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Vote
for John Chase, your Socialist
Unity candidate

in the Lambeth Central
by-election this Thursday.

You people over there,

or should I call you people,
"slash", scum.

You are nothing but the
dirty lot of scum who are trying
to force upon our children,

a multi-racial society.

Well, we don't want children

like Kent Gordon,
who is an half-caste
and a half Jew!

You're nothing but filth,
scum, and you're not
to be fit to be on this side.

We will. With you lot,
we will keep the power.

You should go back
with your so called,
"black dramas."

'Cause we don't want you
in our stalls,

we don't even want
your workhorse feet.

You're not fit.
You're rubbish.

You're scum.
You're insulting.

On behalf of the YNS
secretariat, to apologize to the
local residents

for any inconvenience
we've caused, to apologize
to the police,

for bringing them out on a cold
morning, and to thank the police
very much for being here, as
always.

I think we need three cheers for
the people, actually.

Smash
the National Front!
The National Front
is a Nazi front.

Smash
the National Front!
The National Front
is a Nazi front.

Smash
the National Front!
The National Front
is a Nazi front.

Smash
the National Front!
The National Front
is a Nazi front.

Is there anything
special that you're
looking for at all,
mate?

Yeah, can you tell me
what's in that one?

It's just good leather
domination, female dom.

- It's quite good.
- Can I have a look at it?

I'm afraid we can't
open them. We have
to have them sealed
up, for the police.

Otherwise, we'd get
arrested, but it's very
good leather domination,
though.

Have you got
anything stronger?

- Yeah, I've got
some strong magazines.
- Black? Black women.

Black. I think so.
Hang on a second.

Yeah, this one.

See what you think of that.

- How much is that one?
- They're five pounds each.

How much for the two,
that one as well?

Uh, I'll do you two
for seven pounds. Sure.

- Okay.
- Yeah?

Do you want a bag
to put them them or something?

No, it's all right.
I'll put them in my case.

Here you go.
Thanks very much.

73, Hereford Towers,
Loughborogh Road,
Brixton, SW9.

- Age?
- Twenty.

- Date of Birth?
- 17/5/58.

- Where have you been then?
- I've just been out.

- Where's "out"?
- Just to a club, you know?

- Queer's club?
- Queer's club, no darling.

- Get lippy with me.
- Get lippy with you?

Well, don't get
lippy with me.

Fucking get lippy.
You make me laugh,
you guys.

I'll fucking knick you
anytime I like, all right?

You'll fucking knick me?
You get a badge, you assholes,

you think you're
"Jack of the land."

Just fuckin' keep your
voice down, all right?

Leave me alone. I'm trying
to get home, you give me all
this fucking hassle.

I can give you any fucking
hassle I like, all right?

Don't make me laugh,
you jumped up little
fucking creeps.

You're drunk. Get in
the fucking car.

I'm not fucking drunk!

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All right, mate?
What did you get?

- Drunk and disorderly.
A fiver.
- Where you going?

Going down the pub,
I think. Do you want
to drink?

- Yeah, why not?
- Get you one.

Might as well
celebrate, innit?
Freedom.

I haven't seen them since
the last Clash gig, I think.

Fuckin' laugh though,
weren't it?

Yeah, it was all right.

- Bit of an haircut you've had.
- Yeah, don't worry about it.

- Skinheads now is it?
- Yeah.

- Bet the hair get cold and all.
- Don't be funny,
you piss-taking cunt.

Is that your parting?

- What about it?
- It's a bit funny...

Did you vote
in the morning?

All national contenders
move along the pavement,
please.

Along the Pavement.

They're chucking bricks.
Watch out.

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* Police and thieves
in the streets, oh yeah *

* Scaring the nation with
their guns and ammunition *

* Police and thieves
in the street, oh yeah *

* Scaring the nation with
their guns and ammunition *

* From genesis to revelation

* The next generation
will be, hear me *

* From genesis to revelation

* The next generation
will be, hear me *

* And all the crowd
walk in in, day by day *

* No one stop it in anyway

* All the peacekeeper,
turn war officer *

* Hear what I say

* Police, police, police
and thieves, oh yeah *

* Police, police, police
and thieves, oh yeah *

* From genesis to revelation

* I'm scaring, oh yeah

* Now, all the crowd
walk in, day by day *

* You still trying to stop it
in anyway *

* All the peacemaker,
turn war officer *

* Hear what I say

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*

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* Find your way now,
take the pledge *

* You have come around,
whatever you said *

* But did you try to argue
the only way to be? *

* I am your commanding officer

* "It's you, Sir"

* Sniffin around

* Oh, yeah

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Here I go.

Here goes the love!

* Look out. Look out

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Can you pull the trigger
like you can widen your fingers?

Say, a trigger, you know,
any day.

* Cold, cold, steel

* Cold, cold, cold, steel

* It's a cold, cold, cold,
cold, cold steel *

* Cold, cold steel

* Cold steel

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* Police and thieves
in the streets *

* Oh yeah

* Fighting the nation with
their guns and ammunition *

* Police and thieves
in the streets *

* They offered me the office,
offered me the shop *

* They said I'd better take
anything they'd got *

* Do you wanna make
tea at the BBC? *

* Do you wanna be, do you
really wanna be a cop? *

* Career opportunities are
the ones that never knock *

* Every job they offer you
is to keep you out the dock *

* Career opportunities,
the ones that never knock *

* I hate the army
an' I hate the RAF *

* I don't wanna go fighting
in the tropical heat *

I don't know.
I don't think
The Clash would
be apolitical, you know?

Most left-wing
poilitics, they're
like real hypocrisy.

The Socialist Workers
Party, they say that the
left wing is the truth.

Follow the left wing politics.

Left wing is going
to fuck everybody up.

Especially socialist words,
like all Communist facts,
like all the others are.

I know how you
feel that, because in Russia,
it was just a new...

It's exactly the same
as it was before they
had the revolution.

Just a new load
of people driving
around in their black cars,

and all the other people
are walking, just the same
as it was before.

I mean... I know
what you mean, but...

That's what
it is here, innit?

But why I think
the left wing is better

than the right wing
is at least it's...
not just for the few.

The many, slaving
for the few.

My idea is to make sure
I become one of the few.

What's the point
of being one of the few?

At the moment, there ain't,
but what happens when we
all become so-called equal?

And someone's got
to control it.

Then the people that control it,
as you said before, some people
are going to be riding around
in the black cars.

All I want to do is make sure
that I'm riding round and not
fucking walking.

Like, when I read about the
Socialist Workers Party,

makes me more convinced
I'm a capitalist.

Once I have a lot of money,
and a Rolls Royce command,

and a country mansion,
and a house in Beverly Hills,

and servants, running
around doing what I want.

I've thought about it a lot,
and there's nothing there.

You can get
all the Rolls Royces,
all that dough,
all the country houses,

all the servants you want.

And to think there's nothing
at the end of that road, no
human life or nothing.

And that's why I don't
want to go that way.

That's why I think that

it's all of us
or none.

I don't see the point
of getting all rich and locking
yourself up in that
country mansion

because sooner or later,
some cunt's going to come
around with his shotgun,

and blow your head off
or whatever.

There's nothing there.
I'm sure of it.

I don't know. I can't think
what to do with myself,
you know?

I'd like to get a job that I'm
really interested in, that I
can really work.

I wouldn't mind a job
with you lot.

I'd like to get into
electrics and things like that.

How about a job
roadie-ing or something.

Well I don't know, Ray.

At the moment, how can I
offer you a job?

Got to pay Johnny,
got to pay Baker,

and that we ain't on the road
at the moment, we just
rehearsing.

How can I offer you a job?

What you going to do?

You see my point?

Yeah, right. That's
the problem, innit?

They don't even get paid,
as it happens.

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Hey mate, you're late.
They're waiting in there
for you.

- Alright?
- You're nice and early.

Let's get going, then.

...and it just went kaput,
can't use one
of the guitar ones.

Ain't got any spares left,
so, can I have an 8 by 10

Ampeg off you,
on credit?

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* Back in the garage with
my bullshit detector *

* Carbon Monoxide makin'
sure it's effective *

* People ringin' up makin'
offers for my life *

* But I just wanna stay
in the garage all night *

* We're a garage band

* We come from garageland

* Meanwhile things are hottin'
up in the West End alright *

* Contracts in the offices,
groups in the night *

* My bummin' slummin' friends
have all got new boots *

* Someone just asked me
if the group would wear suits *

But can you bill us that?

We can let you have it after
the gig, tomorrow, when
we've got some dough.

Because we're all brassy.

I know
but we've never really stitched
you up in the past, have we?

Well, you know, a little.

* I don't wanna go to where,
where the rich are going *

* I don't wanna know about
what the rich are doing *

* They think they're so clever

* They think they're so right

* But the truth is only known

* By guttersnipes

Right if I catch that jerk
that threw that bottle, his life
wont be worth living.

The band will be on
in about half an hour.

From 1969, this is the Soul
Sisters with Wreck a Buddy.

*

* I need a man
to wreck 'im buddy *

S'cuse us.

- Have you got any money?
- I haven't got anything.

Maybe I'll cash this
then, I think.

- Can we go back to your place?
- I suppose so, yeah.

- I'll go and cash it.
- I'll wait for you here, love.

- Don't call me "love".
- Why not?

Because I don't
believe in it.

Ah, shit.

Fucking hell,
can't lift these
bricks all night.

Lot to see in there. Fucking
baths, showers, medicals...
Fucking works.

And then we got brown suits
on the Beatles, all fivers.

And then Jonesy
managed to come
down, bailed us out.

Make yourself useful there
and grab the bag.

Now the drag is, right,
me and Paul have got to
sign in on the nick everyday.

Ain't going to help
the group at all is it?

What made the old boot
come 'round anyway?

You know the roof, right?

We're standing there
with our guns, blasted
three pidgeons.

Three of them, dropping
down with feathers
everywhere and stuff.

Next thing that happened,
there's this helicopter,
Paul goes, "It's the law!"

I'm going, "leave it".
No way right? And he's
going, "Yeah it is", so
we just, like...

The next thing you know,
all these heads pop out,
and they say, "Freeze",

so we try and leg it,
and we run off into
this dead end.

So they nicked us, right.
They all come out and start
taking us down the nick.

There was about three
panda cars, a couple
of swat cars

Black marar, everything.
They'd come out in force.

The thing is they're trying
to save a shot on the trains.

But anyway...

The door's closed,
not locked.

C'mon, mate.

Dirty little smelly cunts keep
wanting to fuck in there,
busting his nose good
and proper.

You seen these fuckin'
anti-Nazi new persons, Tom?

Yeah they're fucking cunts
ain't they? They don't say
they're fuckin' Socialist,
do they?

It's just fuckin' anti-Nazi
and "F No!" Not what they're
fucking trying to do,
brainwash kids.

Yeah, why. They're cowards
aren't they?

Makes me fucking sick, I could
kill every fucking one of them.

- Bastards.
- Alright, it's not
that bad, is it?

'Course it's that bad.
They're cunts!

Right, let's get on
with the game.

Cheers.

Huh? Fuck it.

Cheers, mate.

Have you seen Clash lately?

Have you seen Joe? I've heard
you're getting in with him,

hanging around, like,
I've heard you want
a fucking job with him.

Cheers, Tom. I don't know,
I wouldn't mind a job with
him you know?

I think next time I see
Joe or one of the others
I'll ask him for a job again.

If you're up for it,
it could work for you.

You know Joe's my cousin,
son't you?

- Is it?
- Yeah.

Unless with Mick,
he's just a dope freak.

No, it's all right.
he's a nice geezer.

Look, if you want to put in
a word for yourself too,
do you want me to?

- If you can, yeah, why not?
- But when you see him,

- where I could find him?
- I don't know.

I haven't seen him
in a long time.

What are you doing backstage?
You got a pass?

- Have you got a pass?
- Yeah, I got a pass.

Come on then.

Because everybody hates the
fascists. That's why we're here.

Next on stage
will be The Clash.

But now I stand there,
I feel spare.

I feel like,
"What am I
supposed to do now?"

I feel like I should have
something in my hand, to
start a fight, and then
a drink man.

