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A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
November 23, 2001
Cockburn/St. Clair
The Press
and
the Patriot Act
November 22, 2001
Oscar
Gonzalez
A
Homeland Thanksgiving
November 21, 2001
CounterPunch Wire
Rep. Chambliss
Calls for Arrest of Every Muslim That Enters Georgia
Tom Turnipseed
Broadcasting
and Bombing
David Price
Academia Under
Attack
Molly
Secours
Modern
Day Witch Trials
Tariq Ali
Killing
Mr. Biswas
November 20, 2001
Sam Bahour
Plain
Truths About Palestine
Michael Ratner
Moving Toward
a
Police State
November 19, 2001
Edward
Said
Suicidal
Ignorance
November 18, 2001
John Farley
Shame on You,
Chelsea!
Kalpana
Sharma
Flower
Power:
A Blow for Peace
Tony Mauro
The Quirin
Ruling:
FDR's Horrible Precedent for Bush's Terror Courts
C.G. Estabrook
American
Crusades
November 17, 2001
Zoltan Grossman
It Ain't
Over Til It's Over
November 16, 2001
Rick Giombetti
Rep.
McDermott and
the Decay of Liberalism
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
The Voices
of Muslim Feminists
Mokhiber/Weissman
Kill,
Kill, Kill
November 15, 2001
George
Monbiot
Blasting
Our Way
Toward Peace
Jack McCarthy
Hitchens
Mind-Meld
and Hot Bodies
Steve
Perry
Afghan
Puzzle Palace
RAWA
We Do Not Accept
the Northern Alliance
November 14, 2001
Jensen/Mahajan
The
Press Must Press Harder on Afghanistan
David Vest
The Great Unificator
Harry
Browne
Preventing
Future Terrorism
November 13, 2001
Peter Mahoney
Veteran's
Day, 2001
Rep. Ron
Paul
Expanding
NATO
Is a Bad Idea
November 12, 2001
Robert Jensen
Goodbye to
All That...
Patriotism
Nancy
Oden
My
Day at the Airport
CounterPunch Wire
East Timor
10 Years
After the Massacre
C.G. Estabrook
Instead
of Terror
Alexander Cockburn
Wide World
of Torture
November 11, 2001
Douglas
Valentine
Homeland
Insecurity: The Politics of Terror in America
November 10, 2001
Grover Furr
Seeking an Opposition
to the Afghan War
Bruce
Kyle
Anatomy
of a Green Smear:
Backstabbing Nancy Oden
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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8-Page Special Issue
War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
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How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
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Reviews of Gore:
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November
23, 2001
London Calling
Again
Long Live The Clash!
By Phyllis Pollack
The highly-anticipated book, The
Clash, Photographs By Bob Gruen, is slated for release
later this month. The documentary work contains hundreds of photos
of the eclectic punk rock group that became known as "The
Only Band That Matters." The 320-page book is filled with
captivating shots of The Clash that were taken by rock photographer
Bob Gruen from 1977 through 1982. Gruen is a well-known and highly-respected
lensman, who toured with and photographed countless recording
artists, including The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith,
Tina Turner, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and The Ramones.
Gruen's previous literary works include
Sometime In New York City,  which
contain his photos and words of John Lennon and Yoko Ono; Gruen
had become the couple's official photographer in 1972. He also
authored other photo journals that include Crossfire Hurricane:
25 Years Of The Rolling Stones and Chaos: The Sex Pistols.
Like the music itself, Gruen's photos
have arguably become part of rock history. His photographs have
graced Rolling Stone, Creem, Rock Scene, and every other major
rock and roll publication throughout the world. Bob Gruen's work
has long been considered to be a legendary institution within
rock art. His photos have been exhibited in galleries throughout
the world, and he has given slide shows of his work at places
including The Smithsonian Institute and the Rock And Roll Hall
Of Fame. His photographs are sold in the internet for hundreds
of dollars a piece.
