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The Clash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Clash City Rockers
Founded by guitarist Mick Jones and fronted by the legendary Joe Strummer, the Clash had the charisma of Elvis, the integrity of the Beatles, and the swagger of the Rolling Stones. Through a series of influential singles and stirring concerts, the Clash not only outlasted their rivals the Sex Pistols but also prospered and broke through in the US of A, a feat matched by no other UK punk-rock band.
With the classic London Calling and revolutionary triple album Sandinista! , the Clash helped popularize both reggae and hip-hop, thereby indoctrinating the record buying public to world music. By 1982, members of the Clash found themselves not only with a hit album ( Combat Rock ) but also playing opening sets during the Who's first retirement tour. It appeared the Clash would fill this gap. It was not to be. A series of self-inflicted wounds led to a legendary downfall mere months after appearing in front on their largest audience ever at the U.S. Festival in 1983. Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon soldiered on with the underrated Clash, Round Two, but eventually disintegrated under the weight of their manager's mind games.
In The Clash FAQ , author Gary J. Jucha covers the band's inception and emergence in the early British punk scene, all of the studio albums as well as bootlegs, the band's success in the U.S., the, lineup shifts, tours, and more. Fresh in its approach and broad in scope, this an essential volume for every fan.
With the classic London Calling and revolutionary triple album Sandinista! , the Clash helped popularize both reggae and hip-hop, thereby indoctrinating the record buying public to world music. By 1982, members of the Clash found themselves not only with a hit album ( Combat Rock ) but also playing opening sets during the Who's first retirement tour. It appeared the Clash would fill this gap. It was not to be. A series of self-inflicted wounds led to a legendary downfall mere months after appearing in front on their largest audience ever at the U.S. Festival in 1983. Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon soldiered on with the underrated Clash, Round Two, but eventually disintegrated under the weight of their manager's mind games.
In The Clash FAQ , author Gary J. Jucha covers the band's inception and emergence in the early British punk scene, all of the studio albums as well as bootlegs, the band's success in the U.S., the, lineup shifts, tours, and more. Fresh in its approach and broad in scope, this an essential volume for every fan.
- GenresMusic
424 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 12, 2019
The Clash FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Clash City Rockers is one of the best books on the Clash, and I’ve read a lot of them. The book delineates the relationships within the band and with their manager, Bernard “Bernie” Rhodes, quite well. It also describes in detail the difficulties they ran into with their record company, Epic. I am a long-time Clash listener (I bought Give ‘Em Enough Rope the week it came out). So, I know their music quite well and am more interested in band dynamics. Nevertheless, the book alerted me to some of the Clash’s musical highlights that either I hadn’t noticed or had forgotten.
Hard-core Clash fans tend to be either “Joe guys” or “Mick guys”. I’m a Mick guy, so I was pleased that the author, Gary J. Jucha, throughout the book was fair to Mick. He was so perceptive of Mick’s personality that I was surprised to read halfway through that he was actually a “Joe” guy. At any rate, the band breakup is well-documented, as is everyone’s post-Clash career. After reading the sections on B.A.D., I want to go back and listen to all of their records again. I also want to hear Carbon/Silicon, who I didn’t listen to at the time.
This book isn’t a memoir, but the author does describe some of the Clash concerts he attended. These descriptions are quite exciting and, even, correct some historical inaccuracies that have been passed down through the years. Finally, Jucha points the reader to some concert recordings of The Clash, Round Two that show what Cut the Crap might have been.
I highly recommend this book to both new Clash fans and hard-core Clash fans.
Hard-core Clash fans tend to be either “Joe guys” or “Mick guys”. I’m a Mick guy, so I was pleased that the author, Gary J. Jucha, throughout the book was fair to Mick. He was so perceptive of Mick’s personality that I was surprised to read halfway through that he was actually a “Joe” guy. At any rate, the band breakup is well-documented, as is everyone’s post-Clash career. After reading the sections on B.A.D., I want to go back and listen to all of their records again. I also want to hear Carbon/Silicon, who I didn’t listen to at the time.
