Calling BAD Experts E=MC2 Question

[Silent Majority]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Better Medicine Show and The Bottom Line unadulterated than a shit sixth Clash album.

[Dr. Medulla]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Better Medicine Show and The Bottom Line unadulterated than a shit sixth Clash album.

I can't imagine a sixth Clash album being better than TIBAD if only because TIBAD was/is so goddamned good. Hell, I rank it on par with LC.

[Marky Dread]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Same here. It a far braver decision and if punk was really about moving forward then Mick was on the right track.

[Marky Dread]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Same here. It was a far braver decision and if punk was really about moving forward then Mick was on the right track.

[NoMoreHugh]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Same here. It a far braver decision and if punk was really about moving forward then Mick was on the right track.

Very true - only i would add the clash were moving forward and in my opinion on the right track. From where i could see in 82/83 the clash were due to become enormous as big as the beatles even , well at least the most talked about band at the time with a string of number one hits. i felt this was going to come from the 6 th album. I was in spain on holiday and i remember in the clubs at the time the dance floor was filling up to the sound of RTC and SISOSIG. Huge chorus singing to RTC lots of jumping around to SISOSIG and i was shocked and felt at the time something is happening especially as neither were commercial successes at the time- It became visible that the normal person in the street was really enjoying the clash. But of course Combat Rock was too off the wall to drive too much of a movement and it all went to shit anyway.

I believe that with Joe as the front man with all his charisma , Topper could have stayed clean , Micks phenomenal song writing ability and Paul completing the unit the band was destined to be bigger than anyone else and history would have been different.

Having said all that i am so relieved it didnt turn out that way and i also share the view in hindsight that i could not sacrifice BAD/BAD II for any of that. Too many good times and too much good music. I am very happy the way it all turned out and wouldnt change a single thing.

[Marky Dread]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Same here. It a far braver decision and if punk was really about moving forward then Mick was on the right track.

Very true - only i would add the clash were moving forward and in my opinion on the right track. From where i could see in 82/83 the clash were due to become enormous as big as the beatles even , well at least the most talked about band at the time with a string of number one hits. i felt this was going to come from the 6 th album. I was in spain on holiday and i remember in the clubs at the time the dance floor was filling up to the sound of RTC and SISOSIG. Huge chorus singing to RTC lots of jumping around to SISOSIG and i was shocked and felt at the time something is happening especially as neither were commercial successes at the time- It became visible that the normal person in the street was really enjoying the clash. But of course Combat Rock was too off the wall to drive too much of a movement and it all went to shit anyway.

I believe that with Joe as the front man with all his charisma , Topper could have stayed clean , Micks phenomenal song writing ability and Paul completing the unit the band was destined to be bigger than anyone else and history would have been different.

Having said all that i am so relieved it didnt turn out that way and i also share the view in hindsight that i could not sacrifice BAD/BAD II for any of that. Too many good times and too much good music. I am very happy the way it all turned out and wouldnt change a single thing.

I agree the band (Clash) were changing in 82/83 but I'm comparing Mick's bravery in continuing to move forward. After Mick was fired from his own band they went backwards.

[drowninghere]

Can I just add that I also think it was perfect the way Joe and Mick got together again for Upping Street - to use a cliched term, it provided a bit of artistic "closure" and sort of allowed everyone to move on.

Shout for all the people who have nothing to say, cause we're only gone tomorrow, and here today

[Silent Majority]

Can I just add that I also think it was perfect the way Joe and Mick got together again for Upping Street - to use a cliched term, it provided a bit of artistic "closure" and sort of allowed everyone to move on.

Shout for all the people who have nothing to say, cause we're only gone tomorrow, and here today

I was listening to the 1987 Santa Cruz show on the way to the pub on Thursday and the songs with Strummer lyrics stood out as head and shoulders above the others. Just a marked, noticeable upturn in the quality of the words.

[NoMoreHugh]

My understanding was that Boittom Line was the only song from the first album that was written by Mick for the Clash. The original name was something Transalantic something or other and was something to do with the financial state between UK and accross the atlamtic. I think Joe was originally to be the lead sing on it as well.

I wish i could remember where i know this from

Trans Fee Cash Pay One was the title, whatever the fuck that meant.

Thats the title name, thanks Heston.

I remember now It was on a radio station in an interview i heard it at about the time when the first album was or going to be released. The interviewer was asking the same as this thread whether this is where Mick saw the clash moving to musically. Mick said it would be different with the clash but essentially yes. This prompted mick to talk about Bottom Line and how that was a song written for the clash and the title was Trans Fee Cash Pay One as you mentioned. The interviewer said confused "how would that work"? Mick then began to sing the chorus of Bottom Line replacing the words "When you reach the bottom line" with "when you Trans Fee Cash Pay One" and then affectionally mentioed but Joe would have been singing it. The interviewer just said "oh yeah" and continued with the interview.

Its possible that i have mixed two interviews up but it may have been the interview as well where Mick and Don played the Magnificent 7 mix with the warner Bros cartoon characters sampled in . Elmer fudd mixed in the song with "get the wabbitt" comments and various charater voices like Buggs bunny etc.. And how this was the inspiration behind the sampling in the BAD songs. Some details i have probably got a little out but then again that was over 30 tears ago now.

Was it an interview with Janice Long on the Radio 1 evening show before the John Peel show when the Dirty Harry mix got played? I might be wrong with the DJ but I'm pretty sure about the rest of it.

