I don't know which one I'm enjoying more.
The book is titled, quite simply, "The Clash," and although I'm not sure whether a punk band, ground breaking s it might have been, should be immortalized in a coffee table book, the book is terrific. Too big and heavy to hold and read for long, I've worked my way through it in bits and pieces. Because of the size the photos are both numerous and well showcased, but the text tells the story of a populist band that stretched the boundaries of British punk (notably by adding dub and reggae to the mix) quite well.
Oddly, although the book paints a detailed picture of the band's finances and living conditions during the early days of economic struggle, it's completely mum on life A.D. (After Dollars). Guess the mention of filthy lucre (a Sex Pistols phrase) would sully the purity of the bands ethos. Or something.
Still, rock 'n roll has always been about making money, and I don't begrudge bands for wanting to make a living. And if any punk band deserved a coffee table book, I'd have to say that the Clash and the Ramones would be the only two.
Meanwhile, the CD player is spinning Randy Newman's latest, Harps and Angels. Newman's dry wit has long been misunderstood, but the man is searingly funny. Who else would talk about "tight-assed Italians" on the Supreme Court? In fact, who else could work the Supreme Court, Pluto, Hitler, Stalin, George W. Bush (though not by name), FDR (also not by name), malaria, terrorism and Caesar's horse into one song? Not even Dylan.
Like all of his other albums, no one will buy this one, either. You don't know what you're missing.
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