Now war is declared, and battle comes down

It would have been Joe Strummer's birthday last Friday. A light went out the day he passed and the world has been getting dimmer ever since. Fact. His loss, as with Lennon before him and Bowie a few years later, was seismic. The shock of losing that particular triumvirate still resonates to this day.

My friend Ian Prowse pays homage to Joe and The Clash on his new long player, No Names. 'Rendezvous Point' namechecks 'Michael, Joe, Topper and Paul' and the accompanying video is peppered with archive footage of the best gang in town. And then right at the end there's a cutaway to Ian standing by the Thames with his guitar singing those anthemic opening lines:

London Calling to the faraway towns

Now war is declared, and battle comes down 

Ian Prowse: Rendezvous Point (2026)

Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

Very Clean

If you subscribe to The New World (formerly The New European) you'll know they've just ranked and reviewed (what they attest to be) the definitive Top 10 music bios. No surprise that 20% of the list comprises Beatles tomes (or maybe we should be surprised that it's not more).

Although not a bio as such, I've just read Man on the Run which is essentially the tale of what Macca got up to in the 70s - with Wings and various solo efforts (and, not least, sorting out the Beatles legal shit that was he was still carrying around like a ball & chain; that's the other ball & chain btw, not the keyboard player in Wings). It made for compelling reading and confirmed why I still have conflicting views about this most unreadable of all the former Fabs; he gives away what he wants to give away and no more. I wouldn't want to play Poker with him, that's for sure. 

My latest playlist, coincidentally, is Beatles related. It goes by the moniker Very Clean and therein you'll find all sorts of curios. I particularly like the Stan Kenton big band version of Live and Let Die; whilst at the same time I'm absolutely bowled over by Robin Nolan's tender and melancholic interpretation of All Things Must Pass. I met Robin in Amsterdam 25 years ago and have dipped in and out of his gypsy jazz career ever since. His latest album 'For The Love of George' is pretty self explanatory and I can't recommend it highly enough.

 Robin Nolan - All Things Must Pass (2025)

Robin Nolan · All Things Must Pass

Home and away

The Cat & Fiddle pub in Los Angeles (formerly on Sunset Blvd., now on Melrose) is a hangout for UK ex-pats, including many musicians and/or thesps. Even ex-pros. So it's no surprise that their football team, Hollywood United, is legendary. How many other pub sides ply their trade in the 5th tier of the American soccer pyramid? (And they play exhibition/charity games too.) Their ground is the Crossroads High School in Santa Monica and they are co-owned by Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) and Anthony LaPaglia (Adelaide City/Daphne Moon's brother in Frasier). Their glittering alumni includes Vinnie Jones (Wimbledon/Lock Stock), Frank Leboeuf (Chelsea), Viv Campbell (Def Leppard), Ian Astbury (The Cult) and Ray Winstone (all round professional hard man). Anyone wondering why Rod Stewart never turned out for them it's because he played for their rivals LA Exiles who really were just in it for shits and giggles. 

Anthony LaPaglia & Steve Jones

Up the junction (box) #3

Welcome to Up the Junction (Box) #3 - the third instalment (See 1 & 2 here) of our irregular photographic feature that steadfastly reuses to be a Photo Challenge - a feature that nevertheless has got grown men & women men all over the country (and beyond) seeking out painted Openreach/BT/Virgin communication cabinets and junction boxes in every new town they visit. And for that reason alone I commend it to the House. 

Unlike PC, the photographs tend to speak for themselves, so other than the location(s) I don't necessarily need a narrative wrapped around each one; even Riggsby just sent a batch of pics with nary a word attached. I'm sure he'll pipe up in the comments if there's something pertinent we need to be aware of. 

East End Ernie gets in first - ''Once you become aware of them you start seeing them everywhere (I know what you mean - JM). This one's in Harlesden.'' 

''And this one's on the Canal Towpath in Camden. Don't ask why.'' Cheers, Ern. Keep 'em coming.

Claire next: ''I spotted this in Lincoln last week.'' Thank you, Claire. A timely reminder in these chilling times.

Tim from Hucknall: ''I think this will definitely run & run, John. I've not been out and about too much lately but here’s a further brace from Paris. Admittedly the Andre sticker is not the largest but from the stable of one of my favourite street artists Shepard Fairy of OBEY fame. We went to see an exhibition of his round the corner, so would love to think he was somehow involved. London Town next weekend so I’ll see what I can spot. Take care, Tim.'' Cheers, Tim. I'm going to France in a couple of months, will hope to nab some Francais cabinet action myself.

A few of mine next. The Daleks were in Peterborough and the rest were taken in Shrewsbury yesterday: after doing a bit of research on these cabinets I learned that the good folk of Shrewsbury  manged to bring  artists, owners of the boxes and the Council together and agree a strategy to brighten up the street furniture. It also reduced random tagging. I've reached out to Nottingham culture magazine Left Lion to see if we can do something similar.

I'll let Riggsby from California close the show. You can tell he's just retired, can't you? All from the San Diego region, I'm guessing (anyway, definitely more salubrious than Shrewsbury). Like I said earlier, I'm sure he'll drop some descriptors in the comments section. Thank you, Richard. You're a superstar.

Thank you to everyone for their photos. If you keep sending them, I'll keep posting them!

This is what they want!

I mentioned yesterday in my piece about Phil Collins that Genesis were once interrogated on Tiswas by Sally James in one of her Almost Legendary Pop Interviews. That's right, Tiswas - home of the custard pie, Spit the Dog, Compost Corner, and the (many, many) buckets of water. There was something quite satisfying in seeing earnest/smug/unsuspecting (often all three) musicians being, quite literally, blindsided by the Phantom Flan Flinger - with Chris Tarrant bellowing from the side-lines: ''This is what they want!''

In a classic case of role reversal here we see the tables turned on Ms. James - appearing as a somewhat nervous contestant on a skit they called Plastermind. See what they did there? Good times.