I get all nervous, think you're
looking at me, going "Oh, there
goes that cunt, Strummer"
you know?

"Why's he such a star,
he ain't talkin' to us?"

But that's it, innit,
you got to let it go
when you want to
watch a group.

And you have to watch them,
because you can't get drunk.

- Yeah.
- So you have to watch
the group.

Well, fuck. I told you,
you know what I mean?

This guy I know, he knows
friends out there, so they
put me up, so I fuckin'
have some of that.

I just want about fuckin'
three weeks to get away
from this shit hole.

I'd like to have gone
with you lot but it ain't
on the cards, so...

You're going to enjoy
this, really.

- Such a load of bollocks.
- What?

Anti-national front
communist shit, know
what I mean.

It's all fuckin' bollocks innit?

Fuckin' hell, there's going
to be like 50,000 people there.

It just seems like such
fuckin' bollocks.

Oh, anti-Nazi,
fuckin' shitting me.

Yeah, that's it.

Cunts, they never go out.

Then all of a sudden, "Oh anti-
fascist, let's get in on this
lads", then they all fuck off.

Mind that freedom
is eternal vigilance!

London Burns!

* London's burning

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* All across the town, all
across the night, everybody's
drivin' with full headlight *

* Black or white you turn it on
or face the new religion,
everybody's sittin' 'round
watchin' television *

* London's burnin'
With boredom now *

* London's burnin'
Dial nine nine nine *

* London's burnin'
With boredom now *

* London's burnin'
Dial nine nine nine *

* I'm up and down the West way,
in an' out the light, what a
great traffic system it's so
bright *

* I can't think of a better way
to spend the night than
speedin' around in
the yellow lights *

* London's burnin'
With boredom now *

* London's burnin'
Dial nine nine nine *

* London's burnin'
With boredom now *

* Dial nine nine nine

Anti-Nazi League.

This is the official collection
for the anti-Nazi league.

Can you give as much money
as you possibly can, please?

We need some money
from the 58,000 people
that have come to this valley.

We need some of your
money from you

to help pay for today's event.

Don't pull the fucking
plug out, man.

Oi Joe, they pulled
the fucking plug since
we're running out.

Someone's pulled the plug out.

Plug it in, Joe.

It's alright.
I wanna hear you sing it.

White Riot!

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* Riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* Black people gotta
lot a problems *

* But they don't mind
throwing a brick *

* White people go to school

* Where they teach you
how to be thick *

* An' everybody's doing

* Just what they're told to

* An' nobody wants

* To go to jail!

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* All the power's in the hands

* Of people rich enough
to buy it *

* While we walk the street

* Too chicken to even try it

* Everybody's doing

* Just what they're told to

* Nobody wants to go to jail!

*

*

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

*

*

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

Fucking amazing.

Give them a clap now
so they'll be able to hear you.

Can we hear it, please,
for The Clash?

More!

More!

Do you want more
of The Clash?

More! More!

Clash.

More!

More Clash!

More!

Fuckin' more!

We want more!
We want more!
We want more!

Get this idiot off the stage.

Watch it, Ray.

How are you, you big slob?

See my fucking eye
and what those cunts
at Victoria Park did

when they tried
to throw us off
the fucking stage?

Yeah, I can see it.

So, I was glad you were there,
like helping with
the plants, man.

Yeah, it's the fucking,
all these "university"
type of people, you know.

I think these cunts
that go to university,

it like numbs their brains.

Yeah, well, those people
are running when you're
not asleep, aren't they?

Fucking left wing wankers.

Yeah, maybe.

Hey, listen.

Listen, what are you doing
next week?

Not a lot. Why?

Well, we've got
a couple of gigs,
like, up north.

And that bloke's just,
like, ditched out.

And we need someone
to help me and Baker
doing the roadie-ing.

Are you interested?
Yeah.

Well, listen,
there's first things
you gotta learn

and you're gonna have to
come up to the studio.

So, I have to show you
some things before we
go out on the road.

So, is that alright?

Yeah, it is.
That sounds alright, John.

I'll give you a call.

Well, right, you got my number
but are you free next week?

Yeah, you know what happens,
like this time, it's nothing.

Yeah. I see.

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- There's no what?
- There's no things.

Screws to tighten
it down, you know.

That's why it's the tough one.
Baker's got two with him.

'Cause Bobby
plays it right there.

Topper plays it there.

He'd love to, isn't it,
if he turns up and gets it
like that.

I don't know
if I got the right signal.

It's alright.
No, you were there just now.
You fucked up.

That's more like it.
'Cause I come down
straight, side.

That's alright.

*

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* Midnight to six man

* For the first time
from Jamaica *

* Dillinger and Leroy Smart

* Delroy Wilson,
your cool operator *

* Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae

* With backing bands
sound systems *

* And if they've got
anything to say *

* There's many black ears
here to listen *

* But it was Four Tops all night
with encores from stage right *

* Charging from the bass knives
to the treble *

* But onstage they ain't got
no roots rock rebel *

* Onstage they ain't got no
roots rock rebel *

*

*

* 'Cos it won't
get you anywhere *

* Fooling with your guns

* The British Army
is waiting out there *

* An' it weighs
fifteen hundred tons *

* White youth, black youth

* Better find another solution

* Why not phone up Robin Hood

* Let me say revolution

*

*

*

*

* Punk rockers in the UK

* They won't notice anyway

* They're all
too busy fighting *

* For a good place
under the lighting *

* The new groups
are not concerned *

* Not with what
is to learn *

* Burton suits

* You think it's funny

* Turning rebellion into money

* All over people
changing their votes *

* Along with their overcoats

* If Adolf Hitler
flew in today *

* They'd send
a limousine anyway *

Come here, you little one.
Come on. That's it, now.

Out!

* Just lookin' for fun

* I'm looking for fun

* Baby, just give me some fun

* Hey man, put away your gun

*

*

*

*

This song made possible
by Freddie Laker.

*

*

* Yankee

* Say it now

*

* Yankee detective

Fuck off!

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* But what can I do?

* Yankee, stars and stripes

* Let's make
the Watergate Tapes *

* I'll salute the New Wave

* And I hope nobody escapes

* Yankee, stars and stripes

* I don't know

* All about the Blue Wave

* No, I say

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* So what you got?

*

*

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* So what you gonna do?

* What you gonna do?

* Baby

Get off the fucking stage.

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* I'm so bored
with the U...S...A... *

* But what can I do?

*

Hey, you cunts, leave him alone
for fuck's sake.

*

* He's in love
with rock'n'roll, whoa *

* He's in love
with gettin' stoned, whoa *

* He's in love
with Janie Jones, whoa *

* But he don't like
his boring job, no *

* No

* No

* Let them go!

Let us go!

Go, go, go, go!

Let them go!
They're fucking dancing!

They're dancing, not fighting.

Alright, you're done here!

Let them go. Leave them alone.

Come on. Knock it off.

We still got another
song to go yet.

Alright? Cool it.

Simmer down.
Control your temper.

We've still got another
fucking song to do yet.

This is entitled, "I wanna riot,
a riot of my own."

*

*

*

Fucking bastard, let me go.

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* Black people
gotta lot a problems *

* But they don't mind
throwing a brick *

* Everybody's doing

* What they're told to

* Nobody wants

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot,
a riot of my own *

Ow!

* An' everybody's doing

* What they're told to

* Nobody wants to go to jail

*

*

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

- You alright?
- They've grabbed Joe, mate.

Yeah, grabbed him
in the fucking wagon, mate.

They grabbed Paul
and they fucking knocked him
on the ground and punched him.

He's gone mad out there, man.

- Is he alright?
- Don't know, mate.

They've grabbed him
in their wagon.

Let's go and find out
what station and get down there.

The bouncers should have been
in that fucking court,
not the fans.

The whole lot of them.

We at the time should have been
not guilty of your charges.

They was lying out of their
fucking teeth.

I was swearing at the police.
I was swearing at that bird
who was calling me a cunt.

Well, didn't you fucking
tell him that?

We did well.
We did well last night.

We don't need that shit.

We did really well.

I tell you, when we go
to the police station,
all the people from the concert
are all lined up in a row.

Like this.
Like they dragged us in, right?

And they all went, "Okay."

And we were like,
"Shut up. Shut up".

And all these punk rock fans
were there.
I was great.

And there was this bloke
singing, "I don't want to be
the prisoner."

- And banging on the door.
- Some bloke pulled its hinges
off, didn't he?

Fucking great it was.
It was great in the prison.

Let's get out
of this fucking city.

* And I look to my left

* And I look to my right

* And I'm looking for a man

* I'm looking for a sign

* I don't wanna be
the prisoner *

* I don't wanna be
the prisoner *

* I don't wanna be
the prisoner *

* I don't wanna be
the prisoner *

*

*

*

*

*

*

Stop playing. Stop it.

Okay, let's do some White Riot.

*

Just seeing that,
when you see your mates
getting duffed upright,

you just want to jump tight.

So I just fucking
threw myself on top of Joe.

and that fucking cunt
broke me from behind.

Just dragged me into their own,
doing their costume bit.

And in the car,
a bloke goes to me,

"Look, where are you
coming from?"

And I said, "To London".

And he goes, "Oh,
this is Glasgow, mate."

So after that, they pulled me
out of the car
at the police station.

My fucking ankles, right?
Pulled me straight over.

And I got taken to the doorway,
and halfway through the doorway,

they knocked me on the ground.

I was lying on the ground
on my ankles,
trying to fucking get up.

Meanwhile there's two
other blokes holding
me leg down.

And there's another bloke
kicking me up the side.

And I'm trying to get up
and this other bloke is putting
the weight on the fucking ankle.

Fucking crazy.
I'll tell you,
it's really funny.

Since we got in there,
old Joe is standing in there.

I saw Joe, his eyes
all red...

He was gone berserk, hasn't he?

We sort of went up
to each other like...

Sort of like this and...

We were just sort of
nudging each other
and saying,

just the sort of noise
that we were there, right?

"And he goes,
Oh, the fucking quiz, right?"

We won't put them
in the same room
'cause we was kids.

*

*

* Walking down the road
with your pistol in your waist *

* Johnny you're too bad

* Walking down the road
with your ratchet
in your waist *

* Johnny you're too bad

Hang on.

- Who's it?
- It's Ray here.

I was just at the old building
nosing around.

Oh, come in, quick.

Close the door behind you.

Are you alright?

I'm fucked.

How'd you mean?

I'm sick to death
of this lot.

I can't decide
whether to laugh or cry.

This tour's the limit.

Don't worry about it.
It'll be over pretty soon.

And remember, all these punters
are just stroppy wankers.

They're animals.

I was.

What does it say
on that shirt?

Brigade Rosse.

Brigade what?

- Rosse.
- What's that?

It's the name
of a pizza restaurant.

I thought it was a Martini
or Cinzano or something.

It's the terrorists.

The Red Brigades from Italy.

I've read something
about them somewhere.

What about this thing
in the middle of the shirt?

- RAF?
- Yeah.

It's Read Army Fashion.

So, that's another
Communist thing, yeah?

I don't know.

They can't be
if they shoot Communists.

Seems strange then
that they use red.

I suppose they're from the left.

To me that's all the same.
The Left and Communism
is no different.

*

*

*

* Tommy gun

* You ain't happy
less you got one *

* Tommy gun

* Waiting for the grave
carrying one *

* Do you want to die
for your money? *

* Maybe he wants to kill
for his country *

* Whatever he wants,
he's gonna get it! *

* Tommy gun

* You'll be dead
when your war is won *

* Tommy gun

* Heading for the grave
carrying one *

* An' we can watch you make it
on the nine o'clock news *

* Standing there in Palestine
lighting the fuse *

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it *

*

*

*

*

* Tommy gun

* You'll be dead
when your war is won *

* Tommy gun

* But did you have
to gun down everyone? *

* I can see it's kill
or be killed *

* A nation of destiny
has got to be fulfilled *

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it! *

* Tommy gun

* You can be a hero
in an age of none *

* Tommy gun

* I'm cutting out your picture
from page one *

* I'm gonna get a jacket
just like yours *

* An' give my false support
to your cause *

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it! *

*

*

*

*

*

* Boats an' tanks and planes

* Your game

* Kings an' queens
an' generals *

* Learn your name

* I see all the innocents

* They lie

* And if death comes so cheap

* Then the same goes for life!

* Wouldn't it be nice,
wouldn't it be lovely? *

Leave it out, Bill.

Have you been drinking
again, Baker?

Fuck, you know,
what a cunt!

It's a burning up place anyway.

What, you didn't want
a small bread-and-breakfast?

I hope we can get some museli.

Alright?

Oh, Johnny?

Johnny?

- Who is it?
- It's Ray.

Oh, what you want?

I'm coming to bed, Johnny.

Alright. Yeah, okay.

Sit straight in his face.

Look at that fucking booze
and two bottles of brandy.

Not surprising, is it?

Hang on a second.

Johnny,
do us a favor?

Get on, go somewhere else.

Where?

Go for a walk
or something.

I can't do nothing
if there's someone else
in the room.

Do me a favor, alright?

- Cheers.
- What, now?

Yeah. And come back
a bit later.

Okay, then.

Sod it.

Where's my fucking fins?

Alright?

Mm. Are you going back
to London, tomorrow?

London, God.
I really hate that place now.

Fed up with it.

I love it.

I don't believe in love anyway.

It's too much
for me to face.

*

*

So how did you
like roadie-ing by the way?

It's a pretty good laugh,
you know.
It's alright.

Takes a lot of getting used
to it, but it's okay.

I like being away, you know.

When I'm away from London
I enjoy myself a lot more.

I find working easier.

I would say
even if it's a lot harder.

Yeah, well that's one thing,
but when you've only got four
or five hours' sleep a night...

It's alright.
You get used to it, you know.

I'm doing that anyway,
just sitting indoors, you know,
go out every night.

Get a bit pissed and then
go home and then get up
in the morning anyway.

You don't even got time
to get pissed, though,
you know.

Save myself a lot of money,
won't I?

*

*

*

*

Don't move.
Stay on the back of the bus.

*

*

*

*

There's little point
in creating prosperity

if having done it,

we fear we might be
attacked in the streets,

or we or our property
assaulted at home.

And I believe Madam Chairman
that above all ills,

the people of this country
wished to be protected
against violence,

theft and intimidation.

Now, I think Madam Chairman,
that the whole nation
has been absolutely shocked

by reports of two
horrifying attacks
on elderly ladies.

One of whom dies, and the other
was systematically humiliated
and robbed.

But I think those two outrages
do illustrate a much
wider scandal

it is that all over the country,

particularly in our large,
urban areas,

old people do go
in fear and trembling
as never before

during either the lifetime
of their parents
or grandparents.

They're entitled to ask
what is happening
to our country

where our old folk
are no longer safe.

Of course the great deterrent
to crime is the probability
of getting caught.

But over the last four years,
that probability has receded.

In London, only 21
out of every 100 offenders

are caught and convicted.

We don't give enough priority
to getting the police force
up to strength.

- What did you get?
- Nothing.

Hasn't been done yet.
We got to go again.

- What are they gonna do?
- I don't know.

Let's hope the police
are ready to go ahead
with the case

next time instead of
wasting time and mucking
us around time after time.

The police
haven't gotten here yet.

Nothing's come out, is it?

What, you going out, Paul?

Don't know. We could hang.

- Better luck, isn't it?
- Better luck, yeah.

Okay. You going over
to a pub?

Don't know.

Alright. I'll see you around.

*

*

*

*

Basically, the three of them,
Paul, Peter and Topper

pleaded guilty
to criminal damage.

Um, they got fined,

each one of them,
30 pounds each.

Yes.

Paul has to pay 20 pounds
towards his legal aid.

And, um, Pete and Nicky

have to pay 10 pounds
towards their legal aid.

And they have to compensate
Mr George Walter Dole,

whose pigeons they are, were,

the sum of 700 pounds.

Which is quite good actually
'cause it got whittled down
from 1,500 to 700 pounds

through the good offices
of one David Miller, QC.

* No one pays to ride

* On the rock'n'rollercoaster

* And we went out
and got our name *

* In small print
on the poster *

* Of course we got a manager

* And though
he ain't the mafia *

* A contract is a contract

* When they get 'em
out of you *

Slice! Slice!

Yeah, Baker.

- Remember slob Ray?
- Slob Ray!

How could I forget him?

Real slob, when he got pissed,
he leaned all over you, nearly
knocked you to the floor.

On the road,
it's just homeless.

He'd just, like, hang around,
get to the gig,

set the gear up, but all
in the wrong place, and...

You'd get there and you'd
have to undo everything
that he'd done.

He'd be off in the bar,
picking up birds.

Remember Dunstable,
when you were putting
all the gear away?

And I was getting the band
ready to leave as I was driving.

And what was he doing? He was
sitting there with that bird
in his hand. Remember that?
A little bird.

I remember that!

Couldn't cope with it on the
road, though.

Broke up his
private life too much.

- We left him stranded.
- Told him to get a cab!

I don't think he could cope with
the loss of private life.

But I was driving the bands
and he'd get there

and his brief was
to set all the gear
up in the right
positions.

And I come along and put it
exactly right.

I'd get there and there'd be
stuff all over the stage

and he'd be standing there...

He'd be standing there with
a beer can in his hands

saying, "here, John,
I'll drive."

It was just like a waste of time
like he was a glorified humper.

I think he was just a conman.

- Bit of big'un old Ray,
isn't he?
- A real conman.

* All the young punks

* All the young punks

* All the young punks

* Face front you got
the future *

* Shining like a piece of gold

* But I swear as we get closer

* I look more
like a lump of coal *

* But it's better
than some factory *

* Now that's no place
to waste your youth *

* I worked there for a week
once, I luckily got the boot *

* All the young punks

* Laugh your life 'cos
there ain't much to cry for *

* All the young cunts

* Live it now 'cos there
ain't much to die for *

- What you been doing lately?
- Working the fucking bookshop.

- Bookshop?
- Yeah, boring as old shit,

old fuckin' perverts
coming in ,buying
their bollocks.

What do you want
to do then?

I want to get back on the road
with someone.

Get into the States
or something

Yeah, can be a laugh,
but it's a lot of hard
work sometimes.

I don't know, fuckin'
hard work pays off
don't it, and you get
some enjoyment out of it.

Well it's better than
working in a bookshop.

That's it, I want to go
up the States man, but
working at the time.

*

*

*

*

* Got me in bad fights

* Play me pool all night

* Smokin' menthol

* I practised daily in my room

* You were down the crown
planning your next move *

* Go on a nicking spree

2* Hit the wrong guy

* Each of you get
three years in Brixton *

* I did my very best to write

* How was butlins?
Were the screws too tight? *

* When you lot get out
we're gonna hit the town *

* We'll burn it fuckin'
down... to a cinder *

* 'Cos years have passed
and things have changed
and I move anyway I wanna go *

* I'll never forget the feeling
I got when I heard that you'd
got home *

* An' I'll never forget
the smile on my face
'cos I knew where you
would be *

* An' if you're in the crown
tonight, have a drink on me *

* But go easy...step light-ly

* Stay free

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Fuckin' heavy song man,
you know that.

From south London,
Brixton and all that.

Real choky, you know.

Brixton and Streatham,
I was 12 to like 17.

That's your life put in one.

That's fuckin'... I've seen
you do it man.

Spit heavy on the fuckin'
guts, and heart and shit.

Take the drink, man.

You going to do
that one all the time?

It don't feel if
we're doing it live.

I know, it's fuckin'...
It's really emotional,
ain't it?

It's about the most
emotional thing that
you've ever done.

But, I've known like, you come
from Brixton, I come from
Brixton, so...

And that really gets
with all these other guys,

like from Streatham and Brixton.

Reckon it'd mean
nothing to them,
but when you do it...

- Don't know, don't know.
- You reckon they will?

I fuckin' hope so,
but teenage life,
it's like all summed
up in one song.

What's all this teenage bit
about then?

Buses to Streatham
and everything.

I know nothing about
the Locarno, whatever.

So, I know you.

I hope it goes
fucking into 'em
rather than over 'em.

You're next.

- What's going on?
- Sit against the wall.

Those are nice clothes, love.

Where'd you get the money?

- Okay, okay, you.
- No, I haven't got it.

Get on the wall. Shut up
and drop your shorts.

There he is.

Go on, then.

Need anything
down there, Joe?

No? Okay, great.

* I don't trust you,
so why trust me? *

* All over the town,
spread fast *

*They're dirty, they're filthy

* They ain't gonna last

* Teach us control

* C-o-n control

* Control

* C-o-n control

Well, alright!

*

*

*

*

*

* This is Joe Public speaking

* I'm controlled in the body
Controlled in the mind *

* C-o-n control

What the hell is wrong with you?

You think you're
so fuckin' cool.

What the hell is wrong
with you? Think you're...

Fuck off!

Aberdeen,
Manchester, Perthshire.

Newcastle. Sorry.

*

*

*

- * Well, I just got back an' I
wish I never leave now *
- * Where'd you go?

- * Went to a place that's
black and stale now *
- * Where'd you go?

- * How many local dollars
for a local anaesthetic? *
- * Where'd you go?

- * The Johnny on the corner
wasn't very sympathetic *
- * Where'd you go?

* I went to the place where
every white face is an
invitation to robbery *

- * Sitting here in my safe
European home *
- * Don't wanna go
back there again *

- * Who dat martian arrival
at the airport yeah? *
- * Where'd you go?

- * What'd I say,
wouldn't it be loverly? *
- * Where'd you go?

- * How many local dollars
for a local anaesthetic? *
- * Where'd you go?

- * The Johnny on the corner
wasn't very sympathetic *
- * Where'd you go?

* I went to the place where
every white face is an
invitation to robbery *

- * Sitting here in my safe
European home *
- * Don't wanna
go back there again *

*

*

*

*

- * Now they got the weed,
an' they got the palm trees *
- * Where'd you go?

- * They got the tree,
an' they got the smoker *
- * Where'd you go?

- * How many local dollars
for a local anaesthetic? *
- * Where'd you go?

- * Send us all cards, an' have
a laying in on a Sunday *
- * Where'd you go?

* I went to the place where
every white face is an
invitation to robbery *

- * Sitting here in my safe
European home *
- * Don't wanna
go back there again *

* Again

* Rudy come from Jamaica,
Rudy can't fail *

* Rudy come from Jamaica,
big man can fail! *

* Rudy come, Rudy goes,
noone knows, rudeboy know *

* Rudy come from Jamaica,
big man can fail! *

* Rudy, Rudy, Rudy,
Rudy, Roo *

* Rudeboy, Rudeboy

* Rudy, Rudy, Rudy,
Rudy, Roo *

* Noone knows what
Rudeboy knows *

* Rudy, Rudy, Rudy,
Rudy, Roo *

* Noone knows what
Rudeboy knows *

* Rudy, Rudy, Rudy,
Rudy, Roo *

* Noone knows what
Rudeboy knows *

* Rudy, Rudy, Rudy,
Rudy, Roo *

Rudy!

Rudy! Yeah, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck.

*

Now give me your answer.

Give me your answer, truth.

* What the hell is
wrong with you? *

* You're just doing what
you're supposed to do *

* What's my name

* I tried to join
a ping-pong club *

* Sign on the door
said all full up! *

* What's my name

*

* Now I'm round the back
of your house at night *

* Can I ask you a question,
are you sleeping tight? *

* What's my name

*

*

*

*

*

Hello, John.

Fuckin' hell, Ray.
What you doing here?

Come up for a leak.
Nothing better to do.

What's all this then,
box of records?

No, it's all I could find
to chuck some clothes in.

Bit flashy isn't it?

It's alright.
Does its purpose, don't it?

John, can I stay in
your room tonight?

But I haven't got a
spare bed for you, mate,

and, like,
it's a bit tight.

No, I can't because on
this tour, everything's
gotten really tightened up.

Supposed to be really
professional, not
the old days.

Sounds a bit fucking stroppy.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

- Can't go in with that bottle.
- Oh.

You have to drink it
before you come in.

- All right you take it in.
- You can't.