The Clash offers an insider's view of
the band, making it a must-have item for any Clash fan, as well
as a provocative addition to any rock and roll coffee table.
In addition to Gruen's often intimate photos, the book contains
narratives that recount much of the band's history. The tome's
unguarded explanations candidly discuss the various trials and
tribulations experienced by the group's core members, Joe Strummer,
Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Tory Crimes, and Topper Headon. Gruen's
book contains interview vignettes from the band, itself, as well
as revelations from pertinent others who were involved with The
Clash.
The group's raw anger and politics merged
with their fiercely individualistic flair for brilliance, and
resulted in such classic works as London Calling, and Combat
Rock. The Clash headlined at the US Festival in California in
1983, further escalating their mainstream acceptance, and yet
at the same time, Strummer and company managed to retain their
cult-like notoriety. Like any good rock and roll soap opera,
The Clash was seemingly embroiled in endless personal controversies.
The group ultimately became most known
for their chart-topping hits, "Should I Stay Or Should I
Go," "Train In Vain," and "Rock The Casbah."
However, it was their underground, less commercial aspects that
really gave them their notoriety, and place in rock history.
Their political stances were far more progressive than those
of most of the rock figures, who were their contemporaries.
Their first show consisted of their being
the opening act for the Sex Pistols, in the Summer of Punk, 1976.
The Clash continued to tour with The Pistols on their notable
Anarchy In The UK tour. To this day, 1977's The Clash remains
one of the most critically acclaimed rock albums ever released.
The Clash was always vocal regarding the group's views, and avidly
opposed racism in any form. The band toured America in 1979,
using a name that clearly no one could get away with today, The
Pearl Harbor Tour Of America.
In 1982, the band toured U.S. again,
this time, as the opening act for The Who. When Jones was fired
from the group, it served as the warning shot that the future
of The Clash was not be long-lived. After the break-up of the
band, it would be Strummer's projects that would receive the
most attention, when it came to the later careers of the former
Clash members. Strummer was chosen to write the theme song for
the film Sid And Nancy, the aptly titled "Love Kills."
Some of Gruen's captures in the book
are of other artists who were either backstage, or somehow near,
in the line of fire. Some of them who are seen in the book include
Debbie Harry of Blondie, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, David Johansen
of the New York Dolls, Andy Wahrol, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders,
and Billy Idol. The book also has some highly engaging photos,
featuring the group's fans. Gruen forged a relationship with
the band that was personal, in addition to working as their official
photographer. He writes about topics that include the interactions
between the band and its fans, and the pressures the group was
subjected to. His insight into the group translates well in his
book. In it, he remarks, "The demise of The Clash says so
much about them. After all, their conscience and mission, what
they were about, could not co-exist with commercial success.
When you consider that most of today's rock groups are striving
for commercial success with few or no messages, you realize The
Clash were different; they maintained their dignity."
Nihilism was never part of the group's
politics, despite their punk stance. American groups, like The
MC5, and later, Rage Against The Machine, would also prove that
political rage and rebellion could mix with rock, and that like
The Clash, they would always somehow remain relevant, if not
often prophetic.
When it comes to punk prophecy, with
"Rock The Casbah" the Clash rocked like Nostradamus,
having released that track back in 1982. As much as The Clash
was often misunderstood during the peak of their fame, the intent
of their prescient song, "Rock The Casbah," may arguably
be one of the most misinterpreted songs in rock, now moreso,
today, than ever before:
The oil down the desert way has been
shaken to the top...The king called up his jet fighters, he said
you better earn your pay, drop your bombs between the minarets,
down the Casbah way...the jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio
blare...The Shareef don't like it, rock the Casbah, rock the
Casbah.
The book seems so timely, and the messages
so relevant, it feels nothing like nostalgia.
The Clash, Photographs By Bob Gruen is
as about much about our present tense, as it is our rock and
roll past.
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