Keith Topping - The Complete Clash (Reynolds & Hearn)

‘Rock The Casbah’. ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’. Two reasons that justify the existence of this new book. To say nothing of the untimely death of Joe Strummer earlier this year, just as The Clash were set to reform – for fun, if not for world (re)domination…

I’ve always admired The Clash. Far more for the things they did wrong, did on a whim, or their ridiculous experiments than for something as timeless (and consequently a little less lovable) than ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go.’ Like the sprawling, 36-track double album (they ditched the third disc) ‘Sandinista!’… 1982’s ‘Combat Rock’ and the way it annoyed their die-hard punk fan base… Their enduring proto dance-rock fusion… Or the image of the band sailing up the Thames bashing out ‘London Calling’. That would make the ultimate home-page for rememberthedyingdaysoftheseventies.com.

Author Keith Topping first saw The Clash live in 1978. Twenty-five years later his passion for the band doesn’t seem to have diminished one iota. He loves detail. If there was a Clash museum, Keith Topping would curate it. ‘The Complete Clash’ contains a song-by-song analysis of everything from 'Armagideon (sic) Time' to 'White Riot' and an almanac of the band’s 600 live performances and TV and film appearances.

Just as the circle ended – when the band received Ivor Novello Awards in 2001 - it looked set to roll again, only to be stopped dead in its tracks with Joe Strummer’s passing. The Complete Clash is as much a celebration as a fitting finale.