I'll leave it here.
I've got to go,
I'm in a rush.

Oy, do you want a drink?
All riight, great. Okay.

Who you with?

I've got a pass here,
I'm with the group.

Okay, cheers. Good luck.

It'll be
The Clash on stage tonight

Did you see that Black geezer
singing White Riot?

I thought it
was really funny.

Yeah, what's so funny
about it? I've been
watching you.

Yeah I've noticed
that. Quite a lot.

I mean I wish that more
black guys would come
to our gigs.

Yeah but not to sell lemonade,
singing White Riot, I mean...

That's not enough for me.

It's great to see black
geezers coming, but

watching a black geezer sing
White Riot is like watching a
White man chanting rastafari
and all these black things.

- Y'know what I think,
don't you?
- Yeah I suppose I do.

So that's it, really.
I'm watchin' ya.

- I'll keep it in mind.
- Do.

* I ain't got no reason
to drag around *

* I'm the right kind of colour
in the white part of town *

* But all the people
down in Brixton town *

* Say "Hey white boy,
won't you lend me a pound" *

* I ain't got no pound
nor any dollar or a quid *

* I'd pick my own pocket,
well if I did *

* I got the same chances
that any black man do *

* Well they say "White boy,
your new job is through" *

* well a black man got a rhythm
an' a white man got the law *

* An' I know which one
I'd be lookin' for *

* Don't care about the country,
goin' to wreck and ruin *

* The whole world will follow
an' they'll be singin'
this tune *

*

*

*

No thanks. I gave it up.
It's fucking me up.

What are you going to do
with yourself anyway?

I dunno.

Shouldn't get
too involved.

Maybe I should be black?

People would treat me
like a nigga'.

Yeah, we need niggers.
You should get paid.

I chose to go
on the dole.

Why stop legging?

I like music.

You're doing really
well. Great.

But, I don't think you
should mix your music
with politics anymore.

I know there's loads
of ordinary groups
around.

But you shouldn't be
too political with your
music.

I know life is, but,
I don't like it.
It annoys me

when music gets mixed
up with it.

Do you remember Sam Philips?

Said if you find a white bloke,
who sang like a negro, he'd
be a millionaire.

And then he found Elvis.

And the silly cunt sold him
for 35,000 dollars.

*

*

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Come on my baby,
let me fill your soul *

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Roll all night long

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Come on my baby,
let me fill your soul *

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Roll all night long

* Gonna feel so good

* And come on baby

* Brought me all I know

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Come on my baby,
let me fill your soul *

* Come on my baby,
let the good time roll *

* Roll all night long

*

- What you doing?
- Putting the gear away.

- Do you do anything else?
- Did spotlight the other night.

- I used to do
a bit of all this.
- Oh, really?

With The Clash,
quite a time ago.

- Who else? Any other groups?
- Not really.

- You're always drunk.
- I'm always drunk.

Fuck you two.
Fuck you!

You make me
feel really old.

- You are.
- Yeah, you look it.

Maybe I am getting
old, I don't know.

You can't tell.

I don't got nowhere
to fuckin' sleep, Johnny.

Give us your bed.

Give me yours, I don't
want to sleep on the
fuckin' floor again.

- I want a bed.
- Ah, leave out, Ray!

Fuck off, John. I want
to go to fuckin' sleep.

Listen, I want to go to bed.

Let's stick him in the bathroom.

You cunts!

You bastards!

You bastards!

You fuckin' cunts.

It's not even fuckin'
funny, you bastards.

I've fuckin' had
enough bollocks.
I'm going home.
Fuck you cunts.

Fuck off you bastards, don't
fuckin' come after me.

Bollocks. Stop fucking
coming after me.

Fuck off, will you?

Don't fuckin' touch me,
you cunt, I'll fuckin' have you.

What's the problem, mate?

*

*

*

Do you think they
treat me differently?

Well, I don't think
they treat you
differently, exactly,

just that, if anything
is right, that you're
younger, so...

In the sense that they're going
to treat you differently, like
consent-ments-wise, yeah.

Or where they're going
to put you is going to be
different from the others.

But either way,
I might be going inside?

Yeah. Well you could do.

I can't say
anything, like, definite.

It's a conspiracy case, so,
for them to prove
it's a conspiracy,

they have to have something
against all of you.

They have
to get you all,
you all involved.

*

*

*

*

* Breakin' rocks in
the hot sun *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I needed money
'cause I had none *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I killed my baby
and it feels so bad *

* Guess my race is run

* She's the best woman
that I ever had *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

*

*

*

* Robbin' people
with a six-gun *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I left my girl
and all her fun*

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I killed my baby
and it feels so bad *

* Guss my race is run

* Sweetest little woman
that I ever had *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

*

*

*

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
but the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
but... *

When are you going to charge me?

Douglas: when you've answered
some questions.

Where d'you live, Drum?

Drum: I live in a slum street.
I collect 14.60 social security.

I tried for a job,
and I couldn't get one.

I got letters in my house to
prove it.

Douglas: do you know
Byron Thwaites, Tony Peters,
Colin Myers.

Drum: Yeah, I seen them
down the club sometimes.

Douglas: Why d'you get little
boys to do it for you?

Drum: What d'you mean?

Douglas: Did you do
dips with them?
Drum: No.

Then there's another statement
that you made on the same day
in the afternoon at 3 O'Clock.

To a detective Douglas again.

Drum: I want
to make a statement.

Douglas: Right.

You know we've been watching you
on the 5th, 7th, 11th, 12th,
17th and 22nd of April.

We saw you jostling in the bus
queue outside the post office.

Drum: Yeah we went dipping
by the post office.

Douglas: You were recorded
at 2pm on 11th of April,
a Thursday, with Miles,
Twaites and Peters.

Jostling in the bus queue.

Drum: we never got a purse then.
Douglas: what about red rover?

Drum: No, I don't make
much money from Dibs.

Douglas: You're more
than just suspected.

The money you get from
social security scarcely lets
you live a carefree life.

Drum: I've got friends .
They help me out.

Big friends out West.
People you can't touch.

Douglas: You were regulars
at the bus stop.

You were seen on
the 12th as well.

Drum: I don't remember.

You're trying to get me
to rat, you bastards.

I never said all that.

It's says here at the end,
"This statement is true,
I've made it
of my own accord."

Signed your name. If it's not
true, why did you sign it?

If you gettin' beat and kicked
about, wouldn't you sign it?

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

* Sing, Michael,
sing-on the route
of the 19 Bus *

* Hear them sayin'

* How you get a rude
and a reckless? *

* Don't you be
so crude and a feckless *

* You been drinking brew
for breakfast *

* Rudie can't fail

* We reply
I know that my life
make you nervous *

* But I tell you
that I can't live in service *

* Like the doctor who was
born for a purpose *

* Rudie can't fail

* I went to the market
to realize my soul *

* 'Cause what I want
I just don't have *

* First they curse

* Then they press me
till I hurt *

* Rudie can't fail

* First you must
cure your temper

* Then you find
a job in the paper *

* You need someone
for a saviour *

* Rudie can't fail

* We reply, now we get
a rude and a reckless *

* We been seen lookin' cool
an' a speckless *

* We been drinking brew
for breakfast *

* Rudie can't fail

* I went to the market
to realize my soul *

* 'Cause what I need
I just don't have *

* First they curse

* Then they press me
till I hurt *

* Rudie can't fail

*

*

* When Johnny comes
marching home again *

* He's coming by bus
or underground *

* A woman's eye
will shed a tear,
to see his face
so beaten in fear *

* And it was just
around the corner
in the English civil war *

* It was still at the stage
of clubs and fists *

* When that well-known face
got beaten to bits *

* Your face was blue
in the light of the screen *

* As we watched the speech
of an animal scream *

* The new party army
was marching
right over our heads *

* All right *

* Well, all right *

* All the girls go, oh

* There you are, ha ha,
I told you so *

* Says everybody that we know

* Who hid a radio
under the stairs *

* Who got caught out
on their unawares? *

* When new party army
came marching
right over the stairs *

* When Johnny comes
marching home again *

* Coming by bus or underground

* The sun is shining
an' the kids are shouting loud *

* But you gotta know
it's shining through a crack
in the cloud *

* The shadows keep falling
when Johnny comes
marching home *

* All right

* Johnny

* Johnny

* Johnny comes home

* Getting caught by

* When Johnny coming home

Well, come up here.

Mind your hand
on that PA, right?

If it falls over,
it'll kill everybody.

Listen up, few people
can come forward, all right?

This is about a child.

Well, my boy,
you just moved a little bit.

We ain't going
anywhere, alright?

Alright, alright.

White Riot.

Alright, let's talk
about White Riot, then.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* Black people
gotta lot a problems,
but they don't mind
throwing a brick *

* White people go to school
where they teach you
how to be thick *

* And everybody's doing
just what they're told to *

* And nobody wants
to go to jail *

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* White riot, I wanna riot

* White riot, a riot of my own

* All the powers
in the hands of people
rich enough to buy it *

* While we walk the street
too chicken to even try it *

* Everybody's doing
just what they're told to *

* Nobody wants to go to jail

* White riot, I wanna riot,
white riot, a riot of my own *

* White riot, I wanna riot,
white riot, a riot of my own *

* White riot, I wanna riot,
white riot, a riot of my own *

* White riot, I wanna riot,
white riot, a riot of my own *

Oye, fuck off
get off the stage.

Where's the badge?
I don't like the badge.

Alright, stay.

He's fucking dying,
let's get him out.

Oh, fuck.

Oh, shit.

Yeah, how I came to get
the part in this film?

In my memory anyway,
I think, David's memory
be slightly different but,

I used to work
in a record shop in Soho
and David used to come in there
and we used to chat.

And we'd talk about punk
and stuff like that.

And then he mentioned
that he was gonna be making
a movie about The Clash.

And I told him
I was a friend of Joe Strummer.

And then a week or so later
he asked me if I wanted
to be in the film.

And there was no way,
I did wanna be in it
so, and...

You know, he come in later on,
I think I was the only person
he'd met that knew Joe Strummer,
or knew The Clash so,

he kept asking to be in it
and I wasn't interested.

Mentioned it to Joe
a couple of times,
and Joe thought
it would be a good idea,

and at that time,
I had a lot of respect
for Joe's opinions,

so well if he thinks
it will be cool,

it probably will be. So I said,
okay, I'll have a go.

My reluctance to get involved
with the film was, you know,
my own suspicion
about these guys.

A, they were older than me
and I didn't really have it
with older people.

And the fact
they were film-makers,
I didn't understand that world.

The whole thing
with the character
being my own name, Ray Gange,
was kind of,

was a bit strange really
because I was asked to do things
that the film crew
wanted me to do,

that were very
unreal situations but they
weren't scripted either,

they were very, very
rudamentary little ideas
written down on paper.

They'd pick me up,
we'd drive somewhere,
they'd set up,

and then we'd be siting there
and I'd just get handed
a sheet of paper,

with about six lines
of Biro scribbled on it,

and told, "Okay,
work that into the scene."

And everytime I said,
"Well, what for?"
"Oh, don't worry,
it will all make sense."

It was very, very chaotic,
very disjointed.

When I watch it now,
it's like watching me
but watching me I don't know.

It's all very strange
and I would kind of,

had I known
that it would work out
like that, I would've insisted
on getting a different name.

But I didn't know
about the tricks of film-making
at that time.

I found doing stuff for camera
really difficult.

At that time especially
I was just into running around
and having a good time.

So then suddenly, being asked
to do things that were unnatural
for me to be doing,

I found, you know,
I found it weird.

But I wouldn't say
I found it difficult,
I just found it weird seeing,
it was a very weird thing to do.

How much that character
is like me?

I was into the Clash,
so it was like me
in that respect.

We both used to like a beer,
I like the beer, the character
liked the beer.

Beyond that, I probably
would say not very much, really.

And other than those
punk rock characteristics.

Tour in the UK was brilliant.

I had just gone on tour
with Clash was great.
They were my favourite band,

it meant I didn't actually
have to go and do a job,
I was getting paid.

So, that was fantastic,
just going to towns
that I was never ever go to,

you know, that aspect of it
was great.

As for roadie-ing,
roadie-ing would be the last job
that I would ever want to do.