This book isn’t a memoir, but the author does describe some of the Clash concerts he attended. These descriptions are quite exciting and, even, correct some historical inaccuracies that have been passed down through the years. Finally, Jucha points the reader to some concert recordings of The Clash, Round Two that show what Cut the Crap might have been.
I highly recommend this book to both new Clash fans and hard-core Clash fans.
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March 20, 2024I'd give this 2.5 stars, if I could. It was just so muddled. I appreciated the author telling his story about coming to love The Clash, complete with renditions of chasing the band around the UK. But the band's actual story was presented in such a fractured format. The general tale of the band was presented in a linear fashion, but the chapters discussing each band member and the other people who impacted the band's trajectory were quite haphazard and random in presentation.
And it didn't feel like an FAQ in any shape, form, or fashion. I wanted so much more.
And it didn't feel like an FAQ in any shape, form, or fashion. I wanted so much more.
February 5, 2018
It must be difficult to write a new book about the Clash. Joe Strummer has been gone for over 15 years and neither Mick Jones, Topper Headon or Paul Simonon are very interested in reliving their days in the “only band that matters”. Many books have already been written about the Clash, so I didn’t have very high expectations when I started reading the Clash F.A.Q. by Gary Jucha.
I was pleasantly surprised – Gary Jucha is a Clash fanatic as many of us are. The best concert that I ever saw was the Clash at the Motor City Roller Rink outside of Detroit on March 10, 1980. He is an American who manages to see the band 25 times (including some in the UK) and seems to have every record, video and bootleg put out by the band.
The book covers the entire career of the band and all of its members including the Clash, Round Two which is the Clash after Mick Jones was fired. He provides a history of the band covering the formation of the Clash and has chapters about the doings of all the members. The original Clash drummer, Terry Chimes, is interviewed in the book and provides background on his two stints with the band. Jucha provides a valuable service by discussing all of the Clash releases from their original singles to the almost all-encompassing Sound Box which Mick Jones put together as the final word on the Clash. He is not afraid to express his own opinions and convinced me to re-listen to Side 6 of Sandanista! to see if it was better than I remembered. He was right. He also made a compelling argument that the Clash, Round Two was much better live than on the “Cut the Crap” album that I actually bought.
His enthusiasm and love of the band is the best part of the book for me. He wavers about buying a ticket to see the Clash open for the Who at part of their large stadium tour, but eventually gives in and goes to the show. To my eternal regret I made the opposite decision. The story of the Clash breakup and inability to reform always make me both sad and angry that we were cheated from some great music. Joe Strummer’s sudden death on the eve at least a Clash show for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is doubly painful. This book is a worthy addition to my Clash library and gives me another reason to dig through my Clash collection, relive those great moments and track down something that I may have not heard yet.
I was pleasantly surprised – Gary Jucha is a Clash fanatic as many of us are. The best concert that I ever saw was the Clash at the Motor City Roller Rink outside of Detroit on March 10, 1980. He is an American who manages to see the band 25 times (including some in the UK) and seems to have every record, video and bootleg put out by the band.
The book covers the entire career of the band and all of its members including the Clash, Round Two which is the Clash after Mick Jones was fired. He provides a history of the band covering the formation of the Clash and has chapters about the doings of all the members. The original Clash drummer, Terry Chimes, is interviewed in the book and provides background on his two stints with the band. Jucha provides a valuable service by discussing all of the Clash releases from their original singles to the almost all-encompassing Sound Box which Mick Jones put together as the final word on the Clash. He is not afraid to express his own opinions and convinced me to re-listen to Side 6 of Sandanista! to see if it was better than I remembered. He was right. He also made a compelling argument that the Clash, Round Two was much better live than on the “Cut the Crap” album that I actually bought.
His enthusiasm and love of the band is the best part of the book for me. He wavers about buying a ticket to see the Clash open for the Who at part of their large stadium tour, but eventually gives in and goes to the show. To my eternal regret I made the opposite decision. The story of the Clash breakup and inability to reform always make me both sad and angry that we were cheated from some great music. Joe Strummer’s sudden death on the eve at least a Clash show for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is doubly painful. This book is a worthy addition to my Clash library and gives me another reason to dig through my Clash collection, relive those great moments and track down something that I may have not heard yet.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews