Dedicated to founding member Joe Strummer along with several others who were there for the ride, Danny Garcia’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of The Clash’ provides a nice overview of the band’s demise and particularly from the time of the second line-up, but would have made for more objective viewing had the original surviving members had their say. Mick Jones makes a regular appearance and unabashedly gives Bernie Rhodes, and Publicist Kosmo Vinyl are nowhere to be seen but in archive footage, which the film has plenty of.
Garcia has done a reasonable job of assembling a cast of ‘those who were there’ to aid in the storytelling, including Pearl Harbour, and the band’s Security guy, Ray Jordan who pulls no punches in sharing his recollections.
A band with a right mixture of ‘attitude and politics’, Mick Jones says of The Clash’s success that ‘their timing was really important, and it just turned out that way’. Garcia’s film doesn’t so much focus on the musical side to The Clash, but shows their struggle to keep it all together and stay on top, but ultimately their failure to do so.
The key protagonist in this documentary though is Bernie Rhodes, the Manager who led them with a military like grip and helped them all the way to the top, but was such a megalomaniac that he proved impossible to work with and was subsequently fired on several occasions.
Trying to decipher what is fact and what is individual perception is tricky with this film, as multiple perspectives are offered by several individuals, but there can be no doubt that the band’s downfall was its own making.
Topper Headon’s drug use proved too much for the rest of the band, so he was fired and replaced with Terry Jones. Mick Jones veered off into the ‘popstar’ life and became a primadona, whilst Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer simply wanted to play rock music and have fun. This created friction between them and it led to Jones’ sacking from his own band, leading him to fulfil his interests in Hip Hop style music among other things. The Clash was no longer the name of the band, but it’s complete mantra!
With Peter Howard replacing Terry Jones on Drums, and then the addition of not one but two replacement guitarists (Vince White & Nick Sheppard) to form Mark Two of ‘The Clash’, it was evident that the band was holding onto something that was no longer there.
There is no doubt that Bernie Rhodes did lead the band into some success, and his tough management style may have been just what they needed, but after Jones’ departure and unwillingness to reform, it was the death knell for The Clash as the world knew them. The subsequent line-up had mediocre success with the single ‘This Is England’, but Strummer finally closed the page on the band with ‘a sweaty envelope handshake’ to the remaining members and sent them on their way.
The Clash spoke for the working class and stood up for human rights, and were an influential band before they started to betray their own ideals. Perhaps this was what caused them to fall apart, only those who were there will ever know.
The film ends nicely with footage of Strummer’s final gig weeks before his death from an undiagnosed heart condition, in which Mick Jones took to the stage with him for the first time since their parting. It was a poignant moment, and one which hopefully healed the rift between them and gave some closure to both members who were once just young guys living out their rock and roll dreams, but who grew up and matured which changed their directions.
The film doesn’t offer a complete history of ‘The Clash’, in fact it misses out on much of their journey, but all in all a well put together film for those interested in what working class music was about, and how it came to be.
Reviewed by Darren Hassan
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