For start, it's a hard work
for which I have never
been a fan of,

and, um, you know,
if you are watching
your favourite band,

but you've got to be
roadie-ing as well,
you can't really pay attention
to watching the band.

So, that's like another reason
I wouldn't be in it at all.

No, I never did any roadie-ing
for Clash, uh, as I say,
I was too much into having
a good time.

So, I would've thrown in,
pretty much thrown spanner
in works,

just for their operation,
you know.

I did a little tour
with the Subway Sect
for Bernie.

Which was just an idea
to, uh, give me an idea
of what;s going on.

So, when it came to filming,
maybe it will work.

Being in between,
having the band
on one side of me
and the film crew on the other,

was kind of like a first
but as there was growing
a divide between the band
and the film-makers,

then I kind of got caught up
in the middle of it,

where the band would get
suspicious of me
because I was involved
with the film-making,

and the film-makers I think
found me difficult
because I wanted to hang out
with the band,

and have a good time with them.

So, it started off okay
and then it just deteriorated
into everybody being
quite distant.

My own allegiance would always
be towards the band

although I had to do
certain amount of things
that the film crew wanted,
only because I was getting paid.

And you know, I quite like them,
they were okay guys,
as it went on, I started to be
less suspicious of them,

The film makers' ideas
didn't seem very clear
to anybody else
except themselves.

And I don't think
the band really knew
what the film makers
were trying to get out,

and I certainly didn't.

My own view is that
they were trying to make
a punk rock version
of A Hard Day's Night,

but without the comedy,
you know, they were trying
to be really worthy.

And then everybody else
found it confusing. I think
the people that watched it
found it confusing because

it's all these
real people's names,

but there's this weird vibe
going on that doesn't really
make any cinematic sense,

in terms of a normal
kind of film. You know,
like beginning, middle
and end.

It's like where it is going.

There was lot
of political problems going on
between the Clash camp
and the film-makers.

As you know, I think
probably like
the Clash management
either wanted more money,

or I think they even wanted
to go and do their own project.

So, everyone became
very uncooperative.

I think in a way,
in their defence,
the film makers
just found themselves like,

a lot of footage on their hands,

and then the people
that were supposed to be taking
part in that story
refusing to do it.

So they had to try to grab
something from somewhere else.

So, I think they're just like,
"Okay, what's the serious issue?
What's going around us?
What makes sense to do?"

And they tried to like,
follow their nose
and get that down.

I think it got bit mish-mashed
in the process so,

I think rather than
a rockumentary,
a fakumentary would've been
much better.

Been a mate of Joe's
before I met the rest
of the Clash, I kind of,

I was hanging with him
quite a bit, and then I'd go up
to their rehearsal studios,

get to know them a little bit,
because they didn't know me,
they were like,
"Who's this guy?"

But when they came to know,
they realised
I was into the band,

you know Joe liked me,
then they started
to come around, then I got on
alright with all of them really.

Victoria Park
and Rock Against Racism,

I don't really remember much
of the actual carnival,

about the whole show,
I realise I got there
really early with David.

I wasn't even supposed to be
doing anything, David rang me,
asked me if I wanted to go along
with him.

So, I went there, hanging out,
it was really a hot day,

we were drinking all day along,
popping in few pills,

and then, uh, just standing
on the side of the stage,
watching the band,

and then as the set was coming
to an end, you know,
there was this chaos going on,

the organisers were trying
to get Clash off-stage,

and David was standing
next to me watching Jack
doing his filming,

and when all that stuff
was going on as you see
on the film,

David leaned over to me
and said, "Ray, go and do
something to spice things up
a bit."

So, I just saw the microphone
on the front of the stage

and grabbed it,
trying to incite the crowd
into doing something.

You know, I thought
it would be fun and a bit
of mischief to do that,

you know, I was just,
I thought I'd create something.

And then suddenly,
it all went a bit mad again.

Next thing I know I was being
shoved down the stairs
on the side of the stage.

The black eye in the film
was due to the wonders
of make-up and editing.

And it was something that Jack
and David, David I think
more than Jack,

thought would add a touch
of spice or a bit of glamour
or something,

if it looked like I got punched
in the face for the troubles.

The Clash were fucking great
band, you know, there's no
two way around it.

So, I think anyone
that was around that time
and watched them,

knew the potential
they had to become a mega,

but, you know,
the only mega bands
before that I know were,

Pink Floyd and all that kind
of crap, you know what I mean.

So, I don't think
it was in anybody's thinking,
you know, the Sex Pistols
has already imploded.

I don't think it was in
anybody's thinking that
any punk band was gonna get
to mega star status.

Did it reflect life on road?

Yes and no, really.
It shows you exactly what
The Clash were like at life,

for sure, probably better
than film has shown anybody.

But as for the rest of the stuff
that was going on,

I think it reflected
the film maker's idea
of what was going on
around them.

I think, uh,
because the film makers
weren't from that background,

I think they tried to create
too many situations
that weren't totally true.

They probably were a foot
in the truth, you know
what I mean.

And when David asked me to be
in this film, "We're gonna make
a film about the Clash, do you
want to be in it?"

So, as far as I knew,
I was just going to be
some little peripheral character
floating around The Clash.

And then suddenly all this other
stuff started coming into it,
you know, like,

black guys pick pocketing,
you know, robbing the buses,

all this stuff, you know,
and, being down in Brixton
filming various things, and,

it didn't really make sense
to me what was that all about.

Because the film was supposed
to be about Clash.

You know, I wasn't given any
awareness that it was going
to be about anything else,

it was supposed to be
an indictment of Britain,
you know,

whatever it was like
pre-Thatcter Britan, you know.
So, I think, um,

I think it kind of reflects
that there wasn't much going on
apart from the punk
at that time.

But in terms of any
political tone to it,
I think,

that the French liked it
and the English
didn't give it a toss.

It's kind of weird
that the stuff I read,
that the stuff I heard about,

was my political stance
was supposed to be
in that movie,

and the realities are,
it's still true today,
I don't really give a fuck
about politics.

I don't trust any politician
that there is.

England was a very grey place
at that time, you know,

so I think it reflected
that the punk rock
was only the exciting thing
going on.

You know, the conversations
that takes place
between me and Joe,

where Joe had this stuff
that he was going to say,

and they wanted me to sit
next to him and just like
try and take up
contrary position,

and that time, I was like,
"Okay, it's a film,
what the fuck, I'll do it."

You know, I was bit naive,
the fact that the character
had my own name,

that people are going
to believe this is my own stuff,
you know, and, uh,

and I think the film makers
stitched me up as well
because they gave me
a writing credit.

And they gave me writing credit
to make it seem like
the political stuff is my views.

And also there was a lot
of swearing in the film,

I think if they were pulled up
on why were they making
a film with so much swearing,

you know, to them,
"He wrote all that stuff."

I didn't write shit
in that film,
but there you go.

What did I think of the film
when I first saw it?

What the fuck is going on?

You know because I am watching
myself up on the screen,
I was never into being an actor,
or any of the stuff,

so there I was up in the screen,
and this thing, with all this
mad stuff going around me?

I am watching The Clash
and then I am watching
guys on the bus,

uh, you know, I'm watching
a dog, I've got a dog
in the film, I don't know where
the fuck the dog came from.

But, you know, it was good,
it was a fun thing to do
and it was a fun thing to watch,

but it wouldn't be
in my top ten films.

You may not want to put it in.

Joe dying last year
was quite really, you know,
very sad event and,

quite shocking, you know,
he's still a young guy.

And it made me reflect
quite a bit really and my
fondest memory of him,

is me and Joe going to a gig
at the Imperial College
to see Wayne County.

And queuing up at the bar,
and we didn't have much cash,

there was a big queue
waiting to get drinks,

and we look around
and there was four pints of beer
siting around on an empty table,

and we just clugged the beer.

So, we jumped on the table
and knocked back these pints,

and these four rugby type guys
came up and demanded to know
what the fuck is going on.

And they made a grab for us
and we just jumped over
the seats and legged there,

and these guys chased
through the building
till we got away.

And we just kept running
and running, and then we just
collapsed in hysterics,

laughing probably
for like 20 minutes
or something.

You know that the kind
of memory I live of him.

My favourite gig on those tours
was probably,

before the first tour, really,
I think it was the first time
I went anywhere
with the film makers,

And we went up to Berbanum,
because Clash was doing a gig
at this really small club
called Barbalas,

which probably held 500 people
or something like that.

It was a really small gig,
unannounced, there was this
really, really great energy,
really small venue.

And it was like
a landmark gig, really.

City of the Dead
is my favourite Clash song.

The reason?

Um, the lyrics,
the insensitivity
on the tune and the lyrics.

And also the fact, it's like,
when you listen to radio
and they talk about
great Clash songs,

White Man in Hammersmith Palais
or fucking London calling,

or Should I Stay
or Should I Go, whatever.

So, City of the Dead
is kind of an obscure song
although not that obscure.

But just the lyrics are great.

"Though we get beat up,
we don't care, at least
it livens up the air."

"What we wear is danger gear,
it'll get you picked on
anywhere."

Great lyrics. Great lyrics,
great for the time especially.

Which happened to me few times,
I got beat up
for what I was wearing,
so it's quite resonant.

Making that film changed
my life, as much as it gave me
money to get out of the country

which I don't know
if I'd able to
do it any other way.

It opened my eyes to lot
of stuff, you know.

Opened my eyes to the perils
of film-making.

I didn't have time
to think about
who's my favourite actor,

who shall I try and copy,
to do the stuff they want me
to try and do,

and I was like, I've never been
in front of the camera before,

any kind of acting
so it was like,
"Okay, so what do you
want me to say?

How do you want me to say it?
What do you want me to do
while I say it?"

And then just try to interpret
that in the best way I could
in that time and try
and deliver that.

No, I couldn't tell you
where anybody came from.

They found this
little skinhead kid,

who kept maintaining
that he was Joe Strummer's
cousin,

so they believed him,
they shoved him in it.

Then they found some girl
who was willing to do
a scene in the toilet
on her knees, you know.

Um, I think they just grabbed
people from here, there
and everywhere.

I think the scene
in the sex shop,

there's like some guy,
some middle aged guy
comes in and buys
a magazine from me

and I think he was friend
of David's.

They just said, put this mic on
and go in the shop
and buy something.

So, it was all very like,
it was all very ad-hoc,
you know,

you know, it was like
guerrilla film making
without intention.

I can't think that any other
live footage of any band
that I've seen,

even comes close
to the live stuff
of the Clash in that film.

Even other films
of musicians

Don't Look Back, the one
about Bob Dylan was a really
great film,

but what's great about that
is all the off-stage stuff.

What's really great about
Rude Boy is that the live stuff
is just fucking phenomenal.

And it really does pick out
why at the time
people who were in that scene,

your blood would just
pump in your body
when Clash would play.

Your hair on your fucking back
would stand up
and the whole thing.

So, for that,
they were the best thing ever.

It was fucking magnificent
to be Clash's road manager.

I stumbled in,
it was a pure chance
and enthusiasm,

I guess that's what got me
the job,

it was obviously enthusiastic,
anyone of you Euro,
you are watching this,

I was as a fan.

Every night was a bonus night
for me.

I loved watching them,
I never looked at my watch.

It was a joy standing there
at the side of the stage,

drinking about few drinks,
having a fag and,

some hit and it never
demolished for me,
it didn't.

If there was a load of money
floating around,
I never fucking saw it.

And nor did I knock around
with people, yet you thought
I might've been
in the position I was.

Road manager
of a happening band.

You'd thought, limos,
cocaine, and all that stuff,

must have missed me.
Maybe I was looking
in the wrong direction.

You know, you're listening
in 1977 and Joe is singing,

"What we wear is a dangerous
gear, it'll get you picked up
anywhere"

Don't be silly, these are just
clothes. It was true.

We used to get lot of flat
wherever we went,
we were seen as,

as, uh, forces of, uh,
of evil really.

What is that contemporary word?

Something that's undermining
the process of society.

Not just something you tapped
your toe to
and had a nice time.

So, there was a meaning
to punk rock, it was feared.