Thats the one Laxman sounds right to me - for some reason though i thought the interviewer was male but i cant be sure. David Jensen maybe ?

[NoMoreHugh]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

I'm glad we got BAD and that never happened.

Same here. It a far braver decision and if punk was really about moving forward then Mick was on the right track.

Very true - only i would add the clash were moving forward and in my opinion on the right track. From where i could see in 82/83 the clash were due to become enormous as big as the beatles even , well at least the most talked about band at the time with a string of number one hits. i felt this was going to come from the 6 th album. I was in spain on holiday and i remember in the clubs at the time the dance floor was filling up to the sound of RTC and SISOSIG. Huge chorus singing to RTC lots of jumping around to SISOSIG and i was shocked and felt at the time something is happening especially as neither were commercial successes at the time- It became visible that the normal person in the street was really enjoying the clash. But of course Combat Rock was too off the wall to drive too much of a movement and it all went to shit anyway.

I believe that with Joe as the front man with all his charisma , Topper could have stayed clean , Micks phenomenal song writing ability and Paul completing the unit the band was destined to be bigger than anyone else and history would have been different.

Having said all that i am so relieved it didnt turn out that way and i also share the view in hindsight that i could not sacrifice BAD/BAD II for any of that. Too many good times and too much good music. I am very happy the way it all turned out and wouldnt change a single thing.

I agree the band (Clash) were changing in 82/83 but I'm comparing Mick's bravery in continuing to move forward. After Mick was fired from his own band they went backwards.

Ahh right - Yoor post makes a lot of sense to me now. I liked your theoretical post of Joe being scared of success. That feels right to me as well. The Clash were destined to be a huge success and i also remember somewhere in the 80's there was a lot of Jam fans a bit lost with Paul Weller spliting up the band. They were all looking for something else to listen too. All my friends were split between the Jam and clash and for some reason there was no liking both probably because of the conflicting politics. After the Jam split my friends borrowed / Bought Clash albums and openly admitted to me that they should havce always followed the clash instead. That would have only increased fans in the UK though i dont think the Jam was as big as the clash globally..

[Inder]

The moving "forward/backwards musically" thing bugs me.

Post-83, Joe and Paul played the music they enjoyed playing. MJ played the music he enjoyed playing.

[Wolter]

The moving "forward/backwards musically" thing bugs me.

Post-83, Joe and Paul played the music they enjoyed playing. MJ played the music he enjoyed playing.

Especially given that a lot of that "forward" movement sounds incredibly dated and of its time 30 years on.

I know I'm in the minority here, but while I dont dislike BAD, they don't grab me in the way they do so many people here. The first two albums are pretty good, but they are rife with diminishing returns.

[Marky Dread]

The moving "forward/backwards musically" thing bugs me.

Post-83, Joe and Paul played the music they enjoyed playing. MJ played the music he enjoyed playing.

Most people prefer "The Clash" to "Combat Rock" but there is world of difference between "Protex Blue" and "Atom Tan". The Clash were always moving forward with "their sound" by adding new instruments ect. There is nothing wrong with playing the music they each enjoyed but Mick carried on forging ahead while incorporating the old while Joe and Paul just played the old. I think that's why we ended up with CtC crap being ruined by Bernie because he felt they would be left behind.

In the case of BAD Mick & Don took rock n roll songs and added in fresh ideas that worked creating something new. Where The Clash (II) made some half decent punk songs and Bernie covered them in crap ruining the songs. Some thing work some don't but Mick to my mind was braver always trying to move ahead.

[Dirty Harry]

My understanding was that Boittom Line was the only song from the first album that was written by Mick for the Clash. The original name was something Transalantic something or other and was something to do with the financial state between UK and accross the atlamtic. I think Joe was originally to be the lead sing on it as well.

I wish i could remember where i know this from

Trans Fee Cash Pay One was the title, whatever the fuck that meant.

Thats the title name, thanks Heston.

I remember now It was on a radio station in an interview i heard it at about the time when the first album was or going to be released. The interviewer was asking the same as this thread whether this is where Mick saw the clash moving to musically. Mick said it would be different with the clash but essentially yes. This prompted mick to talk about Bottom Line and how that was a song written for the clash and the title was Trans Fee Cash Pay One as you mentioned. The interviewer said confused "how would that work"? Mick then began to sing the chorus of Bottom Line replacing the words "When you reach the bottom line" with "when you Trans Fee Cash Pay One" and then affectionally mentioed but Joe would have been singing it. The interviewer just said "oh yeah" and continued with the interview.

Its possible that i have mixed two interviews up but it may have been the interview as well where Mick and Don played the Magnificent 7 mix with the warner Bros cartoon characters sampled in . Elmer fudd mixed in the song with "get the wabbitt" comments and various charater voices like Buggs bunny etc.. And how this was the inspiration behind the sampling in the BAD songs. Some details i have probably got a little out but then again that was over 30 tears ago now.

Yep it was janice long think it was around 85 i just seen an mp3 of this interview on one of my hard drives the other day.

[bazarboy75]

Mick was musing the other day maybe he should have said yes to Joe in '85; since Joe was checking his ego in asking him, maybe he should have done the same and gone along.

Well that's news !
A bit late trought...

I think one thing can be say for sure, if Mick and Joe and probably Paul (and the drumer is ..... ??) came back under The Clash name, the guys probably get lot's of success whatever the new album looked like. May be the band will be bigger and push into shadow lot's of bands (like U2 but lot's more).

The rest is speculation