Radio - Sunday, April 4th, 2021

Back in the summer of 2018, Quatro reached out to see if we would be interested in their book on the Clash. The Clash were one of my gateway bands into punk so I responded. A few days later this beautiful hard cover book on the Clash showed up and I started leafing through it. Beautiful photos. So then I set out to start reading it. But I was so into the subject matter that I wanted to read everything and not just the skim reading that most of us have resorted to in a social media era. A year later, Nick Smash was releasing his book on the Clash in Toronto so I thought it would be a good way to reach out to the author, Martin Popoff. He agreed and we met at the Rivoli. At the event I asked Martin if he would be interested in doing an interview and the book had already sold out so he thought it would be misleading to talk about a book that people couldn't get. A year later I thought, this book is so good and people should know that an author from Toronto wrote it and so I reached out again. He agreed after some convincing. So a few weeks back I spoke with Martin with a list of questions that I wrote up over the year of reading his book. I was lucky to get to ask them. To listen to this episode of Clash appreciation download here.

THE CLASH – If Music Could Talk (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Janie Jones (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Remote Control (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS – Watching the Detectives (Warner Bros.)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Police & Thieves (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Stay Free (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Train in Vain (CBS / Epic)
 MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Police on My Back (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Somebody Got Murdered (CBS / Epic)
THE CLASH – The Sound of Sinners (CBS / Epic)
THE CLASH – Lose this Skin (CBS / Epic)
THE CLASH – Rebel Waltz (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Should I Stay or Should I Go (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Atom Tan (CBS / Epic)
THE CLASH – Know Your Rights (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE CLASH – Dirty Punk (CBS / Epic)
MARTIN POPOFF – Interview
THE DISHRAGS – London’s Burning (Supreme Echo)
DIRECT ACTION – Should I Stay or Should I Go (Schizophrenic)
SINISTERS – Clampdown (Dwell)
AKA – Career Opportunities
DEAD ENDING – Complete Control (Alternative Tentacles)

Please check out Martin's available writings at his website, like his new book on SWEET that he talked about in the interview. 

Review - The Clash. All the Albums. All the Songs.

I have heard of books like this, but I have never read one. And by books like this I mean a book that analyzes a band by their songs. And the CLASH have the right person for this. Martin Popoff has written more reviews than anybody in the history of music writing. Martin knows how to tell a story through a review. But this book, unlike review writing, allows Martin the opportunity to dive deep into each song. This seems like a dream for review writers at least once in their life. To expand their expertise in a granular way. And if there is ever a band to do this for it would be the CLASH. The CLASH had a lot to say and they had a lot of important things to say. So the format is suited for the subject matter. 

One other thing I will say about the author. Martin used to listen to songs for music that might be copyright infringements. So he has a trained ear for listening to songs and song structures. This also make him suited for a song by song analysis of a band. And the CLASH had a ton of influences. Each record up until their last would show off their ever broadening listening tastes. 

Martin approaches this book in a chronological order. Starting with the first release and moving backwards. Starting with the first song and moving to the last. That makes sense when approaching a band with a big back catalogue. You start at the beginning. But Martin also goes through different country pressings because the first album had different songs that weren't released in England on the first release. And it came out a year or two later in North America. So this book captures every song officially released by the CLASH. It is through. Thorough in that every song is looked at. Thorough in that photos and gig flyers are matched with a song being looked at. Thorough in what gets covered in the review. 

The reviews include possible meanings for the lyrics. With the CLASH there were texts and subtexts that need to be taken into consideration. Double entendres. There is consideration for influences. Historical looks at what the band was going through is probably the most interesting part of these reviews for me. They help tell the story of the song, but in so doing you get the story of then band. And then there is the musical analysis. As has already been mentioned the CLASH had a broad and ever expanding range of musical influences. Martin also compares the song with the rest of the CLASH's back catalogue. Sometimes there is insight into the songs by way of studio stories. You get a look at how the songs developed as a band. Even "Cut the Crap" gets reviewed and is used to illustrate the dissolution of the band. 

Overall Martin creates a biopic for the only band that mattered. And what better way to judge a band then through their art. I learned so much about a band that I thought I knew everything about. 

(Yoageur Press - www.quartoknows.com / Martin Popoff - http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/the-clash-all-the-albums-all-the-songs.html)