And it might surprise me now
to see the extent of it,

of people's affection
for The Clash,

and saying one of the greatest
bands of all time.

I fucking
knew that the moment I set
eyes on them.

As I suspect every spotty kid
did in that moment as well.

But there was a serious point
to it always.

Serious point which was trying
to, uh, just cause trouble.

Rattle somebody's cage,
really, in terms of motivating
change for the better of people.

Rude Boy as a film
is pretty spot on, because,

the moment that you got used
to having a very small
film crew, at first,
it seems huge,

to have four-five people
around you,

yanking around lights,
better sounds, better camera,

it seemed like a huge
intrusion because we were
a small, tight knit outfit.

At that point, we didn't employ
many people, it was me
and the Baker,

and the four members
of the band.

Suddenly, in your dressing room,
to have four-five people
come in

seemed like a massive intrusion,

and made us
also very uncomfortable
for about two-three days.

And after that, we just got
used to them.

It was always so hectic,
so badly planned,

so little money,
so little luxury,

there was no preciousness,
no space of time,
in which to take notice,

except odd moments
where perhaps Dave
might ask us,

to repeat something
they didn't spotted,
and we'd stop and redo it.

I think that was quite odd
because it was not that common.

Uh, life went on on the road.
And it was relentless,
it was full of action
and full of incidents.

It's hard to remember
those times sometimes.

I've just,
I've walled them,
violent,

trouble strewing all at once.

It wasn't smooth
and nor did anybody
tried making it smooth.
In fact, we loved all that.

The Clash were all over
the front pages of the NME,
Melody Micro Sounds,

and people assumed,
that you're doing well
in all the areas.

In fact, what had happened was,
we had splat up
with Bernie Rose, the manager,

and all the money was frozen,
we didn't have any money.

I mean, cash flow,
serious cash flow problems.

And, Rude Boy, saved the day
because they bunked us.

You know, you could tap 'em
for a few quid.

What just sound stupid,
get you down on the cafe,

get you few beers in a pub,
few packets of cigarettes,
it was that desperate at times.

Bernie said to me,
"Work with them,
work with them."

And I took that seriously
because I thought,

"Ain't that nice,
get me picture
on the screen."

*

*

Actually what I thought
was, this band's
a fucking magnificent

and somebody should be
recording it.

And I was glad
somebody was doing it
with proper equipment.

So I did always tell them
what we were doing,
where we would be
at which time,

and Dave would asked me
so preparation would be
laid down for that.

There was no keeping us
waiting and that's what
makes the film vital,

we're not doing take after take
after take, it's just
we're living our life,
and they're filming it.

Rude Boy is an accurate
reflection of our life
because it sums up rehearsal,

recording and giging.

And the thing about The Clash
is, they almost never
had a day off,

so what you see
is what you get, really.

UK tours are best summed up
in Rude Boy.

The first one in the summer
of '78 was chaos indeed

and delightful
and splendid chaos.

Let them go,
they're fucking dancing.

They're dancing,
not fighting.
Let them go.

Leave them alone.

Come on, knock it off.

We still got another song
to do, yeah.

It's a hard work to deal with,
getting crowded by the coppers,
getting busted,

kids smashing up the place,
promoters getting upset,

cheap, crappy equipment
breaking down, one,
because it's cheap,

two, because they hammer it,

they give no quarter, you know,
they're standing and playing,

all of these things
are going wrong,
We arriving at our hotels,

the guards take one look at us
and he says, ''I don't want,
fuck me, it's the Clash,
we don't want them here.''

So, we are taking a booking in
under things like The Tottenham
Leather Workers' Association,

and we get, "Fuck me,
it's the Clash, don't want us."

But we loved it, we loved it,
nobody was after the quiet life
there.

But it start to come in,
so I think what you're seeing is

the contrast between
these two tours is,

is one, everything is up
in the air, yipee,

to the balls settling a bit
but they're bouncing around.

Uh, but it's growing
and it's getting bigger.

And you could see the venues,
we're selling out day after day,
and you see them,

and you see them holding
a flag, sighing,
"I fought the law",

and the crowd singing
along with it.

It didn't happen so much
in the earlier days.
That's the growth thing.

If you are the agent of change,

or the messenger
of change perhaps,
it's a really nice feeling.

And we were watching it growing
and swelling in exuberance.

Lovely thing, lovely thing.

We were used to doing
with some pretty rough diamonds
out in the provinces,

because they were the only
people that would take
punk rock at that point.

These weren't the accepted
promoters and agents.

So, definite cowboys out there,
and suddenly we got a nice,
considerate, well spoken man,

organising something
very well worthwhile,

that The Clash were
deadly keen to do.

I don't think anyone
really thought this one out

until the date
till we arrive there,

"Fuck me, that's a lot
of people."

This is very moving,
I remember coming back down,
and trying to relay that,

as the band were getting ready
and getting changed to go on.

And I don't think I could,
I don't think I did prepare them
for the shock of seeing that.

Because they never played them,
there weren't festivals
on that size as we are used
to today.

We are all siting
backstage with other performers
in the changing rooms,

they could lie down there,

swimming pools, dressing rooms,

and it was very Spartan,
few beers,

Robinson's orange barley water,

no fancy canapes, you know,
and spiral tap.

No one minded
and it was very egalitarian.

And it was a very nice feeling
of everyone doing this,
something we believe in.

The place is filling up
and we're just trying
to sort out,

but you know, you always
get into this,

no matter how egalitarian
and how much largess
or good will you've got,

you are always going to be
actually fight for your
fucking band.

And you're just going to be
bit better than everybody else.

So, you're back in to that
frame or maybe a little bit
milder than an ordinary gig.

Here we are supporting
Tom Robinson, well, no.

It ain't support
'cause we are all
in this together.

But you know, road crews
are sneaky people.

And we were up there,
they got a Scottish guy,

and Kenny and he's, uh,

he's pulling strokes on me,
I'm pulling strokes on him,
and suddenly,

the Clash are up there running
and there's old Jack
and he's filming away,

and there's Mingay standing
and suddenly there's Ray.

He had this immaculate,
quiffed barnet.

And I'm thinking,
"Who the fuck is this?"

Good hair though, good hair.

So, yeah, he could stay,
so let him stay.

And Mingay's going,
"He's all right, he's with me."
And I'm thinking,

I got better things
to think about, my band's
up there and there's people
going,

"Come on, Rony, come on now,
come on. Oh, fuck off."

People are loving it,
they're loving it.

and it's getting argy bargy
and so, I think,

I know what you see there,
it's the real thing,

Barry, fucking punter,
hang on.

Oi, Joe, they're pulling
the fucking plug since we're
running out.

I dived down and go through
the guy's legs,

and whack the mains'
plug back in and back comes
the back line and on they go.

There's lot of argy bargy
and it nearly came
to blows on it.

And then, dare we say,
not I,

that somebody pushes
Ray Gange out and says,
"Whoa, you love the Clash."

Don't you think
they all love The Clash,
go and ask him.

And Ray, dear Ray,
with his totemic kind of
special burn in his hand,

out he goes to the mic.

Now, it takes a tough ball
to say, to walk up to the mic
facing that many people
as far as you can see.

But Ray does it
and I suppose if you look back,

Ray Gange, what does Ray Gange
doing here?

The "Michael Aspel" question.

What I would say
is that Ray proved his worth
in that moment.

And I was like, it was lot
of front, good for you, Ray.

And I think everybody
liked him for doing that,

as for him getting
the black eye...

Yeah, well.

I'm not a natural,
I did find it difficult

to act to camera.

I'd say it was in favour of,
Jack and Dave,

in making the film
that I and others weren't asked
to do it straight away,

and that they just filmed
around us, getting on
with those things
that we had to go on with.

And it was only after
quite a long time,

of familiarity
and understanding,

that I would be asked
to repeat something
quiet possibly that they
might have missed

that had just happened
spontaneously and the cameras
weren't there and they weren't
rolling,

and yet they understood
the significance of an event,

like getting beaten up
at the site in Glasgow
by the bouncers.

Joe getting arrested,

Paul jumping into his, uh,
to his help.

We spirited Mick
and Topper away from that scene.

It happened so fast
and so violently.

Ah, that naturally no cameras
were there, who could've seen
that coming, nobody? We didn't.

We wouldn't have been there,
I mean, yanking a stick around
there to get beaten up
by the fucking Glaswegian cops.

So that have to be recreated,
no script.

So, always you're thrown
back on yourself, which,
uh, is always, uh,

is a bit daunting
but actually is quite nice
because you're talking
how you'd normally talk,

nothing I said was scripted.

Well, there's two ways, uh,
of answering whether,

Ray would have cut the mustard
as a Clash roadie.

I think he had the attitude,
you know, he is a punk rocker,

and he had the surliness
and that snarl.

He was no one's puppy dog,
he was certainly
not the film crew's puppy dog,

even though they were naturally
they were manipulating him
to some degree.

He wouldn't just comply always,
he'd had his say, and all credit
to him for that, I think
we liked him for that.

He's an enthusiastic man,
with both of his legs
pumping at the side
of the stage.

But, me too, always,

focused on what were the needs
of the band, and watching
like a hawk,

all the way through,
not just the performance,

getting them there,
getting them back to the hotel,
moving them on,

and I think I never really saw,

whether Ray could apply himself
in that way.

But in terms of commitment,
I tell you he'd be excellent.

Because he cared
about that band,
and you can ask
no more than that.

It's not just,
can they do that job?
But can they do the job
with style and attitude?

And on the style and attitude,
sure, Ray's got it.
Of course he's got it.

I've very many
favourite moments of Joe.

He was a very tactile man.

You know, he touched people
a lot.

And it's not always
what you'd expect
from a man and a man.

His means of communication
would be to put his arm
on my shoulder, lean in,

and whisper into my ear.

It's a fond memory
of just that movement
of closeness if you like.

I also kind of just like,
a cameo, you'll see
in the film,

of where he back off the mic
for the instrumental bit,
just plays rhythm guitar.

and his legs just bouncing,
the electric leg
as we called it,

and it's just a nice thing
to see a man with his back

held straight,
his head held high,
half looking down at his hands
on the fret,

and giving it 20
to the dozen.

It's a nice picture I
kind of carry around
in my mind.

Very nice.

My favourite Clash song
changes day by day.

I am don't play them everyday,
but I do now and again.

Other people play 'em,
my son plays them and...

Oh, ho. You bastard.

It's got to be
White Man in Hammersmith Palais.

*

Well done to Rude Boy.

Because it did cop it,
it copped it bang on.

This film, Rude Boy,
is an attempt

to go along the path
we'd already started
with the previous film,
A Bigger Splash,

when we were filming with
David Hockney and his friends.

And we'd always,
we had a big pedigree
in documentary film making,

but this was something else,
we wanted to take
a step further.

And fictionalise a story
with real people and have them
act out their lives.

David's, uh,
assistant at that time,

was an avid music fan
and David turned to him

because he thought
it should be about music
and probably about punk.

It was around 1977
and punk was in the air
and it was quite
an advanced force.

It was almost a political force.
An alternative political force.

And, so, uh, Peter
'cause that was his name said,

you should make a film
about The Clash,
they're the foremost band.

And more serious
than the Sex Pistols,
so that's really
how it started.

I had done quite a lot
of rock concerts,

and I had done them
with a Frenchman,

uh, who,

I didn't quite believe it
when he said, "Look,
I'm just going to get you
to film,

and there's a particular way
you should film."

This guy's name
was Claude Von Tourrer
and I became very friendly
with him.

And it's the technique you use

by going on stage
and getting intimate
with the people.

They are not really aware
with just one camera.

You just know
it seems to work.

And Claude would tell me
never film a guitar
from the front,

don't ever film it
from face on.
Always along the neck,

or from the base
to go towards the neck.
Things like that.

And they worked.
We were never sure
what was going to happen,

it's almost
like an existential film,
never know if you're
going to finish.

You never know
where you're going.

You just know,
you got an inertia,

and your emotion,
but you're not quite sure
what to capture.

You don't film
very much footage,
until you're sure,

that what you are going
to film is going to be
decent, useful.

The idea is to give
the impression
that everything is left
to chance.

That this is a very
dicey operation.

