mescaleros. I saw them 3 times in concerts and it was getting better and better as they played less and less Clash songs.

On the other hand the look and the haircuts, I understand the idea "to return to pure rock n roll" it does not work at all, it looks more like caricatures

I agree. The busking idea is a fun one but the image is awful. Clash City Rockers was about Jamaican "Rockers" music but in 1984 it meant a rock n roll gang.

[Low Down Low]

Cool footage. Definitly that busking tour was the best idea Joe had at the time

retrospectively this group should have been called differently and that would surely have played in its favor.
Personally I'm not attracted to this incarnation, but it's precisely because of that.
because with joe as a charismatic leader your group is likely to be good if you give it time.
It's like with the mescaleros. I saw them 3 times in concerts and it was getting better and better as they played less and less Clash songs.

On the other hand the look and the haircuts, I understand the idea "to return to pure rock n roll" it does not work at all, it looks more like caricatures

Good post bb, but just to point out and my memory is fucking awful for details, but wasn't it Bernie who came up with the idea for the tour? Not that it really matters that much and could never make up for the bucket of shit he threw over so much else, just to acknowledge he did come up with the occasional decent notion every now and then. Agree entirely on the mescaleroes, thought they did some of them really well but the fewer the better was how i always saw it.

[Marky Dread]

Cool footage. Definitly that busking tour was the best idea Joe had at the time

retrospectively this group should have been called differently and that would surely have played in its favor.
Personally I'm not attracted to this incarnation, but it's precisely because of that.
because with joe as a charismatic leader your group is likely to be good if you give it time.
It's like with the mescaleros. I saw them 3 times in concerts and it was getting better and better as they played less and less Clash songs.

On the other hand the look and the haircuts, I understand the idea "to return to pure rock n roll" it does not work at all, it looks more like caricatures

Good post bb, but just to point out and my memory is fucking awful for details, but wasn't it Bernie who came up with the idea for the tour? Not that it really matters that much and could never make up for the bucket of shit he threw over so much else, just to acknowledge he did come up with the occasional decent notion every now and then. Agree entirely on the mescaleroes, thought they did some of them really well but the fewer the better was how i always saw it.

I think it maybe put forward by Bernie but it still took the band to put in the leg work and take on the idea. But really busking wasn't anything new to Joe.