amazing.... and yes Marc... it is your record... you should come over and listen to it

it is called KLASHING WITH THE KLASH
still listening to it
well... not at this exact second
but down in the basement

right now I am monitoring the approach to bed time
the boys are having a sleep over

this is tough to appreciate
but really... it is amazing
or at least it is amazing to people who like music


right now I am listening to The Clash on an old two record set

some strange 12 inch 2 record set... just a blank orange cover and hand written roman numerals on the paper in the center of the vinyl discs


really... no kidding

that is the packaging


when I was a kid growing up in Bethesda there was a super cool record store in downtown Bethesda it was called Choice Cuts
Choice Cuts was on Cordell Avenue right down the road from the old Sunshine House
shit... Windsurfing Unlimited may have occupied that space at another point in time in... but that is a story for another day

any case... enough with the history of Bethesda

this post will happen with no mention of The Tastee Diner or Montgomery Doughnuts


so... I am listening to The Clash on some random album that I have not heard in decades

fantastic
now.... this may just be a radio random recording
none of this stuff is from the studio never before heard shit

but it is live
it is live and they are talking in between songs

there is some serious personality to it

then on top of that... it is a mix

since it is live they will play a random assortment of songs from various albums

a random sample that can only go as far as the music that they had created by that time


this album is more than likely 100 Percent prior to Combat Rock

which could mean a different tone and definitely a different lexicon to choose from
it is funny... I have no idea what they are talking about
in these songs
I grew up in Bethesda... I do not know anything about British politics or what does it mean to work for the clampdown?
yet I cheer just the same

The Clash on YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiVvA9YQpiI

you have to understand
there was no YOUTUBE
in fact... there was no INTERNET
so cancel out any resource computer based
because there really was no computer
sure... some geeks would up their telephone hand set in a cradle and talk some text jibberish to each other
but other than that... there was not much mainstream computer activity going on at this point in time

I just heard a live version of I FOUGHT THE LAW by the CLASH
this was a time where you could not just upload something and watch it
sometimes this stuff came to you through opportunity
there was NO GOOGLE... NO NETFLIXS... no nothing

Choice Cuts in Bethesda was an interesting little store with its own bit of character
I am not sure what was happening with this shop
was it a front for drugs?
I rarely saw any other customers in there

once a few of the workers there became familiar with me they welcomed me into a hidden cabinet on the employee side of the counter
in this cabinet behind the textile hanging were all sorts of vinyl bootlegs

hold on a second...
where was I... had to flip the record

and it is in a bit of a dub
it feels very concert
fans are whistling and yelling
there are no vocals
just a simple dub
I know what the lyrics will be.... but I do not know how long until they come
so I wait

I take a sip of my beer
this is dub
this is live and this is dub
people have some time to kill
go to the bathroom if you need to
there are no lyrics coming any time soon
they are giving respect to the rhythm of reggae
then it happens...
this is so much more cut and dry reggae than any Police song

so... as a high school kid who was passionate about music Choice Cuts offered something special
bootleg recordings!
alternate recordings... live recordings... rare unheard recordings
it was really amazing!

The Clash Armageddon Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKJ5YPcNmLU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiVvA9YQpiI

The Who
I'm Free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5roebfnD-bc