The Clash might get through
their concert, they might not.

Fans might invade the stage,
they might not.

You never know
what's going to happen.

You are constantly,
you never know
where it' going to go.

Where's the film
going to take you,

there may be moments
of boredom almost.

And suddenly it picks up
and goes into the direction
we wouldn't be even dreamed
it was going to go into.

But as they say, it, it's, uh,

it's ultimately very controlled.

But don't want to give
the people, the audience,

the idea is controlled.

Oh, they say it's just
a documentary
but it ain't.

My point of entry to the band
was playing the Bernie Rhodes,

and, uh, I think he heard
of us and that helped.

And he knew
we were utterly serious.

And he did commit
to us somehow.

And he must have persuaded
the band, so we didn't
have any problems with them,

to begin with.

They behaved very badly
during, over-dubbing.

Though they did
the over-dubbing,
don't forget, we got it.

And had they not participated
in the over-dubbing,
the film would have been
a disaster.

Because the sound of the music
is absolutely exceptional.

And I say as a person
who is not committed
to rock music at all.

So, they did participate, oh,
it went on forever.
The over-dubbing.

And as I say it cost a huge
amount of money,
double the cost of movie,

just being in the studios
with the band.

They never behaved badly
on tour.

Because they were,
they had a commitment
to their fans.

This is punk, it is for the fans
and the dispossessed,

who were the fans,

and they were very charming
and caring towards their fans.

And I suppose, uh,
we benefited from there.

They were very nice to us.

It was, when they had nothing
to do, I suppose, when they
weren't performing,
they were possibly a problem.

But when they were performing,
they were good as gold.

Joe wouldn't say very much
to us, he was, very much
of an interior person.

Never really knew
what he was thinking.

He knew he wanted
to be a revolutionary,
a political revolutionary.

The many slaving
for the few.

He's always very sweet.
We always thought
that he liked us.

Whether he did or not,
we never knew.

He never, we never really knew.

You'd never knew
where you were with Joe.

The music was not
my kind of music.

If it were,
I'd never made the film.

Because I think if you make
a film about something
you really care about,

I think it's terribly difficult
and becomes very sentimental.

And the film
is sentimentalised.

Whereas here
I could see objectively,

it was no doubt,
it was hugely exciting,

to be with a live band on stage,
inches away from them.

It was hugely exciting.

There was very often
a threat in the air
during the gigs,
there's no doubt about it.

At the Glasgow Apollo,
we were on stage
most of the time during gigs,

there was just one camera
on stage, that was me.

There was a threat at that time.

But because the bouncers
were very heavy.

At one point, you could tell,
the fans have it in mind
to invade the stage,

and they're gonna,
they're gonna smash
everything inside.

So, it was a bit scary
at that point
and the performance

did nothing to mitigate
the excitement of these fans.

I mean it would just
jeep them up,
I mean they were really,

hugely in a state
of frenzy and excitement.

So, we were really quite scared.

I mean they had a quality,
there's no doubt.

They were the best
of their kind.
You could see that.

You could see the passion
with which they performed.

The cameraman has to be
very cool in those situations,

when you're with real people,
doesn't matter when you're doing
a theatrical film

which is all rehearsed,
there are lines and whatever.

Doesn't really matter.

But in this thing, you don't
really want to affect them,
well, not that much.

Yeah, you want the essence
of them basically,

and you want their quirkiness
and whatever to come out.

And I think the only time
we really upset them,

was when
we were at Glasgow Apollo,

I got possibly too close
to Mick, although
he wasn't aware of me
until that time I don't think,

and he shouts into the camera
and to me,

"Get off the fucking stage."

Get off the fucking stage!

And later on,
we came along, we,

we put the response to that
or the trigger to that.

We did a cut away shot
of Ray, maybe a year later,

or year and half later.

Ray interfering. As though
he's telling Ray to get off
the stage, not me,
the cameraman.

Yeah, it was very difficult
at the end of it, the Rock
Against Racism concert

because I didn't very well
come to the front.

I mean, if I were in front
of them, I'd be completely
immobilized.

Definitely from say down,
beneath them, off the stage

There's no more room on stage
at the front.

So, you've got the choice
of being on the sidelines.

On the, you know
stage right, stage left.

Uh, at the front
but there wasn't any room.

Or you could be at the back
and take a kind of, um,

an objective look at them,
which is basically what I did.

I think we did,
I did swing left and right
now and then, you know.

There was the opportunity
to catch Ray as he kind of,
lurched forward

towards the microphone.
Nobody knew he was
going to do that.

No one had an inkling
he was going to do that.

Ray was picked out
for the film by David Mingay.

Um... Ah,

because he had been going for
some of these gigs and he had
been watching the fans.

One of the foremost fans
was Ray at the time.

Um, he had done some...
He was told that he done
a bit of roadie-ing

but not very successfully.

So really when I saw Ray,
the first thing I thought was...

I said to David,
"Oh God, he's too big."

And I thought, "Oh God, I'll be
looking up at him all the time",

which I didn't really want
to do because if you change
the angle,

below or above the eye line
of somebody, it suggests
something dramatically.

The Audiences were
a lot of them.

They were very cool on him.

They thought he was a big gosh.

They weren't sure
about his opinions.

The couldn't accord
with his opinions.

They thought as I say,
they thought he was
a fascist or stupid.

They just couldn't understand
his point of view.

which is a very modern point
of view if you think now.

People don't want--
The kids don't want
to be political.

That's all he was saying.
He was saying it doesn't
do any good.

It was set up, I'm sorry to say.

But we never quite knew, um,

whether she gave him a blow job
or not and he wouldn't say.

And I actually think
he can't remember.

He can't remember.

He can't remember a lot of
stuff, you know, he told me
afterwards, you know.

He'd done so much this and that
and he can't remember.

Only other actor is I had an
actor friend called Tom Baker,
not the English Tom Baker.

And he said, "Ray's performance
was extraordinary."

He says, "It's really amazing."

But generally speaking,
people were cool
to his performance.

They just thought he was an oaf.

And that's not what he tried.
I think he tried to behave
a bit like...

He tried-- He took his lead
from James Dean
as I understand it.

I think Ray was not
a good choice to be a roadie.

I think that's obvious.

But not for what's intimated
in the film.

It wasn't because he was
too cack-handed,
although he was a bit.

He was not technical
with the equipment.

That's absolutely true.

But he's a very, very bright
boy. There's no doubt.
He was a very bright boy.

Erm...

But he was too
independent-minded.

He wasn't really crew-minded.

I think it does accurately
reflect what took place.

I mean you see
events that, um...

On the Scottish tour,
where they got into trouble.

Joe got into trouble
and ended up in jail.

Unfortunately extraordinary
because he was trying
to protect some of the fans.

Because police were arresting
all the fans.

So there's an accurate
reflection if you wish.

It captures the spirit
of the time,

the political ethos and
the social ethos at the time.
There's absolutely no doubt.

It demonstrates how The Clash
became more and more organized,
how it almost...

Not the organization but the way
they presented themselves

became... was no longer
in their control.

It was very easy filming
their live scene.

We had five film cameras,
five different film cameras,
I think.

The stuff that they wore
was all coordinated, you know.

I told them you gotta
wear black on stage now.
Nothing else but black.

And they wore it like a uniform,
like the Beatles.

They didn't wear uniforms before
but now wanted to wear
uniforms, you know.

You're really together now
and organized.

You're a rock band
and you wear a uniform.
And that's what they did.

The band were not involved
in any of the editorial

decisions or the way the film
was put together.

We never asked them for advise
for as to what you think
the film should be.

It wasn't their film.
It was our film.

There was a confusion as to
what the film meant.

And to Mick, he thought that
we showed all the black people
as being thieves.

And that hurt his
liberal sensibility.

There's nothing phony about it,
it seems to me.

And it's not pretentious.

And it just generally tries
to get the truth out
of these people.

And out of the... Out of
the events that were
happening at the time.

Making a film about a group
is extremely difficult because
they have a career.

And they're on the up so...

They have a career to defend
and they don't really want

necessarily to tell
the whole truth
about themselves.

It was through just going
to gigs and looking at
these different bands,

that I did meet Ray.

I asked him what band
he thought was the best band.

And he said immediately,
Joe Strummer and The Clash.

* And all your crowd
walking in *

* Day by day

* You'll still try to stop it

* In any way

* Embassy people

* Turn war officer

* Hear what I say

At that time, The Clash didn't
play very much.

So it was only possible to have
heard some of their records
but you never saw them play.

I think they played a bit
on the Anarchy tour
and then they kind of rested.

And they had the problem
that they were replacing
the drummer.

Um, Topper Headon wasn't
at that point part of the band.

Mick Jones was a brilliant
guitarist.

He could fill out the sound
and he could organize the music
in an amazing way.

Other people were just
very one-dimensional
compared to that even then.

Ray was, did work as a roadie.

And first I thought, maybe
we would film a little sub plot,

whereby he worked his way up
through the subway sect,
and then he learnt roadie-ing.

And then he could offer himself
to the band, which is roughly
what happened actually.

And it was in that period
that I was trying
to persuade Ray.

Maybe he'll be interested
in filming and he wasn't
very keen at the time.

You can ask him yourself but uh,

he wasn't like that.
I mean, nobody was.

It was just seen as a chore.
It was seen as an activity,
really.

"Oh God, yes!
We have to do it now."

A friend of mine,
John Pierce who's a tailor.

He's actually tailor
to Mick Jagger and loads
of other people,

And he'd been working in
Mr. Freedom in the sixties
on The King's Road.

Uh, he was a friend
of Bernard Rhodes.

And he put me in touch
with Bernard and I went
to talk to him about

whether there could be
some future in making
a film about The Clash.

So I had to go around to see
all of them. And I think
I met Strummer.

Basically, he was very friendly
when I went to his rehearsals
in Camden Town.

Then I didn't get a chance.

And it wasn't the ideal thing
to talk to all of them at once.

So I went around to see
Mick Jones at his house

where he lived with Brian James
of Generation X.

Um, which was another group
I had seen at the Marquee
and elsewhere in Soho.

And he shared a flat with him.

And I went there one evening
and talked to him about it.

And he sort of was very
dismissive. He said,
"Ah, no! Oh!", you know.

And he was quite unpleasant
and surly in talking to me.

And anyway, Brian James,
when I went to the door
to leave,

I said, "Oh, he doesn't
seem very--"

He said, "Oh, he really
likes you, you know."

So I took courage from this.

That they wouldn't always show
that they liked you.

So they already had
a lot of um, very...

A lot of attitude,
massive attitude.

Paul Simonon, I met also.

I think mainly at, maybe
with Johnny, Johnny Green,
the roadie,

who was just starting work
with them then.

I met him at Camden. And he was
always very pleasant.

And I did then go around
to see him in his place.

And talk to him a bit
about making the film.

So in the end, uh, they all
agreed, although it didn't
sound like it.

And it seemed to be
a viable project.

Ray at that time was hanging
around The Clash.

'Cause he used to go every night
to punk concerts of one kind
or another.

And he used to hang around
"about the scene",
as it was then.

And one thing that he tried
to do was to join the band.

To go on tour, to hitch a ride
with the band.

He wanted to have a good time
with the band. He wanted to
follow them around.

And one idea was that
he could become a roadie.

Unfortunately, Ray was not
perhaps ideal as a roadie.

And another thing was,
that he was

quite a heavy drinker
of Special Brew beer.

So that it was a bit of...
And Special Brew can make you
a bit aggressive at times.

And also, you can fall asleep
and generally be not
particularly efficient.

Now the funny thing
about bands is

that they may look as though
they're taking drugs and lying
around all the time.

And arriving late and doing
this and that.

But they hate it in
anybody else. They don't
want to see that.

They're allowed to do that
but nobody else is.

So in a way, the...

The story of the film
looks into these kind
of contradictions.

The basic idea behind the film
in my mind was

to take this kind of filming,
pesudo real filming, semi real
or real filming,

and to put it into the most
difficult circumstances,
you could imagine.

So that was how it was.

Because spit was raining down
on the cameraman.

There were all these kids,
jumping up and down, pogoing.

