We Are the Clash
by Mark Andersen, Ralph Heibutzki
My love of the Clash runs deep. So deep that it extends to Cut the Crap. The problem here is that Cut the Crap is not a great album, but I like it, warts and all. It’s truly perplexing to think how a band who’s made such meaningful music could have such a misfire. People refer to Cut the Crap era Clash as Clash Mark 2, as a way to dismiss the band. The Clash without Mick Jones isn’t the Clash. But of course, that’s not the whole story. The Clash weren’t even a band by the time Cut the Crap came out.
I really don’t think books like We Are the Clash would be written by anyone other than massive fans. It’s one thing for a historian to look back at a subject and tease out the truth from historical documents, but for as popular as the Clash are, there’s a scarcity of media on them. They never got their due. That’s where the fans come in.
We Are the Clash was an eye-opener for me. Namely because:
The lead up to Cut the Crap took longer than I realized. Strummer had continued the band for YEARS after Mick left before releasing Cut the Crap. For a band that had released 5 albums in 7 years, this is just shocking. Get on with it!
Howard, White, and Shepard never stood a chance. They were always hired guns, had minimal input on the creative process or any directions. Being in this version of the Clash sounds miserable, with no communication, Bernie always barking orders, and being degraded by Paul, Bernie, and Joe.
Cut the Crap was meant to be a straight up rock record and SUDDENLY changed into an exploration of a new cutting-edge sound.
Where is Paul in all this? He was a founding member. Was he going to do anything other than show up to play shows?
Poor Joe was terribly misguided and all talk. From promising a rock album, to forcing the band to take an anti-drug and anti-sex stance, to constantly going MIA, to shit-talking Mick, to letting Bernie take the reigns. He’s to blame for all of it, in the end, and he knew it.
Nick Shepard kind of saw himself as the new Mick and the most experienced person to bring ideas and creativity to the band. That’s just not the kind of band he was in.
The band was apparently quite good on stage and would routinely play the rock versions of the Cut the Crap songs live.
Joe simply gave up and let Bernie do what he wanted on Cut the Crap. The band broke up before the album even came out.
The busking tour was the most fun this band ever had.
We Are the Clash is a very interesting book, even though the action gets interrupted all the time as Andersen and Heibutski are constantly talking about the politics in England (like the miner’s strike and Thatcher’s policies) and how that was affecting the Clash’s decisions. It’s nice to put things in context, but these can be small footnotes instead of taking up large chunks of the chapters. It really hurts the flow of the book. Also, it would have been nice to hear Bernie’s side of the story. I’m sure he still stands by all his decisions and would easily blame everyone else for any mistakes.
I like the Clash even MORE after reading this book and have learned to appreciate this era of the band. I feel like I understand them better. Considering what we have left to judge them with, that says a lot. The story is bigger than you can imagine and is definitely worth knowing.