* Oh yeah

That was the whole
thing of punk,

was this real workout
and very hot and sweaty.

So you had to be down there,
in the front, in this crowd
of people filming.

And that's the last thing,
in a way that you want.

It's a bit like combat
photography.

When we went to Rock
Against Racism, The Clash
were on the bill.

And I did say to Ray

because I was there,
went there with Ray

and we were going to try
and film the event.

And we had great difficulty
as you can see

because the electricity failed.

I said to Ray,
"Well I think you--"

Because it was very near
the beginning of his filming.

I said, "Well, maybe you should
do something extraordinary
today for us."

And so you can see the rest...

What happened in the film.

I didn't tell him what to do.

He improvised it.

Like Marlon Brando.

The way in which Joe
cooperated with us
was quite interesting.

If it was a musical,
then in musicals
they often have a scene

where somebody sits down
by a piano and sings a song.

A kind of sentimental
moment of...

A sympathetic moment
for the heroes.

And uh...This...

I said to Joe, "Well, maybe
we would like to have a scene

"whereby he would play
at the piano with Ray,

in which they would make
some kind of interchange.

And in that scene...
This is kind of
a transitional scene,

whereby Joe kind of
explains something to him,
maybe in music.

An uh, I said, "Well,
we're gonna film
in a week's time.

"Joe, are you ready? Have you
got something to do?"
And he said, "No."

You know, this was
kind of his joke, "No."

And he would not... I mean,
we didn't have brain
storming sessions.

It was the opposite.
It was minimal.

And it was a joke
as though we couldn't...

Uh, we wouldn't get anything
or we would be lucky
to get something.

That they wouldn't cooperate.
That they wouldn't show up
and that nothing would happen.

But I would say that
this was a way in which,

um, everbody kept real.

So you got something that was
real. They weren't telling you
what they were gonna do.

They weren't talking about it
too much. They did their thing,
you did your thing.

You came together
but you didn't discuss it.
It happened.

So I was really surprised
when we got...

We picked up Joe
in the film van.

And took him down to the studio
by the tower bridge,

which we'd hired
for the occasion.

There was this
honky tonk piano there

and I saw Joe took
out of his top pocket,
a little notebook.

And I thought, I said, "Oh!"

He said, "I'm just finishing it.
Yes, it's all ready."

So there he was, very efficient.

He prepared himself
and he had this song,

which he played at the piano,
which we know,
No Reason.

* I ain't got no reason

* To drag around

* I'm the right kind of color

* In the white part of town

The only problem I think,
with a group is it's a four
headed monster.

So you go... You're running
around trying to give biscuits
to each head.

And also, you're trying to give
them equal time in the film
which is kind of a group thing.

And that is a problem.
We had to try to get
what we wanted out of them.

And they were doing up to
their neck, trying to do
what they had to do.

They were trying to get through
the concerts, get through
the night and so on.

Maybe their private life
was also exploding
around them.

So there was
an antagonism and...

Joe had a bit of a sense
of humor which was
a bit like Paul's.

And Mick was at times,
very, very diva-ish,
very impossible.

At other times, very nice.

Topper was usually obstreperous.

And pseudo, psuedo-aggressive.

Having a sub plot
in a movie is always
a very dangerous thing.

And it was necessary
in this movie because of
the subject of the songs.

And the songs talk endlessly
about black issues, Rudie.

Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie.

No one knows what
the Rude boy knows.

The Rude boy, all these guys
would come from the country
in Jamaica to town,

who are kinda pseudo bad men
and they are supposed to be...

As in the heart, they come
rooting and shooting
and so on in theory.

Ray Gange is a pale reflection
of such a character.

He's not a gangster.
He's nothing.

Neither are any of these fans
but they want to be bad.

They would like to be a bit bad.

The real meaning, actually
of the sub plot in Rude Boy

is in my opinion, if you set out
to be an anarchistic group,

who tried to overthrow
the state,

who try to mislead the youth,

who support drug taking

and who create anarchy,

you make a million,

if you are, um, white.

If you are black you will be
arrested for stealing a pound.

And you will be put in jail
and kept there for many years.

So that is really
what the message
was intended to be.

And I think that it does work
that way.

The film was very successful
in France.

The one reason was because
they had subtitles translating
all Joe's lyrics.

And I think if you actually
follow the lyrics, it makes
a lot more sense.

My favorite Clash song

probably is White Man In
Hammersmith Palais.

Like Nick Hornby
and other people.

I think Nick Hornby
includes it inis top ten
tunes of all time.

Uh, I think that's
a lovable song.

I love, erm, Safe European Home.

So I love the reggae influenced,
the reggae version.

I mean like The Clash music
which is very punk reggae.

Which was one of
their great achievements.

And I must say, Police
and Thieves was presented
in that way.

There was... I just saw
a magazine, a French
magazine about The Clash.

After Joe's death and you know,
it puts all this into
a context, really.

But they said that this,
this shot,

which was the first concert
we shot actually for the film,

was recently
from Birmingham.

Nightclub in Birmingham.

Quite a small venue.

But this shot with just
one camera which Jack took,

filming from down
here, erm...

Filming all in one shot, really.

That number was...
They call it amazing.

They have all these names
for it. They call it uh...

What they mean is,
they call it something,

which means a single shot,
a moving developing shot.

Developing shot,
I think we call it
in cinema.

One developing shot.

And then you see this, this...
The punk tremor,

the delirium, the mania of punk,

which, that's what punk
is about.

And that's what really,
I think you know,

is the great attraction of punk
now if you watch.

For rock stars,
it's not like that.

- Good idea.
- Is that too much?

- Don't get to say how I see it.
- Yeah.

How's the album going then, Joe?

- All right?
- Yeah.

What did you think of what
the American geezers do
instead of footie?

- I think alright.
- They're still improving.

Yeah, well. Footie was last.

All right, so it was
a little bit. It's like
the basic thing of it, right?

- The right principal.
- Yeah.

Well, I don't know. Maybe
it's gonna become
too smooth and whatever.

Yeah, well we have to do
something. We can't go on
being like that.

- Sorry about that.
- Joe what?

I've seen this before, yeah.

Yeah? You reckon it's gonna
be better than the last one.

- Yeah, it fails.
- Gonna be more rootsy.

- Or less.
- More punk rock.

- You're right.
- Yeah.

It's gonna be more polished
at the same time, don't you
think that?

- American Production.
- No polish.

- No?
- More punk rock.

All right. That's about it.

Do you think this new album
is gonna be any different
to the first one, Joe?

- No, it's gonna be better.
- It's gonna be better.

You don't think the
Americanization of it
is gonna fuck it up at all.

- No, they don't count.
- No, anyway.

Their production might
make any difference.

They're technicians.

Yeah, but they make it
more pure, won't they,

than Micky's last one,
don't you think?

You'll be able to get
more punk rock in it.

- You think so?
As against the roughness.
- Yes, David.

No, man. I don't know.
I don't fucking like the idea
of doing it.

I think that they should
fuck off and let somebody
else do it.

Maybe you ain't tried
dancing to it.

I don't dance to anything
anyway, is it?

Don't you reckon they'll make
it a better album

than Micky could or anyone,
any English producer?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Don't you think they're doing it
for the American market?

I don't know any English
producers mind but...

- It ain't hard to find him
now, is it?
- Where's Mickey Foote?

- Yeah. See even the last one
didn't last very long.
- Best of the New Wave.

So it's the fucking best album
of the last year, ain't it?

Pity he goes around pushing
people out of his car
and killing them.

- So shut up.
- I don't want to fucking
use him again, man.

He's a shitbag, so whatever.

So let's say if they're
technicians, they're too
pure, innit?

Get somebody that brings
out the bsic sound
rather than purify it.

He goes to sleep too much
if you wanna know the truth.

Too lazy.

So you don't think
the Americans are gonna
fuck it up?

And that's all.

I don't know. I think so.

I feel like I'll make
a bollock out of it
but I don't know.

Well, what I've heard anyway
sounds alright.

I don't know if
it's all right, eh?

Yeah.

I only got mine
and Mick's guitar.

Yeah.

Could do it with a bit of vocal,
all right?

It's really far away.

One, Two, One, Two.
Got nothing at all.

Nothing at all. Nothing at all.
Nothing at all.

When do I come in?

* I was hanging around
that market street *

Yeah.

- Just had a blank.
Okay. One more.

Okay, go.

* I was hanging around
the market street *

* I had a lot of time
in my hands *

* Till I saw some
passing yabbos *

* And we did chance to speak

* I knew how to sing

* And they knew how to pose

* And one of them
had a Les Paul *

* Heart attack machine

- Okay, man. One more.
- Yeah.

- All right. From the top.
- I'm just coming in too early.

- All right.
- Yeah. It's not good.

Yeah, I just gotta leave it.

Give it. Give it to me again.
I just gotta leave it twice.

All right. From the top.

* I was hanging around
the market street *

* And I had a lot of time
on my hands *

* I saw some passing yabbos

* We did chance to speak

* Well, I knew how to sing

* And they knew how to pose

* An' one of them
had a Les Paul *

* Heart attack machine

Three, Four, One, two, two.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

* An' I want to move the town
to the Clash city rockers *

*You need a little jump
of electrical shockers *

*You better leave town
if you only want to knock us *

* Nothing stands the pressure
of the Clash city rockers *

* You see the rate they come
down the escalator *

* Now listen to the tube
train accelerator *

* Then you realize that you got
to have a purpose *

* Or this place is gonna
knock you out sooner or later *

* So don't complain, oh

* About your useless
employment, oh *

* Jack it in forever tonight

* Or shut your mouth, oh

* An' I want to liquefy
everybody gone dry *

* Think of all the money
you've got *

* An' I want to liquefy
everybody gone dry *

* Or plug into the aerials
that poke up in the sky *

* Or burn down the suburbs
with the half-closed eyes *

* You won't succeed
unless you try *

* So don't complain, oh

* About your useless
employment, oh *

* Jack it in forever tonight

* Or shut your mouth, oh

* And pretend
you enjoy it, oh *

* Think of all the money
you've got *

* Yeah, yeah

*

*

*

* An' I want to move the town
to the Clash city rockers *

* You need a little jump
of electrical shockers *

* You better leave town
if you only want to knock us *

* Nothing stands the pressure
of the Clash city rockers *

* You owe me a move

* Say the bells of St. Groove

* When I am fitter say
the bells of Gary Glitter *

* When I am fitter say
the bells of Gary Glitter *

* No one but you and I

* Say the bells
of Prince Far-I *

* No one but you and I

* Say the bells
of Prince Far-I *

* An' I want to move the town
to the Clash city rockers *

* You need a little jump
of electrical shockers *

* You better leave town
if you only want to knock us *

* Nothing stands the pressure
of the Clash city rockers *

* Rock rock Clash
city rockers *

* Rock rock Clash city rockers

* Rock rock Clash city rockers

* Rock rock Clash city rockers

* Tommy gun

* You ain't happy
less he got one *

* Tommy gun

* Ain't gonna shoot you up
just for fun *

* But do you want to die
for the money? *

* And do you want to kill
for his country? *

* Whatever he wants,
he's gonna get it! *

* Tommy gun

* Waiting for the grave
carrying one *

* Tommy gun

* You'll be dead
when your war is won *

*

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it *

*

*

*

*

*

*

*Tommy gun

* You have brush a trigger
of the Thompson gun *

*Tommy gun

* But did you have to gun
down everyone? *

* I can see it's kill
or be killed *

* A nation of destiny has got
to be fulfilled *

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it *

*Tommy gun

*You can be a hero
in an age of none *

*Tommy gun

* I'm cutting out your picture
from page one *

* I'm gonna get a jacket
just like yours *

* An' give my false support
to your cause *

* Whatever you want,
you're gonna get it *

*

*

*

* So *

*

* So

*

* Take your minds

* Is our Road

*

* Please don't judge somebody

* Don't sound so excited

- No way.
- Hit it!

Rude Boy!

*

*

*

* Breakin' rocks
in the hot sun *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I needed money
'cause I have none *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* Killed my baby
and it felt so bad *

* Guess my race is run

* Sweetest little woman
that I've ever had *

* I fought the law
and the law won *

* I fought the law
but the law won *

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